Defending Home

by Jeffrey Miller

“I just want him here,” Ben said, sounding alone.

  *****

  Near the Ranger station

  Nate slowed down the ATV because of a fallen tree. The snow had accumulated so much that its weight brought down a few across the path. He maneuvered around the tree carefully into the woods. Finally, he was able to get the ATV back on the trail. If it wasn’t for the fact that this was such an important thing, Nate was having a blast even though it was freezing outside. It would not be long before they arrived near the ranger station. He had already decided to take the long road in that was a road up to the station, he did that so they would see him coming. He was sure they would be watching for anyone and wouldn’t recognize him until he was closer.

  They turned onto the long road that led up to the cabin, and he felt more ground than snow under his wheels.

  “Is that that station?” Sammie asked.

  Nate nodded a yes.

  “It’s not what I remember; looks much smaller,” Sammie replied.

  She was much younger the last time she had been up this way. Nate picked up speed toward the cabin. He didn’t see any smoke rising from the chimney. With weather this cold, that was a very odd thing. As he got closer, he realized the cars where now gone as well. As he pulled up, he could now see that the entire camp was cleaned up and it appeared no one stayed behind. In some ways he was surprised, but he knew they really were not that far from home. He wondered how they got enough fuel for the trip, but some things would never be known. He was happy for them. He remembered that he was once stuck far from home, and knew the drive he had to return. Nate and Sammie both got off the ATV and slowly walked around. Nate had his hand on his pistol the entire time. The only sound was coming from some far-off elk in the woods. He wondered how much they ended up leaving behind.

  “Where is everyone? Did they leave?” Sammie asked.

  Nate was walking up to the door of the cabin, pistol now drawn just to be safe. Sammie stayed down the steps. Nate slowly opened the door, knowing that if there was someone inside, they surely knew he was here.

  He opened the door and inside there was nothing but clutter and a few pieces of clothing.

  “I think they went home; back to North Dakota. They must have found some extra fuel or something. They had two cars before. Well, I am happy for them. I worried how they would make it up here through the long winter,” Nate replied.

  “Dang, I was hoping to meet this Audrey you rescued,” Sammie said, seeming to be a little jealous.

  Nate caught the hint of jealousy and smiled at Sammie.

  “You are jealous?” Nate asked.

  Sammie’s eyes lit up; realizing that he caught her remark. “Of course not. Do I need to be?” she asked.

  Nate laughed and his laughed echoed in the cabin.

  “No, not at all. She was barely older than Nicole. Not my type,” he replied, running his ungloved hand over the table to remove the dust.

  “That’s legal age then! What is your type?” she asked, smiling.

  “My type? Well, I usually like them with blond and bold Dallas style hairdos.” Nate stopped and laughed.

  Sammie was walking up fast to him now.

  “You are my type; brash, outspoken, and full of zest!” Nate quickly added.

  “Good answer,” she said, starting to kiss him. After a minute or so, their lips parted and he held her in his arms.

  “How long do you think they have been gone?” Sammie asked, still in his arms.

  “A while…judging from the dust on the table, I bet they left shortly after we found Audrey. Let’s look around and see if they left anything we can use.”

  Both walked around the cabin looking for items. Mostly what were left were small non-important things, used up items. They looked through all the rooms and found nothing.

  Nate started to wonder if they took the Russian priest with them. He obviously wasn’t left behind, and Nate couldn’t see even that man wanting to be left to his own deep in the woods.

  “Come on, let’s go look outside. They have a storage shed, I think there might be a few things in it,” Nate said.

  Walking outside and around the corner, Nate could see one ATV covered in snow. He walked up to it and waved away the snow. The fuel cap was on. He removed it, but the gas was gone. Sammie stayed behind him and followed him to the shed. The doors were blocked shut with snowdrifts. Nate yanked hard, and the doors flew open. Inside, were two more ATVs, and all the gas cans were empty. Nate recognized one of the ATVs as the one the Russian had used. The Father must have helped them get more gas from somewhere, and they used it to leave. With nothing there that they could use, they would need to move on to the ranger cabin the Russians held.

