“Wait’ll you see the old resort. Been shut down for years, and it’s pretty grim. You’re going to be bunking with the wood rats, that’s for sure!”
Alex grimaced. “You make it sound so homey.”
Jolene turned toward her truck. “You’re right. I shouldn’t say such things. Think positive. That’s what Jerry is always telling me. I’m sure you’ll have a great time. The wildlife people cleaned out the kitchen and a couple of the bedrooms, and the roof only leaks in a few places.” She gestured at Alex’s pack as they reached the truck. “You got a tent in there?”
“Yeah, a small backcountry one.”
“Good. That’s good. I go sometimes just to check on the place. Be sure there aren’t any squatters up there. But still, due to the pure creep factor of the old place, you might want to sleep outside in your tent. At least until the snows come.”
Alex hefted her pack into the bed of the woman’s truck. “Creep factor?” The sick feeling in her stomach grew. What was she getting herself into?
Jolene nodded. “Seriously creepy up there.”
They drove to the preserve, passing ranches in deep valleys, cattle meandering amid miles of sagebrush. For the entire drive, Jolene didn’t pause once in talking to Alex. By the time they’d covered the sixty miles to the old resort, she practically knew Jolene’s life story. She’d grown up on the East Coast, then left home when she was sixteen. Traveled around with various bands as a singer and mandolin player. Met her husband, Jerry, at a music festival in her twenties, and they’d been together ever since. Now she made jewelry and knitted scarves and hats and sold them online. She volunteered at a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation place that took in deer, coyotes, bears, cougars, songbirds, and more.
“It’s rewarding work,” she told Alex. “But it can be sad sometimes. We have a vet who volunteers her time there. She’s fixed up a lot of critters. It’s so good to see them go back to the wild.”
At last Jolene turned down a paved road that looked like it hadn’t been resurfaced in decades. They bounced and jostled over countless potholes, slowly climbing higher and higher up a mountain. They came to a green metal gate designed to go across the road, but it was open.
“That thing hasn’t been locked in decades, but it still closes if you want it to. I’m sure they’ll give you a key to it,” Jolene told her. “I just leave it open, though, when I check on the place. People used to break in there all the time before the wildlife folks bought it.”
They climbed still higher. Then, past a final bend in the road, a lodge came into view. The place was gargantuan, a massive edifice of wood. A faded sign above the main doors read snowline resort. She could see that at one time it must have been breathtaking. Now, though, it had fallen into serious disrepair. Outbuildings stood scattered around the main building, their roofs partially caved in. The windows were boarded up on the main lodge.
“It’s certainly seen better days,” Jolene said, giving a long whistle. “Cozy, eh?”
Alex couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She just leaned forward, peering up at the lodge through the windshield.
“That wildlife fellow should be along shortly, I think. I met him once when they first got the property and turned it into a preserve. He’s a cute one.” She faced Alex. “So what is a group of wolverines called, anyway? I mean, there’s a pride of lions, a pod of whales, a herd of deer. What’s it for a wolverine?”
Alex gave it some thought. “Huh, I don’t think there is a group name. They’re so solitary. The only time they really hang out in a group is when the father or mother takes the kits out and shows them the ropes of surviving in the high country. Other than that, they spend their time alone.”
“You should make one up, then, you being out here to study them.”
Alex laughed. “Okay. How about a solitude of wolverines?”
Jolene snapped her fingers. “I like it!”
Alex didn’t want to keep Jolene longer than she had to. “It was so nice of you to pick me up, Jolene.”
“You’re very welcome.” The woman gazed thoughtfully around at the mountains. “You’re going to be hiking alone, aren’t you?” the woman asked, turning in the driver’s seat to face her, a sudden serious expression on her face.
Alex assumed she was worried about bears, so she said, “It’ll be okay. They’re bringing me bear spray.”
She shook her head. “It’s not the bears. There are other things out there, too.”
“You mean like mountain lions?”
She shook her head again, her eyes wide. “No, Sasquatch.”
“Sasquatch?”
“Sasquatch. I saw one, up there on the mountain.” She pointed out the window to a steep, forested slope, dense pines reaching all the way up to the tree line, where jagged gray rock and a few patches of snow took over. “It was moving through the trees. I’ve never been so scared. I could feel it looking at me, feel its eyes burning into me. So I ran.”
“You saw a Sasquatch,” Alex said simply.
“Plain as day. So be careful.”
Alex didn’t know what to make of the story, but wanted to be polite. “I will.”
Jolene turned her face toward the rambling old lodge. “The wolverines won’t be the only ones in solitude. Being up here alone’s going to be a challenge. Look at that old pile. And there were a series of murders here, you know.”
Oh, jeez. Just what I need. Icing on the cake. Alex followed the woman’s gaze to the sun-faded exterior of the main lodge.
“Years ago now. It happened after the place was abandoned. Some crazy guy kidnapped hitchhikers and brought them up here and murdered them in different rooms. Wrote things all over the walls. He killed four people before he was caught.” She turned back toward Alex, frowning, her eyes hollow. “Restless souls wander that place.”
Sasquatch. Murderers. Ghosts. Check. If Alex spent any more time in Jolene’s company, she was going to be checking inside every closet and under every bed in the old place.
“They had some ghost hunters out here a few years ago,” Jolene went on. “They filmed an episode of that TV show—you know the one?”
Alex knew a few of those kinds of shows, but didn’t say anything.
“Anyway, they got some EVP in there.”
“EVP?”
“That’s when you run a recorder and ask questions. Later, when you listen to the tape, you can hear ghosts answering. Hostile stuff, usually. Angry.” Jolene turned back to the lodge. “Nope. I don’t envy you at all.”
Alex wanted to make the mood upbeat again. She smiled. “You’ve painted such an encouraging picture of the place.”
Jolene laughed, a warm sound, and patted Alex’s leg comfortingly. “You’re right! I’m sorry. I get lost in myself sometimes. You’ll be fine! And you can always come see Jerry and me anytime you like. Here, let me draw you a map to our place.”
She reached over and opened the glove compartment, and papers, a screwdriver, and a tremendous bag of weed spilled out. “Oops, sorry about that,” Jolene said, tucking it all back in. She pulled out an old gas receipt and flipped it over, drawing a crude map on the back. “Here you go. Come by anytime.”