LIGHTED WINDOWS
Montana winters are not for the faint of heart and there was no doubt about it. Nathan McCain had been out bow hunting for most of the morning with only small success, and the storm the weather service had promised for this evening, was arriving early. The clouds had been moving steadily in, piling up against the mountains and growing a little darker by the hour. Figuring rabbit stew and a warm fire would be an okay consolation prize; he clicked his bow into the bracket on his back pack and turned back. Hopefully, the weather would not stick around for too long. Nathan only had a scant ten days of vacation time to bag some sort of respectable game and rabbit was not exactly what he had in mind.
The threatening clouds finally started to snow, light, feather flakes, not too many, but Nathan had been in Montana long enough to know these first soft flakes were only the warning. The weather service said storm coming, and that meant blizzard, wind, hard pellet snow and temperatures in the serious minus range. Nathan picked up his pace which was not really difficult as last week’s snow was only a foot or so and did not make walking difficult. The temperature had hovered all day in the mid twenties, cold but not dangerous to someone prepared. Moving at a steady pace would work up a sweat if he was not careful, but getting caught in the full force of the incoming storm could be a serious problem. He was not worried about a blizzard, having stocked up on groceries, firewood and lots of reading materials. Okay, the ‘reading materials’ was paperwork, but it needed to be done and would keep him busy enough. He also had several books he had been unable to find the time to read over the last two years, which meant he had a good supply of ‘company’if the snows got bad. All in all, he thought, not a bad way to spend a vacation, though he had really hoped to bag maybe a small buck or large one, if providence allowed. He was going to take a ton of ribbing back at the office if all he managed was a few fluffy bunnies. None of the guys could understand the bow hunting thing, they felt, give them a nice 30-06 with a respectable scope and they would bag their quarry every time. Nathan McCain was one quarter Native American, his paternal great grandmother had been Hupa Indian and he took no end of harassment about the bow hunting thing being in his blood. Actually, Nathan figured it was only fair he hunt with a bow, though he did carry his Desert Eagle fully loaded just in case. This was true wilderness up in the mountains and in spite of what most folk wanted to believe, man was not really the top of the food chain out here. The thought made him grin, even with the serious stopping power of his hand gun, he truly doubted he could stop a really pissed off bear, though that was not much of a worry right now, as the bears should have long since gone to hibernate. The big matte black gun with the nasty 30 caliber load would do okay if a mountain lion gave him the chance to use it. Okay, the guys were right about the not hunting alone thing, most mountain lions did not give you any warning, but Nathan learned to ‘hunt’ alone in the Army Rangers as a forward observer, or so the title went. He was trained to hunt by the best the military had to offer and after having ‘attended’ a couple of the United States latest overseas actions, he was very used to hunting alone and actually preferred it for the ease and limited responsibility. No other ‘troops’ in his hunting party meant no one but himself to look after. Always worked just fine in the past and here in the mountains of Montana it was downright spiritual, though he’d be damned if he’d mention that part to the guys. That was, of course, the other reason for the bow. After the military had continued the training his father started, and trained him to kill, quick and quiet, it was not at all sporting to use a rifle. He had to give the wildlife a chance.
Nathan stopped his reverie and gazed in disbelief at the tracks in the snow ahead of him. Now what the hell is this, he wondered. The cabin was off the beaten path and fairly isolated just for the purpose of getting away from it all, although you can drive right up to the front door if you know where the roads are to get you there, but he was still a hundred yards from the cabin. So why the hell, are there human foot prints leading away from the cabin and the end of the road? Not to mention the question of who the hell had come up to bug him when everyone knew he was very serious about his do not disturb order to all his men, family and friends alike.
Nathan, from sheer training, moved off to the side into the trees to parallel the tracks and stay out of sight at the same time. The tracks were just beginning to gather the new snow so whoever it was, had passed by before the snow started. The prints seemed a bit small for a man and Nathan’s instincts stepped up another notch as did his pace. “What the Hell...” he breathed crouching by a tree to examine the trail.
Looking up the rise, he saw the tracks disappear into a stand of fir trees. Thinking something was very wrong with this picture, Nathan moved quietly up and into the trees. He saw a figure seated with its back to a tall pine and went still, watching for any sign of movement.
The figure wore bright blue ski pants and parka with a pink wool scarf tied around the neck. Though he could not see her face, Nathan was sure it was female, from the slightness of the frame. She was sitting against the tree with her legs out in front and her hands in her pockets. The hood of the parka was pulled up snug and Nathan had to move around the tree to see her face.
