I realized that not only didn’t I know where I was, I didn’t know who I was!
I racked my brain but came up empty. I couldn’t remember my name, where I was from, or anything about my life. Again, I glanced around the car, but there was nothing to help me understand.
I pulled on the door handle and tried to open the door. It was jammed. I pushed with all of my might but could not open the door. I was going to have to kick it open, I thought. I tried to move my body, and an intense pain washed over me.
“Owww!” I screamed out. My body was tense and sore all over. I moved slowly and pushed my butt over to the side so that I could force my legs up to kick the door. Finally, after several attempts, the door pushed open with a squeal.
I pushed myself over and lowered my feet to the ground. Instantly my boots sank into the mushy snow. I looked over myself and was thankful that I was dressed for the weather. And, I didn’t seem to have sustained any other injuries except for my head wound and being extremely sore.
I took a good look around my surroundings. I had no idea where I was. All I could see for miles was snow-covered mountain ridges and tall pine trees. I must be in the mountains, I thought.
Why I was there was a mystery.
Again, I felt a wave of anxiety take over my body. I lowered my head to my knees and controlled my breathing until the panic attack eased up. I had to stay focused. Panicking was not going to get me out of this situation.
I looked at the SUV. The plate! Maybe the plate could tell me where I was. I went around back and saw that it was a Colorado rental plate. Colorado? What the heck. I couldn’t remember anything, but something told me that I was not from here.
All alone, stranded in the Colorado mountains, and no idea who I was. Great.
I went back to the opened door to take a better look inside the vehicle. All I could see were the keys in the ignition and an old coffee cup. I instantly realized how thirsty I was. I grabbed the cup and opened the lid. It was about a fourth of the way full of coffee. It didn’t smell too old.
I drank the liquid, savoring the sweetness. Then I grabbed the keys from the ignition. Attached to the keychain was a multitool, a lighter, and a small push button flashlight. At least that was something.
Looking into the passenger side, I noticed a stick. I reached in and struggled to reach it. Finally, my fingers touched upon it and with another small jump, I was able to grab it. A trekking pole. I must have been out here hiking.
Hiking with no phone? No water? Who would do that? Me, I guessed. How stupid.
I didn’t see anything else in the front seat or the back seats to give me a clue as to who I was or what I had been doing out there. I attached the keychain to my pant loop and extended the trekking pole. I tossed the paper cup into the SUV, then thought better of it. I would need to melt snow to drink water soon. The cup would be handy.
I picked it back up and carefully folded it in half and pushed it into my coat pocket along with the plastic lid. My pockets. I forgot to check my pants pockets.
I reached down into my pants pocket and pulled out some money. Eighteen dollars. That was it. The other pocket was empty. No wallet or ID.
For a moment, I tried to remember my name. I found that thinking made my head throb harder, so I gave up. I figured that the bump on my head was the cause of my memory loss and told myself that everything would come back to me soon enough. It had to.
I looked around once again to decide on a course of action. I should try and get back down the mountain to find help. But, how far up was I? I looked at the sky. The sun would be going down soon. I probably wouldn’t have time to hike back down the mountainside.
I couldn’t stay where I was though. I needed to find help or, at least, some kind of shelter. Hesitantly, I began my climb back up to the road. When I reached the top of the shoulder, I could see my tracks coming from one direction then suddenly veer off to the side, eventually going off the road. Obviously, I hadn’t been able to make the sharp curve of the road.
Why on Earth would I have been driving so fast in these conditions?
So many questions and no answers. I told myself to not get frustrated. Looking up the road from where I had come, I couldn’t see anything. Looking in the opposite direction, there was nothing as well. There were no road signs and no other tire tracks. I looked up across the mountain tops. Was that smoke?
I shielded my eyes against the setting sun to focus in the distance. It was smoke. Must be coming from a house! Or a camp. I tried to gauge how far away it was. I might not be able to make it before sundown. Somebody made that fire, though, and they might be able to help me. I had to try. I decided to start walking in that direction.
The going was slow. My body ached with each step. A couple of times I felt that same sharp pain in my head. It felt as if it was penetrating my skull. I probably had a concussion. But, I had to keep moving.
As I was walking, the road seemed to veer in the opposite direction of the smoke. It was climbing up a mountain ridge, as well, which was making the going hard. I had to decide whether to stay on the road, or head into the forest and to keep going toward the smoke.
The road seemed to get steeper in the distance, from what I could see of it, anyway. Plus, it led away from where I wanted to go. I looked at the forest and saw that the trees were dense but that I could maneuver through them. I looked at the sun. It was going down fast.
Still, I hesitated to leave the safety of the road. I had been hoping that a car would come along. Surely, people must live up here. But, now that the sun was setting, staying on the road wasn’t logical. There was no cover here. No shelter. And, nobody was coming.
I sighed. There was no other option if I wanted to find help. I left the openness of the road and headed into the pine trees. I worked my way through the trees and found that the way wasn’t too hard. The forest floor had less snow than the road because of the tree cover.
