Chapter 10 Smoke and Mirrors
"Candy Honey, thank you so much for fixing breakfast. I really appreciate it!" Richard said to her as he strapped his guns on and picked up his rifle.
"I am going hunting today, see If I cant get something a little bigger for our dinner." He moved close to her like he was thinking of kissing her, she looked at him with a stone face expression, he smiled and checked the chains he had put on her and said:
"Not even a kiss and don't get hurt or caught in an avalanche?" Shaking his head he went out of the cave entrance and walked away. It had stopped snowing, so he knew that he had to go south a little to find any game. Candy sat in the cave for some time wishing that she knew where Jeremy was. He had said he would be close by. She looked at the chains around her ankles, he had taken her shoes again but given her some Chinese slippers to wear so that her feet would not get frostbite.
"Oh, I don't care if I do get frostbite, I just have to get out of this place!" She picked up the chains, grabbed the long johns and other warm clothes and put them on. She was planning to leave when she heard a sound. She stopped and slowly went back into the darker portion of the cave. The noise was getting louder. She thought it might be a bear, looking for a winter home, or maybe even a mountain lion who was very hungry. She stayed quietly in the back of the cave and waited.
Aurora and Fay reached the top before the men did. Fay knew the way to the cave that they were sure where Richard had taken Candy. They stepped inside the cave and looked around.
"Aurora, give me the lantern, I cant see anything. Aurora gave Fay the lantern. Fay lit it and turned it up. She looked as she walked slowly in. All of a sudden a sound like a scream came from the corner of the cave. When Fay shined the light she saw Candy who was so happy to see them that she was screaming and crying at the same time. Hugging each other, they stopped for a moment when Fay asked:
"Did he take your shoes?" Candy nodded yes. Fay looked around and asked again: "Do you think he has extra boots in these boxes?" Candy looked around as well and said:
"I never thought of that, I am sure he does, because he plans to leave here as soon as…"
"As soon as what" Aurora asked Candy looked at her and tears came down her eyes:
"as soon as he kills Jeremy and his brother!" Aurora was very angry and so was Fay who had already came up with a plan to take care of Richard.
"You two look very alike, I need you and Candy to get into the same outfit, looks like he bought two of the same kind of clothes, you can get the long johns on and then the pants and shirts. He won't be able to tell the difference!" Fay said.
"Yes he will!" Aurora said, "he knows how we smile!" Fay looked at the both of them and she said:
"Not if you wear the scarfs around you face. You will be outside, everytime you breath it is freezing air and you lungs may get frozen if you open you mouth too many times!" Aurora looked at Candy and they both shrugged their shoulders as Fay was handing them their garments. Once they were dressed, Fay had figured out how to cut the chains quickly and quietly. The chains were off, so it made it easier for Candy to move around.
"Now, ladies, here is what you do. It is called Smoke and Mirrors, although we don't have smoke, we pretend there are mirrors. One of you stays by the fire, the other moves to the other side. He may get suspicious if you are by the fire, but after awhile you will start to confuse him. I will make sure we put something in his whiskey, where is it dear?" she asked Candy who produced the bottle which there were several around that he drank out of. She placed some powdered stuff in the bottles, so that whenever he would get a bottle it would be poisoned.
"Well, not poisoned, it would be spiked. An old Indian taught me that trick!" Fay smiled as she did that.
"I hear someone coming, I will hide here behind this rock, you Aurora, hide behind the rock by the entrance. Once he is drinking he will get confused very fast!" Aurora ran over to the rock by the entrance. It was not Richard but Jeremy who walked in with his brothers. They all three had their rifles ready.
"It looks like someone is here!" Jeremy said to Jason. They heard a noise behind them and when they turned around Richard was already there with his rifle and ready to shoot them all.
"Well, well, poor Candy will have to see her Jeremy die this time! And you two, will just have to go with him!" Candy jumped up forgetting she was supposed to still have the chains on and went and stood in front of Jeremy and his brothers and said:
"Haven't you done enough! You can't kill these men; I won't let you!" She said to Richard who simultaneously pulled her away from them, Jeremy instinctively went to grab her but he was quick, he shot him the bullet just grazed the top of his head.
"I am sorry, I didn't kill you right away, you little lady seemed to mess my aim a bit!" Jason started to come towards him as Joshua did also and he said:
"I see you two want to go first, well, I suppose I can shot two in one shot but I have never tried that one before!" He stood there smiling, then he pushed Candy down on the ground and put his foot on her neck.
