Snowbound in Montana (4 page)

Shortly after driving through the small town of Dillon, the bus pulled off the main road onto an access road that seemed to go on forever. Super-narrow and twisty. She could hear the trees brush against the bus at times, they were that close.

Finally, they arrived at a wooden lodge snuggled up against a back drop of ponderosa pine.

Marshall stood to make a few announcements. “Welcome to Baker Creek Lodge. Betsy will have homemade soup and sandwiches waiting for you in the dining room. Don’t worry about your suitcases. They’ve been tagged and will be waiting for you in your rooms after lunch.”

“What about our kids?” one of the fathers called out. “Are you tagging them, too, or do we need to bring them with us?”

“Oh, dad,” groaned two girls, simultaneously, twins from the look of them.

“You take the kids, Buck. We like to treat them as if they were people here at Baker Creek,” Marshall replied, taking the joke in good stride. “After lunch, I’ll take whoever is interested on an eight-mile intermediate loop that will give you a good idea of the kind of scenery you can expect during your five-day adventure. For those who want to spend the afternoon more quietly, Griff keeps a fire going in the common room, or you could try out the easy three-mile, ski loop that circles that lodge, goes down to the creek, then back up the far side of the ice-skating pond.”

It all sounded heavenly, Eliza thought with pleasure. And the reality was better than the promise.

The lodge itself, was simplicity and comfort all rolled into one. A nod had been given to Christmas—there was a tree, and a wreath on the large pine door. But the effort had been modest. And Eliza found herself ready to embrace that. The food, like the décor, focused on good ingredients, without too much ornamentation.

After her meal, she went to her room, determined to change into her ski-wear and tackle that eight-mile loop. And though she suspected—no she knew—she’d been assigned one of the smaller rooms, the one quite possibly originally slated for Marshall McKenzie, she wasn’t disappointed. The pine bed, with its flannel-covered feather duvet, could not have looked more inviting. She even had a small balcony, with a view overlooking the skating pond.

Snow was falling steadily once she made her way outside. She was glad of the extra layer she’d worn under her jacket, and for her new toque, as well, which had a fuzzy lining. The loud father, Buck Brackett, and the young couple, Jason and Sydney Kelly, were the only other guests interested in the longer ski.

In his skin tight ski pants and jacket, Marshall looked simultaneously taller, thinner and more muscular that he’d seemed in regular clothing. He zipped around on his skis with the dexterity of a skater. How in the world did he do that without tripping over his skis?

Eliza snapped her boots onto her skis feeling a little trepidatious. She hoped she wasn’t going to hold up the group.

“Looks like we’re in for a dump of snow,” Marshall said. “We’ll do some quick warm-up exercises and then get moving, so we can be back by the fire before it gets much worse.”

Eliza found the exercises, and the accompanying comments, very helpful.

“It’s the weight transfer in skiing that allows you to glide,” Marshall explained. “You have to commit all your weight from one ski to the other.”

Ten minutes later, he was leading the way down a double-track set path, followed by Jason and Sydney, and then Buck. Eliza took up the rear, gliding down the gentle hill, then starting to kick back and glide as the path leveled off and entered the thick, pine forest.

Every now and then, Marshall circled back to the end of the pack and checked on everyone’s progress. Eliza marvelled at how smoothly he was able to change direction, and how far he managed to travel with each of his glides.

“You’re doing well,” he said, before giving her a slight modification.

“Thanks,” she replied, but he was already gone, back to the front of the pack, guiding them past a few signposts and keeping them on the right trail.

Soon, Eliza was having so much fun she forgot to be nervous. The fresh snow made everything so beautiful. The trees looked as if they’d been topped with thick vanilla frosting and the fat, lacy flakes tickled her nose as they fell. The one time she fell, when her ski snagged on a pine cone that dropped from a tree into one of the tracks, her inelegant tumble was so cushioned by the thick banks of snow that it didn’t even hurt.

