by Sharon Dunn
“I didn’t find any dry socks for you.” He tossed a bundle to the floor. “But I found something that might work. If you can reach up and pull the string, the ladder will unfold, and I can come down.”
She couldn’t see anything as small as a rope so she retrieved her flashlight and shone it for only a moment to see where the rope was and pulled the ladder down.
Nathan descended. “That plastic bag I tossed down contains a wool blanket. It’s a little moth bally, but we can tear it into strips and wrap it around your foot to make a sock.”
“Guess mine is not going to dry out in time,” she said. “Do you think we should try to get that rifle tonight and find Lorelei?”
“We have less of a chance of being seen in the dark.” Nathan unzipped the plastic bag and pulled a pocket knife out of his coat pocket. “If we surprise them while they are sleeping, we have a better chance of success.”
Merci sat down on the floor and scooted in beside him. He ripped the blanket down the middle and handed her half. “Put that around you to keep warm. Sorry we can’t have a fire.”
She wrapped the blanket over her shoulders. “I’ll be okay. Once we get moving. I won’t notice the cold so much.”
He split his piece of the blanket in half again. “There should be a pocket knife in your backpack. This will go faster if we both work. Six or so strips about an inch wide.”
“Maybe I could just survive without a sock, and we could get moving,” she said.
Nathan shook his head. “Not a good idea. The inside of your boot is probably wet, too. This wool will pull the moisture away from your foot. When you put the boot on next time, put your pant leg on the outside of it.”
Of course that made sense. She’d been so anxious about Lorelei when she had suited up at the cabin that she hadn’t been thinking about pant legs and snow. Merci held the blanket scrap up to the window, cut a notch in the end and tore a strip off. “Did you come up to this camp quite a bit when you were a kid?”
“Every summer. My parents ran it themselves for years. They had the ski hill in winter and the camp in summer. When my brother and I got older, we kind of lost interest.” His voice faded.
She watched Nathan work with his head bent. Even with the shadows the darkness created, she could see an expression of intense concentration. Her curiosity about Nathan had been piqued from the moment he risked his own life to save her and Lorelei. She wanted to get to know him better. There seemed to be some landmines where his family was concerned, so she needed to tread lightly. “So going to summer camp was fun for you?”
“Yes.” His voice warmed. “How about you? Did you ever go to a summer camp?”
“No, my parents were into resorts. I’ve never even built a campfire.”
“Really?”
“Yup, but I don’t even go to resorts anymore. My father has the mindset that if he is paying the bills, he gets to tell you how to live your life. I’ve been on my own since I was eighteen. Paid for college by working one year and attending the next, buying secondhand and living on a shoestring.”
“You sound like a pretty determined lady.”
“I guess. It’s also made me the world’s oldest undergrad. I’ll be twenty-six by the time I finish my business degree.” She gazed at the stage and the chairs, trying to imagine it filled with laughing children. “What was it like, being at camp?”
“Best part of the summer in a lot of ways.” He rose to his feet and walked over to the stage area. “We’d have worship service here and a talent contest. Mom spent the whole winter talking local merchants into all kinds of cool giveaways for the kids.” His voice had become animated.
She pulled another strip of fabric from the blanket. “Sounds like it was a good part of your life.”
“Yeah, I’ve got a lot of good memories connected to this place.” She could hear his footsteps as he paced across the wooden floorboards. “Maybe some sad memories, too.” His pacing stopped. “It’s just not the same with mom and dad gone.”
In the darkness and even without being able to see his face clearly, the depth of his pain vibrated through his voice. The sorrow in his life ran deep. Merci rose to her feet, wishing she could offer him some sort of comfort. His tall frame was silhouetted in shadow against the tiny bit of moonlight that shone through the window. She stepped close to him and slipped her hand in his.
He squeezed her hand but then pulled free and walked away. “Yup, I’m kind of sorry to see the place go, but I need to sell all of the mountain acreage. The ski hill, the camp. Everything.” His voice was stronger now, more in control. He’d buried the raw emotions somewhere deep.
Why would he sell something he so obviously loved? “Is the camp in financial trouble?”
He shook his head. “My parents were smart about how they set it up. The ski resort did okay when it was operational, and the camp was a nonprofit. With the right management and staff, both of them stay in the black.”
“So why are you selling it?”
Nathan paced some more before settling down and cutting another strip of fabric. “You ask a lot of questions.”
She felt for the blanket, draping it over her shoulders. “That’s how you find out things.”
“My brother and I would have to run everything together. We don’t always see eye to eye.” He spoke in a clipped tone.
The strain in his voice indicated that he didn’t want to talk about his brother. She’d treaded into dangerous waters.
After a moment he spoke. “Are you getting your energy back?”
The effect of only a few hours of sleep and all the trauma of the past ten hours had left her battle-weary, but they had come all this way and Lorelei needed help. She summoned what little strength she had. “I think I’ve caught my breath.”
“Good, let’s get this homemade sock around your foot.” Nathan picked up one of the strips.
