by A R Shane
I close my eyes and find myself drifting off. Jenny's face is the last thing I see. I wake up shivering, my teeth chattering. There is nothing I can do. The sun is touching the treetops and it's already cold. I wonder if we can survive a night here. I feel that this is the death knell for our adventure. Jenny huddles up against me and I wonder why I decided to follow her, to become a fugitive, because surely the police have figured out that I'm with her.
I look at her as her face flinches at some unknown foe. No, she's worth it. No matter what happens, she's worth anything that we will face. My heart relaxes at this realization and I think about a time we spent hiking on some hills near where we lived and how she would run me down for a kiss every three seconds.
Jenny, wake up.
She stirs.
What is it?
We need to get moving, otherwise we're going to freeze.
She gets up.
Zeb isn't here?
No.
I really thought he was going to help us out.
So did I.
She smiles.
So it's just us?
That's right baby. I kiss her.
I always wanted it just to be us.
We kiss again and I feel warmer. We start to walk just off to the side of the highway.
An hour later the sun sparks up half the sky and I've come down from my feeling of elation. I'm thinking about the way Zeb betrayed us, or let us down, and I feel foolish.
The whine of tires sounds up and we stop behind a tree.
I hear yelling in the distance. I sneak my way up to the road and check what's going on. In the distance I see the headlights of a truck. It lights up the darkened air, tree trunks, and the road in front of it. There is no way to see whose truck it is or discern the people in it. Then the truck turns and drives off. When it has disappeared, and even the glow of its lights in the horizon has melted into dark, I stand and stare at the road. Nothing and no one is around. I feel like an idiot. How could I have been so stupid as to trust some random strangers? A piece of my mind jeers my actions. I feel small and stupid. Now what? Walk?
Back at the trees Jenny is sitting with her knees to her chest under a tree. She stares at the ground in front of her and doesn't say anything.
It happens so fast that I almost don't realize it. I tap her and she looks at me as if I'm a stranger. Her look isn't hate; her face doesn't betray any emotion. Coming from a woman who is usually full of life, this lack of passion hits me across the face. I feel my heart shivering.
What's wrong? I ask.
Everything.
I can hear the footsteps of tears forming in her words. She glances at me again and this time her eyes are tinged with blame. Half of me wants to hold her, while the other half of me wants to push her away, shove her and let her freeze out here. I walk a few steps away and the wind forces me to rethink. I take a few steps back to her.
Like what?
Why did we trust that man?
I pause. Why did we? I knew that in her words there was the implied fact that she was disappointed that I trusted him. The blame blew towards me.
I don't know. I reply.
Of course you don't.
The wind replaces our words. I feel the chasm between us, the strings that connect our hearts together are pulling painfully away from us. I ask myself why I came out here with her to begin with. Was it really love? I look away and try to think of the reason I'm here in this stupid situation. There really was no rational reason why I should have stayed here with her. None. A smart man would walk away from her right now. I sit down next to a tree beside her. The idea of walking away and hitchhiking back sounds especially tantalizing as the wind picks up and the cold chips my bones.
Jenny has buried her face in her hands and I can hear tears. I should be holding her, but have decided that I would rather be angry with her. Her blaming look is still etched in my mind. I look up at the stars and think of the way I used to live. I remember how it was before Jenny. It wasn't so bad then, was it? I had a few girlfriends and they were all fun.
A stifled sob breaks my train of thought. My anger increases.
I had been dating a model from the City when Jenny came around. I remember meeting Jenny at a cafe. Everything about her had immediately pulled at me. My brains, my heart, my balls, had all trembled and then been pulled towards the magnet that her movements and smile were. I looked over at her. The anger was subsiding. The strings that attached us were still there.
Baby?
She didn't move. I wondered if perhaps she was sick of me, sick of my antics, though I couldn't quite place my finger on what those antics were. Was this it? Was she going to end us? Was this trip, this dream come true going to be destroyed by a petty fight?
I moved over to her.
Baby?
Yes. She replied with anger in her voice.
It didn't phase me. I knew now what she meant to me.
Baby. Get up. We have to keep moving.
To where? We don't even know where we're going.
I thought about that. I didn't know where we were going, but we would have to figure it out. Staying out here at night would be a sure fire way to get hypothermia. We had to find some sort of shelter or civilization.
We'll find a way. All right?
She looks at the ground in front of her feet.
How do you know? She asks.
I know. We need to keep moving or else we'll freeze. We'll find somewhere we can stay the night, then we'll figure out where to stay.
She stares at my hand which now rests on her arm, then she looks up at my eyes. A smile cracks on the edges of her face. I grin.
She gets up in my arms and we start walking on the edge of the road. Soon I feel warm.
I really thought Zeb was a good man. She says.
I did too. Who knows, maybe something happened to him.
