by Janet Dailey
The primitive cabin built of logs was small, roughly ten foot square. Nothing stirred as they climbed out of the plane. There was a cache near the cabin, elevated high off the ground on legs and accessible by a homemade ladder. “We might as well take a look around,” Cody said when the aircraft was secure.
“It's probably all shut up.” It seemed reasonable to Shannon, since it had obviously been abandoned.
“If it is, it wasn't an Alaskan who owned it,” Noah stated. “It's custom to leave a cabin open and stocked for anyone in need who might come along."
The wooden door had swelled, but it opened at the urging of Cody's shoulder. The owner of the cabin had observed the Alaskan custom. The single-room structure had an earthen floor and a low ceiling. Firewood was stacked in a corner along with shavings for kindling. In addition to a barrel stove, there was a crudely made table and chair and a bunk bed. Matches were in a waterproof container on the table along with sacks of flour, powdered milk and sugar. A kerosene lamp was full and equipped with a new wick.
“There are probably dried beef and vegetables in the cache, as well,” Cody surmised. “At least if we're stuck here for long we won't starve.” He turned toward the door and clamped a hand on his father's shoulder. “Come on, dad. Let's go see what is causing that pressure drop.”
“Can I help?” Shannon asked.
“For the time being you might as well relax and enjoy the scenery,” Cody advised.
Shannon followed them back to the plane, partially beached on the lakeshore, and watched them work on it for a while. Eventually she tired of that. The lakeshore beckoned her to explore it, so she began to stroll along its edge, not intending to wander out of sight of the plane.
The air smelled incredibly fresh and pure, tangy with the scent of pines. Birches and willows grew abundantly along the lake. The distinctive mound of a beaver dam led her on to take a closer look. On a fallen timber she took up watch and was rewarded with the sight of a large beaver swimming toward its home after a half hour's wait.
By sheer chance she sighted a giant moose grazing on the opposite side of the lake. Even at that distance she could tell that the spread of his antlered rack was wider than she could stretch both arms. She considered returning to the cabin's clearing, then curiosity changed her mind and she walked a little farther to see what was beyond the next bend in the lake.
Before she had gone three feet, she thought she heard someone shouting. She stopped to listen. “Shannon!” It was Cody. The imperative summons of his voice turned her around.
“I'm coming!” she shouted in answer, and hurried to retrace her route.
But she had gone farther than she'd realized, and she was out of breath by the time she spotted the plane. She slowed down to catch her wind. A ruefully apologetic expression swept over her face when she saw Cody striding toward her.
“Don't you know better than to wander off like that?” He sounded impatient and angry.
“Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “I didn't realize I had gone so far.” Then she noticed the revolver in his hand. Her winded laugh was confused. “What were you going to do? Find me and bring me back at gunpoint?"
“This is bear country, Texas.” He tucked the revolver inside his waistband. “You could have met up with some ‘griz’ for all I knew."
“You mean a grizzly bear?” she repeated with a trace of apprehension. “You don't really believe there are any close by, do you?"
“I don't know how close one might be right now,” Cody admitted, and waved a hand at a tree several feet from where she was standing. “But I do know the claw marks on that tree aren't more than a couple of days old.” As she turned to look at the white scratches on the tree's trunk, scratches higher than her head, he explained, “That's the way they mark their territory. So don't go wandering off anymore."
“I won't.” It was a fervent promise, his implied warning not one that needed to be repeated. She glanced at the plane and saw Noah working on the engine. “Isn't the plane fixed?"
“No, but we think we've located the problem."
“Can it be fixed?” Here they were, out in the middle of nowhere, and Shannon didn't want to think about the possibility that it couldn't be repaired.
“Dad can jerry-rig anything, but it might take a while,” Cody replied with a confident patience. “That's why I was looking for you. I thought I'd see if you wanted to take a stab at lighting that stove and fixing us something to eat."
“I'll give it a try,” she agreed.