“Can I help?” Merci scooted against the wall.
“It’s kind of a one-person job.” Nathan gently lifted her foot, cupping her heel in his hand. “Your foot is like a block of ice.” The warmth of his touch permeated her skin as he wound the fabric around her toes.
“Snow usually is cold,” Merci joked.
His finger grazed her ankle when he braided the fabric up her leg. “My super special weave should make a good sock.” He bent his head sideways and offered her a crooked smile.
Merci’s heart warmed toward this man who was so willing to sacrifice everything for someone he barely knew. Even in the most dangerous of circumstances, they had found a light moment. “I’m sure your super special weave will work just fine.”
* * *
Nathan was surprised how little Merci had complained about her wet foot. She must have been freezing. His finger glided over her smooth cold skin until he completed a sock that went up to her calf. “All done.” He looked a little closer to assess his handiwork but was unable to see much in the moonlight. “Is it comfortable?”
Merci flexed her foot. “It’s not too tight or anything. I’ll get my boot on.”
Nathan glanced up at the windows thinking he’d seen movement. But it was only the shadow of the trees close to the building.
Merci slipped into her boot. “So now we go to the cafeteria to get your father’s rifle.”
He wrestled with their plan and wondered if there was a better way to do it. They had to get to his father’s office and find that rifle. Without that, they were no match for the thieves at all. Even once they got Lorelei free, they would have to contend with returning to the cabin or somewhere else until law enforcement could arrive. Had they been foolhardy in choosing to come up here?
He shook off the uncertainty as quickly as it had come into his head. Merci had been right. They didn’t have a choice in waiting for the authorities where a human life was concerned. He stood up. “We can’t waste any more time.”
Merci rose to her feet. “Lead the way.”
He’d never met someone as trusting as Merci. He had
come up with a plan that maybe had a fifty percent chance of working, but she had backed him and endured the physical struggle of getting here. He admired her positive outlook and tenacity. She’d done all of it without complaint or questioning.
He patted her back. There was a lot to admire about Merci Carson. If they made it through the next twenty-four hours, it might be nice to take her out to coffee where they could get to know each other under less traumatic circumstances.
A rattling sound caused both of them to jump and turn.
“What’s that noise?” Merci’s voice filled with panic.
Nathan’s muscles tensed as adrenaline surged through his body. “It’s the door handle. Someone’s trying to break in.”
FIVE
As a precaution, Nathan had bolted the door when they came inside. He hoped the thieves wouldn’t be able to break the lock.
Merci wrapped her arm through Nathan’s. “How did they find us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they saw our tracks or the lights as we were coming in,” he said.
“Is there a back way out?” she said in a frantic whisper.
Nathan shook his head. The rattling grew more intense and persistent. One of the men said something in a harsh tone. An object thudded against the door.
Nathan took a step back and stood between Merci and the intruders. The thieves were going to break the door down.
He grabbed her hand. “Get your stuff. Come with me.” After gathering up backpacks and kicking the snowshoes under a table, he pulled her toward the ladder of the loft.
Merci scampered up the ladder. Nathan put his foot on the first rung.
The banging noises increased. He climbed the ladder and swung into the loft. “Help me pull it up.” He leaned down through the loft opening.
The banging continued. An ax sliced through the door. The hole grew bigger with each blow.
Merci crawled to the other side of the loft and reached down. The ladder pulled up in three sections that folded on top of each other.
They folded the final section. The man in the orange coat came into the building, holding an ax. The loft door eased shut as they heard more footsteps. Though she couldn’t discern the words of the conversation, it was obvious the men were irritated.
In the darkness, Merci pressed against Nathan’s shoulder. Her breathing was a little more labored than his. His heart jackhammered in his chest.
The voices below them were muffled but angry. The stomping of feet overwhelmed the words.
Nathan leaned close to Merci and whispered in her ear. “We need to get to where we can hear them. They might say something about Lorelei. Follow me.” He found her smooth delicate hand in the darkness and cupped his own over it.
“But it’s so dark,” she whispered close enough for him to feel the warmth of her breath on his skin.
“I could go through this place with my eyes closed.” Which was pretty much what they would be doing. Without the generator hooked up, there were no lights in this building. He never would have foreseen that playing hide-and-seek in the dark in this building as a kid would benefit him as an adult.
“Okay, lead the way,” whispered Merci.
He slipped out of his boots. “Take your boots off, so they won’t hear us. We’ll come back for them.”
He grabbed her hand again and reached out for the rough wood texture of the wall. He led her through a narrow hallway to an opening. When he was the designated techie for the performances, he’d crawled along the catwalk and backstage area a thousand times. They came out to the stage manager’s booth above the performing area.
The men’s voices became clearer and more distinct.
If they leaned forward, they’d have an aerial view of the stage, but they also risked detection if they leaned too far out.
“There is no food in here,” one of the thieves grumbled.
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn’t given themselves away with the minimal flashlight use or tracks. Hunger had driven the men from wherever they were holed up. Hopefully, their footprints would be blown over enough to avoid detection by the thieves once daylight came.
