Magic in the Mountains

by Donna Kunkel

  Tonight after dinner, she quickly curled up in the blankets and fell asleep.

  The third day of chores was hard. None of her muscles agreed to do anything she wanted them to and they hurt. She filled the bucket half full and had to use both arms to lift it out of the sink. She’d take two steps, then set it down to shake out her arms, and take two more steps. Alex finally reached Anna Belle’s pen and dumped the bucket into the cow’s drinking pail. She spotted Steve leaning against his shovel, watching her.

  “You do know that whenever you set the bucket down water slops out?”

  Alex smiled as she headed back for another bucket of water. “Guess I’d better not carry the milk bucket then.” She watched him shake his head and get back to work.

  She finally finished her tasks except for collecting the eggs from those demon chickens. The speckled hen had it out for her, but she was prepared today. That hen wouldn’t be able to draw blood through an oven mitt. Alex made sure the mitt was pushed all the way on her hand to cover her wrist and lower arm. Before opening the door to the henhouse, she turned to the middle of the barn. She saluted with the mitt covered hand and entered the henhouse.

  ****

  Steve looked at the place where she last stood. She was losing it. The chores and lack of sleep had gotten to her. And why was she wearing the oven mitt? Somehow he’d have to make sure she got more sleep tonight. He watched until she emerged from the henhouse. She was grinning from ear to ear. He could have sworn she said, “That biddy didn’t get me today.” She strode back into the cabin carrying the basket of eggs.

  He finished brushing Anna Belle, “We’re going to have to keep a close eye on Alex. She isn’t used to doing farm work. I think she’s going to need our help.” He gave Anna Belle a last pat before heading back into the cabin. And for once in his life, he couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.

  Chapter 5

  Alex struggled to wake up. Was it even morning? A piece of log broke in the fireplace, shooting out a few sparks. The room had a definite chill to it, so it must be morning. She put her glasses on and squinted at the mantel clock trying to see what time it was, six o’clock.

  It was morning, but the room was still dark. Alex wrapped the quilt around her body and shuffled over to the window. After clearing off the layer of frost, she saw heavy clouds and blowing snow. More snow. She shuffled out to the barn and waited until the door clicked shut. No one could hear her out here.

  “ARGHHHHHH!” she yelled. “Won’t this snow ever stop? It’s been four days. Enough already! How much longer can this continue?”

  Anna Belle watched Alex then resumed chewing her cud.

  “Sorry, Anna Belle.” Alex moved over to Anna Belle’s stall and reached out a hand to stroke her head. “I didn’t mean to disturb your peace and quiet.”

  Anna Belle nudged her hand for more attention.

  Alex leaned against the wooden planks. “Why did I come out here and talk to you? You can’t understand me.” She scratched Anna Belle’s ears some more. “At least you always listen.” The barn door opened and Mandy bounded into the barn.

  “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing,” Steve said.

  “I was talking to Anna Belle.” She rubbed the cow’s nose.

  “Come on back in. I’ll fix you a hot chocolate.”

  Alex shuffled toward the cabin. She was a sucker for chocolate, any way, shape, or form.

  Steve checked on Anna Belle. “Was she really out here in the cold talking to you?” He gave her back a pat. “Now she has me doing it.” He turned and rushed to open the door for Alex. “Talking to a cow,” he muttered and shook his head.

  She giggled as she pulled the quilt closer.

  Alex got dressed while Steve fixed breakfast. She savored her cup of hot chocolate before heading out to the barn. When Steve had finished milking and cleaning, he headed back into the cabin. Alex had already cleaned the henhouse and fed the birds; she only needed to gather the eggs. She tried to open the door to the henhouse. She pulled and pulled on the door. Maybe I don’t have the strength to open it. She pulled harder, but it still didn’t budge. But she’d opened the door only minutes earlier. She grabbed the knob with both hands, braced her feet, and yanked hard. The door flew open, sending her sprawling on the floor. The door swung partially closed without shutting. Alex got up and started toward the door when a loud squawk erupted. She dashed behind a bale of hay just as the speckled hen hopped through the door.

