Spirit Mountain (9 page)

Logan sat beside me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders as he pulled me close. “It’s okay, Beth. We’re here together.” He hugged me tightly as we both closed our eyes and waited for the impact that would take our lives.

When the rain stopped plummeting down on us, we both glanced up to see a translucent image of Ty, his arms extended like wings and draped over us in a protective manner.

I closed my eyes again and waited for our fate.

Chapter Nineteen

The climate instantly changed. One second, the area was being pummeled with trees, rock, debris and rain, and the next, everything was dead quiet, except for the howling of the wind. Our eyes closed and our heads down, we both waited, uncertain what we’d see when we finally opened our eyes.

My head ached, more so because it was riddled with questions.
Were we dead? Had we also become trapped inside Spirit Mountain forever? What would we see when we opened our eyes?

“Logan?”

“I’m here.” He squeezed my hands.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

We opened our eyes to darkness. The only light cast down was from the full moon and star-speckled sky. Our backs no longer rested along a wall, but instead, we sat against an icy rock, our butts planted in a pile of snow. The frigid air chilled me to the bone and within seconds, I could hear and feel my teeth chattering.

“Are we alive?” I dared to ask, glancing up into Logan’s face, inches from mine. His warm breath coated my skin, causing me to shiver at the contrast of cold and warmth.

He leaned down and softly kissed my lips, lingering for a while as our cold noses pressed into each other’s cheeks. When he pulled away, he whispered, “I think we are because your lips feel warm.”

“I can’t believe we made it.” My words came out in an almost incomprehensible stutter. “It’s so cold.”

Logan stood, pulling me up with him. The catches in his voice and trembling body made my heart race at the deadly magnitude of our situation. “Where are we?” he asked.

Darkness consumed us. But when we turned, we saw the twinkling lights in the town below. The iridescent lights cast a yellow glow. “T-th-this m-must be Spirit Mountain.”

Logan wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to his body. “We still have a problem—a big problem. How will we get down the mountain? There’s no more portal. We’ll freeze if we stay here a full night.”

I tried to process my thoughts, but the cold kept threatening to shut me down. “D-do you have your cell phone?”

“Yes.”

“Turn on the flashlight app.”

Logan handed me his phone. “W-what t-t-time is it?”

He pressed the light on his watch. “According to my watch, it’s 9:53. We lost an entire day.” His voice trembled out of control.

“M-my aunt and uncle check on me every night at 10:00 p.m., remember?”

He nodded. “That’s right.”

“Let’s hope this works.”

From the top of the mountain, I used the flashlight on Logan’s cell phone to flicker light toward my bedroom below. I couldn’t actually see inside my bedroom, so I could only hope my aunt and uncle would somehow figure out that the light was from us. After thirty minutes, we wrapped ourselves in each other’s arms and lay down near a rock to keep the wind from our bodies.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d already resolved to taking my last breath on that mountaintop. Even if my family saw our flashing light, what would they do? I’d seen a flashing light on the mountain once and had thought nothing of it. I could only hope that because we’d lost an entire day, they would be searching my room for clues and then they’d see papers left behind about Spirit Mountain. That was all I could hope for.

The cold clawed at my insides, making me sleepy. I feared falling asleep because I knew the chances of waking up were slim. “Logan?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Should we sleep?”

“At least, if we sleep, nothing hurts.”

“I can’t feel my body anymore. My feet and legs.”

“The feeling in mine are gone, too. It’s crazy to know how and when you’re going to die, isn’t it?”

“Will you hold me the entire time?”

Logan tucked me in closer to him. Both of us lying on our sides, our stomachs, behind layered clothing and jackets, against each other. “I won’t let go. I promise. I won’t.”

Emotion rumbled through my body as sobs pushed forward. Tears ran down my face, but I couldn’t feel them. “I don’t want to die.”

“Beth, we don’t have the equipment to get down this mountain and even if we did, we don’t have the light. If I had one wish, it’d be that we were warm in our beds right now.”

I ran my glove over my face. “I can’t feel my face.”

Logan whispered in my ear, “Cover your face in your jacket. Bury it and let your warm breath help circulate blood to your face. And then, we sleep.”

I knew what that meant. Logan wanted us to sleep to take away our pain. He wanted us to die peacefully, rather than in the torment of our own brains with the thoughts of the things we’d yet to accomplish. Why put ourselves through the agony of watching our lives slip away? He was right. It’d be easier this way. I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep.

