Karen and Brian rambled down the little path headed towards Eagle's Bluff. Karen led the way with her thumbs tucked into her pack straps and a big grin on her face. She was finally living out the adventure that she had so tediously planned for many months. The eager duo pointed out various landmarks and colorful birds as they made their way along the snowy trail which, as Mr. Hadley had stated, was in a dismal state of disrepair.
The shrubbery and underbrush had grown over it and some rather large dead trees had fallen across it at random spots. Brian came to a halt, produced a roll of neon-pink ribbon from his cargo pocket, tore off a bit of it and tied it to a limb which hung over the path.
"Wow. Look at you, survival man!" Karen said with a smile. "Now we'll be able to find out way back just in case. Good thinking!"
Brian glanced back at her with sarcastic arrogance. "I told you, mom. I got this covered. You just enjoy the scenery."
"Well, okay then Mr. Big Shot. Pfft, who needs a map when we got you around?" They both smirked teasingly. The trail began to curve north just like the map had showed when they checked it back at the cabin.
"One mile to go -- Eagle's Bluff, here we come," said Brian.
"Ooh, I can't wait!" They kept a steady walking pace, pausing only for a moment here and there so Brian could tie more pink ribbon to the branches. After about twenty minutes or so, they came to a great oak tree that stood proud and timeworn amidst the lesser saplings. An old wooden sign was nailed to the coarse trunk.
Brian leaned forward and read it aloud. "Eagle's Bluff. Watch your step." An arrow pointed straight up, indicating that their destination lie directly in front of them.
Karen scowled in confusion. "I don't get it. It's just a thicket of trees and bushes." Brian cautiously stepped forward off of the path towards the evergreen grove which was dense enough to obscure one's view of the other side. She followed him into the thicket, placing a hand on his shoulder to let him know of her presence. "Be careful, sweetie," she warned.
A few sharp branches scraped across her jacket and snowsuit and she lowered her head so as not to catch one to the face. She clumsily bumped into Brian's back as she walked. "What's up? Can you see anything?"
"Geez. Look at that."
Karen lifted her head and opened her eyes. There before her was the single most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The mountains were icy waves of brown and white that rolled into the horizon, frozen just as they crested and began to tip over. They loomed mightily over the forest floor which looked like a white plush shag carpet spreading out for miles in all directions. Several streams cut crooked lines through the trees and disappeared behind the drawling slopes.
"Oh Brian, it's unbelievable! I've never seen anything like it. It's so much better in real life than in the picture!" They stood there for a minute simply drinking in the lovely scenery. Sharing such a moment seemed to bring the two of them even closer together. Karen looked over at him with adoration. "I'm so happy you're here with me, sweetie. I'm just so happy!" She exclaimed as she opened her arms for a big hug.
They held on to one another tightly and for longer than they probably should have. Brian closed both eyes and sniffed her fragrant brown hair as it whipped across his face with the breeze. The soft skin of her neck warmed his cheeks and he thought that he would very much like to kiss it. He impulsively pushed his hips toward hers as the attraction began to take hold once more.
She knew at once that she should separate and move along but, much like the stained boxers in the bathroom, she found herself compelled by curiosity and perhaps something more. When at last they broke apart, there was an awkward, albeit stimulating exchange of lustful glares that left Karen blushing.
"What do you think? You want to head back now?" Brian asked.
"Hang on. Let's celebrate with some lunch," Karen smiled as she pulled something small out of her pocket and tore open the wrapper.
Brian saw it and chuckled. "A granola bar, huh? Awesome."
"See? Your mom thought of some stuff too! You'd be starving to death out here if it wasn't for me." She broke it in half and gave Brian his share. The pair ate their snack and chatted for a while as they stared out into the wilderness.
"Looks like a storm's rolling in," said Brian nodding in the direction of the dark clouds crowning over the mountains. The cold wind began to pick up and they decided to start walking back before it got any worse. They returned through the thicket of pines and shrubbery and started off down the trail again, this time with a bit more pep in their step in fear that they'd get caught in the winter storm.
A pink trail marker shone brightly in the distance, followed by another one, then another. When they found the fourth strip of neon ribbon, it was lying on the ground after having clearly been blown off of the branch it was attached to. Brian picked it up and glanced around. The worn out trail was barely visible as it was but now the snow was falling steadily, further obscuring their vision.
