Melanie looked at the sky and nodded, “I think she’s right, Becca. We really do need to retrace our steps. Maybe we can find someplace to shelter for the night, and come back and get your shots in the morning? We have enough food and water to last through the night.”
Gracie shook her head at the foolish comment. It was evident that Melanie had only been in the mountains during the Summer and early Fall. This was neither, and a winter storm was on its way. “That’s not going to work. We aren’t prepared to survive out here overnight. Not in this type of weather.”
“We have the tent and can make a fire…”
Gracie shook her head, “Melanie, we’d never keep a fire going unless it was inside the tent, and you’ve done enough camping to know that isn’t even a possibility. On top of that, our sleeping bags are in the vehicle, which is at the base of this mountain. It’s going to snow, and get much colder than it is now. We need to head down before that happens, or at least be on our way down.”
Gracie wasn’t going to spend any more time arguing the point. She was right, and she was prepared to do whatever she could to make sure they made it off this mountain in one piece.
“Look, I’m going to hike back down to the trailhead below. You two go around the same way we came and I’ll meet you there after I get a hold of the forest service dispatch in town.” They’d passed a cut wall a hundred yards back. It would lead down to the lower trail, and then she would be only a half mile or so from where she could call for help. She could easily handle the climb down. Her friends would freak when they saw the rock wall and how far down the bottom was.
Becca looked alarmed, “Is it really that dangerous for us to be up here?”
“Not right now, but in another hour or so, things are going to get pretty nasty. There was an overhang just beyond that rock slide. Wait there for me, and then we’ll hike down together.” She tried to downplay the danger so that Becca wouldn’t spin off into a panicked state, but she also didn’t want them thinking they could lollygag around. They needed to get moving. Now!
“Why don’t you just come with us?” Becca asked, a note a panic in her voice that Gracie immediately tried to quell.
Gracie smiled, “I grew up here, remember. I’m a much better hiker and can move faster on my own. I’ll hike down, make the call, and then meet you. With any luck, they’ll have a team in the area to come up and help us get back down the mountain tonight. They might even get to the overhang before you two do.”
She looked once again at the gathering storm clouds, and only hoped she’d make it down to call for help before things got really bad. A few light snow flurries were already starting to fall from the sky. “You all need to head down. Now.”
Gracie turned to leave and Melanie called her back, “What happens if you don’t meet us?”
Gracie swallowed her sense of dread, and then smiled and told her solemnly, “Then you two continue following the trail down and make the call. Tell them I need help. You can play rescuer to my damsel in distress.”
When she saw the look on Becca’s face, she quickly added, “But I’m going to be fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ve not worried. Just get to that overhang and I’ll get help on the way.”
She headed off, diving off the edge of the cliff fifty yards back and scrambling her way down until she reached the next level area. She was breaking all of the rules of outdoor survival by taking off on her own, but Becca and Melanie were both amateur hikers, and there was no way they could have handled her current hike down. That would have been asking for disaster.
She paused at the top of the wall and pulled on her gloves. They were fingerless and would help her grip the rock crevices and hold her weight as she looked for footholds and such, but would still protect her tender palms from being cut. The first ten feet were easy, nicely weathered, and she had no trouble finding a place to put her toes or her fingers. But hallway down, she found herself having to use all of her skills to negotiate her way down the last thirty feet of rock wall.
She was once again thankful for the rock climbing gym she’d joined just out of high school. She’d wanted to join earlier, but her father hadn’t wanted her doing anything that was reminiscent of their time in Silver Springs. She frowned, wishing that she and her father had been able to settle their differences before his passing. It had been two years now, and she still harbored some bitterness towards the man who’d uprooted their family just because she’d gone and fallen in love with a young man he didn’t think suitable. At least, that was the misconception she’d operated under, before realizing there was another issue at hand.
It had taken her several years before she’d finally gotten to the root of the problem. The ugly truth had finally come out after her father was diagnosed with a failing heart. Years earlier, he’d violated his marriage vows and slept with a young woman from Silver Springs who only occasionally came back to town. She’d been trying to get her life together, and doing a credible job, but then she’d gone and fallen for Gracie’s father, Bill Shelton.
The woman had left town shortly after he’d realized what he was doing was wrong and hurting so many people. He’d never said anything to his wife, and then the woman had gone and gotten killed. He’d attended the funeral, along with the rest of the community, his sense of guilt over her death something that sat heavy on his shoulders.
He felt that the reason she’d left was due in part to their sinful dalliance. He’d been able to pretend that time in his life had never happened, watching silently from the wings as the woman’s sons grew up, motherless, to become teenagers. He was viewed as an upstanding citizen in the community, and his pride had kept him from coming clean, and ridding himself of the guilt he carried around.
But when Gracie had fallen in love with one of the woman’s sons, he’d been afraid of the truth coming out. He said he was trying to save his marriage, but Gracie knew he’d been trying to save himself from embarrassment. As a deacon on the church board, he’d been privy to confidential information about other church members, and many times Gracie had heard him belittle someone else’s sin. Now he was the one caught, and he didn’t want any of the punishment coming to him.
