Chapter 9: Making a New Friend
The next morning I woke refreshed. The sun shined into my tent. The birds chirped, and the sun was warm on my face as I exited my tent. I heard the waterfall over the ridge. I'm glad I took a vacation, even though it was in the middle of winter. Dad, Greg and I used to camp all the time, so it prepared me for the cold. If I got too cold, I could sit in my car in the heat. I rekindled the fire and looked over the ridge at the waterfall and river while drinking my coffee. The fish were jumping. Good time to head down and try to catch a few. I grabbed my fishing pole and tackle box and hiked down to the river. I caught another 6 fish before lunch. Looking around, I noticed there was another person further up river. I squinted to see who it was. I thought I was alone up here? As long as they left me alone, I didn't care. Whoever it was moved like a female, I noticed. I moved a little closer to get a better look. It was a woman. She wore a white hat, work gloves, and overalls. I watched as she fished and caught at least 3 with every cast of her line. She reminded me of Amy, but that certainly wasn't her? I didn't even tell Greg where I was going.
She looked up and saw me and waved. I froze. She went back to fishing, and I looked around to see if there was anyone behind me. This was kind of creepy. She looked like Amy from a distance. No one knows I'm here, though. I packed my gear up and headed back to camp. As I sat next to the fire, I thought about how she could know that I was here. Unless she cloned my phone or figured out how to turn my location on when took those photos and video, she couldn't know. I looked up and saw the woman standing a short distance away from my camp, staring at me from behind a tree.
"HEY! Who are you and what do you want?" I yelled.
She ducked back behind the tree. I stared for several minutes to see if she would return, but she didn't. I sat back down and decided I should move on. The mountains were beautiful this time of year, and there are plenty of secluded spots to camp. After packing all my gear in the car, I looked at my paper map. Yes, I still used a paper map to plot camp spots. That's how dad taught Greg & I. It was a camping map anyway, so it had all the information pertaining to safe campsites, water, wildlife, etc. I headed up the mountain further. Maybe I would hike to the summit once I found a suitable spot? I drove up the road and saw the perfect spot facing due east in a clearing. The sun would warm up my tent in the morning better than the last campsite. I unpacked and started a fire. As I sat by the fire and studied my map, I heard twigs snap behind me. I stood up and spun around. I had a hunting knife on me, so if there was someone that was going to try anything, they would regret it... unless they had a gun.
"Hello? Who's there?" I said.
No answer.
"Hey! I said who's there? Come out. Show yourself!" I yelled this time.
The same woman peaked her head out from around a tree again. Who is she? What does she want? I got nervous. Was she going to kidnap me? Maybe torture or kill me? Son of a bitch. Why me? She came closer, and I stepped back, almost into the fire. I pulled my hunting knife and watched as she slowly stepped towards me.
"Who are you? What do you want?" I said.
She pulled her hood back and removed her hood.
"Take it easy. My name is Donna. I live just over the mountain. I saw you spying on me down there. You never waved back," she said with her hands raised.
"Yet you're still stepping towards me and you have a gun strapped to your side," I said.
She stopped and put her hands out.
"Ok, fair enough. You can put the knife away. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just checking to make sure you're ok. No one ever comes up the mountain this far. I'm curious why you're here," she said.
"Well, I'm camping. Now, what do you really want?" I said.
"I never caught your name," she said, trying to disarm me.
"That's because I never told you my name. Now what do you want?" I snapped.
"Easy, killer. I told you, I'm not here to hurt you. Can I sit and we can talk?" she asked, gesturing to the fire.
I nodded and sat on one side. She sat on the other. She grabbed the coffeepot and my mug and poured herself a cup. I scowled and looked at my mug.
"Sure, help yourself," I said sarcastically.
"I think we started off on the wrong foot. Like I said, I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you're ok. No one ever comes up the mountain this far, so I got concerned when I saw you fishing this morning. That's all. Then again, having a fishing pole and seeing your camp didn't make me think you were a lost hiker. I figured you knew what you were doing. But you can never be too sure," she said.
"I suppose. My dad used to take my brother & I camping all the time, a lot through the winter. I'm no rookie when it comes to this," I said.
"Good. I've had to rescue more than a few hikers before. It's not my favorite thing to do," she said.
"Well, thank you for your concern," I said.
I sat there and stared at her with apprehension. She could see it and she stood up and handed me the mug, then turned to walk back to her cabin. She turned back and held out her hand.
"It was nice to meet you and be safe, whoever you are," she said.
"Jeff," I said, shaking her hand.
I watched her walk back down the mountain and sat back down. 'What the hell was that,' I thought, poking at the fire. Later that night, I laid at the door to my tent and stared into the dwindling embers. I was restless. I dozed in and out of sleep, because I thought I kept hearing strange noises outside.
'GRRRRRRR...' I heard outside. Something was rustling around behind my tent. I sat straight up and grabbed my knife. It sounded like it was coming around the backside of my tent. I almost shit myself, I was so scared.
'BANG,' suddenly rang out.
"What the fuck!?" I screamed.
"Jeff? It's ok, I got it. Mountain lion. Sorry. It's me, Donna. You ok?" she asked, shining a bright flashlight towards me.
"What the fuck just happened?" I yelled.
"You just about became a mountain lion's midnight snack. I warned you it's not safe up here, Jeff," she said, "why don't we pack you up and you can stay at my cabin tonight. You will be safe there," she said.
Being in the stunned state, I agreed and started grabbing everything I could inside my tent and rushing it to my car. Dad never prepared me for that. Donna and I packed all my gear in the car and we drove back down to her cabin halfway down the mountain. I didn't realize I was up that high and was happy she found me before I became a snack.
"So, Jeff, you're from the city?" she asked, trying to make small talk.
"Uh, yeah. The city," I said.
"Well, I'm glad you have experience up here in the mountains. Had I not been monitoring you from my cabin, I never would have never made it to you before that mountain lion did," she said.
"Look, I never intended for you to rescue me from certain death. I'm sorry you had to come up here to rescue me. I could have handled it though." I said.
"I'm sure you could, kid. But you're not exactly the mountain folk type," she said with a chuckle, "here we are. There's my cabin. You can park right in front," she said.
I pulled up in front of the cabin and turned the car off. We sat there for a few minutes looking up at her cabin. She got out and tapped on the trunk lid.
"Open up, kid. Let's head inside. It's cold out here," she said.
I popped the trunk and helped carry my bag and lantern inside. Once inside, I noticed she had electricity and indoor plumbing. No TV, though. It impressed me. She set her gun down on the table and showed me where I could put my gear. She asked if I wanted a cup of coffee. I accepted, and we sat and talked for a while. It was 3am, but I was still running on adrenaline from the close call with the mountain lion.
Donna decided it was time for a hot shower and bed. She showed me where I could sleep and headed off for bed. The cabin was open and I could see the shower behind a wall of glass blocks. I heard her turn the water on and saw the steam rise into the open top room. She took off her boots and stripped off her overalls and hung them up by the door. She was just a normal middle-aged woman, maybe mid 50s. Beautiful, too. Silver hair, thin body and painted nails. I laid on the couch and tried to fall asleep. I was cold, so I decided I would shower after she finished, if nothing else but to warm up.
"Donna, I think I'm going to shower after you if that's ok?" I said.
"Of course, kid. Come on. Let me show you where the towels and stuff are," she said, waving me over to the bathroom.
I walked in and she was only wearing a thin t-shirt. No pants or panties, if she even wore any, and no bra. I looked away, somewhat embarrassed.