Magic in the Mountains

by Donna Kunkel

  “See what I mean. I might be stupid when it comes to chickens, but at least with the mitt on I can get the eggs.” She opened the henhouse door and strode in. Alex had made some progress. Half the hens would willingly let her collect the eggs, all but those brown birds. They refused to co-operate. With the mitt, she could get the eggs. Now that she’d gathered the eggs, she removed the mitt to spread some corn kernels.

  She dug her hand in the grain bucket and scattered a handful. She reached in again to get the last handful. As soon as she pulled her hand out, a pop shushed the hens. A piece of popcorn fell to the floor. Another kernel popped. She dropped the grain before any more changed. How hard could it be to scatter grain? She should know by now, nothing had turned out easy here. She’d adjust to one thing then something else would happen. What would go wrong next?

  ****

  Alex left the coop, rushed over to him, and pointed to the blood. “What happened?”

  “It’s nothing.” Steve pulled his arm back.

  “It might be; let me clean and dress it for you. You don’t want to get blood everywhere.” Alex strode into the cabin. Steve followed her in and found her waiting by the sink. She held out her hand to him.

  Steve started rolling up his sleeve as he headed over to her. “I’m only doing this so you’ll quit buggin’ me.” He held his forearm under the faucet while she washed it. He patted the wound dry with a paper towel and headed over to the table to sit down. He kept pressure on the slice while she went to the bathroom to get bandages.

  Why was he letting her fuss over him like this? It wasn’t that big of a cut, he’d barely noticed when he did it. He watched her every move as she cut some strips of tape and stuck them to a non-stick pad. She nudged his hand away, replacing the paper towel with the dressing. Her fingers slid across the strips of tape. The tape would be a bitch when he had to pull it off, but it was worth it. Her touch was electrifying. He’d have to get her to touch him more often. Her fingers strayed farther up his arm and she traced one of his scars with a light touch.

  “What made this scar? It’s so big,” she said as she continued to finger the mark.

  “A bear,” he quietly answered.

  “You got this from a bear? It was that close?”

  He inclined his head. “She didn’t want to go away.”

  “And you were able to chase it away even after this?”

  He shrugged.

  “Is that why you have such heavy doors and shutters over the windows?”

  He paused. “Yeah, to keep bears out.”

  “Do you also use those shackles in the storage area?”

  “If I have to.” He shifted a little in his chair. “I can shoot an animal with a sedative, then use the shackles as a safety measure, while I relocate the animal.”

  She trailed a finger over the scar one more time before she yanked her hand away. “Sorry.” She got up and headed to the bedroom.

  He smiled as he watched her retreating figure. She embarrassed so easily. He would gladly trade dealing with her fragrances for all the times he could watch her move. But why did he always react so strongly to even a simple touch? Her staying here might end up being enjoyable after all. She was good company. Sometimes he regretted his lonely lifestyle.

  Mandy pushed up against his leg and he ruffled her fur. “She’s one tough broad. She doesn’t give up. You know it isn’t safe for her with me. But it’s a shame she can’t stay longer, I’m beginning to like her.”

  Mandy shook her head.

  ****

  Alex headed into the bedroom to the closet. She reached into her suitcase and felt around for her wand. After pulling the bag out, she sat down on the floor and slipped it out of the bag. She ran a finger along the wood. She could heal his cut in a minute. No. She swore she wouldn’t use magic. She slid the wand back into the silk bag. There wasn’t any way she could explain magic to him and couldn’t. I can’t break the rule—magic must remain secret. It was a shame though, when there was something she could do to make his life better and couldn’t. She stood up, put the bag back in her suitcase, zipped it all the way shut, and shoved the suitcase back under the clothes. She took a couple of deep breaths and swiped her hands down her clothes.

  No more delaying. All she did was touch him. No big deal. Right.

  She paused.

  It felt like so much more. Why couldn’t she figure out why? She wandered out to get a quick shower so she’d be ready for lunch.

