Dinner is on the fire. A roast with all the trimmings cooked old fashion style, in a Dutch oven over the coals. Evening will be falling soon and it will be time to settle in. I never realized just how relaxing it could be to spend a weekend alone at the cabin. The rain that has dominated the afternoon has finally broken for the day leaving the forest glistening with droplets. It is cold enough that by morning, that rain would have been be snow. While dinner cooks there is just enough time to take the horse and view the changing Aspen. It's now or never as the morning will be filed with chores and the trip back to town.
The ride is everything it promised to be. Wildlife is everywhere putting the final touches on winter stores. The Aspen are gorgeous. And the forest smells fresh and clean from the rain. The sounds of birds and squirrels are everywhere. The temperature is quickly falling. It's going to be a cold one tonight. I put on my heavy jacket and turn my horse back towards the cabin. As I turn the sound of an animal I don't recognize catches my ear. I look around to get a glimpse of the creature. To my surprise it is not an animal at all, but a woman huddled against a tree. She is cold and soaking wet.
I ride up and ask if she needs some help. She looks up. "Thank god I am saved."
"Can you help me find my car?" I'm not aware of many places to park a car near this place but I know she will not last the night out in the forest. She gets up and I help her up onto the horse and sit her in front of me. I put my jacket around her and I ask her if she has an idea which direction her car might be in. She is unsure, so I head out in the most likely direction, looking for evidence of her steps along the way. As we ride she tells me the tale of how she came to be lost and alone in the forest. She is practicing to become a photographer and had driven up in the dark so that she could take pictures of the morning sun peeking through the changing aspen. She became lost in the dark soon after her lantern ran out of battery, then got caught in the rain trying to find her way back.
We have maybe fifteen minutes of daylight left and there is no sight of her car, a road, or her photography equipment. I tell her we have no choice but to head back to the cabin and turn I the horse around. At that point she stops looking for familiar land marks and snuggles in close for the ride back. The trip back is silent except for the sound of the horse's hooves on the trail. The whole way I am wondering how nice life could be, married a sweet woman like this. It is good that both the horse and I know this trail as we make the last mile of the journey, because darkness has now fallen.
By the time we get back to the cabin her lips are blue and she is shivering. My jacket does little good for someone as wet as she is. I tie the horse and we go inside. The fire has made the cabin warm and cozy. The smell of cooking roast, onions and vegetables fills the air. She smiles through her blue lips as she looks around. Walking about the cabin I gather the things that she is going to need to get dry. As I gather I tell her the obvious, "You are going to have to get out of those wet clothes or you'll never get warm."
"Here is a blanket, a towel and one of my shirts."
"Rule is, if it's wet, take it off."
"You can use the bathroom as a dressing room."
"When you're done, come and sit by the fire."
"My guess is you haven't eaten today either, so I'll get some dinner ready while you dry."
She heads off the bathroom and I start working on the rest of dinner. The extra time looking for the car has taken its toll on diner and it looks like this roast is destined to become stew. I'm just finishing getting dinner ready when she emerges completely wrapped in the blanket. She sits on the couch in front of the fire and I bring her a bowl of the stew. I get one for myself and join her sitting at the other end of the couch. Despite the over cooking, the stew is good and we both have a second bowl. As I take her empty dish I notice that she is finally warming up. At least her lips are no longer blue. I also notice that she is very pretty. She sits and watches the coals in the fire as I clean up the few dishes from dinner.