Murder in the Mountains?
Chapter 2
The group had reached Moonlight Spring Lodge after a little over an hour of plodding along on the winding trail. Six rustic, but new, cabins stood aligned in a clearing on flat ground. Two shower houses sat conveniently ten yards away from the cabin on the east end. Farther off was a fairly large wooden building with a sign that read "Moonlight Spring Lodge Activity Center." Adjacent to the activity center was a much smaller, more modern looking building; the outside wall was made from deep crimson bricks and sported the sign, "Spa." A small stable rested back behind the buildings, near trails that branched off into the woods.
"Here we are!" Lindsay cried, gently pulling her horse's reins to stop it.
The others halted their horses also, none really wanting to run into the horse in front of them; all but one horse obeyed the riders' commands. Midnight Storm whirled around when Steve tugged on the reins, then started trotting the direction they had come from. It was all the petrified Steve could do to clench the saddle horn with his both hands, praying he wouldn't fall off.
Then Steve remembered something the tour guide had taught them right before they left for the woods.
"Whoa!" he cried, pulling sharply on the reins.
The horse stopped, Steve turned the horse around, then kicked lightly on its sides. Midnight Storm broke once again into a trot, but at least he was going in the right direction.
When Steve made it back to the others, he used the same method to stop his horse, then complained, "If we're here, can we get off our horses. I'm tired of riding."
"Alright, then, Mr. Sloan. Let me dismount first," the tour guide chirped.
Lindsay tapped her heels on her horse and directed the mare towards the stables to untack; the group followed her lead. She helped each rider down, then busied herself with the task of taking care of each horse.
"I'll be done in a little while," Lindsay explained to the group as she worked. "Feel free to explore the campsite."
With the tour guide's words, everyone dispersed. The blond woman went to check out the spa, dragging her boyfriend with her. The three macho men walked off towards the activity center. Mark, Steve, Jesse, and Amanda huddled in front of the cabins, talking quietly.
"I didn't know there were others going on this trip," Jesse commented, keeping his voice very low so the crazy tour guide didn't pounce on him again.
"Well, Jesse, they probably paid for the vacation package that Steve won. The lodge would lose money if they just took out four people for a week," Mark reasoned, his voice also hushed to mimic Jesse's, although he wasn't sure why his young friend was practically whispering.
"I'm glad there is another woman aside from Lindsay here," Amanda said, nodding her head towards the blond fawning over the spa. "Maybe we'll become friends."
"Well, those bikers are pretty intimidating. At least you have someone else to hang around with," Jesse retorted and gratefully noted that the men he was talking about were far away.
"How do you know they're bikers?" Steve asked as he inspected a cabin.
"I'm just assuming, but they look tough."
"Alright, everyone!" the trail guide hollered after she emerged from the barn. "There are six cabins and ten of us. Let's divide them up!"
Lindsay jogged towards the cabins, motioning for the couple and men to do the same. The blond seemed crestfallen at having to postpone her trip into luxury, though her boyfriend seemed elated. The three men were indifferent as they joined the others.
"Let's see," the tour guide started, sizing up the nine people in front of her, "I'll let you pair up, but please save me a cabin, Okay?"
"Um... Lindsay, right?" Jesse started nervously, "Other people work at the spa and activity center, correct? Where do they stay?"
"When we have a group coming in, our employees drive in, then they go home," the tour guide answered happily.
"I thought you didn't want people driving on the trails," Jesse muttered softly.
Lindsay's face darkened a little as she explained, "Our spa and and other workers don't want to stay here for a week. They need a way to get home."
Jesse swallowed hard, irritated that he had voiced his opinion aloud.
"Okay, then, we can share a cabin, right guys?" the largest of the three men spoke up, nodding to his comrades.
"Yes, that's fine," one approved; the other nodded his head curtly.
The blond woman stepped up to Amanda and brightly asked, "Since we're the only women here aside from the tour guide, how about we share a cabin?"
"Sure," Amanda answered, grateful that that the other woman had made the effort to ask her.
"Uh, if you don't mind, I'd like a cabin to myself," the blond's boyfriend shyly admitted.
"Alright, that's fine with me," Mark said, then turned to his son and Jesse. "That leaves two. Who gets the cabin to themselves?"
"Do you want it, Amanda?" Steve asked, "You don't even know your cabin-mate."
Amanda looked over to the blond lady, then shook her head. "No, this will give us a chance to get to know each other."
Mark ambled over to the cabin closest to the restrooms and showers. "I'll take this one," he said, stepping inside to have a look around.
"Well, Jesse, I guess we're sharing one," Steve commented as he entered the cabin closest to his father's; Jesse followed.
"Lucky me," Jesse commented dryly, "I get to listen to you snore all night."
