Page 8 of Marked By the Mountain Man
“Thin?”
“Between worlds,” she says, like it’s obvious. “You know, the veil. Spirit realm, ghosts, energy signatures… you really don’t know any of this?”
“I know trees,” I say, “and how to keep the roof from caving in.”
Her smile is sweet, cutting through my chest in a way it shouldn’t. “I guess that’s useful, too.”
I turn away and focus on the trees, the mountains, and the creek. Anything but that smile, her long dark hair, and those hips.
The water’s higher this time of year with all the rain we’re getting. I don’t come down here much. There’s always so much shit to get done, but I should. It’s peaceful… even if there are ghosts haunting it.
Juniper runs her hand over a smooth stone beneath the water’s surface. She stays there for a while, her eyes closed, her full, pink lips slightly parted as though she’s waiting for a radio signal.
I gather she’s not getting one.
“You alright?”
“Yeah,” she whispers. “Shh… I’m trying to concentrate.”
Concentration, right. I lean against a nearby pine, watching her as she works. There’s a bit of chill in the air, but the sun is still shining bright. All too soon these fall days will turn into an unforgiving winter.
“How long do you give it before you concede that there are no ghosts up here?”
She rolls her eyes to the side and grins playfully. “If you told me to hold a flashlight, would you want me to hold it or ask you a bunch of questions about why I’m holding it?”
I tilt my head to the side, giving her credit for that very clear explanation, then go back to trying not to watch her work.Trybeing the keyword.
She’s got this way of being still that makes everything else louder. My heartbeat, the wind, the guilt gnawing at the back of my skull.
I had a dream last night I can’t stop thinking about. Not sure why it happened. When we went to bed, I was ready to haul her down the mountainside myself.
Sure, she’s cute, I don’t think anyone would deny that, but that doesn’t change reality, and reality says she’s my dead buddy’s daughter. Reality says I have no fucking business having dreams of her naked body on top of mine. Reality says I have no business waking up to her name on my lips, her curves on my mind.
I’ve been wrestling with this all morning. Trouble is, that dream also has me feeling like I’m starved, and she’s the last warm meal on Earth.
Enough, Knox! She’s his kid.
That thought hits me hard again, like it has continuously since last night at dinner. The thought that’s supposed to keep me in line, but doesn’t stop the way my eyes drift to the curve of her waist, the way her hair catches the light, and the way her fingers move like she’s coaxing secrets out of the land.
I shift against the tree, arms crossed tight, trying to hold myself together, trying not to think about what it would feel like to touch her. Can I let go and forget, just once?
The forest shifts. It’s a low rustle, not from the wind or her. I straighten, instinct kicking in before reason. Across the creek, half-shadowed by the brush, it’s massive… and watching.
I’ve seen that grizzly around a few times this month, which is strange. Grizzlies aren’t usually seen in Colorado anymore, and this time of year most of the bears are tucked into the high hills for hibernation. There’s a reason this one isn’t and I’m guessing it’s not good.
I take one slow step forward, my hand resting on Juniper’s shoulder gently as not to startle her. “We need to move.”
“No,” she grins swatting me away, “I’m close. I can feel someone’s energy. They’re angry.”
“I think the energy you’re feeling is the nearly half ton bear that’s moving toward us. We need to go.”
She freezes as the EMF reader in her hand crackles, a sharp spike of static.
Her smile falters. “That’s… not normal.”
“No shit,” I whisper, eyes locked on the shadow lumbering through the trees across the creek.
The bear’s fur glints like wet bark, its breath visible in the crisp October air. It’s not charging, not yet, but it’s watching us like it’s still deciding.
