Carrietown Mines

"Can you keep a secret?", her breath was labored from tacking the muscular figure that now was detained and quiet under her shaking hands. A nod from the boy, a sigh of relief from the girl, she removed her hands and stood up, brushing off the dirt as the boy stood and took her in with as much shock as a lightning bolt. " How are you here?", the questioned burned off his lips as he stared at his best friend whom had left six months earlier with her father for a hunting trip, and never returned. She swallowed hard, pushing her unruly wildfire strands of hair out of her face. "There was an accident. I couldn't save him, and I couldn't bear the thought of what would happen to me if I returned. If I had to leave my life behind, I'd rather do it somewhere that I am familiar with. I couldn't bear to lose Sage either, and there is no way Aunt Zella in New York would allow him to come." She whistled and a black and white streak of fur resembling a Border Collie came out of the trees and sat attentive at her feet. Tears had started to spill from his oceanic eyes as he stepped forward and gripped her in a tight, desperate hug.

She returned the hug, completely unaware of how hungry she had been for contact with another human being. She had survived the worst winter she'd ever known in these mountains, thanks to Sage, and the shelter of the old abandoned Carrietown Mines to which she had been named after. She'd been coming to these mountains with her father since she was old enough to remember. He taught her everything, how to hunt and fish, but most importantly, how to survive should anything go wrong. How he had tripped and fell down that ravine to his death, she would never understand. She marked the way to him with flagging tape, got to cell service and made the call, then disappeared into the woods. The mines were never searched before the snow hit, and of course once the first sparkling snowflakes started flying, people head for the valley and leave the mountains to their solitary confinement until spring. " So Kayleb," Carrie started as she pulled herself from his arms and went to sit on a fallen log, "Did they find my father?" He wiped his wet eyes before joining her and filling her in. "Yes. They said it was a heart attack. We had a joint funeral after they called off the search for you...", his voice trailed off. " How did you know where I was?" He laughed. " That time our families came up here camping together and we took the four wheelers up to these very mines, " his hands swept out to the landscape below them that held a couple cabins in complete shambles and two lonely mine shafts, " you made a joke about living off the land with the mine as your shelter just so you wouldn't have to go back to school." A small smile crept onto his lips as he pulled the memory from his mind. "I never once thought you were gone."

Just knowing that her father's death wasn't anything she could've stopped made Carrie break down, tears flowing like the Carrie River at the bottom of the trail leading to the mines. Kayleb wrapped an arm around her, letting her head be buried into the safety of his chest. Once the grieving was over, her heading sides steadied by his hand running through her tangled fiery mess of curls, and one rough pink tongue on her hands, it was his turn to ask another question. " Will you let me take you home?" In an instant she was up, ripped from her comfort. "NO!" the word was quick to escape her surprised lips, sinking into him like a poisonous snake bite. " What? Why not? We can figure something out, you don't have to move to New York." He pleaded. " I turn eighteen in two months. Until then, I stay here. You can come visit me, you know where to find me." She smiled. He was about to argue when she swiftly moved to hug him one last time. She smelled of creek water and earth with a hint of campfire, and he knew it wasn't the most ideal time to do what he did next, but he reached for her face anyways, tilting it up to his and planted a delicate kiss on her lips. She blushed, but returned the kiss before breaking away. " Remember, this is our little secret." He nodded and then watched as she turned and took off jogging. Sage trailed behind her, tail wagging as they disappeared into a thicket of pines.

Kayleb stood there speechless for a split second. He contemplated his options, looked down the road that he had hiked up from his friend's camp, and then to the trees where he last saw her. Surely if she could survive up here, he could too right? " Carrie!" He hollered before running into the trees after her, but she was already gone. Camouflaged into the Idaho wilderness, and if she heard him, she didn't answer. He walked through the pines for the next several hours hoping to find her, but soon accepted that he would have no such luck. She had been living up here undiscovered for six months, if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. He would've never caught sight of her today if she hadn't of wanted him to know she was alive. With the comfort of that knowledge, he headed back towards the trail. He'd never felt so defeated, yet so hopeful at the same time.

That evening, Carrie returned to the mines as the setting sun sent out a glorious array of purple pink clouds. Inside the entrance to the shaft sat a notebook and pen. She picked the notebook up, opening it to Kayleb's chicken scratch.

Carrie,

I thought you might like to have something to record your adventures in. I know you always loved to write, so go on and write about your time out here. I can't be the only one dying to know how you persevered, once you return to civilization. See you next weekend? Oh, and don't worry, my lips are sealed until they can meet yours again.

With love,

Kayleb

Carrie smiled, shutting the notebook, clutching it to her chest before walking out to the cabin ruins and pulling her sleeping bag out from under one of the loose floorboards. Tonight she would sleep under a blanket of a million sparkling stars as she dreamed of what it would be like to return home. In a way, this had become her home and she was going to be sad to leave it. She went to sleep that night with her mind in turmoil. Could she bear to give up her life of survival and integrate back into the real world? Or would she be gone, moved on to the next hiding spot by time Kayleb came back?