In Part 1, Eric and Katie had become lost in the snow during a hike. They had found shelter in a cabin with an older man, but he had exacted a hard price from them in exchange for help.
*
I'm not sure how long I had been kneeling on the ground but I suddenly looked up wondering what was happing to my lovely wife in the bedroom with Sam next door. I didn't really want to think about, but at the same time I had to know. I crept over to the door and listened. It was thick timber and I couldn't hear much just an occasional sound of people talking but I couldn't hear what was being said.
After a period of silence I heard a sharp cry which was quickly cut off. I knew exactly what it was. It was the same cry of pain she gave when I took her virginity. I couldn't stand the flood of lurid images this sound produced in my head and rushed into the spare room and lay on the bed feeing utterly miserable. I had got us into this predicament by my stupidity. It was all my fault. But he was a bastard and I would get even.
I lay there for a while listening to the sound of my own breathing when I noticed a faint slow rhythmic knocking sound coming from behind the bed head. I looked around perplexed and discovered it coming from a timber beam which ran the length of the room. I lay on the bed and listened and it stayed the same for about 10 minutes then the knocking got faster and louder. It suddenly dawned on me, to my horror, what the sound was. The beam ran the full length of the cabin into Sam's bedroom. It was the sound of his bed hitting the wall as he fucked my wife.
I held the pillow over my head but I couldn't block out the sound. It just went on and on, faster and faster, my mind tortured with the thoughts of what was happening to her. Finally after what seemed hours, but was probably only 15 or 20 minutes, after a very loud series of rapid bangs it slowly subsided to silence.
I had a fitful sleep that night being woken a few times by more banging sounds coming through the wall. It seemed like he was pounding her all night.
I must have finally fallen asleep sometime because I woke with a start to find it was about 9 am and I could hear sounds coming from the kitchen. I peered out through the door and saw Sam in the kitchen humming to himself with a smile on his face while cooking breakfast .
I walked out and he looked up said, "good morning Eric, breakfast will be ready soon, Katie is having a shower, she'll be out in a bit."
I wordlessly sat at the table and he dished up a big plate of ham and eggs and poured a coffee.
Katie walked out of the bedroom ten minutes later and sat down at the table while he served her breakfast, then he joined us. She was avoiding my gaze and just stared down at her plate while she ate in silence. Sam talked away about the cabin, the area and weather. He was positively chatty compared to last night and far too cheerful for my liking.
After we had finished eating he cleared up the table and took the plates away to the kitchen and started to wash up. Katie looked up at me from the table with a sad expression and said, "I love you, just remember that Eric." I asked her if she was ok and she just nodded her head. Looking at her left hand I noticed she had a new wedding ring on her finger, not the one I gave her 18 months ago. He had really taken her as his wife and consummated the marriage last night.
Sam came back to the table and said, "looks like the weather has really set in, it must be below zero outside and there has been 2 feet of snow already. It's piling into drifts in this wind. This is real stay put weather, better get used to being here for a while. We have plenty of supplies but there is not much to do here. There are some books to read, there's music and some movies. Just get comfortable and relax and don't go getting cabin fever."
I said "but people will start to worry about us going missing"
"Nah, last night before the roof antenna got covered in the snow I used my sat phone and told the local sheriff you were all ok. He is going to contact your next of kin. I told him you would be safe here until the weather eases."
"Can I use the phone please Sam. Maybe someone can come up and rescue us."
"Sorry Eric, the phone doesn't work when the antenna is covered in snow. But anyway, they wouldn't risk it because they know you are safe up here."
Depends on what you mean by safe I thought to myself grimly. I resigned myself to being marooned for days without the warmth of my dear wife next to me in bed, and worse to come.
We spent the day mostly reading. Katie buried herself in a book and didn't say much to me. By mid- afternoon Sam announced that we needed to stock up on firewood for the night so he got rugged up and headed out the door. The blast of icy wind that hit us as he left made me realise leaving was not an option.
This was the first privacy we had since yesterday and I went and knelt next to Katie and held her hand. I gingerly asked her what happened last night. She said, "I don't want to talk about it much Eric if that's ok."
"Did he hurt you?"
"Only a little at first, he was actually very gentle and went slow to begin with until I got used to him."
"What do you mean get used to him?"