by Gerri Hill
“I hate you,” she muttered.
“And last night, you practically fought me for that last rib,” he continued.
“I was starving,” she said. She waved her hand around. “I’m not used to all this activity.”
“But you slept okay?”
“When I slept. I kept hearing noises and imagining we were about to be attacked by a pack of wolves or something.”
“Camping by the creek was great. I slept like a baby.”
“Yeah…you sure didn’t snore like one, though.”
He laughed. “So I shouldn’t tell you that you were doing your share of snoring too?”
“I do not snore,” she said, mustering up as much indignation as she could. She was fat, she had a big ass and now she snored? Damn, it was hell getting old.
They rode in silence for a while and she again wished she’d thought to bring a cap. Butch had offered his, but it was dirty and stained with who knew what so she’d declined his offer. She brushed at her hair as the wind blew it into her face.
“It’s weird not to have cars or trucks on the road,” she said as she turned around, looking behind them. “It’s so quiet. It’s like we’re the only people out here.”
“We’re coming up on the turnoff to Paradox,” he said. “Then it’s about four or five more miles to town. Makes me think that power is out there too. Batteries too since there’s no traffic this close to town.”
“You think anyone will know what’s going on?”
He shrugged. “Hard to say. Like us, surely people have gone out, trying to find someone with power.”
“Or a phone.”
He pulled his horse to a stop and she did too. He was shielding his eyes against the sun as he stared up ahead of them.
“What is it?”
“Something’s on the road,” he said.
She squinted, trying to see, but the afternoon heat was shimmering on the road’s surface. “I don’t see anything.”
He reached behind him and pulled out a small pair of binoculars from the leather bag tied to the saddle. “I’ll be damned,” he murmured. “There’s some guy walking. Got a backpack.”
Dana shoved her sunglasses on top of her head. “Let me see,” she said, taking the binoculars from him. Sure enough, a guy with a backpack was heading their way. He appeared to be tall, though slight, his head covered with a ball cap. He was wearing sunglasses, but he was too far away to make out his features. But there was something about his walk that attracted her. She studied the gait closer, then smiled. “Not a guy. It’s a woman.”
“Carrying a big pack like that?”
She handed the binoculars back to him with a smirk. “It’s a woman,” she said again.
He looked once more, then shook his head. “A guy. It’s a dude, Dana.”
“Ten bucks your dude is a woman,” she said.
“Let’s bet twenty and make it interesting.”
“You’re on,” she said.
As they got closer, she was certain she was correct, despite the very short hair that was mostly hidden by the ball cap. When they got to the turnoff to Paradox, Butch pulled up his horse. The woman was still at least fifty yards away.
“It’s a guy,” Butch said again.
“I think I know a woman when I see one,” she said.
“And I don’t?”
“Apparently not,” she said with a teasing smile.
The woman continued to walk toward them, then stopped a good twenty yards away. She pulled fashionable Oakley sunglasses off her face, then looked them over, her glance lingering on the rifle strapped to Butch’s saddle.
“I’m assuming you’re friendly,” the woman called, her tone indicating it was a question and not a statement.
“I’ll be damned,” Butch muttered. “It’s not a dude.”
“Told you so,” Dana said with a smile. “Twenty bucks.” She then stood up in the saddle, stretching her back. “We’re friendly,” she called back to the woman. “Are you?”
The woman came closer, but Dana noticed an alertness in her walk, as if she wasn’t quite sure she trusted them. She gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“I’m Dana. This is my cousin Butch,” she said, pointing at him.
The woman again stopped, still twenty or twenty-five feet away. “I’m Corey,” she said. “My car lost power.” She motioned down the road from where she’d come.
Butch pointed at her pack. “Camping trip?”
“Yeah. Backpacking trip.”
“Don’t get a lot of people backpacking around here,” he said.
Dana glanced at him, surprised that he sounded so suspicious. The woman looked friendly enough. Harmless too. Even from this distance she could tell that.