  They’d finished lunch when they heard a snowmobile approaching. Steve let Peter in and took his coat.

  “How’s everyone?” Steve sat down at the table next to Alex, facing Peter.

  “They’re all dug out and are doing fine. You were the only one to get a surprise visitor.” Peter filled a glass with water and leaned against the counter. “They all commented that they were glad it was you.”

  “Why me?”

  “You know they’d all be willing to find someone for you if you’d let them. They’re all a bunch of matchmakers.”

  “Then why haven’t they found someone for you? You’re looking a lot more than I am.”

  “You know they’ve tried. No woman in her right mind wants to be this far away from the shopping,” Peter said.

  “Not all women are interested in shopping,” Alex said.

  Peter snorted. “Wanna bet?”

  “I don’t, and some of my friends don’t,” Alex added.

  “Then I’d like to meet them,” Peter said.

  There was only one problem with that—they were almost all wizards who liked to use their magic. Alex took some sips from her water to avoid answering.

  Peter watched her. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. No one comes to mind, do they?” He walked over and took a seat at the table. “You know I had a woman tell me that she’d only go out with me when pigs flew.”

  Alex snorted, spraying water across the table. “Sorry about that.” She jumped up and got a towel while Steve and Peter watched. She started wiping the water up. “A woman actually said that to you?”

  Peter looked at Steve. “That’s an idea. You know that game I’ve been wanting to do, I’ll have a woman say that.”

  “Then what?” Steve asked.

  Alex picked up the lunch dishes and carried them to the sink.

  “I’ll have the man make the pig fly with magic so she has to go out with him. I know…I’ll make the whole game about witches and wizards.”

  Alex almost dropped the dishes in the sink. “Witches and wizards?”

  Peter looked over at Alex. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to write a fantasy game for a couple of years. I just didn’t want to spend the time doing the research I’d need to do to be convincing.”

  “Did you get hold of my parents?” Alex came back to the table and slid into a chair.

  “Your parents and your boss. Your parents said they’d take care of everything until you get back. But your boss could hardly believe it; it took a while to convince him I was telling the truth. I told them that there had been a big avalanche and it would be a while before we can get you out.”

  “Were you able to set it up so I can talk with them?”

  “They’ve all agreed to go over to my friend’s house in two days, Thursday, so you can talk.”

  Alex nodded.

  Peter said to Steve, “I brought some canned goods with me. Thought you might be running low.”

  They both got up, put coats on, and headed out. Within a couple of minutes, Steve returned with a bag full of cans.

  Alex got up. “I’ll put those away for you.” She took the bag and went out to the storeroom. It only took a couple of minutes to shelve them, but she stayed. Hearing about her parents brought tears to her eyes. They’d never gone this long without talking. But she was torn between leaving before she’d learned more about Steve and seeing her family. She took several slow, deep breaths to calm herself and swiped the tears away. Only two days and she’d be able to talk with them. She walked back in the cab
in and visited some more with Peter before he left.

  The next morning, she woke up curled against Steve’s back. If she kept this up, she’d be lying on top of him in a couple more weeks. What an intriguing thought. She inhaled her breakfast so she could get the chores over with. With all her hurrying, she only made a couple of small mistakes. She cleaned the henhouse out, left to fill a bucket with corn, and headed back in to feed the chickens. She dug her hands into the kernels and tossed them across the floor. Pop, then another pop, followed by a bunch more. Could chickens even eat popcorn? As the rest of the kernels popped, all the hens became silent and tilted their heads to eye the popcorn. None of them moved or made a sound, just watched.