"Which way do we go?"
"This way," he said motioning towards his best guess. He was getting worried but he tried to sound confident so as not to upset his mother. We can't be that far away now anyways, he thought. If nothing else, we'll see the big frozen lake with the fishing huts and walk along the shore back to the cabin. They went deeper into the woods, walking for over twenty minutes before coming to a stop.
The polar wind was now gusting in at full speed and it cut through them to the bone. Karen's teeth began to chatter. "Honey, I don't think this is right. Let's go back and try to find the trail again." Brian grudgingly turned around and they walked back the way they had come from but they only made it a short ways before the storm became overwhelmingly powerful.
They both staggered back and raised a hand to their brow from the force of the breeze. This was no ordinary wintery gale -- it was a full on blizzard and it brought with it the gut-wrenching realization that their very lives were now in danger.
Brian grabbed onto his mother's arm and trudged through the powdery knee-deep drifts. A break in the trees could be seen in the distance, giving them hope that their ordeal would soon be at an end. It's the lake, Karen thought. Thank god.
Her heart sank when they reached the clearing only to see a wide frozen creek with a rather steep bank on the other side and yet more forest to stumble through. Another blast of frigid air was an exclamation point to their misery, adding insult to the already unpromising situation.
Brian shook his head in frustration, mostly at having made himself look incompetent in front of his mother and only somewhat because of the dreary circumstances. "Damn! This fuckin' storm -- I can't tell where the trail is anymore!"
"I know, me either. Look maybe if we follow this creek we'll come to the lake and be home free. This might be the one that feeds right into it."
"Maybe. If nothing else we have a terrain feature now that we can use to orient ourselves. Walking through the woods blindly is too confusing and it's just getting us more lost." He hated to admit that he had no better ideas.
"So which way then?"
Brian pointed somewhat arbitrarily down the creek in one direction. "That way. I think the lake is that way." So they began toddling along the edge of the stream hoping against hope that the rows of ice fishing shacks lay just around the next bend.
Brian was about to turn back towards Karen to say something when she suddenly slipped on a patch of ice and lost her footing. She screamed in terror and threw her arms up as her body slid down the bank and smashed through the ice, the glacial waters splashing up over her head. "Mom!" Brian cried out as he threw down his pack.
She resurfaced and gasped for air. She immediately began to freak out and flail her arms from the shock. "Bri... Brian hel -- help me! Help me!" He dropped his hat and jacket and carefully lowered himself to the bottom of the bank where the dirt met the water.
"Grab my hand! Grab my hand, mom!" He extended his arm as far as he could while grabbing onto a low hanging tree branch with the other one. "Grab my arm!"
In her panic, Karen desperately seized onto his arm with both hands and tried to pull herself out of the water with all of her might, but only succeeding in pulling Brian down into the water with her head first.
He too reemerged with a terrible shout, deathly afraid but still able to search for a means of escape. He grabbed onto the low hanging tree branch and pulled as hard as he could, successfully lifting his dripping body out from the hole and onto the safety of the stream's edge. He then turned towards his mother and gripped the soggy fabric of her arms. Using his considerable adrenaline rush, he pulled and pulled, gritting his teeth and digging his boot heels into the dirt until at last they were both able to stand upright again on solid ground.
"Th -- thank you, thank... you. Oh, thank you. Oh shit." They both shivered uncontrollably.
He wasn't looking at her. His arms were crossed, his head down, his eyes faded and distant. "I can't feel my arms... I can't f-feel my arms or m-my l-legs..." Karen knew he was in trouble.
"Brian, sweetie, look at me. Listen to m-my voice and focus," she said. "We have -- have to get war-warm and we h-h-have to do it right away. Okay?" She brought her face close to his so she could look directly into his eyes. Their skin was now pasty white.
"How are going to... do that?"
"We have to get out of these wet clothes and we have to use our b-body heat. It's the only way. We have to." Before she finished the sentence, she began unrolling the sleeping bag from his pack and also pulled out an all-weather poncho and a white t-shirt. She then helped him take off his wet shirt and boots. He was able to finish undressing on his own and Karen did the same.