Even so, Marshall glided back to check on her, holding out his hand to help her up. “You okay?”

“Just embarrassed.”

“Don’t be. We all fall sometimes.”

She was disappointed when the lodge came back into view. How could eight-miles have gone by so quickly?

Sydney, however, mustn’t have been having much fun, because she muttered, “Thank God this is finally over.” Her husband, Jason, looked at her anxiously, but didn’t say anything. Sydney couldn’t seem to get out of her skis fast enough, and was soon walking rapidly toward the lodge. Her husband thanked Marshall, then quickly followed.

“We sure earned our dinner tonight,” Buck said good-humouredly, not seeming to have noticed the exchange between the Kellys. He clasped Marshall on the back. “You know what you’re doing, that’s pretty obvious. How long have you been skiing?”

“Since I was a kid. I used to be on the Junior ski team.”

He said this modestly, as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Buck whistled. “Is that right. Did you make it to the Olympics?”

“Never had the chance to try. I was injured when I was seventeen. That was end of competing for me.”

“Too bad,” Buck said. “You’ll have to tell me and the wife the whole story later. Right now, I better get showered and see what those girls of ours are up to.” He gave the Eliza a wave, then took off for the lodge.

Eliza realized Marshall had removed his skis as well, and was waiting for her. She couldn’t help grinning. “That was so much fun. I wish we didn’t have to go in.”

“You’re really talented,” Marshall said. “And I’m not just saying that. Trust me. But as much as I’d like to keep skiing, as well, we’d better get inside. This storm is going to get worse before it gets better, and it isn’t much fun skiing in a white-out.”

She looked from the pretty, fat flakes falling gracefully around them, to the grey sky. “How long is it expected to snow?”

“Last I checked it was supposed to end by morning.”

But she could tell he had his doubts.

By evening the snow was falling so thickly, Eliza couldn’t see two feet out the windows. The wind had picked up as well, and was rattling the windows, making the old wood lodge groan. Now, Eliza was happy to sit with the other guests around the large stone fireplace. Most of them were reading. The teenaged girls had found a pool table in the games room. The young boy, Kevin, kept alternating between hanging out with the girls, and coming back to report to his parents.

“They won’t let me play. They say I’m bothering them.”

“Why don’t you play one of your video games?” his mother, Tina Ritchie, asked.

“I’m bored. I want to
do
something. There’s a ping pong table. Will you play with me?”

“I’m reading. Ask your father.”

But his father was reading too. In the end, it was Marshall who agreed to play with the little boy. Eliza wondered if he got paid extra for entertaining the younger charges.

By ten o’clock, it felt like midnight. Eliza yawned, then said a general good-night and made her way to her room. Briefly, her gaze connected with Marshall’s.

“Sleep well, Eliza,” he said.

“You, too.”

She’d been wondering if thoughts about John would keep her awake all night. He was scheduled to arrive at Bramble House tomorrow afternoon. What would he say when he found out she wasn’t there? Would he leave? Try to find her?

But these questions didn’t trouble her as much as she’d thought they would. She fell asleep quickly, lulled by the moaning of the wind and the security of her warm bed.

In the morning, the first thing she did was glance toward the window. Since they were out in the wilderness she hadn’t bothered to close the curtains and she could see right away that it was still snowing. She felt a moment’s unease. Hadn’t Marshall said the storm was expected to end by now?

But, it was only snow, she reasoned. And they were safe and warm, here in the lodge.

‡

M
arshall wasn’t in
the dining hall when Eliza showed up, at seven-thirty. The windows on the outside wall were so covered in frost she could hardly see out of them. But the room itself was toasty warm thanks to the cast iron stove in one corner. In the other corner was a buffet table. The center of the room was taken up with two long pine tables, bench seating on either side. At one of the tables were the Brackett and Ritchie families, complete with the three teenaged girls and poor Kevin, stuck between his parents and already looking bored.

