by Marisa Logan
Trace seemed happy with her plan and lowered his head for her to put the bridle on him. Stepping up on a hay bale, she got on his back and off they went. At first she rode around the house, but the path towards the airfield beckoned to her so she made the turn and headed for that clearing. Trace plodded through the snow as effortlessly as if he was walking through shallow water. Her heavy boots swung against the horse’s haunches keeping her level on his back like a pair of pendulums.
She traversed the airfield and came to a path that was worn down with tracks. She leaned over to see if she could figure out who or what was using the trail. Her first thought was moose, but then she realized it must have been a herd of caribou. Hoping to catch sight of them, she urged Trace down the trail and eagerly searched the trees around them for any other signs.
Focused on following the tracks, Lauren forgot to pay attention to where she was going and didn’t realize that she’d crossed several other well-worn pathways. They’d traveled several miles before she caught sight of the flash of a caribou tail just ahead. Urging Trace forward, she tried her best to catch up to the herd. Despite her efforts the animals stayed about the same distance ahead of them leading her on a wild ‘bou chase.
Two thoughts suddenly burst to the forefront of her mind with the force of a knockout punch. First, it was already starting to get dark and she didn’t have any kind of light with her and secondly, wolves were known to follow the caribou herds and she didn’t have any kind of weapon either. Both thoughts carried enough impact to stop her in her tracks. ‘Standing on the tracks’ is always a bad idea, to pun a metaphor, but it’s a sure place to get hit by a train. Her ‘train’ of thought led her to an even greater problem….she was lost.
Sheer terror threatened to overcome her in that moment, but she knew this was no time to lose her head. She dared to hope she could follow Trace’s path back the way they had come. She was sure they hadn’t come that far. Carefully searching the ground she tried to pick up the trail. They weaved about in the snow for several minutes before she realized they were simply going in circles. It was getting dark a lot faster than she was making any progress towards home.
Considering her fight with Amber and the way she’d gone off without a word, there was little hope that anyone would come looking for her anytime soon. She’d be a popsicle long before a search party came her way, even if there was anyone to launch a search party.
With the adrenaline pumping into her system, she started to hear rustling in the trees all around her and it took every bit of restraint she had not to give in to her panic and fear. She struggled to think of a solution to surviving her stupidity. This was one time she’d have to agree with Carson about a ‘cheechako’ moment. She’d just topped every silly thing she’d ever done before, with this single act.
As she sorted through everything she’d learned about survival in the wilderness, she remembered something Mr. Dorman had told her when they first started riding. He’d told her that Trace was the only one of the three horses that could find his way home. The one caveat was that she had to drop the reins to the ground and completely trust him to do it by himself.
She also remembered her sarcastic thought about trusting any male. It seemed that the only way she could survive this mistake was to eat those words and do what Mr. Dorman had said.
She leaned forward to have a talk with Trace. He laid his ears back and seemed to listen but as she urged him to get them home, he just stood there waiting for her direction. It appeared there was no way around that caveat. Tossing up a quick prayer that she was doing the right thing, she steeled herself against every broken promise, every betrayal and every deception she could remember, and she dropped the reins.
Immediately, Trace started walking. It wasn’t the direction she would have chosen, but she dared not try and reach for the reins lest she fall off. Even if Trace didn’t run away, she didn’t have much chance of getting back on him out here. He walked steadily for an hour and when it was full on dark, he kept on walking.
Lauren took in small sips of air as the temperature dropped and hunched herself down as close to the horse as she dared to stay warm. She didn’t understand how the horse knew where he was going, but it was clear he was heading somewhere. The cold and the dark mixed with the adrenaline crash made her feel so sleepy and she struggled to stay awake. Her heavy boots were keeping her feet warm and her body balanced.
It wasn’t until they were standing in front of the barn that she realized they were home. The sound of barking and howling brought back all of her fears as thoughts of wolves overwhelmed her, but then the door opened and Sergei and Amber came rushing out. He was there to catch her as she gave in and fainted from exhaustion and it was his strong arms that carried her back into the house.
***
It was late afternoon the next day, when Lauren finally woke up in her own bed. She could hear the sound of quiet voices coming from the kitchen, but couldn’t make out who was talking. The details of the previous 24 hours were slow in coming back, but there was clearly nothing wrong with her memory. She spent a few minutes flexing her fingers and toes, then worked her way through her arms and legs without finding any problems. Apparently, she hadn’t done any harm to herself physically.
Emotionally, there were some questions as the last thing she remembered before waking up was the feel of strong arms cradling her against a powerful chest. She wasn’t given over to fits of fainting or histrionics like her mother, but she was sure she fainted last night. She reasoned it was probably because of her extreme stress and exhaustion. She hoped that explanation would suffice for her weakness. There wasn’t any way to explain away her abject stupidity.
She was starting to get out of bed when her door was pushed open and Amber looked in on her. She got a brief glimpse of Sergei’s worried face behind her cousin before he slipped back to the kitchen. Both of them were looking relieved to finally see her awake.
