Snowed In(manxman)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Will awoke to the scent of frying bacon teasing his nose…. Though upon waking he realized he desperately needed to find an outhouse.

Rising from the sofa he turned to see Turner standing beside the cook stove wearing those black trousers that seemed to hug him like a second skin and a that red flannel shirt. His black hair was a mess and it didn’t appear that the man had slept at all.

“Uh… Turner?” Will whispered. Beaux walked over to him with a wagging of his tail and Will scratched the hound behind the ears. If Turner had heard him, however, the man gave no indication. So Will cleared his throat and tried again, “Turner?”

Turner’s response was little more than a grunt and a quick glance in Will’s direction. Will rolled his eyes with annoyance. What was this bastards problem?

“Turner, where’s the outhouse?”

“Outside.”

“Yeah, I had that much figured out,” Will crossed his arms over his chest. “Where?”

Turner pointed to the back door beside his bed, “Stay on the path. You can’t miss it.”

Will slipped on his worn boots, knowing his feet were going to be very cold thanks to the holes that were worn into the soles of them. He wished he had a coat, he could hear the wind whipping outside the log walls… but he didn’t and Turner didn’t seem to eager to offer him one.

Will went to the door, took a deep breath and then opened it and stepped outside. Instantly he felt the cold clear down to his bones. It took his breath and made his lungs ache. Will crossed his arms over his chest and followed the path that had been shoveled out of the snow, which was nearly at least three feet deep on either side of him.

The snow was also still coming down hard and Will was walking in a good eight inches of the stuff on the path that Turner had probably shoveled out just yesterday evening. It didn’t look like Will was going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

He reached the outhouse, already starting to shiver because of the intense cold. Quickly, Will relieved himself and then all but ran back toward the cabin. He burst in through the door and slammed it closed, falling back against it, his entire body shivering uncontrollably.

Beaux came trotting over and sat down at his feet. His brown eyes looked up at him as he let out a small whimper. Will patted the dogs head with his freezing hand.

“Get in front of the fire,” Turner snapped. “And next time you step foot outside in a blizzard you should try putting on real boots, a coat, hat and gloves.”

Will grumbled under his breath and walked to the fire, holding out his hands and wincing when the heat hit his frigid skin, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t exactly have any of those things.”

Turner was silent behind him and Will could feel a prickling on the back of his neck that told him he was being watched. He turned his head and saw Turner’s dark eyes staring hard at him. Will swallowed hard and moved closer to the fire, wondering what was going on in the man’s head. Turner looked as if he wanted to ask Will a question but then the man shrugged, broke the eye contact and went back to dishing breakfast onto two plates.

Will turned his attention back to the fire and getting warm. There was no denying that he was a million times better off now than he’d been at that brothel but he still wished he hadn’t ended up snowed in with an anti-social jackass. Especially one that was as damn good looking and rugged as Turner. Will had known from the time he’d been young that he preferred men and Turner certainly fit the physical type that Will had always been attracted to.

The only thing wrong with Turner was that Will preferred men who actually smiled and didn’t act as if they were angry at the world. Hell if anyone had a reason to hate the world and be antisocial it was Will after what he’d gone through the past six months… But Will had always been the type to roll with the punches and recover fast.

“Can I borrow your things next time?” Will finally asked, desperate to fill the oppressive silence.

“I have extra in the chest over there,” Turner replied, pointing toward a stained oak hope chest at the foot of his bed. It was odd for Turner to have something like that. A hope chest was something usually given to a bride on her wedding day to place in her new home at the foot of the bed she would share with her husband.

Was Turner married?

“You got a wife, Turner?” Will asked.

“Nope,” came Turner’s curt reply.

A lady friend then? Somebody else who is gonna be missing you while you‘re up here?” Will questioned.

“Why the hell do you care? You’re only here until this snow melts and your ass is gone.”

Will realized he’d struck a nerve and decided to back off. He needed to focus on building his strength and then getting the hell out of here once the snow melted and he could leave. It would only be a matter of time before Thompson Caudill would come looking for him and Will sure as hell didn’t want to be within that bastards reach when he did.

Turner threw the two plates he’d made on the table and Will knew it was time to eat. They ate in complete silence for a while, only the sounds of silverware scraping plates and chewing filled the air. Finally Will couldn’t take it any longer,

“It’s a mess out there. How much longer do you think this snow will keep up?”

Turner glanced out the window and then looked back down at his plate, “It’ll probably be done by tonight. It’s already starting to weaken.”

“And how long ‘til I can leave?”

“Depends on the temps and the sun. There are only two ways off this mountain. Fugate’s Pass to the west and east, back down the way you came to Caudill Town.” Will tensed at the thought of going back there. “Since you don’t seem to eager to go back that way, you’ll have to wait for the pass to clear. With a snow like this? That could take two to three weeks.”

“Shit,” Will muttered as he took a drink of water and leaned back in his chair.

Turner snorted, “Tell me about it. I don’t like company.”

“Then why didn’t you just leave me out there?” Will demanded, growing angry at the man’s attitude.

“Probably would have been better if I had,” Turner agreed. With that he stood, walked to the door, grabbed his coat, hat and gloves and headed outside into the cold with Beaux hot on his heels.

Will stared at the closed door and wondered how in the hell he was supposed to deal with that ornery jackass for three weeks without going stark raving mad.

A/N: Things are going to get a bit 'heated' in the next chapter! Might seem to start moving too fast after that but, remember, I don't plan on this being a very long story!