“There has got to be something to eat around here,” said the second man. “What do you think, boss?”
There was a brief pause and then the sound of footsteps moving up stairs. One of them was on the stage. Nathan lifted his chin in an effort to get a look at what was going on. He could just see the blond head of the third thief, the one who hadn’t been at the initial robbery, as he stepped center stage. He was younger than the other two men and more clean-cut.
His voice had a commanding, smooth quality. “I am sure there is some food around here somewhere.”
“Look, Hawthorne, I don’t work well on an empty stomach.” The man in the orange coat approached the stage and plunked down on the stairs.
Nathan strained to see more without being noticed. It looked as if the men had fashioned torches out of logs and rags. Two torches had been stuck in plant holders. They may have had a lighter with them and must have located some kind of fuel to put on the rags.
“We need to get off this mountain.” The voice came from a part of the room Nathan couldn’t see. “This is way more than we signed up for.”
“Use your brain.” The third thief, the one they called Hawthorne, raised a calming hand. “We are not dressed well enough to go any distance. We nearly froze to death getting here. The weather will probably break up by morning. We’ll find a way out.”
“What are we going to do without any food?” said Orange Coat.
“I bet there is plenty to eat back at that cabin.” Nathan couldn’t see who was speaking but he assumed the voice belonged to the man in the leather jacket, the one that had come for Lorelei.
“I say we go back there and help ourselves.” The other thief’s voice took on a menacing quality. “I know what to do with that redhead and her friend on the snowmobile.”
“Do you really want to walk back to that cabin?” Hawthorne’s voice was insistent and demanding. “We don’t have a snowmobile anymore. The less contact we have with those people, the better.”
The other two men responded with silence.
“There’s got to be a cafeteria around here. They had to feed those rug rats something. Most of the food would have been hauled out, but maybe they’ve got some canned goods or something.” Hawthorne stepped off the stage. “Let’s get moving.”
Nathan stretched his neck to try to get a view of what was going on.
Hawthorne had picked up one of the torn pieces of the wool blanket they’d left behind. He paced the room still holding the fabric scrap. The blanket didn’t give them away. It could have been left there from a previous summer. “Let’s take this. It’ll come in handy to keep us warm.”
Nathan’s heartbeat drummed in his ears as his breath hitched. Merci’s wet sock was still flung over the back of a chair. If anyone touched it, they would know someone had been in the building recently.
Merci let out an almost indiscernible gasp. Her hand clasped around Nathan’s forearm. She must have noticed the sock, too. What he could see of the floor below was limited. As the men moved around the room, they went in and out of view.
Leather Jacket said, “Yeah, I don’t know why we didn’t just barge into that cozy cabin.”
“Going to the cabin means I risk being seen. I don’t want to be connected to this. That’s why I hired you two.” Hawthorne’s voice was condescending.
“Besides,” Hawthorne continued, “this was supposed to be done with no bloodshed until your friend here thought it was a good idea to pull a gun on the redhead and messed up my plan. So you being trapped here and hungry is your own doing.”
“She caught me off guard.” The second thief spat out his words. “She was supposed to stay in the car getting warmed up where she couldn’t see anything.”
“Nevertheless, it’s not my fault that you’re stuck on this mountain.” Hawthorne stepped into view. He was only a few feet
from the chair that had Merci’s sock slung over it.
He shook his blond head. “Bickering won’t help us. Let’s go find some grub.”
The wavering light of the homemade torches moved across the floor as the thieves made their way to the door they had torn to pieces.
The voices faded. From the kneeling position in the stage manager’s booth, neither Merci nor Nathan moved for a long tense moment.
Finally, Merci said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. “Lorelei wasn’t with them.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. They might have her tied up somewhere. Let’s not give up hope. It won’t take them long to figure out where the cafeteria is. We need to get there before they do and find that rifle.”
* * *
Though her stomach felt as if it had been turned inside out, Merci nodded in agreement. “I’ll go get our boots.”
“Let’s leave the snowshoes here. Snow is not as deep in the camp, and footprints would be less noticeable,” Nathan said.
It took only minutes for her to find the boots and for them to be ready to head out the door. Once outside, Merci listened to the rhythmic crunch of her feet in the snow as she walked beside Nathan in near total darkness. The decision had been made not to use flashlights. Since they had no idea where the thieves were in the camp, bobbing lights against the blackness of night would give them away.
Nathan moved at a steady pace. He knew the camp so well the darkness wasn’t a huge hindrance. The sound of their footsteps seemed to harmonize.
“There is a tree coming up here on the right. You might want to step behind me,” Nathan instructed. “Just walk where I walk.”
She slowed and slipped in behind him. Without a word, he turned and found her hand in the darkness.
“How much farther?”
“Maybe another ten minutes.” He stopped for a moment.
She pressed against his shoulder, grateful for the sense of safety she felt when she was close to him. She scanned the area around them looking for the telltale torches that would reveal that the thieves were on the move, but could see nothing. “It’s that far away?”