Page 11 of Mountain Refuge
Dalton was on the other side of my property from Tommy. He was also a veteran and had a prosthetic leg. When I’d first met him, I figured that the fake leg slowed him down, but honestly, unless he was wearing shorts, you’d never guess he was an amputee. He generally was the first to start the round of check-ins after a storm, as well as the first to volunteer to come help fix any damage. I thought he was hitting on me once, but he’d assured me he’d given up on love long ago and just wanted to be friends. If I was making pies, I always made sure to make extra in case I ran into Corbin or Dalton at Tommy’s.
Walter was even further up the mountain than I’d ever journeyed. I’d only met him once in the nine years that I’d been living here and probably couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. However, I would know his voice anywhere. Sometimes, when the loneliness got too much I think, Walter would get on the radio and sing. When his amazing bass voice came across the channel, I would lay down on the couch, close my eyes, and just listen. Some nights in the summer, I’d open my windows, look up at the stars, and bask in the vastness while his deep notes remind me that I’m not as alone as I sometimes feel.
And then there was Huck. I honestly didn’t know where Huck’s property was in relation to mine. I’d never met the man. From what I understand from Jack, he’d never come down off the mountain since he arrived some twenty years ago. When we did our rounds of check-ins, all we ever got from Huck was a series of clicks. I’d never learned Morse code, but Jack claimed he understood. I feared the day when Huck didn’t check-in and wondered how we would ever find him in person.
My radio was up in the loft. I loved my loft because of the giant windows that looked out onto the mountain. There was a slight drop about twenty yards from the back of the cabin. Ondays like today when the snow covered everything, even in the spring or the fall when the leaves were changing, and especially at sunrises and sunsets, I would sit up in my loft for hours. Just watching nature at its finest. My knitting and sewing equipment were up there too. When I had a new hide or knit pattern I was working on, that’s where I did it.
The loft wasn’t very big, only about eight by twelve, and I could keep an eye on the children from there.
I picked up my hand-mic and hit the code for our channel. Technically anyone in the world could listen in but it was rare to hear a stranger’s voice. There weren’t that many HAM radios left in use. At least, in this technological age, I doubted there was. I didn’t know actual statistics.
“Calling Charlie-Foxtrot-Two-Two-Niner-Charlie, over.”
I peeked over the rail to see that Lydia had rolled onto her side, facing the back of the couch. Henry was still laying on his stomach but his butt had risen further up in the air. I had no idea why baby butts were so adorable, given the deposits they left behind, but I smiled when I saw the position he’d moved himself into.
“Calling Charlie-Foxtrot-Two-Two-Niner-Charlie, over.”
If Jack didn’t pick up after my third hail, I’d hit the key to leave a message on the channel. He wouldn’t know which one of us was reaching out but he’d know someone had tried.
Then the speaker crackled. “Brooke, is that you?”
I keyed my mic. “It’s me, Jack. How are you?”
“Good. We’re snowed in and the locals are loving it. There’s a snowball war happening on Main Street as we speak.”
While I could imagine the scene he described, it didn’t hold my interest. “Has there been any missing person reports?” A long pause came across. I checked my channel and waited. “Jack?”
“Why do you ask?”
I found that reply odd. Jack was usually very forthcoming with information. He wasn’t one to answer a question with a question. I opened my mouth to answer—and paused. What if there was another reason Adam and those kids were on the mountain? What if it had nothing to do with bad directions, a family vacation, or skiing? Lydia’s first question rang through my mind again.Are we safe here?I could see clearly the memory of the way her little body was turned, as if to protect her brother. What if Adam hadn’t been lost? What if he’d been runningtosomeone or something? There wasn’t much up here on the mountain but if someone was trying to get lost, this would be the place to do it.
So what were the odds that Adam would choose to come to the same mountain where people were often hidden? But if Adam was one of Jack’s, why hadn’t Jack told me? I hadn’t gotten involved in his side business until recently. Jack mainly used me for when a female wasn’t comfortable being around one of the men.
What was different about Adam? Why the secrecy?
“Brooke, did I lose you?”
“No,” I answered quickly. “Um, I found tire tracks on my way back from Tommy’s on Tuesday just as the snow was hitting hard. Made me wonder if a tourist got caught up in it.”
I was generally not a liar. In fact, I despised liars and how they believed they could spin any tale to get away with something. But until I knew what Adam was doing on the mountain, I didn’t want to say anything that would draw suspicion on me or lead someone to my doorstep. Not that they could reach my doorstep without me knowing they were coming, but with the kids here, I didn’t want any surprises.
Never thought I’d be the overprotective mother-type but looking down at those innocent kids… I couldn’t risk it. No chances. Jack’s radio was in his store. Unless he was closed, anyone inside right now could hear our conversation.
“No one is missing as far as I know.”
That meant no one had reported Adam and the kids as missing. Not a wife, not the ski resort owner. So where had they come from? People don’t just appear on the mountain as if by magic.
The shower turned off below me. As much as I wanted to let Adam have his privacy, I needed answers. They were strangers living in my home after all. I needed to know I wasn’t harboring criminals.
A snort escaped me as I imagined baby Henry dressed up in an old fashioned black and white striped prisoner’s uniform onesie. While my concern was real, I couldn’t help but find that image adorable.
Huh, maybe there was a maternal bone in my body after all. Who knew?
“Thanks,” I said, wanting to cover the silence. “Have you heard from the others?”
If Jack realized I was changing the subject, he didn’t say anything. I was glad for that. With as much as I hated liars, it was a good thing I was a crappy one. I blushed too easily and got flustered. Who could remember all those stories anyway? It was too much pressure. Though sometimes I wished I could get away with a little white lie without the entire world pointing out that I was a crap liar. Maybe because we were over the radio and not face to face, Jack didn’t notice.
“Most checked in earlier. Haven’t heard from Tommy or Walter.”
