Authors: Marisa Logan
Chapter 10
The cold of winter in Alaska is almost a tangible presence. Even in the warmth of the house, the cold could be felt pressing itself against the outer walls and windows. It sought out every crack and crevice around the doors and the logs of the walls trying to find a way to come inside. The heating system was good and they felt safe inside the buildings.
Going outside was a very different matter as frostbite and hypothermia were ever present dangers. Temperatures of forty or fifty below are normal for the Interior and it was important to always be prepared for the possibility that things could suddenly get worse. Add to that wind chill factors and death by cold was clearly a risk they all faced out here.
The animals were safe in the barn and the horses and dogs all wore heavy fur coats of their own making. Amber feared for the horses until she took off her gloves one day and thrust her fingers deep into the thick coat on Petunia’s side. As her fingers sunk into the mat of hair, she could feel the heat of the horse and realized they were in no danger of freezing. The goats and chickens were at far more risk, but there was no reason for them to leave the safety of the heated barn most days.
The two women shared the outdoor chores in an effort to reduce the amount of time they needed to go outside. There was no longer any danger of bears as they were bundled up in their dens sleeping off the winter, but the heavy snow brought in the wolves closer to the homestead. They knew the dogs would fight if it came to that, but not even the Shepherds were a match for a hungry wolf pack. Maggie was little more than wolf bait and she spent her days inside more than out.
***
They’d finally made it to the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, when their frayed nerves snapped from boredom and the cabin fever that gripped them both. Lauren wasn’t sure how the argument started, but it escalated faster than an avalanche on a sunny day.
Soon they were arguing over whose turn it was to go outside and milk the goats and who was supposed to have made the coffee that morning. Even the tampon fiasco got brought up and thrown in Lauren’s face, much to her amazement.
That was the last straw for her and she grabbed her gear to head outside. Usually Amber was the first to escape outdoors, but she’d headed back to her own room and slammed the door. Lauren could still hear her grumbling as she closed the door to the arctic entryway. It was clearly time to put as much distance between themselves as possible.
Much to Lauren’s surprise the day seemed much warmer than usual. The snow wasn’t very deep and the little sunlight they had was enough to see across the clearing. She saw Trace first as he came over searching for a treat. Pulling out a sugar cube, she absently held out her hand to him. After he’d crunched it up, he nuzzled her again as if asking for more, but her pockets were empty. She headed over to the barn where they kept a few boxes of sugar cubes hidden from the goats. Trace followed her as if he’d read her mind.
Digging out a few more cubes from their hiding place, she noticed the bridle hanging next to one of the stalls and decided to put it on Trace and take him for a short ride. Usually it was too cold and snowy for such things, but today seemed perfect if she made it a quickie. She’d reached for the saddle before she realized she was wearing her bunny boots. There was no way they were going to fit in the stirrups and she didn’t want to go back to the house to change. She figured she’d be okay without a saddle for a little jaunt. Amber seemed to prefer riding bareback. It should be fine for her too.
Trace seemed happy with her plan and lowered his head for her to put the bridle on him. Stepping up on a hay bale, she got on his back and off they went. At first she rode around the house, but the path towards the airfield beckoned to her so she made the turn and headed for that clearing. Trace plodded through the snow as effortlessly as if he was walking through shallow water. Her heavy boots swung against the horse’s haunches keeping her level on his back like a pair of pendulums.
She traversed the airfield and came to a path that was worn down with tracks. She leaned over to see if she could figure out who or what was using the trail. Her first thought was moose, but then she realized it must have been a herd of caribou. Hoping to catch sight of them, she urged Trace down the trail and eagerly searched the trees around them for any other signs.
Focused on following the tracks, Lauren forgot to pay attention to where she was going and didn’t realize that she’d crossed several other well-worn pathways. They’d traveled several miles before she caught sight of the flash of a caribou tail just ahead. Urging Trace forward, she tried her best to catch up to the herd. Despite her efforts the animals stayed about the same distance ahead of them leading her on a wild ‘bou chase.
Two thoughts suddenly burst to the forefront of her mind with the force of a knockout punch. First, it was already starting to get dark and she didn’t have any kind of light with her and secondly, wolves were known to follow the caribou herds and she didn’t have any kind of weapon either. Both thoughts carried enough impact to stop her in her tracks. ‘Standing on the tracks’ is always a bad idea, to pun a metaphor, but it’s a sure place to get hit by a train. Her ‘train’ of thought led her to an even greater problem….she was lost.
Sheer terror threatened to overcome her in that moment, but she knew this was no time to lose her head. She dared to hope she could follow Trace’s path back the way they had come. She was sure they hadn’t come
that
far. Carefully searching the ground she tried to pick up the trail. They weaved about in the snow for several minutes before she realized they were simply going in circles. It was getting dark a lot faster than she was making any progress towards home.
Considering her fight with Amber and the way she’d gone off without a word, there was little hope that anyone would come looking for her anytime soon. She’d be a popsicle long before a search party came her way, even if there was anyone to launch a search party.
With the adrenaline pumping into her system, she started to hear rustling in the trees all around her and it took every bit of restraint she had not to give in to her panic and fear. She struggled to think of a solution to surviving her stupidity. This was one time she’d have to agree with Carson about a ‘cheechako’ moment. She’d just topped every silly thing she’d ever done before, with this single act.
As she sorted through everything she’d learned about survival in the wilderness, she remembered something Mr. Dorman had told her when they first started riding. He’d told her that Trace was the only one of the three horses that could find his way home. The one caveat was that she had to drop the reins to the ground and completely trust him to do it by himself.
