Mountain Menage Part 1: Prologue by Kinley Grey

Prologue
     
    The dilapidated cabin huddled
forlornly in the overgrown clearing, high in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. 
A trail had once led to its door, but years of long neglect eventually hid it
from all but the sharpest eye.  The area around the cabin was trashed with
empty containers of coffee filters, cold medicine and drain cleaner and an
eclectic variety of broken glassware including casserole dishes and crockpots. 
    A sharp, acrid smell had driven the
animals away from the clearing earlier in the week.   Lights flickered behind
the covered windows, and wisps of smoke could be seen escaping from small
chinks in the cabin as daylight faded and long shadows reached cool fingers
across the mountainside.  No birds were there to sing a final note before
settling down for the night, and no creatures murmured softly to each other
before curling up to sleep.  The silence of the clearing was absolute.
    Then the door of the cabin slammed
open and two men in full face masks hurled themselves out.  They’d only gotten
a few feet away when an explosion rocked the quiet night.  Both men were
enveloped in the blast and screamed as their clothing and hair caught fire. 
One man picked himself up and ran without stopping, sparking tiny fires in the
dry kindling in his wake.  Finally he collapsed and bucked and screamed on the
ground until the fire took his voice.  After what seemed an eternity, he was
still. 
    The other man was knocked down by
the explosion and he stayed on the ground and rolled.  He tore the mask from
his face and slapped desperately at the flames that burned him alive.  His
slight frame shuddered to a stop across the clearing, the fires put out.  The
skin was nearly burned from his body, dirt and sticks clung to his raw flesh. 
He opened his eye slits and saw something that would have made him praise God
had he been a believer.  Right in front of him was their 4-wheeler, key still
in the ignition.
    Slowly, inexorably, he dragged
himself onto the ATV.  The raw palms of his hands made it difficult and he
passed out from the pain once or twice.  Eventually, he was in the seat and had
the engine started.  Squeezing the gas was almost more than he could bear, but
he finally managed to get the 4-wheeler in motion.  Not caring that he was
leaving his hidden stash of crystal meth behind, he painstakingly turn the
wheels towards the path.  It was still at least seven miles down to the first
ranger station and he clung to the slim hope he could make it that far.
     

Chapter 1
     
    Heather sat in the front seat of the
car and watched as the mountains loomed closer.  She and Charlie were driving
up to their old family cabin, Pine Bend, to air it out and get it ready for their
parents.
    “What do you want to do first,
Heather?  Maybe do a little sunbathing in the canoe?  Your tan could definitely
use some work.” 
    Heather looked over at him; saw the
corners of his lip twitch as he failed to hide a smile.  “Very funny.  You
think I’d trust you not to tip me out?”
    Charlie smoothed his face and tried
for an innocent look.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  And anyway, we
didn’t tip you out, you fell out.” 
    Heather wasn’t fooled.  She noticed
his flushed cheeks and thought back to that day four years ago.  It was the
summer right before her mom and Charlie’s dad split up; the last time they’d
all been up at the cabin together.  She’d rowed herself out to the middle of
their smallish lake, intending to enjoy some reading and sunbathing before they
went home the next morning.  The sun was warm and she’d fallen asleep in the
peacefully rocking small canoe.
    A cold splash of water on her back startled
her awake, and she sat up suddenly, forgetting she’d untied her string bikini
top.  Staring at her from where they were treading water were Charlie and
James, his friend from the next cabin.  She was fifteen and the boys were just
a couple of years