  Chapter 11

  The Bear in Hibernation

  The trip to the Russian cabin, as Nate called it, would be a little more treacherous than it had been before due to all the snow. They were traveling slow, but steady, getting higher in elevation. Nate was thinking about the ATVs that were left behind, and figured maybe they could retrieve them in the spring with some of the fuel they had stockpiled. Nate was soon to approach the area where he was almost overran and killed. He hoped the bodies were covered well with snow. He didn’t want Sammie to see the carnage. As they entered the area, he saw a small cross in the ground sticking up out of the snow. Then he saw another one, followed by several more. He stopped.

  “They must have come back up here and buried them. That’s good,” Nate said somberly. Even enemies deserve to be buried,” he said.

  Sammie didn’t say anything. She hadn’t ever been in a war, or exposed to the kind of battles that she had seen at home in the recent past.

  Slowly, Nate pulled away now and headed the same way he did, from behind the cabin, after securing Audrey. The path was much flatter and didn’t take much time to reach the open field behind the cabin. Something was different; there was smoke coming from the cabin’s chimney.

  “Well, it seems someone is living there after all,” Nate said as they approached it slowly. He honked the horn to get the attention of whoever lived inside. In a few seconds, a short man wearing a Chicago Bears coat stepped out the back door. He was unarmed. Nate smiled back at Sammie who was confused.

  Nate pulled up and came to a stop. The man was clean-shaven and looked very young.

  “Well, I must say you look much younger without the beard,” Nate stated. The man smiled and walked toward both of them.

  “I got tired of the thing and figured I needed a break,” the man said with a heavy Russian accent.

  “Sammie, this is Father Mikhail Serdyukov,” Nate introduced.

  The Father stood at the small wood burning stove inside the cabin. Nate and Sammie were seated at the small wood table waiting for him. He brought over three small cups of hot tea. He pulled up his chair and sat. The cabin was so warm that neither Nate nor Sammie needed their coats on. It looked so different than it did before. It felt more like a resort cabin in the woods rather than a ranger station.

  “So, you went by to see Dillon and the family, and found out that they left? What brings you out here, Nate?” the father asked.

  Nate sipped on the hot tea then replied.

  “My son…Father, he is sick. We are not certain if it is something bad or not, but we need medicine. I came to see them because I thought you were with them; but now I find you here.”

  The Father looked confused.

  “What can I do other than pray; which I will happily do. I am not a doctor,” he replied.

  “You once told Audrey that you found a cabin deep in the mountains with a variety of supplies and medical stuff, making you believe the person who owned it may have been a doc,” Nate stated.

  “Ahh…I see. Yes, I did find a place like that. It is possible that it may have what you need…and more. It’s a good day’s trip from here; even on the four-wheeler. That day we met, I didn’t make it all the way to the cabin for my return trip. The river you crossed was too high that day, and I didn’
t wish to be gone long that day,” the Russian replied.

  “Have you been back since?” Nate asked.

  The Father put down his tea and looked at Sammie, and then back to Nate.

  “No, I have not. It’s too far for me on foot, and I have no fuel. It would take me two days to get there and frankly, I don’t have the energy now.” he replied.

  “Are you able to draw us up a map? I live around the area, I might know about where this is,” Sammie asked.

  Mikhail looked at Sammie and smiled.

  “Of course I can. One of my many talents in the Army was studying maps,” he replied.

  Sammie removed from her back pocket a map of the state and laid it out on the table.

  “I brought one just in case,” she said, smiling.

  The Father opened the map up and quickly found the area they were in. He got up, went to a small drawer, and removed a pen. Nate was looking at the map himself when he came back to the table.

  “I will show you where about it is, but without having a higher detailed layout, I will have to hand draw a map from this location. I will use primarily landmarks such as rivers, other empty cabins, and clearings along with mountains,” he replied as he began drawing out a separate map on a piece of paper. After about five minutes, the hand-drawn map was complete.