I moved as quickly as I could, which really wasn’t that fast. There was no way I was going to reach the source of the smoke by nightfall. In fact, I couldn’t’ even see the smoke anymore through the trees. I hoped that I was still going in the right direction.
Being in the cover of the trees, it was even darker now. I needed to find a place to stay the night. Some kind of cover. At least I had the lighter and a cup so that I could melt some snow to drink.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
I froze. What was that? I strained to hear the sound but couldn’t hear it again. Worse yet, the wind was picking up, making it hard to tell which direction the sound had come from. I guessed to the best of my ability and began to walk in that direction.
I kept my ears open but heard nothing but the wind howling through the trees. The snow was falling now. I didn’t even know if I was walking in the right direction or even what that sound had been. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.
I was tired, and each step became a struggle. My head hurt. My body ached. I needed to rest. I looked around and noticed that there were large boulders all around me. I walked toward a few that were clumped together and saw that they formed a kind of den-like structure. I decided it was as good as any place to spend the night.
I went around and gathered dead logs and twigs. A lot of it was wet from the snow, so I selected the driest to start the fire with. I constructed a pyramid close to the den entrance and attempted to light the twigs with the lighter. I had trouble getting the damp wood to catch. What could I use to get it started?
Then, I remembered the paper cup in my pocket. No, I would need that cup. The money! I could use the money to get the fire started. I took out the paper bills. A ten, five, and three ones.
I choose a one-dollar bill, just in case I would need the rest of the money. I centered the bill between the thinnest and driest twigs and lit a corner. I prayed that the twigs would catch before the bill burned up. To my dismay, the bill burned quickly.
I quickly added a second dollar bill to
the pile and watched as it caught fire. I begged the twigs to catch.
To my delight, I watched as the thinnest twigs caught. The fire spread to the thicker twigs and I slowly added more, being careful to not smother it. Soon, I was able to add several bigger sticks and then two logs. The logs smoked for a while as they were damp, but I figured that the smoke was good. Maybe someone would see it, though it was highly doubtful as it was nighttime now.
I pulled over a larger log, trying to ignore my aches and pains. I didn’t want to sit in the wet snow. I got it into position and sat upon it by the fire. The hot fire felt good on my bones. After I warmed up, I gathered some more wood so that it would last the night.
Then, I filled the cup with snow. I put the cup close to the fire, but not too close so that it would catch on fire. This wouldn’t allow for the water to boil, so I decided to take my chance and just drink it. The snow was fresh, and I didn’t notice any animal tracks nearby. Hopefully, it wouldn’t make me sick. The water tasted wonderful. I didn’t hesitate to fill up the cup again and go through the same process.
The water filled my stomach but didn’t squash the hunger pains that I was suffering. There was absolutely nothing to eat. I looked around and saw the pine needles. I could make pine needle tea.
Pine was high in vitamins C and A which would give me a small amount of energy. It was also a natural decongestant and antiseptic which was good because of my situation.
How do I know that? I wondered to myself. In fact, how did I know how to start the fire so well? I must have outdoor skills. I was out here hiking, so that did make sense. At least, I wasn’t totally screwed out here. And the fact that I somehow innately knew these things, made me hopeful that my memories would return quickly.
I gathered up some pine needles from the trees and put them into a cup of snow to heat up. Once heated well, I drank the fresh tea. It was good. Then, I took the left-over pine needles from the cup and smashed them together and held them against the wound on my head. At first, the wetness stung, but then it felt good. I held the needles there until they dried out.
With nothing else to do, I made the fire as large as I could. I snuggled into the small den space as best as I could and tried to get some sleep. I wasn’t sure that sleeping was a good idea if I had a concussion, but I was exhausted. Watching the fire, I soon drifted off.
I woke in the middle of the night to find that the fire was almost out. The snow was falling fast, and the wind was howling between the boulders. I shivered and got up to add more wood to the fire. I looked up and couldn’t see anything but white. I hoped that I would be able to reach the house tomorrow before I froze to death. I had no idea what time it was as I couldn’t see a moon.
I heated up some more pine needles and drank the tea. The hot water warmed me up some and I was able to drift off for another couple of hours. When I woke the next time, the sky looked lighter. I repeated the process of adding wood to the fire and heating up pine needles. At least, I could keep my energy up. I’d start hiking at daybreak.
I couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I made the fire big and cuddled into the den to wait for dawn. Even with the fire, my body shivered. The wind screamed, and I could see the nearby tall trees rock in the storm. I was miserable. I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t as bad as it could be. But that was hard to believe.
5
Cole
I spent all day clearing and salting the roads and walkways. Thankfully, I had Brad to help me because my regular help was out with a broken foot. And, the other guy who occasionally worked for me couldn’t make it up the mountain road this morning. We got more snow than was called for.
With the mountain road closed for the day, no more guest could show up. We had six cabins filled and about ten rooms, and thankfully, they were all planning on staying for the entire weekend. With the slopes opened, nobody complained about being stuck up here for a day or so. And, I was extremely thankful that I had gotten that motor replaced yesterday when I had.