“Oh, I see you’re finally awake,” Amber said hesitantly. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lauren sighed.
Suddenly she remembered the real hero of this story.
“Is Trace okay,” she asked with a tremor in her voice. “I didn’t hurt him, did I?”
“He’s fine,” Amber assured her as she came to sit next to her cousin on the bed. “Sergei rubbed him down and gave him some extra oats last night. I’m sure he’s right as rain today.”
The two women were quiet as they considered the events of the past couple of days and their parting words.
“I’m sorry,” they both said at once. “This was all my fault…” and they laughed.
Sergei appeared in the open doorway again with a cup of tea in his hand and a bemused look on his face. Lauren was overwhelmed with his presence in her bedroom and turned her face away shyly. Amber took the cup from him and pressed it into Lauren’s hand.
“Here, drink this,” she said. “It will make you feel better.”
Lauren took a sip of the warm tea and realized that she hadn’t eaten anything at all since yesterday morning. Her stomach gave out a loud grumble which caused both women to start laughing again. Sergei had already fled back to the kitchen.
“I think I need more than a cup of tea,” she said. “I’m starving!”
“Well, come on. Let’s go find you something to eat! You might want to throw on a robe or something first,” Amber called back as she went to the kitchen.
Lauren looked down at the baggy t-shirt and sweats she was wearing and groaned. Ugh, she thought, there’s no way Sergei’s going to forget seeing me looking like this. She almost crawled back into bed and pulled the pillow over her head, but her stomach rumbled again, reasserting priority. She figured a robe would have to do for now.
As she staggered into the kitchen, she found Sergei and Amber standing close together in front of the wood stove. Their eyes were fixed on each other and neither of them heard her come in with her booties. She cleared her throat to alert them to her pres
ence. They both turned to her with a start and then hurried to get busy with other things. She sat down at the table where someone had been eating some goat cheese and crackers and helped herself.
She’d eaten everything on the plate when she realized that Amber’s mug was in her usual spot and her usual place was empty. With a start, she figured out she was eating off of Sergei’s plate. She looked up to find him watching her with a grin on his face.
“Good stuff, eh,” he said.
Amber turned from the counter with a sandwich and a cup of soup when she realized what Lauren had done. She started to laugh and that set them all off. Lauren offered him his chair and his empty plate, but he waved her off and grabbed another plate from the cupboard and some more bread and cheese. It was clear to Lauren that he knew his way around their kitchen.
The three of them sat down and started piecing together the events of the past twenty-four hours. Each of them only knew a part of the whole story and it took all three of them to put it all together.
It seemed that Sergei had shown up some time after Lauren set off on her little ride. After checking on the animals and finding the eggs hadn’t been collected or the goats milked, he came to the house to check on the two women. He didn’t notice that Trace was missing. Finding Amber asleep in her bedroom, he took a quick look around for Lauren. When he didn’t find her, he woke Amber to try and figure out what was going on.
Amber had no idea that Lauren had left the homestead and she didn’t feel like looking for her so she told Sergei, Lauren probably was just hiding out somewhere nursing her hurt feelings. The two of them took care of the chores and it wasn’t until they were putting out food for the horses that they realized Trace was gone. Neither of them had any idea of where to begin looking for either Lauren or the horse and it was getting dark.
Now it was Lauren’s turn to fill in the blanks from her side and she really didn’t want to tell them what she had done. There wasn’t any way to sugarcoat her part of the story. Swallowing hard, she began to relate her tale. She didn’t try to explain away her bad judgment or lack of forethought. She just told them what happened step by step.
Both of them were silent as she talked and although Amber’s eyes expressed her fear, doubt and occasional flashes of anger, she kept it all in check. Sergei was careful to conceal all of his thoughts and feelings throughout her story. When she was done, she expected to receive a lecture about everything she’d done wrong but the others stayed quiet as they absorbed her harrowing tale.
Finally, Sergei reached across the table and put his hands over the hand of each of the women and looked both of them intently.
“The moral of the story is this, you’re safe and you’ve learned many things, nothing more to say.”
Amber started to protest, but he gently squeezed her hand and put his finger to her lips.
“Shhh…” was all he said and Amber was quiet.
Lauren chuckled a bit inside as she noted how the mysterious Russian had somehow worked his magic on her cousin. It appeared his talents weren’t limited to horses and dogs.
Chapter 11
The next few weeks passed in a blur and one day they woke up to the sound of water dripping from the edges of the roof. The snow was finally starting to melt. The sun was shining nearly all day now and the horses spent more time outside than in the barn. Everyone was eager for spring to come. Sergei had become a regular visitor and shared at least one meal a day with the women.
Lauren recognized the budding relationship between Amber and him had been slowly coming together from the first time she saw him ride up on his horse. He’d taken the two women back to his homestead a couple of times to show them the home and the workshop his parents had built. Sharing photos of them, he told them the tragic story of their lives and their deaths. Falling in love with someone didn’t always guarantee a happy ending.
