Love in the Dark

Chapter Four

Everett gave his granddaughter one last squeeze before he released her. "Don't forget your helmet, peanut."

Zahara dashed to the closet and pulled out her pink riding helmet, along with her mother's black one. "Safety first!" She chirped as she buckled it under her chin. Laura helped her climb back into her snow pants.

"Are you sure you can make it to the cabin before nightfall?"

Out of habit, Laura's eyes turned to the clock on the mantel, but of course it was electric, so it had stopped at 3:57 AM. "What time do you think it is now?"

Everett squinted out the window. "Close to noon, I guess."

"We can make it." She'd made the trip on horseback several times before. When Zahara was ready, she went over to her father. He was so much smaller than she remembered. His arms were no longer muscular, and when she wrapped her arms around him, he felt like an old man. His once-black hair was now iron-grey and very thin, especially on top. His face was craggy and wrinkled, and his eyes were no longer sharp. She pressed her lips against his leathery cheek. "I love you Daddy."

"Love you too, pumpkin." His voice shook, and it embarrassed him. He cleared his throat. "You two be safe. When things are up and running again, I'll come get you."

No, you won't. Laura didn't speak the words out loud. She only smiled and nodded, wiping her eyes. "I'll be back down," she said quietly, "when the worst is over." She reluctantly pulled away from her father. "Make sure you get that garden planted this year."

Her father grunted in reply. "I'm too old, I got too many aches and pains for a garden." He rubbed his hip, which was always sore and stiff. The doctor wanted him to get a hip replacement, but he refused. Despite his complaints, he was still pretty spry for an old man, and Laura knew when spring fever started, he'd be putting tomato and pepper seeds in sawed off milk cartons in the bay window to start.

She sighed and stepped away. "Well... we're wasting daylight, and old Roy is waiting."

Zahara clapped with excitement. "Yay! trail ride!"

Everett shrugged into his winter coat and his boots and followed them outside. He held Zahara's hand while Laura secured the two bags onto the pack. Finally, after one last check of the girth, she swung up into the saddle. She adjusted herself and then held her hands out for Zahara. Everett lifted the little girl up, and Laura settled her into the saddle in front of her.

"Well, dad," she said sadly. "We'll see you when we see you."

"Yep. See you."

That's always how they left it. Never goodbye. Laura swallowed with difficulty and turned old Roy down the driveway. He walked with an eager, forward stride, down the dirt drive and out onto the paved road. They had a long ride ahead of them. With the extra baggage and Zahara in the saddle, Laura figured it would take them six hours to reach her father's hunting cabin up on the mountain.

The cabin sat on the side of a mountain, and was part of a 500 acre parcel that her father leased to a furniture company, who logged it periodically. Well, no one would be coming to log it any more. Laura had grown up on that mountain, and she knew it better than the back of her hand, from beaver ponds, to the caves, the old ruins of a colonial settlement. Laura knew every tree, rock and river on the property.

That was where she was going to make her stand.