“No. I was actually going to head south to the San Juans,” Corey said. “There’s a trail outside of Silverton that I like to take. Still a little cold up there now, at night especially, but I like to beat the summer crowds.”
Butch nodded and Dana noticed that he relaxed some. Apparently the woman’s answer appeased him.
“We’re heading to Paradox,” Dana said, pointing down the road to their left. “We lost power three days ago. Or is it four now?”
“It went out Saturday night,” Butch offered. “At least we’re assuming they’re still without power.”
“Anyway, we’re trying to find out what’s going on,” she continued. “Cell phones don’t work.”
“Batteries either,” Butch added.
Corey nodded. “Yeah, my phone is dead too.”
“You want a ride?” Dana asked. She patted the rump of her horse. “I think she can handle both of us.”
“I can take your pack,” Butch offered. “That thing looks like it weighs fifty pounds or more.”
“Yeah, at least,” Corey said.
She finally walked closer and Dana got her first close-up look. Corey met her eyes with a smile, then slid her gaze to the horse.
“Thanks. Beats walking. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden, though,” Corey said.
She had an easy smile and a friendly face, but Dana noticed that there was still a little wariness in her dark eyes. Pretty dark eyes, she added to that thought.
“Me too,” she said. “I’m from Seattle. Came down to visit my parents,” she explained, which was sort of the truth.
“Oh. Okay. Not a local then.” Corey’s gaze drifted up to Butch. “You?”
“Yeah. I live out here,” he said. “Why?”
Corey shrugged. “Just thought one of us should know where we’re going,” she said, the corners of her mouth lifting up in a smile. “Don’t want somebody shooting at us.”
The smile was genuine, Dana noted, and it completely transformed her. The wariness seemed to disappear from her eyes and her expression was open, inviting, friendly—and attractive. Their eyes held for a few seconds, and Dana returned her smile. Damn…she’d never really had a concrete image in her mind of what her Dream Girl looked like. It was always a blurry vision of a woman. But now, right at this very moment, the blurry vison turned crystal clear.
Corey finally turned her attention to Butch, who had gotten off his horse. Dana watched as Corey slipped the heavy pack from her shoulders and handed it to Butch.
“Wow…it really does weigh fifty pounds,” he said. “You don’t look big enough to even carry it.”
Corey laughed good-naturedly. “I’ll admit, I’m a little out of shape,” she said.
Dana took the opportunity to look her over, thinking there was nothing whatsoever wrong with her shape. Then she pulled her eyes away, embarrassed. Now was no time to ogle a stranger’s body. They’d been living in the dark for three days. They were on a mission. And that mission did not involve finding her Dream Girl. It involved finding some semblance of civilization. And a cell phone, of course.
Butch strapped her pack to the back of his saddle, on top of his own meager pack. Dana then realized that she needed to move hers if Corey was going to ride beh
ind her.
“Hook it to your saddle horn,” Butch suggested.
Dana did, then took her boot out of the stirrup so Corey could use it. She swung up behind her easily and rested her hands at Dana’s waist. Oh, my. Corey scooted up a little closer to the saddle—and closer to her—before removing her hands from her side.
“Is this okay?” Corey asked.
“Uh-huh,” Dana said, chancing a look at Butch, who gave her a wink before nudging his horse along.
Chapter Fourteen
Anna Gail swatted at a fly as it buzzed around her head, missing it badly. The doors were both propped open, letting in the late afternoon breeze. The store had been cleaned and the shelves straightened since the earthquake, but as there was still no power, there was little activity in town. She’d heard from Brenda over at the post office that surely by now help was on the way. If the mail truck from Grand Junction couldn’t get to them, then someone had to know of their predicament.
“I’m bored out of my mind.”
Anna Gail offered a small smile to Holly. “I know. I miss TV,” she said, looking at the television that hung on the wall in the corner. When she opened up the store each morning, turning on the TV was the first thing she did. The silence without it was nearly unbearable.