"Okay, you boys need to know that I mean business, If you make any move, she is dead. And it won't take me too much to crush her pretty little neck!" Jermey, Joshua and Jason stood there, they waited Jason whispered to Joshua and Joshua whispered to Jeremy. While they were whispering, Fay came out of hiding with her own shotgun and said to Richard:
"Mr. Martin sir, the Lord tells us not to kill, and I have abided that all my life. However, if I have to I will shoot to kill. And you may get your gun off about the same time but my bullet is going to reach you first. So, do you have anything you want to say before I shoot you?" Richard was cool under pressure, he did not have to raise his rifle or his gun to be able to shoot her, all he had to do was to aim. He watched her and she watched him. Frank entered the cave silently, Jason saw and nodded and so Frank went behind the rock and saw Aurora, he shushed her when she put her arms around him.
"Seems to me we have way too much talking, it is time for the shooting to begin, he pointed his gun down at Candy and just as he was pulling the trigger, Fay pulled her trigger and so did Frank. Jeremy yelled:
"Roll away Candy!" Jeremy shouted and leapt towards Richard.
Frank had gotten around the rock and had knocked Richard off Candy, but Jeremy had plunged into Richard and they were fighting and ended up outside on the cliffs.
Candy got up and looked for Jeremy when she realized he was outside, she ran to the entrance. Mr. Fuller, and Mr. Carter were out there but could only watch and wait. Jason and Joshua meanwhile helped Fay and Aurora and Frank to get out of the cave. And they were very shocked as they saw Jeremy and Richard fighting.
"Jeremy, stop please!" Candy shouted, Jason came over and put his hands on her shoulders and said:
"Candy, he is going to be all right. Please don't call his name again you may distract him and then something bad will happen!" Jason told her. She looked at him. He was like having an older brother and she liked that. She put her hand on his hand and watched. As first Jeremy then Richard was in the snow. It was getting deep the edges of the cliff were hard to see with all the snow around.
Chapter 11 AVALANCHE!
The fighting went on for quite a while. First Richard was down then Jeremy was down, then both were down, they were buried in the snow and then came up out of the snow. Jeremy had Richard in his hands and was going to throw him back up the embankment when Richard took his gun from his holster and pointed it at Jeremy. Frank yelled to them not to shoot, there might be an avalanche. They did not hear. Jeremy grabbed the pistol and was trying to get it out of Richard's hands when the gun went off. Both Richard and Jeremy sunk down in the snow. There was no sight of them. The Bolts and the others went to dig them out. Mr. Fuller looked up, the gunshot had triggered an avalanche.
"Everyone, get back to the cave, there is nothing we can do now!" Jason grabbed Candy who was refusing to leave. Joshua and Mr. Carter watched as Frank grabbed Aurora as well. They got into the cave just as the avalanche hit the top of the cave entrance.
"What are we going to do now?" Aurora cried.
"Yes, what are we going to do, we may get buried in this cave, what if Jeremy is alive, how are we going to rescue him?" Candy looked to Jason for an answer. Joshua was the one to answer Candy:
"Candy, we are going to wait until this avalanche is over, then we are going to dig ourselves out. Then we are going to look for Jeremy!" Candy stopped crying but then asked:
"How are we going to find him? We don't know where he went down, and the snow is so heavy we may not find him at all!?"
"We will find him Candy. There is a way." Fay Fuller said as she sat by Candy and Aurora.
The thunder of the rolling snow was loud and echoed in the cave. Soon the sound began to get quieter. Then as if it was finished there was no sound at all. Complete silence followed. They sat there for a little bit waiting. Candy was wondering how anyone could wait and not be ready to rush out. Then a sound of dogs barking, and then a sound of shovels in the snow. It took a long time, or so it seemed to Aurora for them to see their rescuer. There were about 12 sled dogs as well as one or two St Bernards who were following commands from a man in a long brown robe. His name was Otto and he was from Switzerland. He came with his two St Bernard dogs to show people how to use these dogs and others to help find people in avalanches. Mr. Fuller, an experienced Mountaineer in Seattle, was one who had an interest in setting up a hospice station for the mountaineers who enjoy mountain climbing.
When Candy stepped out of the cave, she immediately saw that the dogs had located both Jeremy and Richard. She ran over to where they were.
