1 Chapter 1: The Stranger

“Kate, can you get the door?” Tim asked. “Mr. McManus will be by in a few minutes to pick up some supplies before he heads out of town.”

“Tim,” Kate sighed, “we have our hours of operation. My shift doesn’t start until seven, yet here I am at six.” Kate loved Tim to death and he was one of the best friends and bosses anyone could ask for, but when he offered to go the extra mile as a courtesy, it meant she would be working earlier or later than usual.

Of course, it didn’t help when she never said no when he asked her to work those extra hours. Any time he called she always blanked on a plausible reason not to go in. It’d also be a lot easier to say no if she wasn’t his only employee.

After unlocking the door, Kate flipped the sign to “Sorry, We’re Open” and returned to the leather wing chair next to the fireplace. She shivered looking at the gray clouds and snow on the ground outside. A few minutes later, Tim tossed a small Styrofoam container of bait and some jerky on the coffee table and collapsed into the chair next to Kate’s.

After leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he said, “You know, I’ve been here most of my life and still I fail to understand the appeal of waking before the sun rises to go out into weather that’ll freeze your balls off.”

“Eloquently put, as always, Tim,” Kate replied with a nod.

Tim turned his head to look at her. “Seriously, though, I thought you’d have hightailed it out of here a week after showing up here when you were. . . what, eighteen?”

Seven years. Kate hadn’t realized it’d been that long. “Caribou Falls isn’t for everyone, which is fine by me. I’ve always loved it.”

“Oh, I know now. You like the cold and dark. Just like your men,” he teased.

Everyone in Caribou Falls is known for something unique, and Kate’s happened to be the guys she dated. Which was ironic, since she could count on one hand how many dates she’d been on in a decade.

She wasn’t complaining, but it was a major con living in a town with only a few hundred people: the first mistake you make sticks with you the rest of your known existence. She even earned herself nicknames, like, “Bad Date Kate” or “Easy Bait Kate”.

Their creativity knew no bounds.

“Do you ever miss California?” Tim asked.

“No. I mean, I miss some of my family on occasion, but I don’t miss where I lived.” She took the flannel blanket off the back of the chair and spread it over her legs. “What about you? Ever think about returning to the Lone Star State?”

Tim shrugged. “Only during the winter when I forget how much I couldn’t stand Lubbok. So, yes? No? I dunno. I know I can’t go back to working for someone else.”

“You got that right,” she replied, flashing him the sign of the horns with her hand.

His thick eyebrows scrunched together. “What does that even mean? You work for me–”

The bell to the door chimed and Mr. McManus walked in, sporting his long, partially gray braided beard, Ushanka hat, and camouflage-colored clothing. He wore a grin on his face and in his eyes. His facial hair actually covered his mouth, but his temples crinkled when he smiled.

The old hunter picked up the bowl of bait, peeled off the lid, and poked at the contents. A slight awkwardness began filling the room as the wet soil began making squelching sounds under his fingers.

Tim cleared his throat and asked, “So Dutch, anything new happening in your neck of the woods?”

Without looking up Mr. McManus asked, “Did either of you hear anything unusual yesterday evening?”

The two sitting down looked at each other and shook their heads.

The old man continued. “Was out fishin’ last night and near fell out of my chair from a large boomin’ sound up north. Spilled most my bait into the water, that’s why I’m here, y’see. I looked in the direction I thought it came from and seen a big cloud of fire jump above the trees. Thought about callin’ someone, but it was all quiet-like after. No burnin’ trees or anythin’.”

Tim arched an eyebrow. “Well what was it? The explosion?”

Mr. McManus shrugged. “Don’t know, didn’t check.”

Kate sighed. “Riveting.”

The older man reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet. “I’ll be headin’ back up that way a few days from now. I’ll let you know what I find.” He pulled out a twenty, set it on the table, picked up the jerky, resealed the container and headed for the door. Just before opening it he stopped and said, “Saw a fella wandering just outside of town. Was going to introduce myself but I’m on a bit of a schedule. You two should go help him out. He looked more lost than a possum in a bear pouch.”

While Tim worked the analogy out in his head, Kate said to her boss, “Someone is disoriented Tim.” She reached over and patted his hand. “I thought you would have understood that analogy with the two of you being the same age and all.”

Tim shook his head. “The analogy didn’t…” he paused and then recoiled from her touch. “You think I’m as old as him?” he nodded toward Mr. McManus. “How old do you think I am?”

“I dunno. Forty?” she said.

“Close.” Tim replied. “I’ll give you a hint. You’re twenty-four, and I’m nineteen years older than you.”