When he knew that his time on this Earth was short, he could no longer bear the guilt inside, and confessed all to Gracie and her mother. He’d been so afraid of his secret coming out as Gracie and Mason grew closer together, he’d run. Packing up the family, he took a position with a law firm in Denver, and moved everyone practically overnight.
Gracie had hated him for doing that. She’d had to leave all of her friends, and the only boy she’d ever truly cared about. Mason Donnelly. Her father hadn’t even given her a chance to say goodbye. She’d simply come home from school to find a moving van in the driveway and a team of men loading the boxes they had just packed into the truck.
Her mother never complained, and after her father passed away, Gracie’s mother confirmed that she’d known he been unfaithful to her, but she took her side of the wedding vows seriously and hadn’t said anything because she didn’t want to ruin the life they’d built together. She’d secretly forgiven him, long before he’d even confessed or asked for such. Gracie hadn’t been able to understand that depth of forgiveness coming from another human. She knew that God was capable of forgiving that much, but she just couldn’t see how a human could do so and not constantly be reminded of the past.
A strong gust of wind brought her attention back to the present. That sad time was over with, and she was here to make a new life for herself. She’d not dared ask Sarah about Mason or if he was still single, for fear of the answer. Mason was her other half. She’d known it when they were adolescents, and she still felt the same now.
When she’d made the decision to move to Silver Springs, she had reluctantly turned the situation over to God. She reasoned that if God hadn’t allowed her feelings for Mason to dissipate over the course of eight years, that maybe God knew something she didn’t. She’d prayed and as
ked Him to only bring Mason back into her life if they had a future together. She didn’t want either of them to get hurt, and it was only recently that she’d begun to have doubts regarding her father’s infidelity. Mason and his brothers didn’t know, and she really didn’t have any intention of telling them. Or at least, she was trying to get to that point in her thinking.
Now, here she was, scrambling down the slippery face of a rock wall, hoping to reach a point where there would be cell service to phone and call for help before the storm blowing in trapped them on the mountain. She felt a sense of panic like never before, and was just about to make her final descent, when a gust of wind rose up out of nowhere. She was about twelve feet off the ground, and her strength was dwindling fast.
She grappled for the next handhold, but water had frozen in the crevice of the rocks and her fingertips only met ice. Slippery ice. Her hand lost its purchase on the rocks and she felt her feet leave the rock wall as she fell. The ground came up to meet her fast, her head bouncing on the ground as she landed painfully with her right leg twisted at an odd angle beneath her.
Excruciating pain radiated from her body, and she moaned in agony. Her head hurt something fierce and when she tried to focus her eyes, everything seemed blurry and as if it were hidden behind a shroud.
She tried to move, but the pain was intense and she felt struggled to breathe through it. She needed to get to a place where she could phone for help, but as her vision grew dark and her hands began to register the cold, she slipped into unconsciousness. The face of a young teenage boy hovered for a moment, and she silently sent out a plea to God to send help and save her. She planned to make Silver Springs her home for the next forty years or so, but first, she had to get down off this mountain!
Chapter 2
Pastor Jeremy had just finished his sermon on being thankful, ending the morning service with a prayer over the meal the church was about to consume. It was a tradition for the church congregation to come together the Sunday before Thanksgiving and share a meal after the morning service. Everyone brought something, based upon what letter their last name began with, and it gave them all a chance to socialize with one another before the busy holiday season kicked into full swing.
Jeremy moved through the congregants, keeping an eye on Justin’s tall head as he did so. He’d not gotten a chance to greet Jessica Andrews yet, and he wanted to make sure that her presence had been noted and how welcome she was in their church. He headed down the center aisle, shaking hands and nodding his head to others as he did so.
This was the first time she’d come into the church, and from the look on Justin Donnelly’s face, it was the perfect way to kick off the holidays. Could Jessica finally be ready to admit what was in her heart? He hoped so for Justin and her sakes.
He finally reached them and reached for her hand, “Jessica! It was so good to have you in service this morning.”
“Thank, Pastor. It felt good to be here.” She was smiling and looked completely at ease.
Jeremy looked at Justin and smiled, “You two look good together.”
“Thanks.” Justin looked at Jessica and then back to the pastor. Lowering his voice so that his words wouldn’t carry far, he said, “I imagine we’ll be coming to see you sometime in the near future. Just as soon as we work out a few more details.”
Jeremy raised a brow, “Does that mean…”
Justin shook his head, “Not yet, but that’s where this is going. Just thought I’d give you fair warning.”
“Consider me duly warned.” Jeremy turned back to Jessica, who was having a spirited conversation with some of his younger members of the congregation. Students from her classroom. He watched for a moment, pleased to see the rapport she had already developed with the next generation.
