by Donna Kunkel
“Did I really do that?”
“Every little bit. I think you did exactly what you really wanted to.” He slid his cool hand across her chest. “Let me show you how wonderful it was.” He took her hand and slid it down as he kissed her breasts and nipples. When he moved up to kissing her neck and mouth, he slid his hand down. She played the dream back through her mind and passion overwhelmed her. They re-enacted the morning’s events leaving them sated and relaxed. As they cuddled, he whispered in her ear, “Now do you remember?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “When did we become so connected?”
“I’m not sure. I think our feelings for each other have been building these last few weeks, but we’ve been ignoring them.”
“Everything is happening so fast,” she whispered back.
They both remained quiet as they showered and dressed, each lost to their own thoughts. Steve and Alex both thinking that this relationship couldn’t go any farther than it had. They’d just have to settle for the memories of their time together.
Chapter 17
She had to find some kind of distraction. She’d watch for the unicorn Caroline saw. It was probably the girl’s imagination, but at least this would give her something to do until Steve fell asleep. He’d been trying to distance himself all day, finding excuses to go to the barn. It was almost as if he was afraid of hurting her, but she couldn’t figure out how he could. Still, she should also distance herself before things got out of hand.
Being together for one night could be written off as a reaction to her being trapped under the snow. To keep being intimate would be something else. If he fell asleep before she went to bed, they wouldn’t be tempted to make love. Distance herself, that was the ticket. After all she didn’t think they had a future. He lived out here, cut off during the winter, while she enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city. She enjoyed snow, but this was too much with day after day of being stuck inside.
She waited and waited as the clock slowly ticked away. The moon would rise in another hour. The clouds were breaking up and the moon should be visible. She would need that light to search the landscape. As the time approached, she used the excuse that she wanted to brush Anna Belle to relax and work out her muscles. She slipped out into the barn and without even thinking snapped her fingers to light the lantern. She retrieved the stool and placed it near the window. The lantern threw too much reflection on the window so she lowered the wick as much as possible and looked back outside again. The moon rose, casting a glow over the white landscape.
Several minutes passed before she noticed some branches moving in the trees on the far side of the meadow. A unicorn stepped out into the meadow. Its coat shone in the harvest moon’s intense light. It really was a unicorn, Caroline wasn’t imagining him after all. If anyone else had seen him, they would think they were imagining things. She knew better. She pressed her face up against the cold window to get a better look. Yep, she could make out his horn when it glittered in the moonlight.
A wild unicorn. She’d never seen a wild one before, only the ones at Aspen Glen, a semi-tame herd that wandered around the magic school’s protected grounds.
But here? Why would there be one here? She remembered learning that they were attracted to nights with full moons and magic. Could it have been attracted to her? No, her magic wasn’t that strong.
Did it come into the valley to avoid the heavy snow? But there were people here. Unicorns avoided people like the plague.
No, the reason had to be magic.
There might be a magical artifact in the valley. If so, she had to find it. Magic that strong couldn’t land in the wrong hands. She’d have to find a way to stay here longer. Maybe the snow storms would keep up and she’d be stuck here a while longer.
The perfect excuse, but she still had to get outside alone to look. She couldn’t let Steve see her using magic. She watched for a while before the unicorn disappeared back into the trees.
All the next day she took longer than usual to get her chores done. The speckled hen enjoyed spending more time with her. Every day now the hen would ride on Alex’s shoulder as she went about her chores. Steve never commented as he was taking longer too. When she tried to read, her thoughts kept returning to the unicorn. Why it was here and what it was looking for? She’d have to go out there and look. Before that, she could watch and figure out if he was staying in one area or wandering aimlessly around. She’d have to watch again tonight. But first, the weather had to clear up a little. With the blowing winds, the snow would be flying everywhere making it impossible to see all the way across the meadow.
The mantel clock ticked away the seconds. The evening inched along, doing nothing for her nerves. There would be another full moon tonight and the winds had abated for the time being. The last time she glanced out the cabin window, the constant snow had eased up to a few flakes. She wanted to look out again, but that would be too obvious. Steve would ask questions. Questions she didn’t want to answer.
It was too early anyway. The unicorn wouldn’t appear in the meadow until the moon did. Until then he would remain concealed among the snow-laden fir branches. Would he even show up again? Maybe last night was only a fluke? But then Caroline had seen him for several nights.
Without moving her head, she glanced up at the clock again. Another hour and a half to go. How could she get Steve to go to bed by then? She needed some time to watch the meadow, without him noticing.
The clock ticked on.
She couldn’t think of anything. Some type of excuse to go back in the barn without Steve wondering why she was spending so much time there. She could use Anna Belle as an excuse again. Enough times and she’d create a pattern of going to see her, but that wouldn’t work for tonight.
She rolled her eyes up to the clock. Only a few minutes had passed. She tried to get involved in the book she was reading. The clock’s ticks filled the room. Even the crackling fire seemed quiet in comparison. She looked at the book again and reread the paragraph. She must have read the same paragraph at least five times.