Chapter Twenty

My eyes fluttered open in the warmth of a hospital bed. I glanced at Aunt Vine, who had leaned back in a chair with her mouth open while she slept, and Uncle Ernie had his nose in a magazine. In another chair off in the far corner, Teddy played with his remote control car, running it into the legs of my bed and then backing it up to do it again.

The room was cold, but I slipped my blanket off my body and slid back to sit up against the headboard. I wondered if I had died and was stuck in some kind of purgatory like Spirit Mountain.
That is, until I saw a familiar face.

Stepping into the room, I held my breath. It was one person I hadn’t seen in a month. I sat up, my heart racing. “Daddy!”

He had a cup of coffee in his hand and set it down on a tray and rushed toward me. Sitting on the side of my bed, he pulled me into his arms. “God, you had me worried, Princess.” He stroked the back of my head with his large hands as his lips rested on the top of my hair.

“I’m alive? I mean, you’re really here?”

He chuckled a soothing sound in my ear. “You’re alive, Princess.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you, Daddy.” I held him tight. After what I’d just experienced, the security of being in my father’s arms made me want to cry. Even though we’d had our differences, especially since my mother’s untimely death, he was my rock. And honestly, seeing him now made me realize I’d missed him more than anything while he was away in Europe. “I can’t believe you came back for me.”

He backed me out of his arms and narrowed his eyes. “Are you kidding me? The minute I’d heard you were missing for an entire day, I was on a plane to Castleborough. I’ve already lost your mother, but I’ll be damned if I lose you, too.”

Aunt Vine, Uncle Ernie and little Teddy observed my emotional reunion with my dad in respectful silence. Each of them now sitting upright and paying attention to the entire scene.

His words made me cry. Tears streamed down my face at the sincerity of what he’d just said. He ran his finger over my cheek, catching my tears. “I felt that,” I laughed, realizing he might not understand. “I missed you, Daddy. I missed you so much.”

Wiping my tears, I glanced around at my other family members. “Where’s Logan?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

Aunt Vine and Uncle Ernie exchanged smiles.

“We’re so relieved that you’re all right.”

All I could think about was my brave companion on the mountain. “What about Logan? Is he okay?”

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. He’s in the next room over.” She tilted her head at me. “Do you know how lucky you two are that you didn’t get stuck up on that mountain all night? Thankfully, I was rummaging through your room looking for clues of your whereabouts when your light signaled us from the mountain.”

My dad narrowed his eyes at me. “How did you get up there in the first place, Princess?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. But it sure felt like we just stepped out a window and ended up on top of the mountain,” I said, knowing they would never believe me if I actually told them the truth.

The doctor walked into my room. “Beth Abbott.” He held my chart. “Let’s let a little light inside the room, shall we?” He drew back the green curtains and the sun shined through bright and clear, filling the room with a welcome warmth.

I shielded my eyes. “Wow, that’s bright.”

The doctor’s smile was almost as radiant as the source of light. “It sure is. The sun is shining down on our town for the first time in over two hundred years. It’s amazing to see green grass again.”

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“You weren’t sleeping, young lady. You and Logan Hall were both in comas. It’s been two weeks since we brought you down from the top of Mount Cape.”

“Mount Cape? I thought it was renamed Spirit Mountain.”

“Just last week, the mayor announced that the mountain would return to its original name.” The doctor smiled proudly.

“And Logan? Where is he? Is he still in a coma?”

“No, he’s not. He woke up last night and he’s been asking about you nonstop. Your temperature dropped awfully low out there on the mountaintop. We’re surprised you both survived. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had an angel watching over you.”

“Ty,” I whispered. “It had to have been Ty.”

I glanced out the window toward the mountain, noticing the beautiful brown rock formations and lush green vegetation along its side. “I don’t get it. Where’s all the snow?”

“Melted.” The doctor stood at the bottom of my bed, glancing from me and my father to Aunt Vine and Uncle Ernie. “We already told Logan what I’m about to tell you.”

I pushed myself up even more to listen intently to what the doctor had to say. My father held my hands as he continued to sit on the edge of my bed.

“When you were both rescued and brought here, your belongings were stored in a personal bag. One of the nurses noticed a rare rock among your stuff.”

I almost stopped him to demand the return of the rock. If they knew that it would break open and release a cryptic message, it would no doubt spook the town into another legend. Fatigued, I let the doctor continue.

