Page 67 of Mountain Refuge

I stood back and watched in trepidation as my little angel hit the bullseye after only three shots.

Chapter Thirty-One

Brooke

Elijah clung to my back as I guided the snowmobile down the steep, snow covered slope. This was his first time off the mountain since he’d arrived almost fifteen months ago. It was hard to believe how much had changed, how muchIhad changed, in fifteen months.

Jack had called us this morning to say that Josie and Trenton had finally made it to town. We were on our way down to see them. Elijah had become proficient in driving the snowmobiles, but the way down the foot of the mountain was far different than being up in the saddle where we lived. Which was why he was riding with me instead of on his own.

We were meeting at Jack’s store and then would be guiding them up to Tommy’s land, where Corbin and Walter would be meeting us later. Corbin would bring Elijah back up to his cabin, I would take Trenton to mine for the night, and Josie would be heading up with Walter to his land.

I hadn’t been down to town since before Thanksgiving. Celebrating holidays and birthdays was another change in my life since Elijah and his kids had entered it. I had had my first birthday party in a decade last fall. Belle had asked when mybirthday was and that was that. Same with Christmas, Thanksgiving, and even Halloween. Since Belle couldn’t go Trick or Treating like other kids in town, Corbin had made a scavenger hunt on his land where he hid candy and treats for Belle and Lucas to find. Elijah and I had spent Valentine’s Day in front of the fireplace in my living room last week.

It was interesting how much the presence of children on the mountain had changed us. Dalton, Corbin, and I had always looked out for each other and pitched in to aid Tommy too, especially after Tommy’s hip fracture. But now we weren’t just neighbors. We werefriends.

I’m not even sure I had such an active social life when I was married and living in the city with my family as I do now.

Being winter, it was entirely reasonable for Elijah’s face to be completely covered. Mine was too. As we entered town, we got several curious glances. It was extremely rare for the notorious ‘mountain men’ who lived up Big Mountain to journey down into town—and even rarer during the winter.

The ski resort was in full swing and the town was flooded with tourists. The resort rented out snowmobiles for guests to use like a rental car. As a snow town, it was not unusual to see more snowmobiles than cars on the road during the winter months. We headed down the road towards Jack’s store.

I saw the curious looks from the locals. Over the years, I had heard all sorts of rumors about the ‘mountain men’. Most of them believed I was one of their wives or some sort of mountain man hooker that they shared. There was talk about cannibalism and how we hunted missing tourists for sport. We did nothing to stop any of these rumors. Hell, no one would believe us even if we tried. Truthfully, none of us cared enough about anyone in town for us to correct their opinion of us. Jack didn’t bother to defend our reputations either, because he knew that the ridiculouslegends kept locals and tourists from journeying up our mountain.

After I parked, we dismounted but did not remove our snow gear. We left our faces covered until we entered the front door of Jack’s store.

A young man I didn’t recognize was sitting behind the counter. He had sandy brown hair and a unique shade of amber eyes. I placed him in his early twenties, which was why I didn’t guess who he was right away.

“They’re in the back with Jack,” he told us.

Thiswas Owen? This kid had rescued Trenton and Josie? And he’d faced down how many of Gunther’s goons to do it? I was a bit grateful for the flannel face mask and goggles covering my face and what was no doubt an astonished expression.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice muffled by the mask. I took Elijah’s hand and led him towards the storage room. He had removed his goggles, so I could see his eyes taking in everything about Jack’s store. I doubted he even noticed Owen or his youth.

I guided Elijah through to the large door that hid Jack’s real business. He was waiting for us, closing us into the secret room. Once there, we started to unbundle our snow gear.

I had only been in Jack’s computer room a handful of times. There was never a need for me to be back here, other than following Jack’s initial pitch to become a Mutineer and then two other times when I’d happened to be in his store when a situation had arisen. The room had more television screens mounted around the walls than a NASA command center. He had a single desk with a keyboard and a picture of a schoolgirl I had never had the guts to inquire about. I suspected she was his daughter, but Jack had never mentioned having or having had a family. Based on the age of the picture, she was either dead or Jack was long estranged from her.

Never before had I seen bed cots set up along the left wall.They were likely pulled from Jack’s camping supply products in his store. Most of the computer screens were now turned off, giving the room a dark and dreary look to it. I’d never noticed how little overhead lighting was here before because the screens gave off so much glow.

On the cots were two very bruised and battered people I had never met before but now claimed as part of my mountain family.

Trenton was passed out. He had a cast over one hand and a splint on the other. His head was tipped away from us on the camping pillow. He had as blonde of hair as Belle and me with natural highlights. I wondered if his eyes matched Belle’s too. Unconscious, with his jaw swollen and what looked like cotton hanging out over his lip, he looked far younger than his twenty-three years. A thin blanket covered him from the chest down, hiding any other obvious injuries.

On the other cot was the woman I could only assume to be Josie. She too had a cast on her hand, though hers went further up to her elbow than Trenton’s did. Her left eye was puffy and colorful, but she was able to blink and move the eyelid. She had two butterfly bandages on her left cheek. Her split lip looked almost healed. She was sitting up on the cot with her back against the wall and her knees raised before her. I recognized the hardened look on her face: it was one I saw too often in the mirror myself. It was the look of a woman who had hit rock bottom but refused to stay down.

Her long black hair was up in a simple ponytail. From the gun in her left hand, I realized why she wasn’t sleeping. She was still trying to protect Trenton. Jack might have told her we were coming, but she wasn’t taking any chances. Most likely, she blamed herself for Trenton’s condition and was taking care of him more than she was herself.

Due to that realization, I was grateful Walter was comingdown to take Josie up to his cabin. It would give her a chance to heal and rest instead of being hyper-focused on still protecting Trenton. The mountain and I would protect her charge until she was ready to take him back into her protection.

Jack was sitting at his desk, but he wasn’t working his computer magic. Instead, it looked like he was counting medication bottles and various first aid supplies. That would make sense. It wasn’t like we had a pharmacy up on the mountain. Anything they needed medical-wise needed to be brought with us. Including antibiotics, painkillers, anti-inflammatories… Most of us used home remedies, but there was no reason for Josie or Trenton to be in undue pain just because the other mountain dwellers and I did not want to rely on medications from town.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Jack said as he stood up. He walked up to Elijah and held out his hand. “Good to finally meet you, son.”

Elijah shook his offered hand. “You too. I’m sorry it’s taken these circumstances to get me to come off of the mountain.”

Jack waved off Elijah’s words. “I am the last person you need to explain staying on that mountain to. I understand its allure probably better than you do.”

I thought his wording odd. As far as I knew, Jack did not and never had lived on the mountain. He lived in an apartment above his store here.

---