“Oh, Shit!” escaped his lips when he could finally see the face. She was very white with blue lips, eyes closed. The snow was settling on her legs and in her lap. He could not tell if she was breathing, but from the look of her, if she was alive, she would not be for much longer.
Moving to her side, Nathan examined her face. Framed by the hood’s drawstring, the face was lovely, high forehead, large eyes, straight nose, great cheek bones and nice, very blue lips above a firm jaw line, with a slightly dimpled chin. She’d been lovely, he thought, and how the hell did she end up in this wilderness alone. He reached to touch the lovely face when the eyes suddenly opened. It caught him by surprise and he nearly fell back. But the eyes were unfocused and not looking at him, but out across the meadow below. He moved now, dropping to one knee next to her and sliding one arm under her legs. He put his other arm around her back and the eyes blinked as he braced and lifted as he stood. He staggered just a step. He was expecting a heavier weight and had over muscled the lift. Nathan had guessed her height at maybe five foot nine or ten. Just under six feet, she should have weighted a good twenty pounds more, but Nathan knew he did not have the time to ponder anything. If she has any chance at all, he knew he had to get her to the cabin and warmed back up very fast, before the body’s systems began shutting down. In the late stages of hypothermia, the body starts shutting down and if she was too far gone, only immediate medical assistance would have any chance of saving her. With the wind picking up and the snow coming harder, the chances of getting anyone up here to take her out to a hospital were pretty slim.
Long stepping down the rise, Nathan began moving as fast as possible in the ever increasing storm. His cabin was not far but the added weight and speed were causing him to sweat and even in excellent physical condition he could not keep this pace up for long. He passed a small car, rapidly vanishing into the snow and with relief, saw his cabin, about five yards ahead.
Nathan slammed in the door, kicking it shut behind him and set the girl down on the rug by the banked fire. Her eyes were closed again and he swore as he pitched two more logs on the coals and began stripping off his outer garments, leaning the pack and bow against the wall and groping in the closet for a down sleeping bag. The only way he could see of even possibly warming up the ice princess would be his own body heat. The cabin had the fireplace, of course, and propane fired the central heat but she needed more warmth than that and a whole lot faster. He zipped open the sleeping bag and tore at her parka, throwing clothing aside as fast as he could get her out of them. He stripped her down to her bra and panties, letting loose a long stream of obscenities as he pulled off plain leather boots and only one pair of thick cotton socks. Her feet were white and stiff with cold and thoughts of bad frostbite nagged at the back of his mind. He literally stuffed her into the sleeping bag and tore off his own multi layers of clothing, leaving nothing but his jockey shorts, and slid into the bag next to her.
“Fuck me to Hell!” He swore as he gathered her nearly lifeless body into his. God, it was like wrapping himself around a block of ice. He zipped up the sleeping bag and positioned her against his chest, wiggling her hands into his arm pits, causing more swearing and he groaned out several more profanities as he put his feet under hers and prayed he was not too late.
“Come on baby, don’t quit on me,” he whispered to the top of her head as he began rubbing her back. He worked his way down her back, as far as he could reach, over her butt and down the backs of her thighs and back up again. There was a heartbeat; he felt it in her neck and against his chest as he crushed her against him. Her breathing was shallow but she was breathing. He kept up the rubbing and was rewarded with a deeper breath, though she had not moved yet. He tightened his grip and braced himself. If she was going to come out of it, this next part would not be fun.
As if on cue, the body in his arms began to vibrate and suddenly seized. He heard a deep groan against his chest and then the worst of the shivering began. Holding on as best he could, Nathan tried to keep her totally against him through the muscle spasms as her whole body withered and shook.
She was too damn skinny, he thought as her hip bones slammed against him. What the hell was this thing about ultra thin models, looking more like stick figures than women?
“Hang on Princess; it’ll pass in a bit.” Nathan was working at keeping her against him but worrying about how tight he was holding her. She may have been a tall one, but her bones were light and Nathan knew he could easily break more than one bone in her body if he got the pressure wrong. The shivering seemed to go on and on and garbled sounds rose from his chest. She was fighting him, although, it was not really much of a match. At six foot five, Nathan was easily quite a bit stronger than the ice princess. His job kept him in excellent physical condition and her struggles only caused him to sweat even more inside the sub-zero sleeping bag.
“Come on baby, just breath, don’t try to talk.”
“N-n-no” was all he could understand but the shivering was slowly easing off and he cuddled her into his body and began to rub her back again, murmuring reassurance into her hair as her head finally settled against his chest and she sighed on his shoulder.
