Somehow, Victoria Harding had fallen head-over-heels for him, much to the chagrin of her very wealthy parents who inevitably cut her off when she wound up pregnant with me and marrying my father.
“It was love at first sight, son,” Jacob told me often and when my mom looked at him, I knew that he was telling the truth.
But that was another story.
On the upside, my mom was well-read and while I didn’t attend school (something she and my dad fought bitterly over), she was happy to share her endless knowledge and love of reading with me.
One of the things I would steal freely was books for her and together, we would devour them by candlelight after my father had passed out.
If he had known about us wasting all that candlelight, there would have been hell to pay most certainly but once he was out, he was out.
My father was a hard-drinking man, something which eventually caught up with him and he succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver when he was my age, thirty-two.
By then, my mom had become a frail, shadow of her former springtime self and three months to the day after we put Jacob in the ground, she also died.
I was the only one in attendance for her burial.
But before she died, she made me promise that I would not stay in the mountains living in squalor.
“You must do better for yourself, Harding. Your father was a stubborn man who refused to accept a hand when it was offered. You cannot allow your pride to do that to you. I gave you my family name because it is a proud name, a successful name. Honor it and do something with it.”
I had laughed aloud.
“Mama, I don’t have an education,” I reminded her. “And I happen to like living up here.”
I didn’t tell her that the thought of living among the townsfolk, even if it was possible, made me dizzy with apprehension.
I liked dogs, not people.
“You must promise me you will find a way, Harding. I have spent thirty years holding my tongue and allowing your father to do what he wanted. Lord knows I loved that man from the second I laid eyes on him until this very second but the time for change is now and you must embrace it. Promise me.”
In the end, I had no choice but to make her the promise so she could die in peace.
To this day, I’m not sure what killed her.
There was no autopsy or doctor’s report.
We didn’t have money for that.
The Jacksons didn’t exist to the rest of the world.
We were just mountain people to the few who might be able to identify us in passing but we were nobodies and when we died, no one noticed.
But I noticed when my mom died. Suddenly I was on my own, living in that dilapidated shack on Black Mountain, my parents buried deep in the ravine where I could visit them when I got lonely.
But I fulfilled my promise to mom, kind of.
Taking the step into the real world had proven almost unbearable but finding the job had been the easiest thing I had ever done.
Wearing the cleanest shirt I owned, I trekked into Cedar City, a task which took me half the day and asked where I might find me one of those job things.
The answer had always been the same; the oil fields. They hire anyone.
And the rumors had been true.
I was instantly granted a job as a roughneck.
The pay was stunning and as the money began to pour in, I wondered why my dad had not taken a real job to support us many years earlier.
But I could never bring myself to leave the leaky cabin, not when I knew that was where I belonged.
Instead, I began to fix up the shack and in a relatively short period of time, it was equipped with everything I had always thought was too extravagant to own.
Like a toilet.
Currently, I was adding a second-floor extension but it was taking more time that I had expected because I was doing it alone.
I didn’t want strangers in my haven and it was all things I could do alone but between work and hunting, it was a slow process.
Backing my Ford F150 out of the dirt laneway, I eyed the blue tarps flapping in the gentle October breeze.
Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to work weekends, even with the overtime. I wanted to get the extension finished before the first frost or else my heating costs were going to skyrocket but it was a catch 22. If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t have the money to conquer the project either.
I’d figure something out.
Anxiously I realized that I would have to hire someone if it got to be too late in the year.
And who knew when the first snow would come? It was already the beginning of October. It wasn’t unheard of for the white stuff to fall already.
Fleetingly I thought of Aaron Jessup and rolled my green eyes heavenward.
If all else fails, you can just ask him to help you out, I thought wryly. The overeager kid was always offering his assistance as if we were old buddies or something.
I steered the massive truck down the winding mountain roads, my mind on how to finish the project with such little time.
I was almost at the bottom of the unmanned road when I saw her.
