Page 6 of Running to the Mountain Man

He cusses and steps aside to take the call. I take the opportunity of his distraction to fill a backpack with the food and supplies I need.

“Now? It’s late,” I hear him say. Then, “Yeah, it’s a problem, Mark…wait a minute…are you calling me about this on your work phone…listen, dumbass, just tell me where Trace is, and I’ll consult the others on how to take care of the situation.”

Trace? That’s Louisa’s dad. Elder Trace disappeared over five months ago. They said he couldn’t handle all the pressure of all those kids.

Mark hangs up the call, then marches out of the silo, seemingly having forgotten all about me.

And just like that, I’m alone like a kid in a candy store.

In a frenzy, I start grabbing everything I need and shove it into my pack.

On my way out, a small frame with a cloud of curly hair is silhouetted in the doorway.

We both gasp, and I clutch at my galloping heart. “Georgie! What are you doing out here?” I whisper.

“I’m sorry, Goldie. I’m so hungry. I just thought I would take a chance that someone left a door unlocked to the silos. Sometimes it happens.”

I hold up my hand to make her stop talking, then gesture for her to follow me back inside. She opens up two small grocery bags she has crumpled up inside her dress pockets. I just start grabbing RTEs, snack-size peanut butters, jerky—anything she can carry in two flimsy bags. She sniffles and hugs me in the dark silo, lit only with my camping headlamp. She looks down at my stuffed backpack.

“What am I going to do without you, Goldie?”

“Come with me,” I say.

She shakes her head. “My mom needs me. She has too many kids to take care of besides me.”

I nod in complete understanding. “Take care of the greenhouse for me?”

She sighs. “I still have so much to learn.”

“You’ve got this. We’ll come and get you when I find Olivia and her brother, Zayden.”

Georgie doesn’t reply to this. I know she’s mentally unprepared to leave the church behind.

“Take care of yourself, Goldie.”

“I will.”

We leave together, making sure she returns home safely without being spotted. And then I kick the dust of this place off my feet forever. One minute, I belong here, and the next minute, I’m just another backpacker in the mountains.

I’m going to make it. I have to.

I stay hidden in the trees by not following the creek trail. Instead, I walk parallel to it, halfway between the creek and the winding logging road, always keeping both within earshot.

Based on experience, I’d say I walked over three miles, marking my own switchbacks up the side of Windgrave Mountain. The elevation is starting to get to me, and I’ll need to rest soon.

I ease my way down from my rocky path toward the creek. I’m out of water, and I need a drink.

I take a long sip from my canteen and refill it. I eat one of my RTEs, but it does nothing to refuel me.

I am bone tired and starting to think this whole thing was a mistake.

The idea of setting up a tent is dreadful, and I wonder why I chose to escape up a mountain instead of heading into town.

Who knows, I could be hanging out with Olivia, Louisa, and Zayden in some other state by now.

Still, I have to make the best of it. I have to try to find my brother, Theo. If he even wants to see me.

Maybe one of these empty ski chalets has an unlocked door. Right. Not likely.

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