  “You two should have no problem finding the place now. I do wish I could go along with you; but honestly, I’m afraid I may be sick,” he said, looking over at the handmade ashtray. In it was a long cigar.

  “One of the many bad things we Russians like to indulge in are good vodka and cigars,” he added.

  Nate nodded. He wasn’t a smoker, but he did like good quality vodka with some orange juice.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Nate replied.

  “What makes you think you are sick?” Sammie asked.

  “She is a nurse,” Nate added.

  “Well, I have been coughing up some blood. That cannot be a good thing. It has become harder to breathe and I am tired a lot,” he replied.

  “I understand; it is hard to say, without having modern medical diagnostic abilities, what exactly it could be,” Sammie replied.

  “Oh, I am certain it’s lung Cancer,” Mikhail said calmly and without hesitation.

  “You see…I was diagnosed with it a few years ago. My family knew it. So, when they were threatened to be taken if I did not come on this mission, I said my goodbyes to them and left. It is all good. I am ready when God wants me,” he said, placing his hands on each of them.

  “What would be better is for you to get home,” Nate said.

  “How am I supposed to do that, my son? I guess I can start walking north and sneak past the polar bears and swim the thawed out North Pole?” he replied.

  The silence that followed was interrupted by laughter from both Nate and the Father. Sammie didn’t think it was funny.

  “I guess we soldiers are the only ones who can appreciate the humor of that, Nate,” he said looking at a still confused Sammie.

  “Well Mikhail, I would love to stay longer, but we still have daylight enough to possibly make it to that cabin,” Nate said.

  “I wish you both luck. I will be here, and I hope…around for some time,” the tired father stated.

  “We will swing back through and check on you,” Nate said.

  They all stood, and Mikhail shook Nate’s hand.

  He turned to Sammie.

  “I can see that you have found a strong woman, Nate. Keep her safe,” Mikhail said as he politely shook Sammie’s hand.

  “She is a keeper,” Nate allowed himself to say.

  “Ah yes, much like the fishing term; I get it,” Mikhail said, seriously not realizing that really wasn’t how Nate meant it. Fortunately, Sammie didn’t take it the wrong way.

  Mikhail put his coat on as did the others. He then opened the door for them both and escorted them outside to the ATV.

  “You be on your guard, Nate; not from people, but this weather. I am from a very cold nation and I can tell you I feel it in my bones that we are due for a really brutal winter soon,” he informed both of them.

  “Thanks for the heads up, I will be careful. You take care, and we will see you soon,” Nate said, helping Sammie climb aboard the vehicle.

  “Stay warm, Father. It was nice to meet you,” Sammie said from behind Nate as he fired up the ATV. Nate gave it some gas and warmed up the engine. In moments, he was pulling away, not sure if he would ever see the Father alive again. For now, he would try to think more about Ben and hope the best for the Russian bear.

  Chapter 12

  Out in the Cold

  For once, Nate was very glad to have someone with him, especially someone that was able to help him stay warm. The Father was correct; something was blowing in from the north. It was coming down very hard now with snowflakes as large as silver dollars. Nate turned to look at Sammie whose face was now covered with a ski mask. He gave it to her to wear to help stay warm. The snowflakes were sticking to the mask. She could only wink an eye at him to say she was ok. In fact, she wasn’t. Her hands, even with gloves on, were becoming numb. Her legs were starting to get cold even with thermal underwear under her khaki style pants. Nate wasn’t much better. He had made it past the first marker on Mikhail’s map, but things were slowing up. He wasn’t sure how long either of them could keep going.

  The driving force in his head was Ben. He wondered how he was. He worried about the little guy a lot. When he first met Ben, it was different. He never planned, at first, to take him on as a son. That quickly changed in his mind. Ben was a son to him now; and like any father, Nate would do anything for Ben…especially when confronted with an illness. However, he wouldn’t be of much help to Ben if he were sick, injured, or even worse. They had to find a place to stop.

