Four Weeks In Cedar Bay

CHAPTER ONE

‘This was meant to be a relaxing walk, not a full-on workout! Now, where can I sit down?  You’d think after such a hike to the summit they’d provide a nice bench to sit and admire the view, right?!’.  She was talking to herself, a habit that developed a few years ago and she was getting very good at it.  Sometimes it was a bad habit, if someone expected a verbal response, at times she didn’t give the required response out loud, and other times, responses she was meant to keep to herself she’d say out loud.  A crazy case of ‘foot in mouth’ could ensue at any given moment.  Spotting a nice big rock near the edge of a very long drop down the side of the small mountain, she decided it was the best and only place to relax and take in the spectacular view.  Peering over the edge, looking down, she couldn’t even see the car park below.  Pondering how far she had walked; she now considered the walk back down to her pushbike in the parking lot.

It wasn’t a brilliant idea to head out in the snow on a bike, but she’d made it.  Never say never she always said.  Before setting off from the Inn, she’d set the GPS navigation on her phone to this very location.  It was further than anticipated, and now perched on her rock, she was exhausted.  ‘Just a few more minutes’ she thought and took out her phone to take a few photos of the view that was captivating her.  With white snow as far as the eye could see and the sun starting to set, the view made for some breathtaking shots.  ‘Speaking of the sunset, I better head back down or I’ll be riding back in the dark’.  Easing herself backwards off the rock, she stood on an icy patch of snow and started to fall backwards, fast!

“Shit!”, she said out loud, and just as her butt was about to connect with the ground, she was stopped by two strong hands grasping at her waist.  Swiftly put back on her feet and let go, a male voice said, “Careful, you could have slipped the wrong way and I’m defiantly not going after you down there!”.  Stepping away from the voice as quickly as she could, she brushed herself off and said, “Well, if someone had put a bench up here, I wouldn’t have been sitting on a rock and I wouldn’t have slipped”.  Already turning to head back down towards the parking lot, the voice added, “Thanks for catching me.  You’re welcome.  Any time!”.  He was being sarcastic, but she wasn’t hanging around to make small talk with a stranger, she was leaving in a hurry.  “You’re welcome!”, she hollered back as her feet took her back down the mountain as quickly as they could. 

Finally making it to the parking lot where she’d padlocked the bike to a tree, she fished around in her deep jacket pocket for its key.  Just as she was about to unlock the bike she stopped.  ‘Oh brilliant!  You didn’t expect that now, did you?’.  There was an icy buildup on the lock.  Looking around, weighing up her options, which seemed quite limited, she tried to assess how she was going to remove the ice.  Picking up two small rocks, she began to bang them on either side of the lock simultaneously.  Some ice came away, but as she tried to insert the key, she discovered the ice was also inside the lock.  “Brilliant!”, she said aloud.  ‘Now if I was a man, I’d be right!  Men don’t know how good they’ve got it!  If I pulled my pants down, hooked my leg over the bike and peed on the lock, that would make for some interesting viewing if someone came along.  Damn it!’.  Momentarily feeling defeated, she huffed and sat down hard on the snow.  Cradling her arms around her bent knees, she sat and stared at the offending lock.  After the hike up to the summit, then almost sprinting back down again, she’d worked up quite a sweat, which was now making her freeze.

“Frozen lock hu?”, the male voice was back!  ‘Great, super, Awesome!’, she said to herself.  “Nope, I’m just admiring the view of the parking lot”.  The man walked past her, heading for the only vehicle that was only meters away from her bike.  “I’ve got a thermos of hot coffee in my truck; it will fix that lock in no time”.  She felt an immediate need to flee and peddle her way back to the Inn, so she tried to force the key inside the lock again.  It was no use, the lock was still iced up, unless she left the bike behind, she was going nowhere.  She watched the man open the rear door of the trucks cab, lean in and pull out a thermos.  Taking the lid off as he walked back to the bike, she quickly shifted away and watched as he poured the steaming hot liquid onto the lock.  “Pass me the key and I’ll see if it worked”, he said without looking at her.