She startled the hell out of me, jumping over the guardrail as she heard my vehicle rumbling by.
What the hell is she doing out here by herself? I wondered, eyeing her through my peripheral vision as I drove past. It’s a little early for Halloween.
Every so often I would see a teenager thrill seeking or hikers in my neck of the woods and it always upset me.
That area was not safe for people who didn’t know the terrain and moreover, they were dangerously close to my home.
As I continued forward, I peered at the pale blonde through my rear-view mirror and she seemed to be staring after me but her expression was already lost as I took another curve and headed toward the fields.
There was something odd about her, besides the fact that she didn’t belong out there but whatever it was had already escaped me.
I didn’t waste any more time thinking about it, even though I could not shake the smidgen of alarm tickling my mind.
Whoever she was, she wasn’t my problem.
I had enough to worry about without bothering myself with stray kids.
2
Eloise
I was hungry, cold and terrified but I couldn’t be certain which one took precedence.
I also had no idea where I was or what I was doing out there in the wilderness.
This was stupid, rash and incredibly dangerous, I chided myself but it was far too late for regrets.
If I returned home, the punishment would be worse than anything I could possibly imagine.
Yet at that point, I didn’t care.
If I’d had any idea in which direction home was, I would have run straight back there.
Or would I?
I knew I was going to die if I didn’t find shelter and food.
If I had known which direction to take to make my way back, I would have taken it but there was no indication to guide me.
Leaving in the dead of night had seemed like a good idea at the time, the cloak of darkness keeping me hidden from anyone who might learn I was missing.
Like Lucy or Randolph…or mom and Sir.
I shuddered, pushing the thought of what I had left behind out of my half-delirious mind.
No, I vowed to myself. I must keep going forward.
I had no idea how long I had been clawing through the woods, my sense of direction skewed at best.
Never had I ventured this far from home in my life.
I had no idea where I was or if I was heading toward civilization.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be around other people.
There would be questions, ones I had no idea how to answer.
Leaving in such an irrational haste, I had not thought to bring anything with me.
My cloak seemed useless against the intense chill in the air and I felt like I had been walking for days, twigs and leaves catching in my too-long mass of burnt honey hair.
I was scratched on every exposed piece of flesh and eventually, sobs began to overtake any reason I had been clinging to as I fought through the thick of trees.
It was then I saw the cabin, my heart ready to burst with relief.
I could knock on the door, ask for food and water, maybe –
The crack of branches and a feral growl caused me to gasp and I was suddenly staring at the huge head of a mixed breed dog, his teeth baring as he advanced of me.
I choked in shock, never having seen a real dog before.
We didn’t have those where I came from.
No pets, only livestock.
Pets created unrealistic bonds. That’s what Sir said.
But why was I thinking about Sir when this beast was about to devour me whole?
He seemed a monster as he drew near and I backed up, too exhausted to run.
I am going to die here, I thought mournfully, tears beginning to streak my cheeks again.
That was when the other dog appeared and I knew then it was over.
I sank to my knees, waiting for the gnash which would tear at my skin but to my surprise, both animals simply stood in their spots, continuing to howl endlessly.
“Jesus Christ, Rufus! Shut up!”
The sound of a human voice both gave me hope and terrorized me simultaneously.
The man did not sound pleasant in the least but perhaps he could call off the dogs.
If possible, the hound whined louder and I was at a loss at what to do.
Should I make myself known or stay hidden?
What had I done? I had left one awful situation, only to enter another one. I was too inexperienced to have run off alone like that and now I was going to suffer the consequences of my actions, one way or another.
The second dog drew closer and I could see he was far more intense than the first, his white teeth gleaming against the night as if he intended to eat me whole.
“Rufus, if I have to come out there, I’m gonna feed you to the fucking coyotes, I swear on your life!”
I waited as both animals seemed to pause uncertainly, glancing back to look toward the cottage and I knew it was my opportunity to flee.