  Alex dug out another handful and tossed these across the floor. The kernels clattered across the floor then pop, then a lot of pops, as these kernels all changed. Alex didn’t move. What now? She flipped a piece off her boot and watched it land among the others. The demon hen flew down to the floor and eyed the popcorn. Alex froze. The hen pecked at one piece and watched the remainder bounce away. She pecked again, watched, then started pecking more intently. Another hen hopped down and started pecking. The demon hen started gobbling up the pieces. The other hens all hopped down to get in on the action. They all started gobbling up every piece. When they’d finished, they all worked their way over to Alex and stared up at her.

  Alex looked at the bucket. She reached in and grabbed another handful. As soon as the kernels popped the hens were pouncing on them. Alex threw handful after handful until the bucket was empty. All the hens were busy so she went around the boxes and collected the eggs as fast as she could without stepping on any of the birds. The moment she’d finished, she dashed out and slammed the door shut. She leaned against the door. What happened? I’ve never done that before. What if Steve sees a piece of popcorn? How will I explain that? She took several deep breaths. At least they all seemed to enjoy it. She looked at the eggs in her bucket. This was the easiest she’d ever had getting them. But could she do it again, when she didn’t know how she’d done it today?

  Chapter 9

  Alex couldn’t settle down enough to read so she took Mandy out to the barn to play fetch. Tomorrow she’d go over to Peter’s. This was the first time she’d had to think back about where her life had gone over the years. The farm animals reminded her of her high school years at the wizarding school, Aspen Glen. Then, everything seemed so important and life changing, but now those days seemed so easy and carefree. Her other problems had become minor, compared to her being stranded in the mountains. In one day her life had changed. Was it for the better?

  College had taught her one very important lesson—never give up. No matter how long it takes, keep trying. The old adage “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” had become her motto. Especially now. She would get her life put back together. Tomorrow she’d get to talk with her parents and her boss.

  She tossed and turned all night, worrying about whether she’d still have a job. In the morning, they hurried through breakfast and chores so they could get over to Peter’s early in the day. Alex wrapped each egg to make sure none of them broke as they rode and tucked them into the snowmobile’s saddle pack. Steve and Peter used an exchange system of milk and eggs for canned vegetables. The day was sunny at the moment, but more storms were predicted for later in the day so they couldn’t stay too late.

  But it would be an afternoon away. She’d been going stir crazy the last few days with the frequent snows and looked forward to getting out of the cabin. To make matters worse, Steve had been keeping his distance. She was curious if Peter’s cabin was basic or if he had more modern features. They loaded up the snowmobile and Alex climbed on behind. Steve had shown her the basics of how a snowmobile worked yesterday. She’d lived all her life in Colorado but had never ridden one before; today would be her first. Steve took off across the open field heading straight down the valley. After a few minutes they went down a hill and Alex could see a large house. It was a two-story brick building with porches and balconies on each level. The roof was almost completely covered with solar panels which sparkled in the sunshine. Beyond, she could see three other structures stretching off down the valley. Behind them another mountain loomed up. On the far side of the valley a line of pines and firs ran along the bottom of another wall of rocks. She spent so much time looking around, they were at Peter’s before she realized it. Steve parked, helped Alex off, and carried the saddlebag up to the house. Peter came out as soon as they reached the porch.

  “You need to stop by some day,” Peter said. “Come over and take a long leisurely shower and enjoy using electric for a change.”

  When they entered the house, Alex stopped mid-stride and stared. She’d never imagined anything like this. There were curtains, puffy chairs with pillows, area rugs, a big screen TV, and modern appliances. She wandered around taking it all in.

  “How do you run all this?” she asked.

  “Did you see my collection of solar panels?”

  Alex nodded.

  “They power everything here and even provide some power for the other three houses. I also have a satellite dish for TV and Internet. I can’t work without them,” Peter said. He took the milk and eggs and headed back to his storeroom to get some canned vegetables. He screamed, ran out of the storeroom, slammed the door, and leaned against the door, trying to catch his breath.

  “What happened?” Steve headed toward Peter.

  “A spider. A big, hairy spider.”