“Check the cache, but be careful of the ladder,” he cautioned.
The cache held a treasure trove of articles. Besides rice, beans, powdered eggs, dried vegetables and beef, Shannon found sleeping bags, long johns, mukluks, mittens and candles. There wasn't any coffee, but she did find a can of tea.
Lighting the wood-burning barrel stove turned out to be a case of trial and error. Then she had to haul water from the lake and wait for it to boil on the stove top in order to wash the frying pans and dishes she found.
It was well into the afternoon before she had a meal on the table. It wouldn't have won any cooking prizes, but under the circumstances everyone agreed it was satisfactory. When they had finished, they took their tea outside to drink it. Somehow the fresh air added to its strong flavor.
“We aren't going to get the plane fixed much before nightfall,” Cody stated. “I'm not that familiar with this area to feel comfortable flying at night, so you might as well plan on spending the night here."
“In other words, start cooking supper now so it will be ready by dark.” Shannon mocked the length of time it had taken her to fix a lunch in these primitive conditions.
“Something like that,” Cody agreed with a taunting grin.
“Aren't you glad I came along?” Noah demanded. “Now you have someone who not only can fix your plane but also can be a chaperon tonight to keep everything respectable."
“Dad—” Cody eyed him with bemused affection “—I don't think you want me to answer that question.” His gaze traveled over Shannon in a deliberately suggestive manner, blatantly teasing as opposed to blatantly sexy—although there was a subtle hint of that, too.
“I have never seen a laughing leer in my life,” Shannon declared.
“Stick around, Texas.” The expression in his eyes changed, heavy with meaning. She felt the tripping of her pulse. “There are a lot more things I'd like to show you sometime—when dad isn't around."
She tried to make light of his remark. “You're just a sore loser."
“Wouldn't you be?” he countered. “Tonight we are going to sleep in the same room ... with pop."
Noah frowned in gruff disapproval. “Cody, you shouldn't be talking like that to her. It's her fiancé we're out here to find."
“Right,” Cody agreed thoughtfully. “I guess that slipped my mind."
“You just remember that,” Noah stated with an insistent nod.
There was a responding quirk of his mouth, but no reply. Shannon fully understood that Cody planned to pursue her in his own way regardless of the ring on her finger. Recognizing that, she also recognized that she was finding a disturbing thrill in the chase. As she noticed how closely he was watching her, she wondered if he could see that. Then she saw the gleam of satisfaction in the light blue depths, and knew he had.
Draining the last of his tea from the metal cup, Cody handed it to her, then turned to his father. “Let's get back to work."
As the two men walked to the plane, Shannon carried the cups into the cabin and began the task of cleaning the dishes. She had started the evening meal when she heard the drone of an approaching airplane. It was an alien sound in this wilderness. Frowning, she walked to the door of the cabin and watched as it swooped low to circle the cabin.
Cody signaled something to the plane. The message was acknowledged with a wag of its wings before it flew off.
“What did he want?” Shannon called.
“He was checking to see if we needed any
assistance,” Cody replied. “I signaled that we had everything under control."
“Do you?"
“Yeah, if we can figure out how to put it back together,” he grinned.
She was smiling as she reentered the cabin. Cody had an irresistible sense of humor to go with his reckless smile and bold eyes, but what made him so formidable was his swift, keen intelligence. And it was all wrapped up in a handsome package. Absently she fingered her engagement ring, conscious only of a vague discontent. She shrugged the feeling away and went back to her work.
Either Shannon discovered the knack of cooking on the wood stove or else luck was on her side, because dinner turned out near perfect. The skillet biscuits were a little too brown on the bottom, but the vegetable-beef stew was delicious. So was the rice pudding with dried raisins.
By the light of the kerosene lamp, she washed the dishes while Cody dried them. Noah went to great lengths to ensure both were aware of his presence in the cabin. It didn't seem to matter. The steadiness of Cody's bold look didn't need any words to get his message across and succeeded with unnerving ease.