“I miss my phone. How much longer do you think this’ll go on?”
“I have no idea. You’d think the power would have come back on by now. The generators won’t last much longer. Then we’ll lose everything in the coolers,” she said.
“Are you sure there isn’t somebody who knows what’s going on?” Holly asked.
Anna Gail sighed. “No phone. No cars. No TV,” she said. “Nobody knows anything.”
Holly walked down the chip aisle and picked up a bag and opened them. “It’s weird, isn’t it?” she asked as she shoved a potato chip in her mouth. “No cars or trucks on the street. It’s so quiet.”
“I know. That means that the outage goes out much farther than just Paradox.”
Holly came closer and offered the bag of chips to her. Anna Gail took one out and bit into it. Without thought, she reached into the bag for another one.
“You think Daddy will be back tonight?”
“He said he would.”
Richard had gone off with Leland Hilmer yesterday, up to the old garage outside of town. Leland had it in his mind that when they’d closed up the shop, they’d left barrels of fuel up there. The lone gas station in town couldn’t pump gas without power. According to Richard, since they’d put in the new pumps and that fancy electronic system, Gilbert hadn’t been able to get the pumps going with a generator. It wouldn’t be long before folks started running out of fuel, them included. Richard had his mind set on finding some for them. But even if Leland was right and there was still fuel up at the old shop, how would they ever get it down here to town?
“Do you think we should be afraid?”
Anna Gail shook off her musings and turned to Holly. “Afraid of what, honey?”
Holly shrugged. “Daddy said if this goes on for much longer that people would start getting crazy.”
Anna Gail shook her head, hating that Richard was putting thoughts like that in Holly’s head. “We’re all neighbors here,” she said. “No one’s going to get crazy.”
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to the window, seeing two horses with riders coming down the street. She wasn’t really surprised to see them since some of the town’s residents had been out and about on horses and even bicycles. But she was surprised to recognize Butch Ingram up on one of the horses.
“Why, Holly…I believe that’s Butch out there. Wonder if he knows what’s going on?”
Holly had dropped the bag of chips where she stood and hurried out the door and into the street. Anna Gail followed, although not quite with the same enthusiasm as Holly.
* * *
Corey steadied her hands at Dana’s waist as their horse danced away from the young woman who’d run toward them. She wanted nothing more than to get off the horse and stretch her legs and back. When Harry had suggested she get back in the saddle, she doubted he’d meant that literally.
“Power is out all the way at the farm too?” the girl asked.
“Afraid so,” Butch said. He tipped his cap politely at the older woman who had followed the girl out. “Mrs. Filmore,” he said in greeting. “This is my cousin Dana. And this here is Corey. Picked her up walking on the road.” Butch looked over at her and Dana. “This is Anna Gail Filmore and her daughter, Holly.”
Holly stared up at her. “Where you from?”
Corey offered a quick smile. “Utah. I picked the wrong time to go camping, I guess,” she said, using the lie that she and Duncan had devised.
“Well, get down off that monster of a horse,” Mrs. Filmore said. “Come inside and I’ll get you a cold drink.”
“I hope that cold drink involves a beer,” Dana murmured as she kicked her boot out of the stirrup for Corey to use.
“I’ll go for that,” Corey said as she swung down off the horse. She took the bridle in one hand and held the horse still as Dana dismounted as well. She laughed quietly as Dana rubbed her butt.
“What can I say? My ass hurts,” Dana said as she stretched both arms out to the side and bent backward to loosen up. She took two steps, then stopped. “No wonder cowboys are bowlegged. I may never straighten up again.”
Corey’s gaze traveled to her backside where Dana was still rubbing, then she pulled her eyes away, finding Butch watching with an amused expression. She lifted up one corner of her mouth in an apologetic smile. Well, at least that part of her hadn’t died. But she was on an assignment to find a missing military helicopter and an alleged meteor—checking out pretty women’s asses wasn’t on her list. Of course, neither was horseback riding. She held the reins up questioningly.