For lunch and dinner yesterday, Eliza had sat next to Mary and Ted Arbuckle. They were accountants who had lived in Marietta all their lives. They had no other family and liked to spend their holidays on ski trips like this one. This was the fifth trip they’d taken with Marshall, and according to them, he was the best ski guide ever.

That was about as far as their conversation had gone. They hadn’t asked Eliza any questions about herself, and she’d finally realized that they really just wanted to be left alone.

This morning Eliza took a place next to the other couple who didn’t have children, Jason and Sydney Kelly. They looked around her age, maybe a little older. Hopefully, she’d have more in common with them than she’d had with the Arbuckles. She soon found out that Jason was a dentist and Sydney a dental hygienist. They’d met at work and had been married five years.

Breakfast was delicious, apple strudel and muesli, hot coffee prepared in European presses from freshly ground coffee. Jason complimented everything, trying to push seconds on his wife, who didn’t seem to have much of an appetite.

“Have you been here before?” Eliza asked politely. There was weird tension between them that made her feel uncomfortable.

“This is our first time,” Jason said. “We thought it sounded like a fun adventure.”

“I’m not so sure about the fun part. But at least it gets us out of spending Christmas with the family,” Sydney added.

Eliza smiled. “It can get overwhelming this time of year, can’t it?”

“Especially when you’re the only couple without children,” Sydney said. “I have ten nieces and nephews on my side of the family. Jason has eight.”

“Wow. That must get busy.”

“Total mayhem,” Jason agreed. “This is much more civilized.”

“Except for that little boy with the Ritchie family. I can’t imagine why his parents brought him here. He’s so annoying.”

Eliza glanced at the other table. Kevin was no longer seated next to his parents, he was doing laps around the room, using a pretend gun to take pot shots at imaginary creatures on the ceiling. “He must be bored.”

Abruptly, Sydney stood. “I’m going back to the room to put on my long underwear. It looks cold out there.”

“I’ll come too.” Jason gave Eliza an apologetic smile. “It was nice talking to you.”

Eliza smiled in return, then poured herself a second cup of coffee. As she watched them leave she had to wonder. Was Sydney usually such a negative person? Or was she upset about something in particular? Maybe something Jason did—like have an affair? That might explain why he seemed so anxious to make her happy. Guilty conscience and all.

She took a sip of her coffee and laughed at herself. Here she was, inventing stories, based on no real evidence. Just because the love of her life had been an unfaithful liar, didn’t mean all men were like that.

A minute later, Marshall and the lodge owner, Griff, came into the room. Both had frost on their hair and eyelashes, ruddy cheeks and snow-caked trousers. They’d obviously just come in from outdoors.

“Lots of snow out there, and it’s still coming down,” Marshall announced. “But we’ll be doing the Panorama Ridge trail today, as planned.”

“It’s track-set now,” Griff added, “But it won’t be for long.”

“I suggest you finish your breakfasts quickly, grab one of the bagged lunches Betsy’s put out, for your packs, and meet me at the trail head in fifteen minutes.” Marshall grabbed a piece of strudel from the table, which he devoured in two bites, then went to say a few words to the Ritchies and Bracketts. A minute later he was at Eliza’s side.

“Looking forward to another day in the snow?”

“I am. Is everyone coming?” The Bracketts were in the process of leaving the dining room right now, while the Ritchies seemed to be arguing about something.

“Not sure.” Marshall, too, was eyeing the Ritchie family. “I’m a little worried about Kevin. I gave him a lesson yesterday afternoon and he’s got great balance. But with all this fresh snow, it’s going to be a lot of work. I could pull him in a sled, but he’s a little big for that.” He shrugged.

“Poor kid just doesn’t seem to fit in, anywhere, does he?”

“If it wasn’t for this storm, we could have made it work.” Marshall straightened. “Anyway, I’d better start organizing or we’ll end up with a late start.”