Nathan was sweating profusely now, the heat from the fireplace combined with the down
Montana winters are not for the faint of heart and there was no doubt about it. Nathan McCain had been out bow hunting for most of the morning with only small success, and the storm the weather service had promised for this evening, was arriving early. The clouds had been moving steadily in, piling up against the mountains and growing a little darker by the hour. Figuring rabbit stew and a warm fire would be an okay consolation prize; he clicked his bow into the bracket on his back pack and turned back. Hopefully, the weather would not stick around for too long. Nathan only had a scant ten days of vacation time to bag some sort of respectable game and rabbit was not exactly what he had in mind.
The threatening clouds finally started to snow, light, feather flakes, not too many, but Nathan had been in Montana long enough to know these first soft flakes were only the warning. The weather service said storm coming, and that meant blizzard, wind, hard pellet snow and temperatures in the serious minus range. Nathan picked up his pace which was not really difficult as last week’s snow was only a foot or so and did not make walking difficult. The temperature had hovered all day in the mid twenties, cold but not dangerous to someone prepared. Moving at a steady pace would work up a sweat if he was not careful, but getting caught in the full force of the incoming storm could be a serious problem. He was not worried about a blizzard, having stocked up on groceries, firewood and lots of reading materials. Okay, the ‘reading materials’ was paperwork, but it needed to be done and would keep him busy enough. He also had several books he had been unable to find the time to read over the last two years, which meant he had a good supply of ‘company’if the snows got bad. All in all, he thought, not a bad way to spend a vacation, though he had really hoped to bag maybe a small buck or large one, if providence allowed. He was going to take a ton of ribbing back at the office if all he managed was a few fluffy bunnies. None of the guys could understand the bow hunting thing, they felt, give them a nice 30-06 with a respectable scope and they would bag their quarry every time. Nathan McCain was one quarter Native American, his paternal great grandmother had been Hupa Indian and he took no end of harassment about the bow hunting thing being in his blood. Actually, Nathan figured it was only fair he hunt with a bow, though he did carry his Desert Eagle fully loaded just in case. This was true wilderness up in the mountains and in spite of what most folk wanted to believe, man was not really the top of the food chain out here. The thought made him grin, even with the serious stopping power of his hand gun, he truly doubted he could stop a really pissed off bear, though that was not much of a worry right now, as the bears should have long since gone to hibernate. The big matte black gun with the nasty 30 caliber load would do okay if a mountain lion gave him the chance to use it. Okay, the guys were right about the not hunting alone thing, most mountain lions did not give you any warning, but Nathan learned to ‘hunt’ alone in the Army Rangers as a forward observer, or so the title went. He was trained to hunt by the best the military had to offer and after having ‘attended’ a couple of the United States latest overseas actions, he was very used to hunting alone and actually preferred it for the ease and limited responsibility. No other ‘troops’ in his hunting party meant no one but himself to look after. Always worked just fine in the past and here in the mountains of Montana it was downright spiritual, though he’d be damned if he’d mention that part to the guys. That was, of course, the other reason for the bow. After the military had continued the training his father started, and trained him to kill, quick and quiet, it was not at all sporting to use a rifle. He had to give the wildlife a chance.
Nathan stopped his reverie and gazed in disbelief at the tracks in the snow ahead of him. Now what the hell is this, he wondered. The cabin was off the beaten path and fairly isolated just for the purpose of getting away from it all, although you can drive right up to the front door if you know where the roads are to get you there, but he was still a hundred yards from the cabin. So why the hell, are there human foot prints leading away from the cabin and the end of the road? Not to mention the question of who the hell had come up to bug him when everyone knew he was very serious about his do not disturb order to all his men, family and friends alike.
Nathan, from sheer training, moved off to the side into the trees to parallel the tracks and stay out of sight at the same time. The tracks were just beginning to gather the new snow so whoever it was, had passed by before the snow started. The prints seemed a bit small for a man and Nathan’s instincts stepped up another notch as did his pace. “What the Hell...” he breathed crouching by a tree to examine the trail.
Looking up the rise, he saw the tracks disappear into a stand of fir trees. Thinking something was very wrong with this picture, Nathan moved quietly up and into the trees. He saw a figure seated with its back to a tall pine and went still, watching for any sign of movement.
The figure wore bright blue ski pants and parka with a pink wool scarf tied around the neck. Though he could not see her face, Nathan was sure it was female, from the slightness of the frame. She was sitting against the tree with her legs out in front and her hands in her pockets. The hood of the parka was pulled up snug and Nathan had to move around the tree to see her face.