Brad called the township and asked when they were planning on clearing the mountain road. It was good to know, just in case. They told him tomorrow morning or afternoon at the latest, which was Friday. That was perfect because we had guests coming in for the weekend. And, with all of this snow, we planned on being packed.
When we got snowed in like this, the entire family had to pitch in to help out. Most of the staff lived in town, so they couldn’t make it up the road to get here for their shifts. This mostly impacted the kitchen and restaurant and the housekeeping and laundry.
Years ago, we offered Michael, our Head Chef, room and board here as part of his salary. He had been renting a small efficiency right down on Main Street, so he was happy to take us up on the offer. We built an extra one-room cabin for him that was near the other cabins off of the ski lodge road. To give him some privacy, we put it back more into the trees and gave him a private driveway to park his truck.
I knew that Brad was relieved to have Michael there full time. He’d been with us since Dad was alive and he’d really made The River Room what it was today. We got reservations for dinner, lunch gatherings, parties, and weddings often. Guests loved his food. In fact, The River Room had won the local “Chef’s Choice Award” and the resort won the local “Art of Hospitality Award” three years in a row now.
Our mother, Mary Beth, helped out in the kitchen, so we were good there. Angela, Brad’s wife, would bartend in the lounge and help serve food over dinner. Old man Clark, who was our overnight desk attendant, had offered to work the desk for the day. Dax took over the desk in the morning, giving Clark a break to nap on the cot in the small office behind the front desk.
Harley would be up at the lodge. He would have to run between the lifts and the bar until Dax got up there after his shift at the front desk. That just left housekeeping. Brad’s least favorite task. But, with the entire kitchen staff out, Michael needed Mom. And Brad was guest relations, after all. After he finished with the walkways, he told me he was going to go check on guests and see if they needed anything.
That left me to finish up the roads myself. I stopped at the maintenance garage and filled up my salter one more time. I made one extra run over all of the roads and parking areas of the resort. That should keep them good for a while. I was guessing that I’d have to come out one more time this evening with the plow and salter.
As I went by the cabins down by the river, I checked in on the guests. Three cabins out of the five were rented down there. Only one couple was at home, and they told me that they were okay. The other two cabin occupants must have been out fishing still. I told them to call my cell phone if they needed anything and left two post-it notes on the other doors with my cell number.
With everything done, for now, I figured I’d go up to my cabin and let Bella out. With the snow falling and wind blowing, I didn’t want her out here today.
I remembered that my mom had said that she was heating up a lot of soup today for lunch and dinner and making beef stew and broccoli and cheese homemade bread bowls. My mouth watered at the thought and I couldn’t resist stopping in to pick one up.
“Hey, Mom,” I greeted my mother in the kitchen. “How’s it going in here?”
“It’s going okay considering it’s just me and Michael,” she replied, leaning over for a peck on the cheek. “Oh, my, you’re freezing!” she exclaimed.
“It’s cold out there,” I agreed.
“I’m guessing you want to try one of my famous homemade bread bowls? What kind? I’ve got beef stew, broccoli cheese, or clam chowder.”
“I’ll take beef stew, thanks, Mom,” I answered.
“Sure dear. Here you go. All ready to go,” she handed me a white plastic bag. “I packed some extra beef cubes for Bella. Mix them in with her dog food.”
“How did you know?” I asked, grinning.
“I know that my ‘husky hefty hunks’ would never pass up my homemade soup bread bowls. I packed up a bag for each of
you boys,” Mom informed me, her lips forming a small grin.
I just smiled as I accepted the bag. As I was getting ready to head out, Brad walked in and Mom reached over to the counter to hand Brad several large bags full of take out.
“A feast for five,” she informed him.
Brad’s grin matched mine. Surprised, but not really.
“Just what I was looking for,” he thanked our mom. “I’m going to give Angela a break at the bar to eat then take the rest up to the twins and Abby. Time to check in on them anyway,” he said as he headed out the double swinging doors leading to the restaurant’s dining room.
I thanked Mom again and was leaving out of the side door when she called me back. She had a broccoli and cheese bread bowl with a glass of milk laid out on a serving tray.
“Will you take this to Clark on the way out, please,” she asked me.
“Sure thing, Mom.” I took the tray from her with one hand and pushed open the swinging door with my foot. “See you later, Mom. Call me if you need anything.”
“Will do, Cole. Have a good night if I don’t see you later.”
“You, too. Love you,” I replied and went to deliver Clark’s dinner tray.
“Ooh my!” Clark exclaimed, wide-eyed as he accepted the tray. “Looks yums. I got to go and thank Ms. Hunter,” he said, licking his lips.
“Eat first,” I told him, smiling. “You’ve had a long day.”
“Long but good.”
“Glad to hear,” I responded. “Have a good night.”
“You do the same, Cole.” Clark waved as I walked out the front door.
***
Back at my cabin, Bella and I had a good dinner. I sucked down a cold one and then decided to go and do some work in my work shed for a while. Christmas was approaching fast, and I was only about half done with the rocking horse for Abby.
Beauty and the beard Page 5