by Wild, Nikki
So I tightened my jacket back up and headed for the door. “Don’t run away!” I said with a wink as I headed back out into the tundra.
3
Sarah
I leaned against the window frame and watched as Nathan walked around, trying to find a way to set the sign up where someone could see it. The entire time I hoped someone would drive by and see him, rescuing us from this frozen nightmare.
Eventually, Nathan hung his make-shift sign from a low hanging branch. Still though, not a single car had driven by. Hell, I hadn’t even seen a deer or a moose or any other type of wildlife. For all I knew, we were the only living things left on this mountain right now. The zombie apocalypse could’ve started and we’d have been none the wiser.
After securing the sign, Nathan trekked back up to the cabin. But instead of coming inside, he walked around the side of the cabin.
What was he up to now?
When he didn’t reappear, I walked to the window at the back and peered out it. Nathan was shuffling around out there by what looked like a wood pile. He examined it carefully for a few moments. Then, he brushed some snow off the side and uncovered what looked like an axe.
He shuffled around some more until he uncovered a small stump only a few feet away. He took one of the logs, knocked the snow off it, then place it standing up on the stump. I held my breath as Nathan removed his gloves and stuck them in this pocket before taking told of the axe again. I was sure Nathan was about to lose a hand or a foot or some other body part.
But he lifted the axe high, then swung it down and split the log in a single motion. As I watched, he cut a few more until he had a sizeable pile at the base of the log. Even from the window and even with him wearing his winter gear, I could see his muscles flex and bulge as he swung the axe.
Where’d he learns to do that? I wondered briefly. It wasn’t like he’d ever needed to chop wood back home. Even if for some reasons he’d needed firewood, he had servants and all to handle that type of work. Or he’d have sent someone down to the store to buy pre-chopped wood.
I was actually pretty impressed by the time he leaned the axe back up against the wood pile. He’d chopped a good number of logs and it looked like he barely broke a sweat. Maybe he wasn’t just the spoiled rich boy I’d always thought he was. Then again, chopping wood wasn’t exactly rocket science.
When Nathan loaded the split logs into his arms and headed for the cabin again, I ran over to the back door and wrenched it open. It squealed as I did, requiring all of my strength before it was wide enough for him to slip inside with his load. Then I had to use my shoulder to slam it closed again. Apparently whoever owned the cabin didn’t much use the back door or at least hadn’t in a long time.
Nathan deposited the wood into a weird looking metal contraption that I’d seen but hadn’t been able to identify. When he stood up and began rubbing his hands together to warm them back up, he grinned at me.
“Now we won’t freeze!” he said proudly.
“How are we going to light it?” I asked, hands on my hips.
Nathan’s smile disappeared, quickly replaced by a frown. He ran back over to the kitchen and began opening and closing drawers. Moments later, held up a box of matches in triumph. Then he disappeared behind the sink only to reappear holding some more cardboard.
“To help get the fire going,” he explained as he walked back over to the fireplace. He tossed a couple logs inside, then arranged some of the cardboard around it. Once he seemed satisfied with his effort, he opened the box of matches, struck one, then brought it to the cardboard. The cardboard caught instantly, and a minute or two later, the wood began to burn as well.
“There we go!” Nathan said as he stood up. “One fire! Now we can stay warm while we wait for someone to show up.”
I walked back over to the window and stared out at the sign he’d put up. “What are the chances of someone showing up?”
“I’m not sure,” Nathan said, walking over to stand next to me. “This is a back road that not many people know about. Plus, with the weather, most people will probably take the main road anyway. Maybe when the storm breaks we’ll get some people coming by. Until then, we’ll just have to sit tight.”
I frowned. God only knows when the storm was going to break. If anything, it seemed to be getting worse out there. I could barely see our footprints from when we’d arrived and that hadn’t been all that long ago.
At this rate, we were liable to be snowed into this place.
“How long will the wood last?” I glanced back over at the pile he’d brought in.
“A day or so, I guess.” He shrugged. “There’s plenty more outside. I’d just have to go out and chop it.”
“Speaking of, where’d you learn how to do that? Was there a lot of wood to chop in Atlanta?” I smirked at him, then gently elbowed him in the ribs.
Nathan laughed and shook his head. “I haven’t chopped wood in years. I used to be a Boy Scout though, and that’s one of the things they teach you?”
“You were a Boy Scout? You?” I took a step back and looked him up and down before laughing.
His snow gear may have been a bit more well used, but it was no less expensive than mine had been. Nathan had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth, never having to work a day in his life. His father’s father had been loaded, and his father had grown their fortune through investments. Even now, Nathan had his own investment portfolio worth more than most people would make in a lifetime.
To picture him sharing a tent in the woods with a group of other guys was laughable in itself. But to picture him actually getting his hands dirty by chopping wood or fishing or whatever else the Boy Scouts did? That was just too much to bear.
“Yes, me.” Nathan rolled his eyes. “I was in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts growing up, thank you very much. And we do more than sit outside Wal-Mart selling cookies.”
I rolled my eyes. “Please. I was never a Girl Scout. I was much too busy actually taking care of the house while Momma worked two jobs.”