  Anna Belle shifted. Alex glanced back as Anna Belle quietly moved deeper into her stall.

  Mandy whimpered and started to crawl toward Alex.

  So even Anna Belle and Mandy are afraid of the hen. Alex peered around the hay bale to check on the bird’s progress.

  The hen was high on its feet, with its neck feathers ruffled out. It let out a loud cluck.

  Mandy changed course to Anna Belle’s stall, then peeked around the edge of the stall once she was tucked inside.

  Life was too short for this. Alex started to rise to shoo the hen back but stopped. She watched the hen’s head jerking this way and that—looking for a subject to torture. Alex didn’t doubt for a minute that if the hen saw her move it would give chase. The hen strutted farther into the barn, rustling its wings and squawking as it moved.

  What kind of bird would do this? Was it possessed by a demon or just plain mean? Alex tried to remember back to the hens at school. They’d never acted like this. Those birds had been gentle and liked attention. One hen even liked to be hugged. Not this bird. Steve never had any problems with any of the birds. He was always at ease and comfortable around all the animals. How did he do it?

  Mandy whimpered faintly.

  Alex would have to do something to get the hen back into the coop.

  The hen spied something against the wall and made a beeline for it.

  Alex dashed over to the door and cracked it a little wider, then rushed back behind the hay bales.

  The hen snatched at some spiders, devouring them. One spider made a dash toward the henhouse and the hen pounced. She looked like a bird of prey the way she attacked.

  Alex almost felt sorry for the spider. And to think she could have been home enjoying a coffee or tall soda, watching TV in her warm room. But no, she was stuck here. Up at the crack of dawn trying to deal with a demon hen. She’d even miss her birthday, not that she got many gifts, but still. Daylight shone through a window. A break in the storm.

  After spending a few more minutes searching for bugs, the hen hopped back through the door. Alex dashed over and slammed the door shut. She made sure the latch was engaged, keeping the hen inside. She brushed off her hands and wiped her brow. The light dimmed. So much for the sunshine. She looked at the henhouse door. No way in hell am I going in there! Not with that demon hen.

  She tried to brush the hay off her clothes. “I can’t even do the simplest of jobs. Just collect the eggs. Yeah, right, easy for him.”

  Once the door shut, Anna Belle strode out of her pen. She leaned against Alex, knocking her over again.

  Alex sat on the floor. “I give up.” The cow put her nose down to Alex. She rubbed the cow’s muzzle. “It’s not your fault. I’m not any good at doing farm chores. I live in a big city.” She rubbed the cow’s ears. “You’re the first cow I’ve seen in ages.”

  Alex levered herself up and brushed her pants off again. She patted the cow’s back. “And now I’m talking to the cow again. I’m pathetic.” She gave Anna Belle one last pat and headed into the cabin.

  “Where’s the eggs?” Steve asked when she entered.

  “I’ll get them later. I wanted to get cleaned up.” Alex motioned to the hay sticking out of her pants, shirt, hair—everywhere. She could tell that he was working hard to cover up his laughter.

  “Guess…you’d better…at that,” he finally managed to get out.

  As she headed to the bathroom, she could barely hear him say to Mandy, “I wonder what happened now?”

  By the
time the afternoon chores came around Alex tried to act confident. Whenever one of the hens even looked like it wanted to attack, Alex would shove the bird out of the box. At least she was able to collect all the eggs. But the demon hen bit her leg when she went to leave. That bird refused to go down without a fight.

  ****

  As on previous mornings, when Mandy curled up next to her, Alex cracked an eye open. “It’s still dark,” she whispered to the dog.

  Mandy maneuvered her head even closer and licked Alex’s cheek.

  “I’m not going to get up before sunrise.”

  “Sunrise has already occurred,” Steve said as he strode out into the kitchen and began pulling pans and dishes out.

  Alex struggled up, grabbed her glasses, and wrapped the blanket around her. She waddled over to the front window and scraped some of the frost off. The dreadful changelessness. “Is it ever going to stop? I have to get home sometime,” she mumbled. She could imagine the mound of snow that enclosed her car. It would take days to dig the car out and then there were the roads. They wouldn’t be passable for weeks.

