CHAPTER THREE

There was just a sliver of light coming through the drapes that weren't completely closed that Kate noticed when she found herself needing to stretch. She had been entangled with Rick's legs, and his arm had her tucked against his chest.

She slid over on the massive bed and picked her phone up off the small table next to the bed. At first she was surprised that it was after ten o'clock, but after a quick memory scan she realized that it really wasn't surprising. They had spent a good part of the evening rolling around on that bearskin rug in front of the warm, comforting fireplace.

She chewed on her lower lip as their frenetic choreography on that bearskin replayed itself in her mind. She wondered if the bear had ever had that much fun.

Of course it hadn't ended there. Once they finally made it into bed sometime well after midnight, they found that the big four poster was also really comfy, and they extended their play for a few hours more.

She swore she heard her muscles stretch and her bones cracked as she forced herself to a standing position. She glanced back as Rick began his normally long journey toward a waking state. One eye popped open and was sort of focused on her.

"Come back to bed, It's still early."

She stepped around the bed and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "I have to pee, and it's already after ten."

Kate used her hands to push her hair out of her face as she heard him mumble as she went toward the bathroom. It sounded something like, 'plenty of time'. She could only imagine what they had plenty of time yet to do.

When she returned she moved over next to the bed and Rick. He had fallen back to sleep. He looked so cute laying there with his arm extended so she could just slide right back into his grasp.

Kate stared at the man for several seconds until she shrugged her shoulders and climbed back into bed with him.

They finally rolled out of bed around noon. They both threw on courtesy robes which were hanging in the bathroom, and sat on the couch discussing what they should do. Kate wanted to take a long hot shower, then take a stroll around the lodge and see what they have to offer aside from the scenery.

Rick held up his hand. "Let's order a room service breakfast to put a little something in our stomachs. Then we can shower…together, before we take our stroll."

Kate smirked at him. "That's sounds like a good idea, but I worry that if we shower together we might not get to take in the sights until it's after dark."

"Well, I know you might have a problem, but I'm sure I can keep my mind on getting clean so as not to waste any time."

Kate shook her head. "As long as I've known you? You really expect me to believe that 'you' would have the discipline to just take a shower… with me?"

Rick looked like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Well, we could eat quickly, and watch the clock."

Kate picked up the room service menu and noted that they served some of the breakfast choices all day long, so they each chose to go with the Strawberry Waffle and coffee. That should be enough to provide the energy to get them through the afternoon until they have their candle light dinner in the restaurant.

The waffles were excellent, but the shower took a little longer than they'd intended. Still, it was a really nice shower.

They walked through the lodge and checked out the small touristy shops that the lodge hosted. Kate was drawn to the western wall of the lodge. It was mostly tall glass, and it acted as a frame for the forested mountainside visible through the windows. It was very beautiful. Kate was happy that she'd been able to make this happen for them.

She had to chuckle at several festively dressed windows that with the beautiful winter scenes showing through seemed like huge Christmas cards.

They managed to while away the afternoon, and decided to have dinner a little earlier than they normally would since all they had to eat so far today was some delicious strawberry waffles with their coffee.

As they approached the restaurant Kate happened by a poster that was being put up on the wall. She read the headline. 'The Moonlight Trail', and it went on about the romantic wonder of a walk out along the Moonlight Trail.

Kate stopped the lodge employee who was putting up the poster.

"What's this all about?" She pointed at the poster.

The young employee smiled. "We put this up every time we are going to have a clear night and a bright full, or nearly full moon." He pointed toward the southern end of the lodge. "We have a nicely groomed trail that leads out amongst the trees and the open sky. On nights like tonight is going to be, we like to advertise the adventure and the romance of a leisurely stroll under the stars and a brilliant full moon."

Rick stared at the poster. "How long is the trail?"

The young man smiled. "It's not quite a mile out, and then back. I would imagine that a person as fit as you are wouldn't have any trouble with the trail."

Rick puffed his chest out as Kate rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Is the trail lighted, so we don't wander off the trail?" Kate knew about Rick's sense of direction.

He chuckled. "We keep the trail bladed so it's easy to follow, and there are foot lights along the edges of the trail. We don't want any lights on poles to interfere with the moon and the star gazing."

"Thank you." Kate smiled at the young man and she and Rick entered the restaurant.

They were earlier than the normal dinner rush so they didn't have to wait for a table to open up, and they were seated right away.

Since it was Christmas Eve, and all these people were working on the holiday so he and Kate could have a nice time, Rick made sure he tipped very well.

"Well, you seem interested in taking that Moonlight Trail hike this evening?" Castle spoke as he picked up the menu.

Kate smiled at him with her eyes. "I don't know. It looks like it could be kind of romantic."

Castle chuckled. "Just being with you is always kind of romantic. You do realize that, don't you?"

Kate smirked. "Back at ya, stud."

They both ordered filet minion with all the fixings. Though one of them ordered the petite sized steak and the other the much larger version. Kate called his the glutton sized steak. And they ordered a very nice red to go with the meal.