Steve shot him a glare, then retorted, "Alright, then you can sleep outside, and I'll have the cabin all to myself."
"I don't think so."
The two friends took a moment to glance around their living space. There were two bunk beds with fresh linens, a fan, and a small table.
"I thought the brochure said there was water and electricity hookup," Jesse complained searching for an outlet.
Steve took out his cell phone and started playing around with it. After a few moments, he sighed in frustration and stuffed it back into his pocket.
"They probably meant in the restrooms, activity center, and spa," Steve figured, claiming the bed closest to the window. "Why do we need electricity in here anyway?"
"For the T.V., the radio, to charge my cellphone..."
"Jesse, we can't get a cell phone signal here," Steve pointed out absently.
"How do you know?"
"Because I just tried it."
"That's lovely. Well, I'm starving. Does the activity center have a restaurant or something?" Jesse asked hopefully.
"We can find out," Steve replied as he walked to the cabin door.
Mark and Amanda were waiting when Steve and Jesse stepped outside.
"What do you want to do first?" Amanda asked
"I want to check out the activity center," Mark declared; the others agreed.
It was a short walk and wouldn't have taken more than a couple of minutes to get there if they hadn't encountered the tour guide.
"Hi guys! Your belongings are here and will be put in your cabins for you," Lindsay told them, fiddling with a long strand of her brown hair. "Where are you headed?"
"To the activity center," Steve answered blithely, grinning at the attractive woman. "Can you tell us what's there?"
"Certainly. There's a dining room, ping-pong table, a video game room, a climbing wall, and various other activities. If you prefer the outdoors, there are plenty of scenic trails. I can lead a horseback ride deeper into the woods if you like."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."
Lindsay left grinning. She might just be able to obtain the friendship and trust of Steve Sloan.
About an hour later, after Mark had tried his hand at just about every activity in the activity center, the four were seated at a table with food, talking.
"It's hard to imagine there's other staff here, with us being in the wilderness," Amanda commented, trying to decide whether or not to take a bite of the crusty egg salad on her plate.
"That's why it costs an arm and a leg to go on trips like this," Steve answered in between bites of meatloaf. "I looked at Moonlight Spring Lodge's website. They take people here for weekend and week-long vacations. The lodge charges enough to make up for all the time they don't have people out here by ripping off everyone who comes."
"Then why would they send four people out of nine for free?" Mark wondered aloud.
"Beats me. You know, the food here is pretty good," Steve told no one in particular.
"Steve, I'm guessing this is just frozen food heated up in an oven or something. Most of the food you like is completely unappetizing," Jesse pointed out, picking at his plate for emphasis.
"I was expecting a lot more from this place myself," Mark commented, recalling his previous experience with the activities. "They only have one ping-pong table, only two outdated video game systems, their climbing wall is extremely small, and the food is worse than Community General's."
"I know what you mean," Amanda agreed looking at her plate in disgust.
"I don't see what you have against cafeteria style food," Steve whined.
"Wow, I didn't realize it's getting so late," Amanda said as she glanced at her watch. "I'm going to go get settled in and maybe chat with my roommate."
"Me too," Mark said as he stood to throw a good portion of his food away. "I want to get an early start tomorrow."
"Hey," Steve complained when Mark dumped his paper plate in the trash. "You could have given that to me."
Mark Sloan loped down the dirt trail, eyes fixed on the breathtaking morning sunrise. He didn't even consider the possibility that he might get lost; he wouldn't go too far alone. All was well for the doctor until his foot caught on something and he went toppling to the ground.
Grunting, Mark picked himself up, brushed off his pants, and inspected what had interrupted his walk. He was surprised to find a tiny ball. After studying it for awhile, he was able to determine that the foreign object was a smoke bomb.
Mark had no idea why a smoke bomb would be lying in the middle of a hiking trail. Maybe they were filming a movie, but why would they leave an unused prop there? He didn't have to figure it out right then. Maybe the answer would come later.
Still curious, Mark picked up the sphere with a tissue from his pocket. Then he stuffed the strange item into a compartment inside his jacket and continued his walk.
Mark wandered aimlessly until he came to a fork in the trail. Not wanting to spend hours trying to find his way back, Mark turned around to head back to their "luxurious" campsite.
After only a few minutes of walking, Mark could see the lodge and Amanda not far away. He gave a welcoming grin as he approached his friend.
"Morning, Mark!" Amanda greeted as she saw the older man walking towards her. "Do you want to see the spa. That's where I'm going now."
"I'll go for a little while, though somehow I don't think Steve and Jesse would be interested," Mark replied eagerly, raring to go after a refreshing sunrise walk.