  If she had counted right, today was the fifth day, and it didn’t seem like anything had changed. If it would only stop long enough so I could walk out on the porch and breathe in some cold, crisp mountain air. But no. I’m stuck inside again. Steve might be right, she could be stranded here for a month or more. There had to be some way to get a message to her parents. Her mom’s pigeons couldn’t get through all this snow. Her family had to be worried sick.

  She could make a piece of paper fly, but only as long as she could see it. Nothing that could make it all the way to Denver, especially not her. Her specialty was picking up on people’s feelings, nothing strong enough to help in this situation. Magic couldn’t solve all problems, and she couldn’t do any magic in front of Steve. Magic had to stay secret, the number one rule. Break this rule and she could lose her powers forever. She might be trying to live as a normal, but she wanted the option to change her mind.

  Bacon was sizzling in the skillet. Bacon always made everything better. She turned away from the window and slowly moved to the kitchen table, keeping the blanket tightly wrapped. Her hips hardly moved from sleeping on the floor, but sleeping in the chairs had been worse. Her neck had kinked up and stiffened to the point of being painful. The floor was really hard. Now, every muscle hurt, even some she never knew existed. “When will I be able to get a message out?”

  He placed the meal on the table and sat down. “Once the snow stops we’ll start digging a path out from the cabin. Then when we get a clear day, my neighbor, Peter, will check on the pass. If it’s open, we’ll be able to get you to the highway by snowmobile. If there’s been an avalanche, Peter can get a message out for you.” He laid a hand over hers. “At least you’re safe, warm, and getting food.”

  She pushed her eggs around the plate with her fork. “I know. I could have been stuck out on some road by myself. It’s not that I don’t appreciate your company, I would just like to get outside for a change.”

  “It shouldn’t be too much longer before we get a break.”

  “I keep hoping,” she mumbled. She finished breakfast so she could get the chores over with. After slipping her work clothes on, she stopped in the bathroom. As she started to walk out, she glanced in the mirror. Her hair stuck out in weird angles and her shirt was buttoned wrong. “No wonder he kept looking at me this morning.” She tugged on some strands sticking up. “What a mess.”

  Steve was already in the barn by the time it took her to get straightened up. Mandy paced back and forth by the barn door, but Alex hesitated. She looked at Mandy. “It wasn’t bad enough yesterday. What am I going to do today to make a fool of myself?”

  Mandy thumped her tail and barked.

  “I know. You like having someone else to throw your balls.”

  Mandy barked again.

  “All right. Let’s get this over with. But if I see that speckled, demon hen coming toward me, I’m outta there.”

  Alex eased the solid, wood door to the barn open and peered through the six-inch gap. “It’s okay, Mandy. No hens in sight.”

  She opened the door the rest of the way and strolled in. Steve was busy cleaning Anna Belle’s stall. He hadn’t seen her peeking through the door. Now all she had to do was get the eggs. She wasn’t going to let a stupid hen get the better of her. By again donning an oven mitt, she was able to shoo the hens away and retrieve the eggs without bloodshed. But the demon hen sure did try her best to get her hand. It would wander around until Alex turned her back. Then the bird would fly at her, startling her. One time, Alex almost dropped the basket of eggs.

  Today the water buckets were almost impossible to carry. She wouldn’t let them win. Everything hurt, even her hands. If only she could take a couple of days off to rest. Anything to quit the hurting. She’d never done this much physical work, at least not without using magic to help. How could so few animals make such a mess? And it never ended. How could Steve do this day after day, year after year? After only a week, she wanted to quit. And he was lifting all the heavy bales of hay; she only had some easy chores to do.

  She might be dealing with TV withdrawal, caffeine withdrawal, and muscles aching, but she wasn’t going to complain. He’d taken her in, was feeding her, and providing her with a warm place to stay. If she’d still been out in the winter storm, she’d be dead.

