Page 85 of Snow River

“Wait,” he said softly before she could propel herself forward.

“Hm?”

I love you, he wanted to say.Was about to say.But something struck him on the back of his head and he was falling toward the snow.He reached out for Lila, but she was collapsing right along with him, red blood blotting her white hair.

39

Lila was flyingacross the snow, about a foot off the ground, her arms spread wide, the sun in her eyes, the whole world open before her.Someone kept pace with her, loping through the snow field.A bear, big and brown and beautifully wild.The snow was his element, just like the air was hers.

And then something pierced her heart and she fell toward the snow.But instead of crashing through the white dunes below, she landed on the bear’s back.She clung to his thick warm fur as they raced toward the horizon.

“Lila.Lila, wake up.”The words penetrated her consciousness and the snow fields dissolved into rough-planked walls.She was sitting in a warm lap and someone’s strong arms were around her.

“Bear?”She twisted her neck to blink up at him.

“Thank God, you’re awake.How’s your head?”

“How’s yours?”She reached out to touch the trickle of dried blood on his neck.

“I’m fine,” he said.He moved his finger back and forth in front of her eyes.“You don’t seem to be concussed.That’s good.You were out for a while.”

She could see how scared he’d been, maybe still was.That was because he loved her.It was written all over his face.He loved her and he’d always catch her when she fell.“I’m okay.What happened?”

“We got knocked out and dragged in here.Two guys, both in ski masks.No one’s been in here since then.”

Lila sat up so she could look around.The cabin was a simple structure, four walls, no windows, one door.“What is this place?”

“I don’t know, but it feels like a holding cell of some sort.Not one of the fancy cabins, that’s for sure.I’d say storage, but look at that.”He pointed to the corner, where a pallet with a hole cut through it sat on the cold dirt floor.“Is that a…”

“Shithole?Yes.”Bear sniffed at the air.“Hasn’t been used in a long time, though.”

“I never knew a shithole was an actual thing.”

“I guess you learn something new every time you get captured and locked up somewhere.”

She noticed that Bear didn’t seem too worried about the fact that they were prisoners.“Do you have an escape plan?”

“I do.I was just waiting for you to wake up.”He brushed her hair away from her face.“That door will be easy to break open.We wait until dark, then go down to the river.”

“Why the river?”

“That’s how they came, on their snowmobiles.It must be frozen enough.We can either grab one of their rigs if they’re still here, or walk downriver.If we find our skis, all the better.They took them.”

“Who are they?Did they say what they’re doing?”

“No, but I’ve been watching out that crack in the wall.”He pointed out the slender slit of light in the wall.“They have gas cans.I think they’re going to burn down this entire compound.”

Lila shuddered at the horror of what might happen if they didn’t get out in time.But something else had grabbed her attention.There were scratches on the wall, many of them, just a few feet from that crack.

“Did you see that, Bear?”

He squinted where she was pointing.“It looks like writing.”He set her on the floor and, still in their ski boots, they crawled across the floor to look more closely.“It’s names,” he said softly.“Mary, Bernadette, Heather, DeNaina…there’s like forty names here.Including Gwen.”

“All women.”Lila traced the names with her index finger.A slow, sad chill traveled through her.“These women were in despair when they scratched their names here.”

Bear went still as he focused on one particular name.“Tory.”

Lila put a hand on his arm and felt the muscles there go tight as iron.“Do you know that name?”

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