"So, you didn't answer my question." Rick prodded. "Do you want to go for a walk in the moonlight after dinner? We can walk off all that we're going to eat."

Kate bit her bottom lip as she smiled at him. "I kind of do. But I'm concerned about the weather. It's a crisp clear night, so it will get fairly cold, even if the wind is calm. I'm not sure the jackets we brought will be up to the task. I didn't really plan any outdoor activities when I booked this place. Which, in hindsight, wasn't very bright of me."

Rick smiled. "Allow me to suggest a solution." She leaned on the table with her fists under her chin. "I know we both packed some hefty blue jeans in case we wanted to wander about the place. And we surely have enough pairs of socks such that we could double up on them if we wish to. If the forecast I saw earlier is correct, we can expect temperatures to be no worse than the low 20's tonight."

Kate frowned. "I don't think the travel jacket I brought would be enough for that long of exposure. A two mile walk could take as much as forty five minutes to an hour depending on "distractions" along the way." She grinned.

Castle nodded. "Which brings me to my solution." He smirked at her frown. "Why don't we go back to that little shop and I'll buy you a new jacket for Christmas…"

"And I'll buy you one… for Christmas." Kate interrupted, then smiled. "I like that idea."

They finished up their meal and called for the check. Castle wrote it off to their room number and they left to check out the options they might have at the small shop within the lodge.

It had been a bit on the hectic side as they had made it to the shop and found what they were looking for barely before closing time. Now they were standing out on the grounds at the south end of the lodge all bedecked in their new duds.

They had picked out matching his and hers parkas. They were filled with a new age insulating filler that weighed much less than what had been normal for jackets of this type. Both had also opted for matching stocking caps even though the jackets had fur lined hoods.

Just as a protective measure they also picked up some ankle high slip on boots, and some woolen socks. They also opted for matching mittens. And then Rick talked her into getting matching long underwear that had reindeers on them, even though they never wore such things back home. Even in the nastiest winter chill.

They had laughed to whole time they were getting dressed. Rick said it reminded him of when Martha would dress him up to go out and play at the neighborhood park in December and January.

Kate was reminded of some of the few winter excursions the family would take up at their cabin. She warned Rick that he should be prepared to stop somewhere along the way to build a snow man. She even grabbed an old scarf that she had packed feeling that it would look better on a snowman than it ever did on her.

As they walked away from the lodge itself, the trail became visible immediately. The path had been cleared earlier and the lights that followed the edge of the trail, about one light every ten to fifteen feet, depending on the curvature of the path. The lights outlined the trail very well but being near to the ground they didn't disrupt any viewing at eye level.

Once they had put a little distance between themselves and the lodge, Kate was amazed by the incredible panorama of stars she was able to see. The full moon was only about a third of the way up in the sky so the brightness didn't block out the stars, but did provide a soft background lighting that allowed one to be able to easily see where they were going.

They walked with held hands as they moved along the trail. Occasionally they'd see a few couples on their way back. They hadn't seen anyone going in their direction. Apparently they had left later than most couples had. Kate didn't care, she appreciated the contrast of the stars twinkling in the darker sky, and the moon shining like a big smiling lamp in the sky the higher it got.

They continued onward even though they hadn't passed another soul in quite a while. Kate knew that they weren't exactly making very good time. They kept stopping and pointing out recognized constellations, and then kiss under the moonlight. The snow was pretty dry and it turned out to be unsuitable to make their snowman. But Kate had been more disappointed that she couldn't form a good snowball either. She just knew she could've taken Rick in any snowball fight.

It came upon them gradually, but they were noticing some clouds sneaking in and spoiling their view of the stars. The wind began to pick up also. It made it seem a little colder.

Rick put his arm around Kate. "It's getting a bit chillier, and the wind is picking up. Do you want to turn around?"

Kate pursed her lips in a hard line. "Nah, we have to almost be at the end of the trail. It should only be a few more minutes then we can turn around and start back. I'm guessing that with some of this cloud cover, there won't be as much moon gazing on the way back to the lodge."

Rick chuckled. "You just don't want to admit that we cut the Moonlight Trail short just because we got a little cold." He reached his hand out. "And it's started snowing."

She grinned up at him. "That too." She patted his cheek. "Don't tell me you are afraid of a little snow."

Rick shook his head. "Not as long it's just a little snow."

They kept walking, leaning against each other for about fifteen more minutes when they both stopped and looked around them. They became aware that the lights that followed the trail were now covered with a layer of new snow.

They had been so into each other that the worsening conditions had snuck up on them. They turned around and looked back the way they had come. The wind was continuing to gain more strength and snow had begun to fall harder.

"I think it would be a good idea to head back, don't you?" Castle waved his hand around, as if indicating the obvious.

Kate nodded. "That would seem to be the most logical thing to do. I can't even tell where the trail is anymore. For all I know, we might have walked right past the end of the Trail."

Castle pointed back the way they'd come. "We'll just follow our own footprints as long as we can."