Kate guessed again. “Fifty?”

“It’s basic math Kate.” Tim said flatly. “Why would you guess higher?”

She turned to Mr. McManus and asked, “So does this guy need help? What does he look like?”

The hunter shrugged. “Different. Though you may want to wait a day before askin’ him out, Katy.”

Tim laughed.

Kate let out an audible sigh. “You know, the two of you are going to feel like real jerks if this guy is really hurt.” Standing up and going behind the counter, she retrieved her coat and scarf.

Mr. McManus opened the door and waved. “Take care Tim. Katy, see you in a week.”

Kate finished bundling up and headed toward the front of the store. Tim quickly rose from his chair and said to her, “Kate, wait a minute! Are you really going to talk to some guy wandering around at-” he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. “6:22 a.m.? We do have a Sheriff.”

In the most serious voice she could muster, Kate replied, “Tim, I have a reputation to uphold. If he’s a weirdo, I need to ask him out.”

Tim muttered something under his breath Kate couldn’t hear and pulled a beanie over his balding head. After flipping the sign to read, “Closed”, he motioned to the door, “Go on, I’ll lock up behind us.”

It took them about twenty minutes to find the stranger as Mr. McManus didn’t say specifically where in town the guy was. Fortunately for them, it was a small town that could be searched in its entirety in an hour.

McManus also failed to mention the man was dressed like he stepped off the set of ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

His black hair was long but not unkempt and the padded coat he wore went down to his shins, fastened at his waist with a wide, leather belt. The boots he wore looked like they were made for riding a horse. Kate could tell he was cold from his blue-tinged lips, yet he seemed too distracted to realize he was freezing.

He leaned heavily on the wall of a nearby building, one of his hands pressed firmly against his forehead.

Tim whispered, “Kate, if this guy has a sword, you’re on your own. I am quite swift despite my size.” He cupped his hands over his mouth and blew warm air into them.

She looked at her boss and asked, “Tim, if he were carrying a sword you’d be able to see it.”

“It could be strapped to his back or-”

She cut him off. “Just stop talking.” Taking a step forward she said in a calm, kind tone, “Sir? Are you all right?”

Hearing her voice, he looked up.

His eyes were the color of dark, blue spinels. His jaw was square and defined. Thick, dark eyebrows created shadows that made his expression slightly menacing. Not even the blood staining half his face could conceal his attractiveness.

Kate felt her face redden when he looked at her. To say he was handsome was an understatement.

His voice raspy, he said, “I don’t . . . ” he started to say. “Please, I need . . . ”

She came to her senses just as he toppled over.

And nearly collapsed under his weight. Unlike the movies, her five and a half foot, one-hundred and twenty pound frame couldn’t move guys twice her size.

Quoting the ‘The Princess Bride’, Kate shouted, “Fezzik! I need you!”

Tim wasn’t as swift as he claimed, but made it to her side before she was buried beneath the man.

Kate smiled as she thought, ‘Not that it would have been entirely unpleasant being under-’

“Kate what are you thinking?!” Tim grunted as he worked his way under the stranger. “Why didn’t you just let him fall?”

“Have you seen him?!” she snapped. Realizing immediately what she said and how she reacted, Kate moved away quickly, lost her balance and grabbed the stranger’s dangling arm to keep from falling.

“Kate, Kate, stop, let go!” Tim said in a strained voice. He teetered left and right but managed to stay upright. Once he regained his footing he asked, “Now what? The clinic?”

“That’d probably be a good idea with the amount of blood on his face.”

Tim groaned in frustration. Nevertheless, he began waddling forward, one step at a time.

Kate smiled. The large, now unconscious man was draped like a massive carpet over Tim’s hunched form; his arms and legs hanging limp near the ground. It looked like the stranger had sprouted an extra pair of short, stumpy legs out of his abdomen.

She followed alongside them, never missing the opportunity to help balance the man on Tim’s back. When she touched his hand, she was surprised to feel how warm it was. Not only was it cold outside, it was obvious he’d lost some blood.

Stepping away, Kate felt a rush of nausea and cold pass through her. Something urged her to turn toward the road leading out of town and onto the forested highway.

Standing in the shadow of a tall evergreen, a man in a black long coat stared at them.

The moment he noticed her staring at him, the figure stepped backward into the trees and was gone.

She still felt sick to her stomach, until she put her hand back on the stranger. The moment their flesh touched, warmth flooded back into her, despite the temperature outside.

Kate’s voice barely came out as a whisper. “Tim, we need to get inside.”