Carson came with the news of the Dorman’s return in a month’s time as their research had finished a bit earlier than expected. That unleashed a flurry of spring cleaning as they wanted to return the homestead in the condition it was in when they came. Theirs was more a labor of love than a chore as their spirits soared with the warming days and sunshine.
One evening Lauren sat in front of her dusty laptop and contemplated her return to Boston. She was ready to go back.
She’d had her adventure and kept her vow, but now it was time to move on with her life and get back to the business of living. Alaska was wonderful, but it wasn’t for her. She’d always been more of a city girl than her cousin Amber. She wouldn’t be happy out here trying to survive the hazards and perils of this harsh and sometimes, unforgiving land year after year. Her great American novel would just have to be written in some other part of the world.
Chapter 12
Lauren turned from her desk to look out the window. The view towards the harbor was fantastic and she couldn’t look at it often enough. She had to admit that she sometimes missed the mountains and the acres of forest, but she had plenty of pictures on her cell phone to peruse.
“Excuse me, Lauren,” her secretary said. “You have a visitor in the lobby downstairs. Shall I have him escorted up?”
“Please do,” Lauren said without turning around.
She was expecting a junior reporter for an interview.
A slight cough from the doorway startled her and she looked up into familiar brown eyes.
“Grady!” she exclaimed as she jumped up and ran around her desk to give him a hug.
He seemed a bit taken aback by her exuberance, but welcomed the hug and gave it back in equal measure.
“What are you doing here and how did you find me,” she asked, her questions running together.
He laughed and raised up both hands.
“I confess,” he said. “I’m here looking for you and I got your contact information from your cousin Amber. She and Sergei were in Anchorage shopping for a wedding dress or something. I just moved to Boston and since you’re the only person I know here, I knew I needed a friend.”
“Well, you’ve successfully found me and you’ve got a friend. We don’t have an Alaskan word like cheechako for people that are new to Boston, but there’s plenty of pitfalls for the unwary in the big city. It’s always good to have friends.”
“Since you put it that way,” Grady said, “how about I take you to lunch and you can fill me in on some of those pitfalls.”
“Actually, I can’t do lunch as I have an interview scheduled in a few minutes, but I’d love to take you to dinner. Where are you staying?”
With a quick exchange of info, Grady headed out as Lauren’s secretary brought in her interviewee. As Grady passed her, the secretary mouthed to Lauren, he’s cute. Lauren suppressed a grin as Grady turned at the door to wave a quick good-bye. She hoped that her face wasn’t too red as she tried to put on her professional demeanor.
***
Lauren selected a nice restaurant with an eclectic menu. There wasn’t any ‘bou stew’, but she figured they’d find something interesting to eat. Choosing a dark blue fitted dress with a sparkly necklace and high heels made her feel feminine and mysterious, but not too formal. She wanted Grady to see more than the woman he’d come to know in some of her worst moments.
The restaurant was within walking distance of his hotel so they arranged to meet there. Grady came in right at the appointed time in a carefully pressed suit and tie. He was clearly attempting to upgrade her impression of him also. He greeted her as an old friend with a simple kiss on the cheek and a half hug. She’d already ordered the wine and the waiter filled their glasses as they sat down.
At first, they acted stiff and formal as befitting their surroundings, but as they filled in each other on all that had happened to them since they’d last seen each other, the unfamiliar fell away and their friendship was renewed. By the time they reached dessert, they were old friends and laughed together easily.
“You know Grady,” Lauren began. “I really didn’t think I was eve
r going to see you again.”
“I couldn’t let that happen,” Grady said, “It’s really hard to find a good Scrabble partner that makes great hot cocoa.”
At that moment, their waiter showed up with the check. Lauren reached for it, but Grady beat her to the grab.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he said. “This was my treat remember. You’ve cooked plenty of meals for me already.”
“But none of them ever came up to the standard of ‘bou stew’, she said with a grin.
“I don’t know about that. You were a pretty quick study on that dish,” he shot back.
As the waiter returned with the receipt and Grady’s credit card, he said, “Thank you Mr. Grady. Please come back and visit us again soon,” before he walked away.
“Mister Grady,” Lauren queried, “What’s that about?”
“Sorry. I guess I never told you. Grady’s my last name, but everyone’s always called me that, so it’s more like a nickname or something.”
Putting on her best TV cop voice, Lauren said, “I want to see some I.D. Mister.”
Laughing, Grady flipped open his wallet and revealed his Alaska driver’s license.
Lauren grabbed it out of his hand to examine it more closely.
“Dylan P. Grady,” she read out loud. “Your first name’s Dylan?”
Lauren sat back in her chair in total surprise.
“So, what’s the P. for?” she ventured to ask.
Leaning forward to take her hand, Grady grinned and said, “I think that’s a subject for our next date and then we can talk about what it will take to convince you to become Mrs. Grady.”