They turned and linked their arms at the elbows and started their mile long trek back to the lodge.

They had been moving back toward the lodge for about fifteen minutes, in the continuously worsening conditions. The wind had picked up significantly and the falling snow was becoming worse by the minute. They could barely see a few feet in front of their faces. The conditions slowed them down, and it was getting harder to even stand up against the wind.

Both were very surprised that the weather conditions had changed so radically so quickly.

"I don't remember hearing anything like this on any weather report." Castle grumbled.

Kate shrugged, which Rick couldn't see. "It's the mountains, I guess their weather is more unpredictable. It seems like a snow squall, but I thought those were more common around lakes and such. It's pretty uncomfortable, but I don't think we'll freeze to death."

"We won't have to freeze to death, we'll just wander around not being able to see where we're going until we become the snowmen we weren't able to build." Castle grumped as he stomped out ahead

Suddenly Kate heard a yelp of surprise and in the blink of an eye Castle wasn't any longer next to her.

"Castle!" She looked around her and could see some foot prints that were rapidly filling up.

She noticed that she could only see them for a couple of feet then they disappeared. And she was able to see why.

She carefully moved to the right and there she saw that they had been walking right alongside a ravine. A ravine that she didn't remember walking by as they came out this way.

"Castle, can you hear me?" She stood at the edge of the ravine, yelling down into the darkness. "Are you okay?"

She could barely hear him above the wind. "I'm alive, but I think I messed up my ankle."

"Great." Kate whispered to herself. "Hang on I'm going to find a way to slide down to you."

She grabbed her stocking cap with both of her hands and pulled it tightly down over her ears. She waited a few moments to get her night vision locked in as well as she could. It looked to be a fairly steep embankment, with sporadic clumps of small bushes, and slender tree saplings. She hoped that she could use those to control her descent down to where Rick was.

How they would get back up she had no idea. It would depend on how badly he'd hurt his ankle

Kate decided to slowly slide down the side of the ravine on her backside. That way she could use both hands to fend off brush and slim branches from slapping her in the face all the way down. She was thankful for her stocking cap, because she could just see her hair getting snarled in one or more of those bushes on the way down.

With one quick eye roll toward the heaven's Kate pushed herself over the edge.

The going was slow and difficult just from the standpoint that she was constantly running into random shrubbery and being whipped in the face by low hanging branches. And there was another unexpected annoying problem she hadn't known about.

The side of the ravine was covered with what could only be called a mesh of these ground crawling vines that constantly were grabbing at the soles of her boots, and the thorns they sported caught her gloves and other clothing as she tried to navigate her way down.

She wasn't in the best mood when she finally made to the bottom of the ravine. She was scratched and scraped all over. Luckily her clothing took the brunt of most of the assaults, but her face suffered a few scratches from the unruly ground cover.

She saw Rick sitting on the ground about ten feet out from the steep slope of the ravine. Kate quickly kneeled down next to him.

"Are you alright? Nothing broken?" She placed her hand on his cheek.

Kate could see that Rick had his share of cuts and scratches from his fall over the edge. She bit down on her lip. She could tell he was in pain.

"I don't think my ankle is broken, but it's definitely sprained pretty bad." Kate carefully ran her fingers over the damaged ankle. It was badly swollen already, but she couldn't feel anything that might be a break. But it was hard to tell, especially since she could barely see two feet in front of her face.

Kate glanced back up the hillside that she just fought her way down. "I don't think we are going to be able to climb back up that way. We'd never make it up that way with your ankle the way it is."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not even sure I can stand on it."

Kate looked down the direction that the ravine followed. They had been, as best as she could tell, moving basically north, which would be logical if they hadn't strayed too far off the trail once it was no longer recognizable.

The ravine seemed to veer off to the right, which would be east. What she had no way of knowing was how far away from the lodge will following along the bottom of this ravine put them until they found a way back up to the top that they could traverse.

It wasn't that they were lost on some artic ice shelf. But the conditions were bad enough that they could be affected by their prolonged exposure. But first things first. They had to get moving.

She stood up and reached her hand down to Rick. "Let's get you up and see how well you can move if you use me as a crutch."

He grimaced, but with Kate's help he managed to get vertical. It was still snowing fairly hard, but the wind had died down, so the cold wouldn't be as crippling as it could be. But over time, even temperatures that had moderated some would take their toll.

"Can you stand for a few moments?" Kate asked a forlorn Rick He nodded.

She quickly went over the face of the ravine and poked around a bit until she seemed to find something, and wrestled with one of the small saplings. She came back to Rick with a slim stick about five feet tall. The two of them stripped the small sucker branches off, and now Rick had a walking stick to help him move.

He took the new walking stick in his left hand and put his right arm around Kate's shoulders, and after a test hobbling, he came up with a way to move with only minimal pain. Kate assumed that the cold temperatures also helped numb the pain in his ankle.

He kissed her on the head. "What would I do without you?"

She gave him a smirk that he could barely see. "You'd probably fall over."

T.B.C

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A/N: Just one more chapter to go.

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