  “Get moving,” she told herself. She rubbed her legs and arms trying to get her limbs loosened up. Even after moving around for a few minutes everything still hurt. When would her muscles get used to the work? It didn’t matter. She had to help him as much as she could. It was the least she could do. She owed him big time.

  Anna Belle must have been feeling some cabin fever today too. She pushed against Alex again and again. Anna Belle gave a hard shove.

  Alex flailed her arms trying to keep her balance but ending up falling right into a large cow pie. She tried to get up and her feet slipped out from under her. The more Alex tried to get up, the more she kept slipping. The crap was going everywhere.

  Steve started laughing so hard tears started rolling down.

  Alex shouted, “Well, don’t just stand there. Help me up.”

  He got his laughter under control, walked over, and held out a hand to help her up. “I’ve never seen anything so funny.”

  “That’s just great. I’ve become your entertainment now.”

  “Even you have to admit, it was funny.”

  She took his hand and he pulled her up. If only she had some of his strength. He made everything look easy. “I guess you’re right…it had to look funny.”

  He pulled her in close to his chest, smearing cow crap on his clothes. He smiled. “Why don’t you go on in and take a shower. I’ll finish up for you today.”

  She should be angry, but she was too busy watching his eyes twinkle. And his smile was priceless. Maybe her disgrace was worth it. After all, she had made his day. At least this had broken up the monotony. “Thanks.”

  He held her arm as she stepped away, then released her. Just before she reached the door, he yelled over. “Leave your dirty clothes in the hallway. I promise I won’t look while you undress. Much.”

  She could have sworn she heard him laughing again.

  ****

  By the end of the week, she was still completely exhausted, and every bone and muscle continued to ache. She kept looking out the window hoping for a change in the weather. A week of snow. The windows were coated with intricate lace patterns of frost. She traced the outline of a crystal, then swept her hand over the glass until she’d cleared a spot in the middle. The white landscape looked flat, everything blanketed with snow. The pine boughs hung down under the snow’s weight. Only bits of green needles were still visible. Each day the continuing snow had covered up more and more of the green branches. Gray light cloaked everything. She looked at the clock again. It was only two in the afternoon and it already looked like twilight.

  Ale
x finished making her cup of tea and clutched the warm mug between her chilly hands. She took a sip, savoring the aroma and tang of the black tea.

  Heaven.

  She took another sip, trying to make the drink last as long as possible. This would be her only cup for the day.

  The caffeine trickled in as she sipped more.

  God how she missed her morning caffeine fix. One mug a day wasn’t enough. It was a shame he didn’t have more tea bags. Even with only one a day, she’d run out before two weeks, then she’d have to go without. She could deal with everything else, but she wanted her caffeine.

  She trudged over to curl up in the chair and enjoy the fire’s warmth. She longed for a glimpse of the sun, even if for only a few minutes. Or even a chance to leave the cabin and breathe in the clean, cold, crisp air.

  But no, even getting out would mean hard work. They’d have to shovel out the doorways. She was trapped, literally. What had been a couple days visit with her friends had ended up becoming something else. All day long, day after day, for all week the snow seemed to keep falling. This was getting ridiculous, she didn’t care what the weather was going to be tomorrow. She was going to get out the cabin door and feel the wind on her face. At times she enjoyed being here, but all she could do was wait and wait some more. She sighed and tried to read. Her eyes refused to focus on the words, drifting shut every time she finished a paragraph.

  Thankfully, the sun peeked out by late morning. Six days with only snow. She bundled up in her warmest clothes and forced her way out the door to the front porch. The air was crisp and the snow sparkled, a wonderland. She wanted to sit on the top step to the porch, but the snow had already buried them in a deep drift. The covered porch only had six inches of snow so she could walk across it. Instead of tromping through the snow, she stood there and enjoyed the clear air. She had to get word to someone. Her family, friends, and employer would be worried by now. At least she got the chance to inhale some fresh air before she went crazy. Within ten minutes a new storm front moved in dropping more snow and bitterly cold air. She reluctantly returned to the cabin.