She also remembered her sarcastic thought about trusting any male. It seemed that the only way she could survive this mistake was to eat those words and do what Mr. Dorman had said.
She leaned forward to have a talk with Trace. He laid his ears back and seemed to listen but as she urged him to get them home, he just stood there waiting for her direction. It appeared there was no way around that
caveat
. Tossing up a quick prayer that she was doing the right thing, she steeled herself against every broken promise, every betrayal and every deception she could remember, and she dropped the reins.
Immediately, Trace started walking. It wasn’t the direction she would have chosen, but she dared not try and reach for the reins lest she fall off. Even if Trace didn’t run away, she didn’t have much chance of getting back on him out here. He walked steadily for an hour and when it was full on dark, he kept on walking.
Lauren took in small sips of air as the temperature dropped and hunched herself down as close to the horse as she dared to stay warm. She didn’t understand how the horse knew where he was going, but it was clear he was heading somewhere. The cold and the dark mixed with the adrenaline crash made her feel so sleepy and she struggled to stay awake. Her heavy boots were keeping her feet warm and her body balanced.
It wasn’t until they were standing in front of the barn that she realized they were home. The sound of barking and howling brought back all of her fears as thoughts of wolves overwhelmed her, but then the door opened and Sergei and Amber came rushing out. He was there to catch her as she gave in and fainted from exhaustion and it was his strong arms that carried her back into the house.
***
It was late afternoon the next day, when Lauren finally woke up in her own bed. She could hear the sound of quiet voices coming from the kitchen, but couldn’t make out who was talking. The details of the previous 24 hours were slow in coming back, but there was clearly nothing wrong with her memory. She spent a few minutes flexing her fingers and toes, then worked her way through her arms and legs without finding any problems. Apparently, she hadn’t done any harm to herself physically.
Emotionally, there were some questions as the last thing she remembered before waking up was the feel of strong arms cradling her against a powerful chest. She wasn’t given over to fits of fainting or histrionics like her mother, but she was sure she fainted last night. She reasoned it was probably because of her extreme stress and exhaustion. She hoped that explanation would suffice for her weakness. There wasn’t any way to explain away her abject stupidity.
She was starting to get out of bed when her door was pushed open and Amber looked in on her. She got a brief glimpse of Sergei’s worried face behind her cousin before he slipped back to the kitchen. Both of them were looking relieved to finally see her awake.
“Oh, I see you’re finally awake,” Amber said hesitantly. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lauren sighed.
Suddenly she remembered the
real
hero of this story.
“Is Trace okay,” she asked with a tremor in her voice. “I didn’t hurt him, did I?”
“He’s fine,” Amber assured her as she came to sit next to her cousin on the bed. “Sergei rubbed him down and gave him some extra oats last night. I’m sure he’s right as rain today.”
The two women were quiet as they considered the events of the past couple of days and their parting words.
“I’m sorry,” they both said at once. “This was all my fault…” and they laughed.
Sergei appeared in the open doorway again with a cup of tea in his hand and a bemused look on his face. Lauren was overwhelmed with his presence in her bedroom and turned her face away shyly. Amber took the cup from him and pressed it into Lauren’s hand.
“Here, drink this,” she said. “It will make you feel better.”
Lauren took a sip of the warm tea and realized that she hadn’t eaten anything at all since yesterday morning. Her stomach gave out a loud grumble which caused both women to start laughing again. Sergei had already fled back to the kitchen.
“I think I need more than a cup of tea,” she said. “I’m starving!”
“Well, come on. Let’s go find you something to eat! You might want to throw on a robe or something first,” Amber called back as she went to the kitchen.
Lauren looked down at the baggy t-shirt and sweats she was wearing and groaned.
Ugh
, she thought,
there’s no way Sergei’s going to forget seeing me looking like this
. She almost crawled back into bed and pulled the pillow over her head, but her stomach rumbled again, reasserting priority. She figured a robe would have to do for now.
As she staggered into the kitchen, she found Sergei and Amber standing close together in front of the wood stove. Their eyes were fixed on each other and neither of them heard her come in with her booties. She cleared her throat to alert them to her presence. They both turned to her with a start and then hurried to get busy with other things. She sat down at the table where someone had been eating some goat cheese and crackers and helped herself.
She’d eaten everything on the plate when she realized that Amber’s mug was in her usual spot and her usual place was empty. With a start, she figured out she was eating off of Sergei’s plate. She looked up to find him watching her with a grin on his face.
“Good stuff, eh,” he said.
Amber turned from the counter with a sandwich and a cup of soup when she realized what Lauren had done. She started to laugh and that set them all off. Lauren offered him his chair and his empty plate, but he waved her off and grabbed another plate from the cupboard and some more bread and cheese. It was clear to Lauren that he knew his way around their kitchen.
The three of them sat down and started piecing together the events of the past twenty-four hours. Each of them only knew a part of the whole story and it took all three of them to put it all together.
It seemed that Sergei had shown up some time after Lauren set off on her little ride. After checking on the animals and finding the eggs hadn’t been collected or the goats milked, he came to the house to check on the two women. He didn’t notice that Trace was missing. Finding Amber asleep in her bedroom, he took a quick look around for Lauren. When he didn’t find her, he woke Amber to try and figure out what was going on.
Amber had no idea that Lauren had left the homestead and she didn’t feel like looking for her so she told Sergei, Lauren probably was just hiding out somewhere nursing her hurt feelings. The two of them took care of the chores and it wasn’t until they were putting out food for the horses that they realized Trace was gone. Neither of them had any idea of where to begin looking for either Lauren or the horse and it was getting dark.