When the dishes were finished and everything was put back where they'd found it, Cody suggested, “Let's go outside and sit on the porch. It's a beautiful night."
Shannon had already noticed the brilliance of the stars in the sky outside the window. The call of the quiet Alaskan night beckoned to her. She was tempted to agree, but the temptation was more than the beauty of the night. Looking at Cody, she knew what else was tempting her. For that reason she refused.
“No, thanks.” She tried to sound very casual about it. “It's been a long day and I'm kind of tired."
“You're right.” Noah was quick to agree with her decision. “We should all have an early night. Morning's gonna be here before we know it."
“Absolutely.” Cody's dry voice seemed to mock both of them.
“You can sleep in that bunk bed, Shannon,” Noah instructed with a gesturing wave of his hand. “Cody and I will sack out on the floor.”
“Okay,” Shannon nodded.
“Are you sure your old bones can take sleeping on the floor, dad?” Cody challenged, a wicked glint dancing in his eyes. “Maybe you should take the bunk and let me and Texas have the floor.”
“Don't you go worrying about my bones.” Noah quickly rejected the idea, but not before Shannon's heart had done a little somersault at the implication behind Cody's words.
If they had both slept on the floor, he would have arranged it so that they weren't sleeping apart. Yet he had known his father would never go along with the suggestion. It had been a clever ploy to keep her awareness of him aroused. Just for a minute, her imagination ran away with itself as she pictured what it would be like to sleep curled against his vital male form. She made the mistake of looking at him and saw his look darken vibrantly when he read in her eyes what she was thinking. She turned away.
“Now you've gone and done it,” Noah accused his son. “You've embarrassed her with your sly hints about sleeping together."
“Did I embarrass you, Texas?” The slight stress he put on the verb indicated that he knew embarrassment wasn't her reaction.
“No.” Shannon mocked him with an over-the-shoulder glance letting him see that she knew his game, too. “And I don't think that's what you were trying to do, either, was it?"
Cody arched a glance at his father. “I think she's getting wise to me, dad."
“It's about time.” Noah showed his impatience with his son's behavior. “Cody and I will step outside while you get yourself ready for bed,” Noah told her. “You just give us a shout when it's all right to come in."
“Or if you need any help,” Cody inserted with his customary bold look.
“I'm sure I can manage without any help,” Shannon replied dryly.
“Pity,” he murmured with mock regret. “I'm good at buttons and zippers.” Then he winked broadly, making it all something to laugh about.
While his father ushered him out the door with a show of irritation, Shannon silently shook her head at Cody's irresistible brand of charm. It was simply impossible to be offended by anything he said, not when humor glinted so readily in his eyes.
Opening the suitcase Noah had brought up from the plane earlier that evening, she took out the few things she would need that night. The long-sleeved flannel nightgown reached down to the floor and buttoned all the way to the neck. It was just about as modest and unsexy as a nightgown could get. Shannon smiled when she considered Cody's probable reaction to it.
Leaving her socks on so her feet would be certain to stay warm, she climbed inside the sleeping bag spread over the bunk. She lay there for a few minutes, listening to the low murmur of voices coming from the outside.
“Okay!” she called finally. “You can come in now!"
Only one set of footsteps crossed the wood floor of the porch to the door. Shannon recognized the shuffling tred as Noah's. A little frown of disappointment creased her forehead as the door opened and Noah entered alone. He paused before closing the door and looked outside.
“Don't stay out too late, Cody,” he addressed his unseen son with paternal concern. “You need your rest the same as we do."
“I won't,” came the promise, and Shannon heard the dry affection and amusement in Cody's voice. “Good night, dad.” Then louder, “Good night, Texas. Sweet dreams."
“Good night,” she called back, and snuggled a little deeper into the sleeping bag.