“She showed it to me and I gave it to a geologist in town. Once the rock was cleaned up, it was determined to be pure gold.”

“Gold?” I sat up straighter. “Pure gold?”

He nodded. “Apparently, the mountain is full of gold and men are there now assessing and mining it to make sure the rocks they’ve found are worth as much as the one you had in your pocket.”

I couldn’t believe what he was telling me.

The doctor patted my foot. “Looks like you have yourself about fifty-three thousand dollars’ worth of gold in that one rock. What are you going to do with it?” He winked, not really expecting me to answer.

Logan walked into the doorway of my room.

“Logan!”

“Why don’t we all leave and let them catch up after their ordeal?” My father leaned into me and whispered, “You can introduce me to him later. After all, you both protected each other out there on that mountain.”

I nodded and smiled as he pressed his lips against my head again. The group left, giving us the pleasure of a private reunion. Even little Teddy had been nice to me today. He’d given me a warm hug before picking up his toy and scurrying away.

“Hey, New York,” Logan said from just inside the doorway. “Looking sexy there.”

I flashed him a grin, pretty sure that I looked anything but sexy in my hospital gown. “Well, country boy, you don’t look half-bad yourself. You’re a natural model in that gown.”

He gave me a sarcastic smile as he strode to my bedside. “Looks like we did it. Together, we broke the curse of Castleborough.”

“And survived.” I reached out my hand and took his. “Think anyone would believe us?”

“I think they’d lock us away or create another legend about it. I’d rather we bask in our accomplishments without them knowing.”

“I second that.” He squeezed my hand.

“Did they tell you about the rock in your pocket?” Logan asked.

“That’s crazy, right? I guess the curse had dried up the mountain, but ending the curse brought the gold back.”

“You know what’s even crazier?”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“We have a black trash bag full of gold rocks in your room back at your aunt and uncle’s. The bag we stashed in your closet.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, my God. You’re right. If the rock they found in my pocket is worth that much, then multiply that by two hundred. Wasn’t that the estimated amount we found? What are we going to do with all that money?”

“Besides roll around in it?” He laughed as I smacked his arm.

“I have an idea.”

“Do tell me. The last time we followed one of your ideas, it almost got me killed. Your ideas are an adrenaline rush.”

I flashed him an embarrassed smile. “Let’s set up a trust fund to help the families of those who lose their lives to random acts of violence. In honor of the mayors’ daughters and your sister, who all died at the hands of Simon and your grandma, you know.”

“Wow. I like that.”

“We can call it the Ashley Hall Foundation,” I said.

Love lingered in his eyes. “The gold was on
your
driveway, Beth. You’d really do that in my sister’s name?”

I nodded, my heart swimming with love for Logan. “By the way, I’m sorry about your grandma.”

“Yeah, me, too. But she wasn’t who I thought she was. A witch? Keeping her son tethered to Earth for her own selfishness and anger? That’s not the grandma I knew and loved.”

“What about her house?”

He shrugged. “I’m sure my parents will deal with that. I’ll go in and clean up the attic before they do.” He hesitated. “What are you going to do, now that you have all the money in the world to do what you want?”

I shrugged back at him. “Well, I’m sure my dad will help me invest it for my future. But I’m thinking about finishing school here in Castleborough as I get to know this awesome guy better.”

Logan grinned.

I continued, “I’m sure my dad will approve after he hears of your bravery and how you’ve been there for me. I also want to give half of what’s left after the trust fund to you because we earned those gold rocks together.”

Logan smiled, grabbed me and took me into his arms. “You’re an amazing girl, New York.”

We sat together on the hospital bed, staring out at the sunny mountaintop of Mount Cape, formerly Spirit Mountain. Finally, we could smile as we reminisced about everything we’d gone through to break the curse and change the course of the small town of Castleborough and all the lives of those who lived here. It was a great feeling knowing that Ty and Simon were released from that horrible curse—once it was broken—and that they were able to cross over to the other side. I smiled at all we had accomplished and those we had saved.

The town would never be the same and in the sunlight, the people of this small town would thrive and grow into something far more amazing than they’d ever been. I had no idea where my life would take me, but for right now, I was actually content in the small town of Castleborough.

The End

~~~~~

Also available:

Dare to Enter a Distant World

The Distant World Trilogy #1

by J.K. Drew

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