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“I know I’m new here. But I’ve been told no one is to go up the mountain without reason and without letting our office know.”
Aidyn rested his elbow on the door of his truck and smiled at Officer Gordon.
“I’m not privy to what you’ve been told, Officer Gordon.” He held his hand out to shake the officer’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, by the way.”
Officer Gordon nodded. “It’s nice to meet you as well, Mr. Dunbar.”
“Aidyn.”
“Aidyn. My name is Carter.”
“Carter. I’m not aware of what you’ve been told, but I hope some of that was the fact that we work for the Department of Defense. We know our jobs and are good at them. We don’t stop and ask permission before doing them. If we fuck up, the DoD will let us know.”
“I have been told that. I’ve also been told that you shot Everett Howard and you are the last person on this whole earth who is welcome up there.”
Aidyn shrugged. “I still have a job to do.”
“Right.” Carter handed his insurance papers and his driver’s license back. He stepped back a couple of feet. “I stopped you because I saw you running down the hill and it looked suspicious. If you were being chased, someone is aware you were up there. I hope we won’t have issues because you’ve upset them.”
Aidyn lifted his hands, then let them fall. “If trouble comes knocking, we’ll take care of it.”
Carter blew out a breath. “Can I be honest with you?”
“Of course.”
“I’d like the time to get acclimated here before some nasty shit comes down the pike, or hill. If you know what I mean.”
Aidyn pressed his lips together. “I know what you mean. Look, things are shaky right now, but we periodically go up there to make sure they aren’t playing with electricity or messing with our power sources. We're just doing our part to keep them from harming us.”
Carter stretched his shoulders. “Okay, Aidyn. Thanks for the heads-up and the chat. I guess I’ve heard all the bad stuff and not enough of the good. I’ll keep my imagination in check.”
Aidyn grinned and nodded. “Sounds like a brilliant plan. If you don’t need anything else from me, my teammates are waiting for me out at the sewing factory.”
“Nah, go on, I’m sorry to keep you.”
ChapterTwo
Elena entered her cabin and a shiver skittered down her back as the warmth wrapped around her. She glanced to the fireplace in the right corner of her one-room home and saw the need for more wood. Laying her basket on the old wooden table, she rubbed her hands together to warm them. She stooped to pull two logs from the stack in the corner and set them on top of the small fire in the grate. The dried wood began to burn and the sap on the outside cracked and popped as the flames grew. She remembered carrying the stones for the fireplace from around the mountain and stacking them on a pile before her father had turned that pile of rocks into this fireplace.
She moved toward her mother’s bed at the far end of the cabin, which wasn’t far from the fire. Her father had built this cabin when Elena was ten. Their former cabin had grown too small and one of the men had recently married and traded building help and supplies for their much smaller cabin. This one offered them room for two beds at the back, and a curtain that could be pulled closed to separate the living area from the bedroom. In the winter months they rarely closed the curtains because it blocked the heat.
She looked down at her mom, sleeping, though she looked fitful. Her covers were crumpled and her left foot jutted out of the blankets.
Elena straightened her blankets and gently tucked her foot under them.
Her mom’s eyes opened. “Elena. You were gone a long time.”
“I’m sorry, Mama. I was having luck gathering bluebells an’ some others. I’ll be able to propagate many plants this winter.”
Her mom’s weak smile made her heart flutter. She was growing weaker by the day.
“Is it supper time?” she whispered.
“Soon. I was planning on making soup. I have fresh carrots and potatoes. And Jasiah got a deer this morning and gave me enough to add to the soup.”
“That sounds good.”
Elena brushed her mom’s hair from her eyes and smiled. “Rest a bit. I’ll get the soup started.”