He needed the gentle reminder that not all of us had grown up without a care in the world. I may not have been able to chop wood, but I could cook, do laundry, sew, and scrub a house cleaner than any maid could. Before Momma met Nathan’s father, I’d had to do all of that.
We hadn’t moved in with Nathan and his father until I was sixteen.
Though, I had to admit, I’d taken to the upper class life like a fish to water. It was nice not having to do all the household chores. And it was nice being able to buy new clothes whenever I wanted, without having to worry if we’d have enough to pay the bills that month.
Still though, Nathan deserved a bit of a reminder of how fortunate he really was.
“Sorry,” he said, blushing. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
I shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal. Besides, if I’d had his life, I probably would’ve been a Girl Scout. I wondered briefly if they did the same things the boys did – camping, hiking, wood cutting. Maybe if I’d been a Girl Scout I wouldn’t have hated the cold so much.
“Let’s just hope someone else is as crazy as we are and takes this stupid short cut of yours.”
“Hey!” Nathan said defensively. “I resent that. This short cut would’ve knocked hours off our drive! Besides, the storm wasn’t that bad while we were driving. If we hadn’t blown that gasket, we’d have gotten to the lodge, no problem.”
“Uh huh, sure.” I drew out the word and rolled my eyes for emphasis. Just because he’d been a Boy Scout didn’t mean he knew everything.
Although, a part of my mind told me, you were perfectly willing to trust him earlier, when he said we’d get there quicker. And we probably would have, if we hadn’t broken down.
But there was no way I was going to admit that to him!
He needed to be knocked down a peg or two. And I was just the girl to do it.
Walking away from the window, I started to remove my winter gear. It was still chilly in here, but I didn
’t need to be bundled up like an Eskimo any more at least. The layers were definitely warm, but they weren’t the most comfortable thing to wear.
Nathan followed my lead, removing his outwear as well. Soon, we were both in a sweatshirt and jeans. Along with the fire, it would be enough to keep us warm, so long as we kept the doors closed from now on.
Nathan walked over to the bed and sat down on it, sending up a cloud of dust that had him coughing and covering his mouth and nose. I laughed as he stood up and tried to catch his breath. Now that was certainly a good way to knock him down a bit!
Once the dust had settled, he pulled the outer blanket off and tossed it into a corner. Then he stood frowning at the bed, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do.
Rolling my eyes, I walked over and nudged him out of the way. Chopping wood was easy to him. Cleaning a bed apparently wasn’t. I pulled the sheets off along with the pillow cases. They weren’t nearly as bad as the top blanket had been, but they still needed cleaning.
“Go find a large pot and fill it with water,” I instructed, I’d never had to clean linens by hand before, but it wasn’t all that complicated.
Once he’d done as instructed, I pointed over to the fire for him to set it down. I waited a bit for the water to heat up, since I wasn’t too keen on sticking my hands in a nearly frozen pot of water. After a few minutes I walked over and stuck a finger in it.
Deciding it was warm enough, I rolled up my sleeves and plopped down in front of it. Sitting right in front of the fire was much better than standing near the window, that was for sure!
A few minutes later, the water was a murky brown and the linens were laid out in front of the fire to dry. If we were stuck here for the night, at least we’d have somewhere clean to sleep. I glanced over at the blanket, debating cleaning it, then decided against it. It was a bit too large to try and dry before night fell.
And there was no way I was sleeping with a wet blanket in this weather! I’d be lucky if I wasn’t frozen to it when I woke up!
“Go dump that out,” I said, nodding to the pot.
Just like before, Nathan did as told without even a comment.
I liked this version of him. It was nice having a bit of muscle around to do all the heavy lifting. And as Nathan lifted the pot to dump it down the sink, I couldn’t help but see his muscles flex beneath his tight sweatshirt.
Instinctively, I licked my lips. Then I shook my head and chastised myself. Nathan was my stepbrother, for crying out loud. No matter how fit he was, it wasn’t right for me to be checking him out like he was some model on display in a magazine.
Deciding I needed to get my mind off things, I grabbed my bag and pulled out a book, then plopped down in front of the fire. The fact that I’d only packed a few trashy drug-store romances didn’t help much, but it was better than staring at Nathan the entire time.
4
Nathan
As I cleaned the pot out, I watched Sarah. She seemed to be lost in her book, and for a moment, it looked like she’d even forgotten we were stranded in an abandoned cabin. This definitely wasn’t how I wanted her to celebrate turning twenty-one.
I’d thrown a huge party when I turned twenty-one and had a blast. On her birthday, we just had family over and a couple of her close friends. I’d tried to talk her into having some fun and throwing a party of her own, but she’d been completely against it.
She wasn’t really the party type, so I’d dropped it until I had the idea to bring her up to the ski resort for a week. It wasn’t really her thing either, but this at least I knew she would enjoy once she got up there.
Part of me was regretting that now. Sitting in this godforsaken cabin wasn’t exactly a great way for her to celebrate. Then again, Sarah always was a bit of a loner, so I wondered if it really wasn’t all that bad for her. She spent most of her time holed up in her room, so it wasn’t like much had changed, except for the lack of electricity.