Mandy got up and sat down right in front of her, laying her muzzle on her leg. Alex reached out and scratched behind her ears. Mandy shook her head then lay down.
Alex looked down at Mandy and Mandy looked back. I swear that dog can read my mind. How did she know what I needed?
Alex got up. “Go ahead and go to bed. I’m going to go play catch with Mandy for a while. Alex and Mandy went out to the barn. Alex tossed Mandy’s ball for a while to kill time. “Sorry girl, but there’s something I need to do.”
Mandy dropped the ball and started to sniff around the barn.
Alex watched her wandering around. “You must be able to understand me.”
Mandy ignored her.
“Oh well, I need to get ready.” She lowered the light and carried the stool over to the window. After climbing up, she rubbed the frost off the icy pane. Just in time. The moon was starting to rise. She carefully scanned the trees around the meadow.
Nothing moved.
She watched the area where she had spotted the unicorn last night on the off chance he had settled in. If he was still searching, he would have moved on by now.
She shifted from foot to foot as she watched. She froze. Was that a small cloud?
She swiped her hands across the glass again, placed them on the panes, and moved her face closer. There it is again. A branch moved, knocking a cloud of snow off. His white face and horn stood out against the black branches. He had stayed in the area; there must be something here. Whether she wanted to or not, she’d have to stay, at least until she found whatever had drawn him here.
Each night she played toss with Mandy and continued her vigil. She’d spotted the unicorn every night. Something was drawing him in. Five days and she hadn’t been able to get outside. All it did was snow. She was sick and tired of seeing nothing but white. What she wouldn’t give to see green grass. If the unicorn hadn’t been wandering around, she’d never have seen him.
Then there was the deep snow. She’d have to learn how to use the snowshoes. Her excuse could be that she’d always wanted to try them. Walking to the trees would give her a lot of practice. She hadn’t seen another pair of snowshoes anywhere so Steve couldn’t go with her, and she’d get the chance to be alone.
Then she could use her wand to search for a magical power source. She’d have to work fast; she couldn’t risk Steve seeing anything. Secrecy, that was the wizards’ creed. She had to avoid exposing magic to Steve. He wouldn’t understand; the powerless never did. She had a plan if only it would stop snowing so she could get outside.
The next day the snow lessened. After finishing her usual chores, Alex headed out to shovel the porch off. She’d worked her way down the steps and removed some of the top layer of where she guessed an approach walk would be. As she worked back closer to the porch a clump of snow fell down on her. She leaned the shovel against the handrail, brushed the snow off, and grabbed the shovel. Another clump of snow fell off the roof covering her shoulder. Again, she set the shovel aside and brushed the snow off.
As she started to reach for the shovel, a movement out of the corner of her eye distracted her. She jerked around. Steve stood off a ways with his hands tucked behind his back.
Alex called out, “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged.
“What are you doing?”
“Just watching.”
“I’ll be done in a minute. Do you need some help?”
“No, I’m finished.”
Alex started to turn back to reach for the shovel when he threw something at the roof. She looked up at a section of snow headed straight for her. It plastered her head and shoulders, working down inside her coat to hit her skin. She spluttered and frantically brushed the snow off her face. She turned. Steve still held a snowball, trying to keep from laughing.
“You did that, didn’t you?” She tossed the shovel aside.
Now she could clearly hear him laughing.
“That isn’t funny. You covered me with snow. It’s cold. It’s inside my coat.” The more she complained the harder he laughed. He could be so frustrating. She extended her arm and pointed a finger at him. “This is so not funny. Just you wait.”
That’s when she felt it. Her energy exploded out her finger and hit Steve in the chest. He stood there a moment, stock still, staring at her. In the next second a “puff” broke the silence with an explosion of snow. As soon as the snow cleared, a brown bear stood where Steve had been a moment before.
The bear turned and started to run for the other side of the valley.
“Wait! Don’t run away. I can put you right,” she yelled at the retreating bear.
The bear plunged through a snowbank, paused, and shook, flinging snow everywhere. Then it resumed running for the far trees.
“I’m sorry,” she called out, but the bear was now too far away to hear. “I can turn you back,” she mumbled.
Or can I? Now she’d really done it. She didn’t know what to do.
She watched for several more minutes but didn’t see any sign of the bear. It would be sunset soon. She headed back in the cabin and pulled a kitchen chair up to the front window. She sat and watched until darkness fell, but he still hadn’t returned.
Mandy nudged her arm.
“Sorry, girl. Guess I’d better get the chores done.” She headed out into the barn and started working.
Anna Belle leaned against her. Alex stroked her back. “I’ve really done it this time. I changed Steve into a bear. I didn’t mean to. It just sort of happened.”
Alex got the bucket, filled it, and brought the water bucket back to the stall. “The worst thing is…I don’t know how to turn him back. I could go get someone who could, but I’m stuck here. I don’t know what to do.” She finished and went back inside the cabin. She curled up in a chair, wrapped a blanket around herself, and fell asleep while reading.