He tapped her on the shoulder and when she turned, he smiled, “Jessica, again, it was a pleasure. Enjoy lunch you two.”
Mason and Kaillar had been standing off to the side and heard their brother’s veiled remarks. Pulling Justin to the side, Kaillar asked, “Are you seriously considering marrying Jessica?”
Justin nodded his head, “Yes. I know it’s too soon to ask her right now, but that won’t always be the case.”
Mason slapped him on the shoulder, “Well, just so you know, I’m fully on board with that idea. Jessica is great and she makes you smile.”
“Thanks, brother. Now, let’s go grab some food. I saw Mrs. Hathaway earlier walking into the kitchen with three different pies.”
Kaillar rubbed his stomach and laughed, “I hope one of them is pecan. She makes it like nobody else I know.”
Mason started to agree, but then the face of an angel from his past filled his vision. Gracie Shelton. The girl who’d stolen his heart at the beginning of high school and then left town without a word. Her mother had made the best pecan pie, and more than once, Gracie had snuck an extra piece out of the house and they’d had it with their lunch
He didn’t know why he was thinking about her now, as he hadn’t done so for a while. She’d been gone for more than eight years, but he smiled at the memory, and then pushed the hurt it left behind away. His Uncle Jed had spent many nights talking to him after she’d left. He’d finally come to terms with the fact that at the tender age of fourteen, Gracie was at the whimsy of her parents. She’d had no choice but to leave town when they did, and deep inside Mason had always hoped she’d come back. When she was an adult. That hope was still there, but he’d managed to bury it deep beneath the chores and responsibilities of day-to-day life.
Inwardly sighing, he pushed those memories aside. Today was a day for celebrating, not reminiscing about a past you couldn’t change. A time to be thankful for the things you did have, not the things you didn’t.
They all headed over to the kitchen area and Mason was just about to sit down and start eating when Sarah joined them with a worried look up on her face. The forty something widow owned and operated the only motel and boarding house in Silver Springs. She was as level-headed as they come, and seeing her so worried had all three men standing up and taking notice.
Kai was the first to speak up, “Hey Sarah. What’s up? You look awfully worried for such a nice afternoon.”
“I am worried. I have three young women who are supposed to be staying tonight, but they haven’t called or shown up yet.”
“They’re probably just taking their time. Where were they coming in from?”
“Denver.”
“Well, I wouldn’t get too worried yet. Why were they coming up here?”
“Something about taking some pictures from the top of Maroon Peak.”
“What?!” Mason exclaimed. “It’s pure stupidity to think that you can climb Maroon Peak this time of year. Especially with a storm about to arrive.”
“I know. I have a feeling that something is terribly wrong.”
Mason wasn’t one for believing in women’s intuition, but in this instance, he felt a sense of urgency to locate the women and ensure that they were someplace safe and warm. Stepping to the side, he placed a quick phone call, and the sense of dread he felt magnified a hundredfold.
“Hey Kai! I just got off the phone with the ranger at the station. She said three women headed up to the top of Maroon Peak around ten o’clock this morning.”
“What?! Why would they do that? Didn’t they check the weather?” Kaillar, otherwise known as Kai to his family and friends, shook his head in disbelief. He and his brothers operated the only guide service and tourist lodge in the area. Maroon Peak was their stomping grounds.
The mountain was not an easy climb in good weather, and with a major winter storm due to roll in, no one should be up on the side of that mountain. Not intentionally, or even deliberately. The mountains could get nasty in a hurry, and even seasoned climbers knew better than to hike in this weather.
Kaillar, the middle of the three brothers, headed for the door to the outside, stepping back in a few seconds later, shaking the
snowflakes from his hair. “It’s getting pretty nasty out there already. Visibility on the mountain has got to be nil.”
Mason raised a brow and then shook his head, muttering about stupid tourists and foolish women. Mason was twenty-two, with dark hair and deep blue eyes. He was also in charge of the local search and rescue team, and if there were two women lost on the mountain, it would fall to him and his brothers to find them.
“I hope they took shelter,” he murmured, looking out the large picture window that overlooked the mountain beyond.
“What do you think?” Kaillar asked, taking a seat at a nearby table.
“Did the ranger happen to say which way they were going to ascend?”
“The Northern Trailhead. One of the women is a photographer and the park ranger told them about the eagle’s nest at the top.”
Mason nodded, “Wonderful.” His voice laced with sarcasm that belied his words. “Well, at least that way has some flat ground about midway up. Hopefully they saw the storm clouds gathering and took shelter.”
Justin nodded his head as well, “Think we should try to go find them before we lose the daylight?”
Mason and Kaillar looked at each other and then sighed. “Yeah. We’ll go. You stay here and man the radio, just in case we find the worst.”
Mason grabbed a plate and headed for the food tables, “Let me grab a piece of pie and we can head up to the cabin. We’ll need our gear.”
Kaillar joined him and a few minutes later, they were ready to head out. Sarah followed them out, and then pulled Mason aside.
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