For those of you who have e-mailed me with your suggestions and praise, I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate your excellent critique and comments. Thank you.
Again, no sex with this chapter.
Temuchen
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"Is this one of the famous battles
Between head and heart
With both having opposing views
But the same hold on your psyche
Neither winning, neither losing"
Chuck Smoot
The towering Douglass firs, pines and cedars trembled and swayed dramatically from the onslaught of the winds as the storm reached its peak, sheets of cascading rain drowning the thick forest. Overhead, thick black clouds invisible against the dark sky roiled over the sweeping hills and mountains surrounding Mt. Rainier. Lightning snaked within the nebulous shroud creating a myriad of ghostly bright bluish-white streaks. Any woodland creature possessed with an instinct for survival would have gone to ground long before the fearsome storm struck. Any creature but one single man struggling through the storm debris trying to find a small weathered line shack.
This is so fucked, thought David as he stumbled into a massive sheared trunk of a fallen tree. The shack should be here but...it's not. David pulled out his Magellan GPS and checked for the waypoint designating the old lumberjack shack.
The tree line suddenly lit up from a flash of lightning as he grasped with the device. "Where is that god damn shack?" he howled into the wind. He wiped the water from his goggles as he searched the area. Nothing...not a god damn...another flash exposed the downed tree and David briefly spied what remained of a small structure. The huge tree trunk had smashed through the frail shed that he believed was the shack he was searching for. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," he muttered as he made his to the small shack.
David reached what was once the west wall now reduced to kindling. Most of the damage was to the south of the building taking out most of the south and east siding. The ceiling had caved inward on the south portion with just a small section still intact over the far north end.
"Well hell, I doubt another tree's gonna come crashing down...maybe there's enough shack left to set up camp," he said.
David moved around the undamaged section and found a doorway, the door blown outward. His search light swept the interior and saw the ceiling's crossbeam had fallen at an angle beneath the wall crashed inward from the tree. He spotted an old pot bellied stove in the corner and froze. Next to the iron stove was a familiar bag...Johnny's!
"Johnny...John where are you!" he shouted. He heard a faint sound from the other side of the building and moved around the downed beam. He moved the light around and found his brother pinned beneath the wall.
"JOHN!" he screamed as he carefully stepped over the debris and wall and knelt next to John. John turned his head toward the light and peered up into David's face. He made no sign of recognition and David realized John had no idea who he was; his hood and goggles hid his face.
"I...I'm pinned under this siding and beam but I don't think my legs are broke. If we can somehow move this beam up, I might be able to pull myself out." John turned his face against the driving rain as he spoke. David nodded and patted John's shoulder.
"I'm going to see what I can use as a lever...be right back."
David moved off and searched the shack for something he might use to lift the cross beam. Inside, he failed to find anything strong or long enough to work and moved outside to look. He soon returned, dragging a piece of ripped timber, a thick branch from the downed tree. He moved to John's side and slid the tree limb through a gap in the fallen siding. Now he needed some type of a fulcrum. Looking around, his eyes fell upon the stove.
Fifteen minutes later, John was propped up against the north wall, beneath what was left of the roof. David had dragged the stove over to John and tried to start a fire; however, all the wood was soaked. He knew John had to be freezing and suffering from hypothermia. He quickly opened his backpack and removed a small bundle. Finding a sizeable open area, he opened the bundle and a small two man dome tent popped up. He secured a vestibule over the small tent, and dragged his brother into the shelter. Once in, he ignited the small portable backpacking stove and told John to strip. While his brother disrobed, David reached into his pack and withdrew a pair of woolen long johns.
"Here, put these on," he said passing the underwear to John.
Beneath the pack, he unfastened a sleeping bag and, unrolling it, unzipped the bag. By this time, John had donned the long johns and told to get into the sleeping bag. The winds and rain pounded against the dome tent as David heated up water for soup on the small Peak 1 stove.
He glanced at John encased within the sleeping bag. At a rating of minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, David knew the bag would help. When he looked at his brother, David was not surprised to see him dozing and knew he would have to wake him. For a while, he would have to monitor his brother before he was satisfied with John's progress.
