Page 2 of Shelter for the Mountain Man
I make a cold camp early and lie where I can see the stars. This is peace. The last year has been rough. Transitioning out of the military to please my wife. Coming home to that wife and a child who wasn’t mine. Learning my wife had never been faithful. The fights. The failed attempts to reconcile. The realization that I’d been nothing more than a bank account. The legal battles over assets and property.
Then the hardest part. The child. Having come from a dysfunctional home, my concerns that the child would be taken care of played heavy on my heart. He was the only innocent one in the whole mess. The added heartache for him, on top of coming off the losses from my team, took a real toll.
Getting back to nature…I stare at Orion in the sky. This peace is what I need. Being here, having a friend and mentor in Jax has already helped. I just need a little more time, a new purpose and job to get back to the old me.
The morning light wakes me. I eat a couple breakfast bars as I trek higher. Pausing, I see the river down below. Pulling my camera out, I take a few shots of the sunrise framed by the majestic mountains. Later I get a few more shots of deer, eagles, and an owl. Checking my coordinates, I adjust my path to head back toward Jax’s place. Hearing a boat engine, I alter my path to where I can see the river again.
Standing on a rocky outcropping I see a jet boat pulling into a small hidden inlet. There’s a guy on shore with a four-wheeler who grabs the line. My instincts and training as a spotter kick in. Dropping to a crouch, I adjust the lens on my camera and start snapping shots. They unload two crates, securing them on the four-wheeler, then pull a brush covered net over the boat to hide it from easy view. Their actions feel off. They don’t carry themselves like hunters. So why camouflage your boat?
The taller of the two men stops at one of the tubs, lifts a corner and reaches in, pulling out two bricks of what I assume is drugs. They both laugh and each pocket one.
Stowing my camera in my pack, I slip it back on and stay crouched, hoping they don’t head up the mountain toward me. I glance over the rocky edge, watching and waiting. A shout rings out, “Over there.”
I’ve been spotted. The engine revs amidst the yelling. Two shots ring out as I prepare to leap over the edge. A burningsensation slices along my left bicep, then my head connects with something….
CHAPTER 2
Fawn Moirae
“Damn it Chia. Why do you always have to escape when a storm is brewing?” I mutter out loud. Latching and roping the gate closed to keep the other goats and sheep in the pen, I grab my backpack and rifle from the barn.
“Marble! Come on boy, Brownie will watch the stock.” As I slip my weapon into the scabbard on my back, Marble bounds ahead. His mottled brown, blonde and grey hair let him blend in with most terrain. He’s huge even for a Great Pyrenees. And the sweetest boy ever, unless on guard.
Heading up the ridge I have a good idea where my runaway goat has headed. Her favorite patch of blackberry shrubs. Should have named her Houdini for all her escapes.
Marble has the same destination in mind. The air is cool. I feel the storm coming in. Glad I went into town two days ago. I’ve got enough supplies to last for two months. Two months of peace and quiet. It’s been a while. I could use the time to catch up on work and the respite from my mother’s gentle nagging. I shouldn’t complain. Our relationship has improved since she moved to town. Except now she worries about me being alone.Now that she’s found John, she’s also pushing me to find a companion.
I can’t help but smile. I like John - mechanic extraordinaire. He takes good care of Mom and my vehicles. My old truck hasn’t run this well in five years and the ATV he found and fixed up for me is perfect. He wouldn’t let me pay for anything, saying it was fun to have something different to work on.
Growing up in the cabin on our isolated acreage, I didn’t think of all the things that could go wrong. Until Mom got sick. I almost lost her. That’s when we both started reevaluating our lifestyle.
The shop where Mom sells her pottery and paintings, as well as my wools and wool garments, has an attic. We converted it to a living space for her. I still like the seclusion and need to stay at the cabin tending my livestock. We did add a backup generator and satellite phone as a precaution at the cabin.
This is my mountain, where I grew up. Where I learned from mother nature how to survive. I check out the sky and inhale deeply. Like now, I know a storm is coming and it will hit soon.
Marble stops, cocks his head and sniffs the air. Soon I hear it too, an ATV. Sonofabitch. Those thieving bastards are back.
They’ve been coming and going toward the old, abandoned mining shack that’s on the other side of my property line for a couple months. The old man who owns that land is in Portland and everyone knows he’s not coming back. He’s also the last of his line, so unless he sold the land, those two guys on the ATV are trespassing on posted property.
I reported it to the Sheriff. He keeps checking but hasn’t caught them yet. We both got a feeling they’re up to no good.
“Alright, boy, find Chia then we’ll check it out.” Ten minutes later snow is gently falling as I’m slipping a rope on my runaway goat. A shot rings out.
Damn. Hooking the other end of the lead to a nearby tree, I turn to Marble. “Come on, boy.”
We take off in the direction of the shot. Approaching the tree line near a clump of rocks, I hear arguing but can’t make out the words. Giving Marble the hand command for stealth. I move closer.
Two unkempt guys wearing the same plaid coats I’ve seen before are looking over the side of a rocky outcrop. One is holding a handgun.
“You think he’s dead?” the shorter one asks.
“I’m sure I hit him, and it looks like his head bounced off those rocks.”
“Think you should shoot him again to be sure?”
I pull my riffle, then give Marble the command to howl. The sound he makes is loud and deep. I motion again. And again.
“Shit. That’s wolves, right?” The guy holding the gun glances over his shoulder then back into the ravine. “That ledge is narrow. He’ll probably fall off if he comes to. If he doesn’t fall, the snow or the wolves will get him once they smell blood. Let’s get out of here.”