“What should I do with the horse?”
“Take them around back, Butch,” Mrs. Filmore said. “The old hand pump still works at the well.”
“Need help?” Corey offered.
“I got it. I’ll see if I can find a patch of grass for them to graze in,” he said.
“I’ll help,” Holly said and walked with him.
Dana leaned closer to her. “They kinda date,” she said quietly. “I’ve not met her before. She looks really young, but I think she’s twenty-four or -five.” She lowered her voice even more. “I don’t think I like her for him.”
“How can you know so soon? She’s only said a handful of words,” Corey reasoned.
Dana shrugged and followed Mrs. Filmore into the store. Corey turned around in the street, noting the quiet, the absence of people. No one seemed to be around. None of the shops looked open, and she wondered if the grocery store was open for business or if Mrs. Filmore was merely here to keep an eye on things.
She followed them into the store as well, immediately noticing the dark shadows inside. Even though the store faced west, the afternoon sun cast only limited light into the front of the store. She took her sunglasses off and clipped them in the collar of her shirt, then removed her cap as well and shoved the bill in her back pocket. She rubbed her hair with both hands, trying to give it some semblance of order.
“I’ve got some Coke,” Mrs. Filmore said. “And bottled water, of course. Orange juice.”
“I guess no beer,” she whispered to Dana.
“Orange juice sounds good,” Dana said to Mrs. Filmore.
“Me too,” Corey said.
“Dana, I understand you’re visiting from Seattle,” Mrs. Filmore said. “I suppose this isn’t how you thought your vacation would go.”
“To say the least,” Dana said. “Thanks,” she added as Mrs. Filmore handed her a small plastic bottle of orange juice.
Corey took the offered juice as well. “Thank you, Mrs. Filmore.”
“Call me Anna Gail, please,” she said. “Did you both feel the earthquake?”
Corey deferred the question to Dana, not knowin
g the extent of what the tremor felt like. Harry had mentioned the seismic reading, nothing more.
“Are we sure it was an earthquake?” Dana asked as she ran a hand through her blond hair, brushing the bangs from her forehead and tucking a strand behind her ear. “I mean, we felt it at the house, but it didn’t seem very strong or last that long.”
“Strong enough to knock canned goods off my shelves,” Anna Gail contradicted. “But you’re right, it was very brief.” She turned her gaze to Corey. “How about you? You were camping, you said?”
Corey nodded. “Up off the road there coming in from Utah. It was a little scary with rocks rolling around,” she said vaguely.
“I imagine so. It was frightening in here,” Anna Gail said. “Once the power went out, we couldn’t see a thing. I did manage to keep the glass jars from falling,” she said, pointing down one aisle.
Butch and Holly came in from a back room, and Holly immediately went to the cooler and pulled out a Coke for Butch.
“Got the horses staked up the hill behind the store,” he said. “I hope somebody around town has some hay we can use.” He looked over at Anna Gail. “Or does Tommy have the feed store open?”
“Richard said he’d seen him up there yesterday. Not much else is open,” she said. “And I don’t know why. If somebody needs something, just write up a receipt and take care of the business part of it later when the registers are working again, I say. But even here, only a few have come by. It’s like people are afraid to leave their homes,” she said.
“It’s almost like the town is deserted,” Corey said, voicing her earlier thoughts.
“The first day, people were out on foot, some even riding bikes, all wondering when the power would come back on. But with batteries out too and no phones, well, I guess it’s got people worried that something’s going on. Yesterday I only saw a few people out walking.”
“I can’t believe that no one’s come here to help us yet,” Dana said. “Surely someone knows that we don’t have power, right?”
“I heard from Lou Wright that some of the men from up in Squaw Valley were going out to look for a helicopter,” Anna Gail said.