Her mouth curved slightly from an inner contentment she couldn't define. After Noah had settled into his sleeping bag on the floor, Shannon listened to the gentle night sounds for a while. She closed her eyes, not expecting to fall asleep until after Cody had turned in for the night. Yet at some point she drifted off.
A persistent hand nudged her shoulder to awaken her. She stirred, frowning a sleepy protest, and turned her head to this inconsiderate person disturbing her sleep. In the darkness of the cabin, all she could make out was a black form bent close to the cot.
“What ... ?” Her sleep-husky voice attempted to demand the reason for being wakened in the middle of the night.
But she was promptly requested to keep still. “Sshsh.” Her tiredness was chased away by the sound of Cody's voice when he whispered, “Put your coat on and come outside. There's something I want to show you."
Without giving her a chance to refuse or disagree, his dark shape stole away from the cot and glided silently to the door. She sat up as he slipped outside. Despite all the arguments that could be made as to why she shouldn't go, her curiosity was aroused.
Taking care not to make any noise that might wake Noah, Shannon crawled out of the cot. It wasn't easy trying to find her things in the dark. She had to move slowly and cautiously. With her shoes on and her coat over the flannel nightgown, she tiptoed to the door and stepped onto the porch.
It was lighter outside than she'd expected. She easily saw Cody standing a few feet from the cabin. A quick glance around the area didn't find anything of interest. Cody turned as she hesitated by the door.
“Come here.” He motioned her to his side, his voice still pitched low.
Uncertainly she moved to him. “What is it?”
His gleaming blue eyes held her gaze for a long moment, setting off alarm bells of warning. “At night the stars are supposed to be big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas. I wanted to show you the magic of an Alaskan night."
As she looked into his eyes, all sorts of magic seemed to be happening inside her. A sensible part of her knew that wasn't what he meant. With difficulty she directed her gaze away from him toward the night sky and found the source of light brightening the darkness.
Her lungs filled with a slow breath of incredible delight as she stared at the shimmering curtain of blue-and-green light swirling about the heavens. It seemed to dance to some silent music.
Not taking her gaze from it for fear it would disappear, she murmured to Cody, “The northern lights?"
�
�Yes,” Cody confirmed. “Aurora borealis—a symphony of light."
She was awestruck. She remembered looking into a kaleidoscope, as a child amazed by the changing patterns and colors of light; but that had been a poor imitation of the wonders nature could perform. The ever moving curtain seemed to be made of flashing jewels—emerald, jade, sapphire, turquoise—all with the brilliance of diamonds. It whirled about the sky with abandon, writhing and twisting, fading, then blossoming again. It seemed to pulse and throb with a life of its own.
“Are you impressed?” Cody murmured very close to her, and Shannon wondered when he had put his arm around her shoulders. Until that moment she had been too enrapt with the dazzling display to notice. But they were sharing a priceless moment, so no objection surfaced.
“Very,” she assured him, and leaned a little closer.
“Some people claim you can actually hear the lights,” he said.
Shannon paused to listen. A little tingle ran along her nerve ends when she heard a swishing sound. It was very faint, soft and variating in its rhythm with the dancing lights. Her eyes were rounded when she looked at Cody.
“I can hear them,” she insisted in a whisper.
The deepening corners of his mouth teased her assertion. “That's the wind whispering through the pine needles."
“No, it isn't.” She was positive it came from the lights.
“Whatever you're hearing, the scientists claim it doesn't come from the lights,” Cody explained without attempting to argue the point.
“What causes the northern lights?” Shannon was enchanted with the dipping, swirling banner of changing color.
“It has something to do with the earth's magnetic field at the North Pole and the solar winds from the sun, which cause a kind of friction.” He smiled at her. “It's all very scientific, but theory spoils the illusion of magic."
“Yes,” she agreed.
A streak of green light separated itself from the pulsating curtain and seemed to stab at the earth. Shannon gasped at the unexpected change in its dance. Then the entire wave of light appeared to come closer to the ground.
“Maybe it heard us talking,” Cody murmured.
