He walked over to Siku’s crate and undid the latch, letting the door open. She scurried out, her ears pointed high and her eyes already scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary. There was a fresh sound coming from the other part of the cabin. “You must hear it, too.”
Siku barked twice, as if she were agreeing.
They left his room and headed down the hall. As they reached the end, the noise got louder. It also became clear that it was coming from the kitchen.
“Do you think a raccoon made a den under the deck and came out to look for food when we opened up the cabin?” James questioned in a whisper to Siku. “Do you think it’s a raccoon, girl?”
Siku barked again, ushering in a clatter from the kitchen, as if in response. “It’s definitely a raccoon looking for food. Be careful, Siku, because they are really mean.”
James raised his gun in his hand, then pushed the door open that led to the kitchen. Instead of a raccoon, however, he found Nicole inside leaning over the stove.
Her head jerked towards him; her eyes were wide with fright as they settled on the gun in his hands. “Don’t shoot,” she squealed in terror as she pulled the spoon out from the pot and held it out towards him like a weapon.
James quickly lowered his gun, embarrassed that he’d even pointed it at her. “I thought you were a raccoon,” he explained, lamely.
“The storm woke me, and I couldn’t fall back to sleep. I hoped a glass of warm milk might help me. You didn’t have a microwave, so I had to use the stove.”
“Completely understandable. I’m sorry I startled you,” he apologized. “Do you need any help?”
She shook her head. “It’s pretty much done now, but if you’d like a glass, I made enough for two.”
“I guess since I’m awake, it couldn’t hurt.” He moved over and pulled two mugs down from one of the oak cabinets, then set them on the counter next to Nicole.
She poured the milk into each one, and James reached up and pulled down a glass canister from a shelf. He added two scoops of cocoa powder to his own mug and stirred it in. “You want some? I prefer it to plain.”
She shrugged with a smile. “Sure; when in Rome and all.”
He added the same amount to hers and stirred it in. “I even have mini marshmallows if you want them,” he offered.
“Let’s not get crazy—that might be a little too much sugar for me in the middle of the night.”
“Suit yourself,” he pulled down the bag and tore it open, plopping in a handful of the white clouds into his cup. “I have a major sweet tooth, which is why I’m going to need these, too.” James picked up a bag of cookies in his free hand.
“Will wonders never cease; I wouldn’t expect that to be the case,” she said, as they made their way into the dining area.
They took seats across from each other and he placed the cookies between them. “Just in case you want to share with me.”
“You know, you dodged my question about why you’re up here at this remote cabin by yourself in the middle of a blizzard. You said it was a story for another time. Would now work?” Nicole asked, before taking a drink of her warm beverage.
James wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about what happened with Melanie. Since her death, he’d kept his feelings and thoughts on the matter to himself, even when he was forced to visit the academy psychiatrist. Nicole, however, wasn’t from his world, and by confiding in her, he could vent, and it would never get back to anyone who knew him.
“Never mind, you don’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t have pried.”
“It isn’t that. It’s just hard for me to discuss what happened.” James rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he tried to find the words to start with. “José mentioned that I’m a rescue officer with Disaster City Search and Rescue. I’ve been with them for over five years now, and before that I conducted rescues for eight years with the Colorado National Guard. In all that time, I’ve only lost a handful of victims, and most of them early in my career. I’m not saying it never happens, but I’d gotten used to having a pretty great track record of never losing someone. All of that changed a month ago when I was conducting a search with Siku, along with my fellow instructor and rescue officer, Ross Canter, and his K9 partner, Ace. We found the pair of missing skiers and were able to pull one of them to safety, but before we were able to bring up the second one, a snow slide took her.”
“Oh my goodness, that’s awful, James. I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been on you.”
“That’s just it, it’s not only in my past. I can’t seem to shake the memory of what happened that day. I keep reliving the moment I lost her, over and over again. I’ve tried everything to get it out of my mind, but nothing works. I think it’s because I failed her,” James admitted. “I don’t deserve to find a way to get past it. Melanie Price never will.”
“Wait, I think I read about that online. Didn’t that make national news because the woman you rescued was the daughter of the Texas governor.”
James nodded. “She was, and the woman I lost was her friend, but no one seems to remember or care about what happened to her. She deserved better than that.”
“You’re right; no one should be forgotten.” Nicole reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “I think it says a lot about you. Rather than bask in the glory of your high-profile rescue, you choose to secretly mourn the loss of the girl no one cares to remember.”
Nicole’s kind words touched him. It had been a long time since he felt like anyone understood him, but even though they came from very different worlds, it seemed that at their core, Nicole and he were similar.
“I just wish I could have done something more. If my partner, Canter, just hadn’t cut the rope, I might have been able to hold onto her long enough for the snow slide to have passed.”
“Or staying connected to her would have pulled you over the edge after her. I know you don’t want to hear this, but it sounds like your partner made the right choice. I think the—”
Before she could finish her words, the sound of breaking glass and wood echoed through the cabin at the same time a giant pine tree came crashing through the window beside them.
Nicole screamed, her hands flying up to protect her face from the debris. James grabbed her around the waist and yanked her away from the incident, diving behind the couch, momentarily forgetting that José was sleeping on it.
He bolted upright and glanced around in confusion. “What’s going on?”
“I can’t believe you were able to sleep through all of that,” James stated with disbelief.
“What?” José asked before pulling a set of earplugs out of his ears.
“Hey, are those mine?” James accused, grabbing the plugs from his friend’s hand.
“Does it really matter right now? Don’t we have bigger concerns?” José pointed out, gesturing with his head towards the window and the tree.
The wind was howling, and every minute that passed, snow flooded inside the house. José was right; they needed to do something about it quickly, or they would all end up freezing to death.