“Oh, Shit!” escaped his lips when he could finally see the face. She was very white with blue lips, eyes closed. The snow was settling on her legs and in her lap. He could not tell if she was breathing, but from the look of her, if she was alive, she would not be for much longer.
Moving to her side, Nathan examined her face. Framed by the hood’s drawstring, the face was lovely, high forehead, large eyes, straight nose, great cheek bones and nice, very blue lips above a firm jaw line, with a slightly dimpled chin. She’d been lovely, he thought, and how the hell did she end up in this wilderness alone. He reached to touch the lovely face when the eyes suddenly opened. It caught him by surprise and he nearly fell back. But the eyes were unfocused and not looking at him, but out across the meadow below. He moved now, dropping to one knee next to her and sliding one arm under her legs. He put his other arm around her back and the eyes blinked as he braced and lifted as he stood. He staggered just a step. He was expecting a heavier weight and had over muscled the lift. Nathan had guessed her height at maybe five foot nine or ten. Just under six feet, she should have weighted a good twenty pounds more, but Nathan knew he did not have the time to ponder anything. If she has any chance at all, he knew he had to get her to the cabin and warmed back up very fast, before the body’s systems began shutting down. In the late stages of hypothermia, the body starts shutting down and if she was too far gone, only immediate medical assistance would have any chance of saving her. With the wind picking up and the snow coming harder, the chances of getting anyone up here to take her out to a hospital were pretty slim.
Long stepping down the rise, Nathan began moving as fast as possible in the ever increasing storm. His cabin was not far but the added weight and speed were causing him to sweat and even in excellent physical condition he could not keep this pace up for long. He passed a small car, rapidly vanishing into the snow and with relief, saw his cabin, about five yards ahead.
Nathan slammed in the door, kicking it shut behind him and set the girl down on the rug by the banked fire. Her eyes were closed again and he swore as he pitched two more logs on the coals and began stripping off his outer garments, leaning the pack and bow against the wall and groping in the closet for a down sleeping bag. The only way he could see of even possibly warming up the ice princess would be his own body heat. The cabin had the fireplace, of course, and propane fired the central heat but she needed more warmth than that and a whole lot faster. He zipped open the sleeping bag and tore at her parka, throwing clothing aside as fast as he could get her out of them. He stripped her down to her bra and panties, letting loose a long stream of obscenities as he pulled off plain leather boots and only one pair of thick cotton socks. Her feet were white and stiff with cold and thoughts of bad frostbite nagged at the back of his mind. He literally stuffed her into the sleeping bag and tore off his own multi layers of clothing, leaving nothing but his jockey shorts, and slid into the bag next to her.
“Fuck me to Hell!” He swore as he gathered her nearly lifeless body into his. God, it was like wrapping himself around a block of ice. He zipped up the sleeping bag and positioned her against his chest, wiggling her hands into his arm pits, causing more swearing and he groaned out several more profanities as he put his feet under hers and prayed he was not too late.
“Come on baby, don’t quit on me,” he whispered to the top of her head as he began rubbing her back. He worked his way down her back, as far as he could reach, over her butt and down the backs of her thighs and back up again. There was a heartbeat; he felt it in her neck and against his chest as he crushed her against him. Her breathing was shallow but she was breathing. He kept up the rubbing and was rewarded with a deeper breath, though she had not moved yet. He tightened his grip and braced himself. If she was going to come out of it, this next part would not be fun.
As if on cue, the body in his arms began to vibrate and suddenly seized. He heard a deep groan against his chest and then the worst of the shivering began. Holding on as best he could, Nathan tried to keep her totally against him through the muscle spasms as her whole body withered and shook.
She was too damn skinny, he thought as her hip bones slammed against him. What the hell was this thing about ultra thin models, looking more like stick figures than women?
“Hang on Princess; it’ll pass in a bit.” Nathan was working at keeping her against him but worrying about how tight he was holding her. She may have been a tall one, but her bones were light and Nathan knew he could easily break more than one bone in her body if he got the pressure wrong. The shivering seemed to go on and on and garbled sounds rose from his chest. She was fighting him, although, it was not really much of a match. At six foot five, Nathan was easily quite a bit stronger than the ice princess. His job kept him in excellent physical condition and her struggles only caused him to sweat even more inside the sub-zero sleeping bag.
“Come on baby, just breath, don’t try to talk.”
“N-n-no” was all he could understand but the shivering was slowly easing off and he cuddled her into his body and began to rub her back again, murmuring reassurance into her hair as her head finally settled against his chest and she sighed on his shoulder.
Nathan was sweating profusely now, the heat from the fireplace combined with the down