While John slept, David left the tent and secured the little dome and vestibule to the floor. The shelter was strong and would hold up to the heavy elements. He grabbed his brother's bag and tossed it inside the dome next to his backpack. He crawled back in and zipped closed the opening.
"John...john, wake up. You need to eat this. John?" David watched as his brother's eyelids parted into slits and turned to look at him.
"Da...David?"
"Hey bro, how ya feelin?"
"What the fuck are you doing here? How did you find me? Why did you find me?"
David was ready for this. He knew John hadn't forgiven him and, in all likelihood, wouldn't. But, he didn't care. As long as John was safe, David would suffer his brother's resentment.
"I'm here because I am your brother and I love you. I knew of this old lumberjack line shack but I had no idea you would be here; though knowing you, it doesn't surprise me. Now, shut the fuck up and eat this!" David held a metal cup of hot broth and shoved it into his brother's hands. "I know you hate me and deservedly so, but for now, you're going to have to put up with me, so get over it. Okay?"
"Fuck off and die!" John spit and glared at his older brother but he did take the hot tin of soup. After he finished off the meal, David knelt by his legs and asked John how they were.
"They're fine...now, stay the fuck away from me!"
David rolled his eyes and shook his head and thought, this is going to be a long night.
"All right, John...I'll leave you to yourself. As for me, I'm going to get some shut eye, see you in the morning." With that, David jammed the backpack under his head and bedded down. John just sat there staring at his brother; David's back turned toward him. John finally turned away and saw his bag at the foot of the sleeping bag. For a brief moment, he thought of the pistol. Looking at David once more, he dismissed the notion that flared within his hatred. He lay back seething, his breathing rapid. The cause of his shattered home life lay no more than a foot away. His belly warm from the hot broth and with the comfort of the sleeping bag, exhaustion finally caught up and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
*********************
JoAnne couldn't sleep. The storm raged on, the wind and rain battering the house. She sat at the kitchen table, a cup of hot tea in her hands as she stared out the window and watched the violence weather wreak havoc. The girls were in bed and JoAnne's mother was sleeping in her room. Jo and the girls didn't want her to be alone in this hellish storm.
As she gazed at the dark savagery of the elements, she knew she was taking a chance sitting so close to the large plate glass window. John would have the windows either boarded up or at least taped and the curtains drawn. But, John wasn't here. He was lost somewhere in the wilderness; in the storm...if...he was alive. No! Don't think that, she angrily thought. He is alive, I know it!
JoAnne sighed and stood. She looked at the clock and noticed the time was three in the morning. I'd better try to get some sleep; she thought and turned toward the stairs when a tremendous crack resounded followed by breaking glass and a deep wail. She whirled to see the window gone, smashed by a strange flat object. Water covered the kitchen from the incoming rain and scattered shards of glass littered the floor and table. Her eyes widened and she gasped when glimpsed the chair she had sat in. It was nearly cut in half from a large fragment of the window still imbedded in the seat; the back rest hanging from a single slice of the chair's frame.
"Mom? Are you okay? What happened?" The girls screamed in chorus as they ran into the kitchen.
"JODIE...SAM! Stay out of the kitchen and dining room. The floors are covered in broken glass."
"JoAnne...what happened? Are you all right?" Jo's mother stood on the foot of the stairway gazing at the shattered window.
"Ye...yes mom, I'm fine but keep the girls upstairs. There's too much broken glass here. Something came through the window, looks like maybe part of a roof or something."
JoAnne moved to the stairs and the girls hugged her. "Leave it for morning. Let's get upstairs. Jodie...Sam, check your windows and make sure the curtains are closed. I'll check the other rooms."
The girls ran to their rooms as Jo and her mother moved down the hall and into her bedroom. Jo noted the blinds were closed and sighed. She looked at her mother.
"Jo...how long have we lived here? You think this is the first storm we've weathered?"
JoAnne smiled and nodded. "I know...I know."
Her mother moved up to her wrapping her arms around her daughter. Jo couldn't stop the onslaught of tears as she pressed her face into her mother's shoulder and sobbed.
"Jo...he'll be okay. I have more faith in that man of yours than anyone I've known. Unless God decides otherwise, that man will crawl on his hands and knees to get to you. And, I have this feeling he's alive and doing everything he can to get home to you and the girls. That man loves and adores you and them."