"Miss, please stay back, we are very close to the edge of the cliff. A few more steps and you could end up going over!" The man nearby said as the dogs dug and found Jeremy and Richard. Both were unconscious. Mr. Carter, Jason, Joshua, Frank, and his father all helped to get them out of the snow. Once they were out, they wrapped both in blankets and put them on a sled to take them down the mountain into Yelm to the doctor nearby.
Candy and Aurora and Fay were set up on the horses and they went down to the town of Yelm and stayed at Fuller's house. It was several days before they heard anything. Candy wanted to go to town sooner, but the roads had been too slippery for a wagon and the horses needed rest as well. Finally, Jason and Joshua came to get Candy and she was ready to go to find out how Jeremy was doing.
"Well, Jason, how is he?" Jason had the reigns and Joshua was standing behind them.
"Well, Candy he is doing well considering all that he has been through!"
"Like begin buried by an avalanche?" She asked, not thinking about the fight that he and Richard were in before the avalanche. Jason looked at Joshua and Joshua shook his head no not yet. Candy saw that and asked:
"What not yet? What do you mean is he okay, he didn't…No, you would have told me sooner, right?" she looked at Joshua and Jason and Jason answered:
"Yes, we would have said something sooner, but it is all good news.!" Jason said as they arrived at the little hospital in Yelm. Jason stopped the wagon and then got out to help Candy out of the wagon. Joshua had gotten to the door first. They went into an office and waited until someone came out. It seemed a long time.
"Why is it taking so long?" Candy said frustrated with how long it felt not to see Jeremy. Jason just smiled and then Joshua said:
"I think I will go see if he is on his way?" He went through the doors and 5 minutes later Jeremy and Joshua came out of the doors and Candy stood up and Jeremy ran to kiss her. She looked at him and smiled and he smiled as well.
"Oh, Jeremy I am so glad you are alive. Can we go home now? I mean back to Seattle?" Candy asked shyly. Jermey looked at her and said yes. And they went out of the door oblivious to anyone else around. Jason and Joshua stood there when the nurse came out with a bill.
"Where did Mr. Bolt go? I told him I had to give him his bill?" The nurse said as she stood at the desk. Both Jason and Joshua laughed, and Jason took the bill and said they would take care of it.
The train to Seattle left the next day. Candy and Jeremy were on the train. And were happy to go home. Their luggage had been transported from the Longmire Resort down to the train station and it was going home with them. Jason and Joshua rode their horses home. They would not be home for a couple of days, but Jeremy had a letter for Mr. Stemple that was a proposal for a contract to exclusively supply logs for his milling business. Jason had decided that he and Joshua wanted to combine the logging company with the milling company as soon as possible. He had an idea that becoming one big company would work out better for all of them financially. So, Jeremy was going to propose the idea to Aaron when they got home.
"You are not going to Aarons the first day we are back!" Candy said emphatically, "You are going home and we are going to take care of our little baby and our other child first. They probably missed us very much and I don't know about you, but I have missed them as well. Jeremy looked at Candy, yes, he was happy she was his wife, she would take care of him, and he would take care of her.
The train went clickety clack on the rails as they sat by the window and watched the scenery go by. Candy looked over at Jeremy, he looked like he was sleeping, she said his name once and he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Do you want to tell me what happened? When you were fighting, Jason wont tell me and neither Joshua. They said you have to tell me? So, what is it you have to tell me?" Jeremy looked over at Candy, he really did not want to say what happened, but he did not want to keep it a secret because someone somewhere would hear the story and he did not want her to hear it from anyone else but himself.
"Well, it was like this, I was fighting, hitting Richard very hard, he was hitting back, when he drew the gun, I knew we had to stop. So, as I took the gun, I pulled the trigger…" Candy sighed and said: "NO!"
"It is not like that Candy, I did not shoot him, I shot it in the air, I knew it would trigger an avalanche, so I took my chances and started the avalanche. Richard was very surprised and as I knocked the gun out of his hand I grabbed on to him so that we would stay together. Richard and I fell sideways, holding onto each other. That is what Mr. Fuller told me to do if there was an avalanche to grab the other person, two people were easier to find than one person We did. Then I scraped out a spot so that I could breath and told Richard to do the same. So, when the dogs found us we were together and alive!" Candy was overjoyed and glad that Richard was alive as well but then she said:
"Well, if he is still alive, where is he?"
"In Jail and being sent to the prison in Texas." Jeremy said. Candy looked at Jeremy and smiled, she was very happy that her husband, Jeremy, had survived the avalanche and she could go home with him.
Aurora and Frank Carter were married about 6 months later and Candy and the Bolts came for her wedding.