  “You big girl.” Steve headed out to the kitchen and returned with the flyswatter. “You should know by now to take this with you.” He waved the flyswatter.

  “Yeah, but it was so big.” Peter moved away from the door.

  Steve entered the storeroom and they heard several loud smacks. A few moments of silence passed, more smacks, silence, another round of smacks. Steve reappeared.

  He was holding the biggest spider Alex had ever seen.

  Steve looked at it a moment, turning the mangled body this way and that. “You were right. It was big.” He started to act like he was going to fling it at Peter, and Peter made a run for the other part of the house. He smiled and looked over to Alex. “It always amazes me how a man who writes battle games can be so afraid of spiders.”

  “Why haven’t we come over here sooner?” Alex asked Steve.

  He was dumping the spider body in a trash can. “I only have a limited amount of gas so I only use it for important trips.”

  Peter poked his head around the corner of the hallway. “Is it gone?”

  “All gone,” Steve said.

  Peter looked at his watch. “We’d better get to the radio then; it’s almost time. Sorry we have to use the radio, but the Internet reception is iffy right now, and I haven’t gotten a satellite phone yet.”

  Alex followed Peter back to one of the other rooms while Steve settled into one of the chairs. The first call was to Alex’s boss, Tom.

  Tom asked, “When can you get back?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but it could be almost a month or more before I can get out,” Alex said.

  “I couldn’t believe it when I first heard. If it was anyone else, I would wonder if they just wanted some time off. I know you wouldn’t do this.” He paused, “I put you on sick leave for a week, then put you on vacation, but even that’s running out in a couple of days.”

  “I appreciate it. I’m so sorry this happened.”

  “I really like you as an employee, but I can’t keep your job open that long. I’ll have to hire someone else.”

  “I understand.” Alex gripped the microphone tighter. This had been what she was afraid would happen.

  “I’ll give you two weeks termination pay, that’s the best I can do. When you ever get back be sure to stop by in case there are some openings. I’m sorry, that’s all I can do.”

  “I’m sorry too. I’ll have my parents come by and clean out my desk.” She paused to get her voice under control. “Than
ks for all your help.”

  “I’ll pass the microphone to your mom now. Good luck,” Tom said.

  Some indistinct voices and rustles came across the air-waves.

  “Alex dear, is that really you?”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “I couldn’t believe it when I got the call a few days ago. I’d been worried out of my noggin. No call, nothing. I scried…I could tell you were alive at least.”

  “I know, Mom, but it isn’t like I could pick up a phone and call.”

  “I know, but you could have sent me a bird.”

  Peter looked at Alex like he wanted to ask what she meant.

  “Mom, be careful. You know I couldn’t do anything like that here. Did you hear what Tom said?”

  “Yes. I’m so sorry for you, but you know how I felt about that kind of work.”

  “Can you clean out my desk for me?”

  “Of course, dear. You know I’d do anything for you.”

  Alex squirmed in the chair. “How are Joseph and Vladimir doing?”

  “He’s spoiling that dog rotten. He can only afford to pay three quarters of the rent for now though.”

  “That’ll at least slow down the drain on my money. You know where all the accounts are, don’t you, Mom?”

  “Of course, but you needn’t worry about that now. We’ll help you out, just keep yourself safe. Don’t be taking any risks to get here a little sooner. We’ll take care of things for you.”

  “I know you will. Thanks.”

  “Can we talk again next week?” her mom asked.

  Alex looked at Peter and he nodded.

  “I should be able to. Love you, Mom, and give my love to Dad.”

  “Love you, honey. Take care and stay safe. Bye.”

  Alex mumbled bye and handed the microphone to Peter. He talked to his friend on the other end for a minute then disconnected.

  “We arranged for another call with your parents next week,” Peter said.

  “Thanks for doing this for me.”

  “Anytime, just glad I could help.” Peter pulled open a desk drawer and pulled out a half full bottle of whisky. “Take this. I think you need it. Let me show you around.”