The next morning, she still didn’t see any sign of Steve until she went out in the barn to get the morning chores done. He was working away and acted as if nothing had happened. The magic must have worn off and he shifted back. Maybe he didn’t even remember what happened.
At breakfast she had to find out if he’d been okay. “Where were you last night?” Alex asked.
Steve fussed around setting out pans and dishes before answering. “I spent the night in the barn.”
“Why?”
“Anna Belle didn’t look quite right. I wanted to be there if she needed anything.” He started cracking eggs in the skillet.
“Is she okay?”
He set the dishes and silverware on the table. “Looks so.” He went back to the stove to check the eggs. “Hurry up and shower or the eggs will be cold.”
He didn’t say anything else, so Alex headed in to shower.
Steve watched her leave then whispered to Mandy who was lying close by. “What am I going to do? I can’t put her at risk. I’ll need to find an excuse to get out of the cabin to think. Peter would take her in. Maybe I’ll have to ask him to before it’s too late.” The water shut off, so he went back to finishing breakfast.
Chapter 18
Steve rushed cleaning up the morning dishes and tried to ignore Alex. He couldn’t figure out why he’d become a bear. The animal in him had started stirring ever since making love to Alex. But it wasn’t awake enough yet for him to have shifted. As soon as he’d finished, he grabbed the snowshoes and explained that he needed to check on some traps he’d placed out among the trees. But that was an excuse; he wanted to get away from Alex so he could think. He noticed her watching out the cabin’s window as he strode across the meadow. He always thought he knew how he’d live his life. Alone. Away from civilization so he couldn’t harm another person.
Then Alex crossed his doorstep. She’d changed everything.
Now he wished he could spend the rest of his life with her.
But how could he? He’d be a threat to her whenever he turned into his bear.
He trudged deeper into the woods. The drifts forced him to expend more energy. He could feel the animal within him trying to wake up. It was too early, he should have until spring before he’d shift. Maybe if he got exhausted enough the beast would go back to sleep. He wanted this time with Alex before he had to say goodbye to her. Once spring arrived, his life would become too dangerous for her. It was hard enough keeping his livestock safe.
At least Mandy seemed to sense the danger and stayed inside the cabin at night. Alex wouldn’t. She’d want to spend evenings on the cabin’s porch, then she’d be in danger. He couldn’t take the chance that he might harm her.
No. He had to break it off, get her to return home. When she left, he’d be lost in the darkness of his life. She’d become his light. But all that didn’t matter, he had to keep her safe, at all costs. He wandered among the trees for several hours until he felt drained. After returning, he did only the necessary chores, fixed a simple dinner, then crawled into bed.
****
All day while Steve was out, Alex paced. She kept thinking about what she would do when she got back home. The fickle finger of fate offered her a chance she needed to take. She might be able to leave by hopping a ride on the snowmobile, taking a risk with the weather; or she could wait until it had cleared up more. She’d already lost her job and her brother was taking care of her dog Vladimir, so why rush? Maybe she could take this time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She liked being involved with writing and books, but never saw herself penning her own. Maybe something involving a magazine or publishing, but what? And she still wanted to find the unicorn. At least when Steve came back, he went to bed early. Tonight, she’d be able to watch from the comfort of the cabin, sitting. Steve had thankfully headed to
the opposite end of the trees, away from the area where she’d been seeing the unicorn.
The next day during chores, she asked if he would show her how to use the snowshoes so she could stretch her legs. He showed her how to fasten them on and she must have been some entertainment. She tripped and fell with her first steps, but she refused to let him help. After going for a while, she started to get the hang of walking in them.
Alex trudged across the meadow struggling with the unfamiliar snowshoes. After only going a third of the way across she had to stop to catch her breath. Steve made it look so easy, he just plowed on across the meadow. She looked at the firs on the opposite side of the valley. They seemed to be even farther away than when she started.
She leaned over as she tried to breathe the thin air. Each breath burned from the cold.
“This isn’t working,” she said. She lifted her head and studied the snow-filled meadow. “I’ll never make it.”
She turned and started retracing her tracks. At least it was a little easier. Part way back she stopped again. I have to get over there. The snowmobile would be too noisy. She didn’t want to frighten the unicorn. That only left magic.
“Why?” she asked the sky. “I’ve been doing so well. Twenty-three days and no magic.” At least not on purpose. There had been those mishaps though. She turned around and looked at the distant trees again. “I’ll just have to do a little spell.”
That was the problem.
She’d been relying on magic for too many things. If she ever wanted to live among normal people she’d have to do better. She turned back to the cabin. “Doesn’t matter. I have to find out where the unicorn is and what he’s found.” She plodded on back.
As soon as she got close to the porch, she saw Steve standing there cradling a mug. “Did you enjoy your walk?”
She forced herself to smile. Of course not, but she couldn’t let him know how much of a wimp she was. “I did. I want to go again tomorrow if the weather’s like this again.” Yeah right, so freezing cold I can’t even feel my ass any more. But with a little spell she’d be able to stay warm.