"Alright, now I'll have some company," Amanda said gratefully, "The woman sharing my cabin is so annoying. She just keeps yapping and yapping and blabbering and spreading rumors, and she is just driving me nuts!"
"And I think you just said "and" four times in one sentence."
Amanda stopped walking, placed her hands on her hips, and scowled at Mark.
"Then do you at least see what she's doing to my grammar?"
Mark just chuckled and continued towards the spa, Amanda running to catch up.
When the friends entered the building, the place was unlike anything Amanda had expected. A single, wooden desk stood in the middle of the space; a young redheaded woman sat behind it. In one corner, two folding tables that resembled cots were set up. In another corner, a few chairs sat around a triangular table that held nail polish and files. A metal door with a window could be seen in the back. Near the door sat a large oak bookcase stuffed with various books, many of them "For Dummies" books.
"Excuse me," Amanda said as she got over the shock of her dream spa actually being a dingy makeshift one, "Can you tell me what there is to do here."
"Uh, yes," she replied. "Even though this place doesn't look like much, I'm a licensed masseuse, and a massage feels good no matter where you are. I was paid a bunch to come out here everyday for a week to lend my services. Anyway, there's a sauna in back."
"A sauna?" Mark inquired, eyebrows raised. "Isn't that expensive for a place on such a low budget?"
"Well, the lodge had a rich couple out here a couple years ago. The couple hated the spa and paid for a sauna to be installed, even though the lodge could have used the money in more productive ways," the masseuse patiently explained.
"Really?" Mark asked hopefully. "So the sauna isn't..."
"Shabby and rundown?" Amanda interrupted, finishing the sentence for Mark.
"Not at all," the masseuse replied.
Mark beamed and made his way over to the metal door in back. He turned a knob on the wall to the "low" setting, closed the door, and sat on a bench to enjoy the comforting heat.
Amanda smiled as she watched Mark, amused at his tendency to always try new things. He acted like a child at times, leaping into new things without giving it a thought.
Just as she was about to request a massage for herself, an explosive boom rang out from outside.
Amanda and the masseuse darted out of the spa to investigate, the massage temporarily forgotten. They didn't find anything abnormal when they scanned the area.
Seeing that both the lodge employee and Dr. Bentley were out of the building, the tour guide sneaked into the spa. Surreptitiously, she tiptoed around the perimeter of the place, making sure the occupant of the sauna couldn't see her approach. She stepped up to the book shelf, right next to the door, and acted very casual as she tipped the wooden bookcase over; it landed with a thud right in front of the door, books spilling everywhere.
Lindsay saw Mark open his eyes for a moment, shrug, and close his eyes again; she sighed in relief. He didn't hear the crashing of the bookcase loudly enough to even give it a second thought.
The tour guide reached out a hand and turned the temperature dial on the wall to the highest possible setting. A small timer sat below the knob; it only had five minutes remaining. Lindsay smashed the entire thing in with a hammer, then proceeded to rip the two wires from the timer and twisted them together. Good thing she had read the how-to book on home wiring.
She whistled to herself as she stuffed the hammer in her pocket and made her exit. On her way out, she could just barely see Amanda and the masseuse walking towards a trail, in the direction the noise had come from.
Lindsay, feeling intelligent because of all the crime dramas she had watched recently, wiped her prints off of the handle with her shirt, then put the hammer back in a tools bin near the activity center.
Lindsay smiled a sinister grin, then went to find Steve Sloan. She was lucky enough to spot him and his friend talking not far from their cabin.
"Hi guys," she said. "How about taking that private horseback ride now?"
"Okay, now you two go first. I'll walk behind," the tour guide instructed Steve and Jesse right before the group was going to pass a narrow part of the path with a steep drop off to one side.
"Why are you going behind us?" Jesse questioned, stroking Misty Rose's soft fur.
"That's just the way I lead my groups," Lindsay answered plainly as she held back and waited for the others' horses to pass.
Jesse was slightly nervous, Steve terrified, as they rode on horseback, knowing that it was a very long way down if they should fall. Jesse hugged his mare's neck, speaking to the horse in a soothing monologue, as if it would make the horse less likely to throw him off the cliff. Steve gripped the saddle horn harder than he ever had before, his knuckles turning white from the exertion.
The tour guide grinned sardonically as she reached into her jeans pocket. She retrieved a small, jagged rock and aimed it at Steve's horse's hindquarters.
Lindsay suppressed a war cry as she hurled the rock at the horse. The startled horse reared up and bolted, also spooking Jesse's horse. Both friends, atop galloping horses, clung onto their horses' necks for dear life.
Unfortunately for Steve and Jesse, the path was getting rougher and narrower by the yard, and the horses seemed to have no intention of stopping.