After the pot was clean, I wondered back over to the window. The snow was really coming down now, which just made me frown even more. At this rate, no one would be crazy enough to take a side road up the mountain. Hell, most people probably wouldn’t even risk coming up the mountain, even on the main path.
I had a feeling we were going to be stuck here for a while. A day or two at the very least.
As I watched the snow continue to fall, I decided to go cut some more firewood. With the way it was coming down, we could’ve ended up snowed in here, and the last thing I needed was for us to run out of wood while we were snowed in.
“I’m gonna go cut some more wood,” I said as I put my snow gear back on.
Sarah nodded and muttered and “uh huh” without even bothering to look up from her book.
I never understood what was with her and her books. She could spend hours in the same place, just staring at the words on the page. Not me, though. If I sat still too long, I was liable to go stir crazy. Which was one of the reasons I was heading out to cut wood.
At least that would keep me moving, keep me doing something. It was already my fault we were stuck out here, and I hated just standing around not being able to help the situation. I wished I could get some cell service to call for help.
The back door was stuck and took a bit of yanking to pull it open. I frowned at it before heading outside. It would’ve been easy to fix, if I’d had some tools. But, once again, I was helpless to fix even a simple problem.
Sarah may have thought I was just some rich boy who paid people to do everything, but that wasn’t the case. At least, not completely. Sure, we had hired help that took care of most of the things around the house, but that didn’t mean I was completely useless.
I’d learned to work on cars when I was a young teen. Whenever we’d had to call out our mechanic, I’d been right there with him, watching how he did everything. He’d taken me under his wing, teaching me how to fix all but the most serious problems with a car. But that had all been before Sarah had moved it.
Hell, I doubted she knew I’d completely resorted the vintage Corvette sitting in our garage. She probably just assumed I pulled out Dad’s credit card and bought it from some old collector.
While most of my friends had gotten new BMWs and shit when they got their license, I’d gotten a nearly destroyed 1966 Corvette. Dad had offered me a new car, but I turned him down. The ‘Vette was all I needed. It’d taken nearly two years to restore it, but in the end, I had a car I could be proud of.
Unlike the Jeep, I thought bitterly. The damn thing wasn’t even that old and had chosen this week, out of all weeks, to break down.
By the time I’d chopped another load of wood, I was in a worse mood than when I’d started.
I’d tried so damn hard to make Sarah’s twenty-first birthday memorable. Oh, it’d be memorable all right, but now all she’d remember is me getting her stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere. So much for trying to do something nice for her.
It took a bit of maneuvering, but I managed to get the cabin door open and shut, without dropping the wood or killing myself in the process. When I stood just passed the doorway, taking deep breaths to warm my insides, I saw Sarah was right where I’d left her, still absorbed in her book.
I smirked. At least it didn’t seem like she was panicking or anything. Hell, it didn’t even look like she realized she wasn’t in her bedroom or the study back home anymore. Knowing her, she was probably in some far away land as she read about a prince saving his princess.
If only I could save her from this.
I let out a sigh, then put the wood with the rest of it. That would be enough to keep a fire going for at least three days, I thought. Even if we needed to use some for the stove, we still wouldn’t have to worry.
Well, that was one problem solved at least.
I crossed back over to the window. My little sign was still hanging from the tree, though I had doubts whether anyone would be able to read it with the constant fall of snow. Even from here, I could just barely make out th
e brown rectangle amongst the sea of white.
Then again, anyone foolish enough to drive in this would probably be going at a snail’s pace. If we were lucky, someone else was on their way up the mountain right now and would find us before nightfall. Then again, I doubted we were that lucky.
And, sure enough, soon the sun was beginning to set, the temperature going down along with it. I hadn’t though it could get much colder, but I was proved wrong once again. I went over to the fire and tossed a few more logs onto it, which seemed to get Sarah’s attention.
She blinked up at me, then marked her page before setting the book aside and stretching. “What time is it?”
I pulled out my phone. “A little after five. Good book, is it?” I asked nodding toward the discarded paperback.
“Eh, not really,” she said with a shrug. “But it could be worse. I guess we should make some food, huh?”
“I guess.” It didn’t seem like we were liable to get rescued any time soon. And once the sun was down, I knew no one would be coming through. Nobody was suicidal enough to drive through a snowstorm in the dark.
Together, Sarah and I headed over to the tiny kitchen and started going over the cans of food that had been stock piled. Apparently whoever used this cabin wasn’t a huge fan of balanced meals, since there wasn’t a wide selection.
Sarah frowned at a can of chili, then sighed. “At least it’ll keep us warm,” she said as she searched the drawers for a can opener. “Why don’t you get the stove started?”
I nodded and stared at the thing. The massive wood burning stove looked like it was older than I was! Hell, the damn thing could’ve very well been older than my father.
It took a bit of poking and prodding, but eventually I had it figured out. Soon, the fire beneath it was roaring, and Sarah had a pot of “fresh” chili on the stove for us. It wouldn’t be the most filling meal, but at least it would keep us from starving.