  Nate turned to Sammie and spoke loudly.

  “I’m going to find a place to make camp. We can’t risk things any longer,” Nate informed her, and she nodded in agreement.

  Nate looked ahead and tried to see or find any place that could act as a shelter or break them against the falling snow. Up ahead, he saw a small ravine with two slopes that would provide a good wind block. Nate steered to the area and cruised up, doing a circle around the area first to make certain it would work. He also wanted it to be a tall enough slope to help cover the snow from building too much on the tarp he brought to cover the ATV. When he was sure it would work, Nate pulled in between the two slopes that were in the shape of the letter V, and he parked the ATV. The area was small, but high on both sides. He spotted a few flat rocks on one side that didn’t have much snow on them yet. That was a good sign and he could use the stones.

  “Ok, this will do,” he said, looking back at Sammie who seemed confused. She had not camped in the winter and only knew they would be in a tent…she hoped.

  They removed the three tarps Nate had brought. He laid one tarp on the ground. Sammie took the tent out of the sleeve it was in, and unrolled it for Nate on the tarp that was on the ground. It was a fast setup tent. The tent was especially made for winter camping, and Nate had owned it for some time. It was long and narrow with a silicon coating that helped keep it weather proof in their current conditions. In a few minutes, Nate had it up. The zipper pulls glowed in the dark. He faced the tent toward the V shape of the two slopes to help keep them out of the increasing cold winds.

  Nate moved the ATV closer to the rear of the tent and covered it with the other tarp once they removed the gear. There was enough room left near the entrance for Nate to construct a fire. He unfolded the dark green Army style shovel, and dug out a hole until he found the ground underneath. Just as he suspected, it was rock. He walked over to the several flat stones sticking up on the edge of the slope and removed them. Next, he laid them in the hole he made. He now placed the wood he brought down into the hole. He removed several shavings of fillings of wood from the smaller pieces until he had a small soft bundle to light and place under the larger wood logs. First, he neede
d to cut down some more wood. He removed a small folded handsaw, walked over to a nearby small tree, and started removing branches.

  Sammie was now inside the tent unfolding the rolled up sleeping bags, and the two thick rolled pads. Both were the air cell types that needed to be inflated. She made fast work of them and placed the sleeping bags on them. Nate walked over with the wood and used a Bic lighter to set the small bundle on fire, then placed it under the smaller branches. It didn’t take long for it to catch and grow larger.

  Sammie crawled out of the tent.

  “I have everything inside all set up like you said. This should be pretty warm, right?” she asked, having no real experience camping in a snowstorm.

  “Yes, it’s made for this, and so are the sleeping bags. We will be very cozy I’m sure,” he replied, reassuring her of the night to come.

  “So, what’s for dinner?” she asked.

  “Fettuccini Alfredo with chicken,” Nate said, holding up two Backpackers Pantry brand food packs.

  Sammie laughed.

  “Sounds great to me, I love Italian food in the snow,” she replied.

  The fire was going well. It would help radiate the area, keeping them both a little extra warm. The food was nearly done, having only to take mere minutes to prepare the water. Nate boiled the water for the two dehydrated bags. Using a specially made grip, he poured the water into the bags and let them sit until ready.

  “I must say these are pretty tasty,” Sammie said, sitting on the third tarp just outside the tent. The snow had stopped falling, but it was still very cold as night fell.

  “They are one of my favorites. I had them left over from the trip back home. I was saving them for a special occasion,” Nate said, stuffing more food into his mouth.

  “So, this is a special occasion?” Sammie asked.

  “Yes, it is. It’s our real first date. We are alone and eating Italian,” Nate stated.

  They finished up their meals and cleaned up the mess. Nate placed a few thicker logs he had sawed off from a fallen tree onto the fire. It wasn’t too close to the tent to cause harm, but it was warm enough to provide some thermal benefits. It was time to get some rest.