St. Barbara Valley (Really Rough Draft)

*Chapter One*

Saint Barbara is the patron saint of the Navy, Artillerymen, lightning, explosives, and miners.

Makes sense that the coal exploration that founded the valley named it that. They were Catholics after all, and the two main mountains on both sides of the valley were a home for many mining sites.

A small village was built in the center between the two mountains; it was for the workers of the mine sites and their families. As the mining company became bigger, the tiny village started to grow.

By the time the mining company made some bad investments and went bankrupt, the small village grew into a large town. For a while, the small town suffered from a poor economy, jobs were hard to come by and the harsh winters didn't help.

But luckily, an investor saw the valley as a perfect place to build a ski resort.

The construction took five years to complete, creating tons of jobs for the locals. The new resort promised so much hope for the withering town.

The resort was named after the valley, Saint Barbara Resort, and the two mountains were named El Salvador and Sergeant Pepper. The town was transformed into a resort city, full of restaurants, hotels, and stores.

Business boomed as soon as the resort opened. The small town became a big deal to wealthy families that came back every year. A few years later, they built camp grounds for the summer, turning the town into not only a winter wonderland, but also a summer adventure village.

Saint Barbara Resort was a paradise get away. Five star resort, beautiful ski hills, and the amazing view made the resort highly promoted by magazines and talk shows. The resort seemed like a dream come true, or as the slogan for Saint Barbara Valley says "In the winter, an alpine resort wonderland. In the summer, an adventurous, outdoorsy get away."

But behind the happy face of Saint Barbara Valley, there were shady deals being made by investors and wealthy businessmen, illegal exchanges and even paranormal occurrences, that I'll soon find myself and my friends all wrapped up in.

****

"Ready?"

Giving my bindings and boots one more quick check, I nodded.

"I'm ready." I popped up from my sitting position on the ground, balancing on the edge of my snowboard as I placed my goggles over my eyes. I spun my board so my right foot faced forward, down the hill.

It was early in the morning, and the lifts had just opened. Poppy and I rushed to be one of the firsts on the mountain. We were going down our favourite run, Daredevil, and there was barely anyone on the run, no too slow skiers or beginners to get in the way. Just how I liked it.

"Alright," Poppy whispered, not wanting to break the beautiful spell that was cast over the mountains; bringing her snowboard up against mine. The hills were freshly groomed and the sky was full of fluffy clouds. Today was the perfect day to go snowboarding.

"Hello ladies." Someone called from behind us. Poppy let out a groan.

"Noal invited Marcus." Why was she surprised? Noal and Marcus were basically brothers and went everywhere together. I turned to see two snowboarders sliding towards us. One was dressed obnoxiously in bright, neon colours. That was definitely Marcus.

"Good morning, Lor." Noal greeted, smiling warmly at me.

"Hey now, I know you have a major crush on Lorraine, but couldn't you say good morning to your older sister?" Poppy teased, shoving him lightly.

Noal chuckled awkwardly, but muttered a 'good morning' to Poppy.

"Wow, the hills look awesome! Nothing like starting off winter break like snowboarding!" Marcus cried, grinning widely. That was what Marcus was all about, smiling like a Cheshire cat and adding exclamation marks to every sentence that tumbled out of his laugh. I laughed lightly, while Poppy looked at him, obviously bothered by his enthusiasm or maybe it was just his presence. I wouldn't be surprised if it was both.