As soon as the words come out of my mouth I know that I shouldn't have said that. Jenny shrinks in size and stays silent. We move like that for a few minutes.
I mean, like his tire got popped. I finally say when her silence becomes unbearable.
A few minutes later I hear the whine of the road and we hide behind a tree. A truck with a spotlight is driving down the road. I try to see if it's the cops or just some rednecks looking to shoot some deer.
This truck doesn't stop like the previous one, instead it crawls along the road. Then I realize that we must have left some footprints.
The truck is now twenty feet away.
When I say run, run with me into the forest. I whisper into her ear.
She nods. I can feel her breathing faster and faster as the truck comes closer.
Jenny? Matt? A woman's voice calls out.
A few seconds later a man's voice calls out our name again.
Jenny shifts and a twig snaps. The concentration of the people in the truck listening cracks to silence.
It's us. They say, not yelling.
Jenny gives me a look. She's shivering and I can see that her lips are blue. We really don't have much to lose.
I step out into the light.
Matt!
Zeb comes running at me. He's holding two blankets and wraps one around me while embracing me at the same time. He sees Jenny and throws the other blanket over her. The thought of sitting in the warm truck takes over me and I barely register Zeb's apologies. It's only when we're inside, and the warmth has returned to my mind that I start to take in what Zeb and his wife are saying. They are still apologizing. I'm happy that they found us. At the same time something inside me wants to reach out and scream at them for leaving us abandoned for so long.
What happened? I ask in as nice of a voice as I can muster. The truck is now hurtling down the highway. To where, I'm not certain.
We went through the border, but they'd shut it down. Weren't letting anyone through. When we finally got through we started down the highway then realized that we didn't tell you where exactly to meet. So we looked up and down and c
ouldn't find you. Zeb said, looking at the rearview mirror.
They were looking for you. Zeb's wife pointed at Jenny.
So we had to wait for things to cool before we came back with the light to see if you were here.
I nod my head. It sounds good. I was happy to be warm. Jenny's head rests on my lap and I close my eyes.
The next day I wake up in a bed with my clothes on and Jenny next to me. We are in a rustic cabin and I can smell bacon and eggs. I tap Jenny on her shoulder. She squints and moves away from me. I get up from the bed.
Don't go.
I sit down next to her, then lie behind her. I have no intention of leaving her. I want to find out where we are, but that can wait.
At breakfast Zeb and his wife introduce us to his cousin. A man with a pointed nose and shattered grin. He seems friendly.
Jim.
Matt.
Jenny.
Pleased to meet you.
I find out that we are near Banff National Park.
Look.
I turn my head to see mountains in the distance. Snow mists hug the peaks and seem to come from another dimension. I drink more coffee.
We need a place to stay. Jenny says after breakfast.
You can stay here. Jim replies.
To live. I say.
Oh. He thinks for a second.
I can pay cash.
I have an addition to my properties that I don't need. But it's in the middle of nowhere. Need a proper four-wheel drive to get to it.
Later that day we all drive to the place. The truck shakes and rolls through a steep, muddy, and narrow road. I see nothing but pine trees. We come to a stop in the middle of more trees.
Down a trail Jim leads us until we finally get to a cabin. It's small and dilapidated. I stare in dismay. It's barely livable; half the roof is caved in.
I love it. Jenny says, beaming. She looks at me for approval.
It's great.
We walk inside. Cobwebs and the smell of decay great us. It's small with three rooms to the place: kitchen/dining, bed, bath.
It needs some work. Jim says.
But we'll help you get it fixed up. Zeb adds.
There's a pause, but Jim seems to agree.
Show them the view.
I walk to the other side of the cabin. One look and my heart drops before swooping to unknown heights.
Nice, eh? Zeb says.
We're situated on top of a hill with rows of hills unfolding beyond us, and the majestic peaks of Banff leaning over.
Oh my God. Jenny says and holds my hand. We kiss. Again.
It takes us two months to clean up and rebuild the cabin. Jim is a natural carpenter and he even helps us connect to a nearby spring for running water.
After bidding everyone good bye Jenny and I sit down on our new porch near the overlook to drink some wine.
It's like a dream, isn't it? She asks.
It is. I reply.
I hold her hand, pull her closer. I touch her lips with my forefinger.
I love you. She says.
I love you too.
I kiss her and feel the smell of her skin press into my heart.
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Also by AR Shane:
Guns Death and Love
Other books by Eiso Publishing authors:
Tree of Freedom
by Nelson Lowhim
The Struggle Trilogy
by Nelson Lowhim
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About the Author:
A R Shane has been a writer for over ten years. Shane's energy is focused on writing stories about people overcoming the odds to live life the way it was intended. Shane has spent an entire lifetime traveling the world, and calls all nations home. This lifestyle is, according to Shane, the only way to be a writer and to keep ideas for these great books coming.