The Cabin Under The Mountains.

A short Story written by E.K.Rendel

We are taught as children that running away from your problems never solves them. 

that you must face your problems with a brave face. 

Some people run away from their problems to heal.

After all, 

You can’t face your problems with a knife lodged into your back. 

If the brown bears and grey wolves didn’t put you off or if the remote location, if the cold weather and snowfall didn’t put you off then an eerily quiet cabin in the middle of nowhere might just put the nail in the coffin. 

No one would ever find the body. 

Not too far from Carpathian, with the highest concentration of wolves and bears in Romania, no one would suspect a thing. Not to mention the large wolfish dogs that patrolled the cabin, there was no need for cameras, no need for locks, they were intimidating enough to scare off any bears, wolves or lost hikers who dared approach the cabin. 

In the dark, when a torch would reflect their glowing eyes and sharp white teeth, when you heard their growls. It was enough to put anyone off almost instantly. 

The woman who lived in the cabin was much like her wolfish dogs; blunt, ill-tempered, weary, unfriendly, she kept to herself and her cabin. Most thought it was a lonely existence, most thought she was crazy moving from a bustling city to the middle of nowhere. 

But they forgot, some thrived in the absence of people. This woman rather enjoyed being alone, no one to bother her apart from the odd bear and lonewolf skulking around, her dogs kept most at bay. She bought the rustic,well-made cabin from an old man who had built it by hand; she used her savings and inheritance to pay for it. 

It had a large front room with an open plan kitchen, all of which was made using the spruce from the forest. Most of the furniture was made from spruce; The sofa, the dining chairs and table, the counter top was finished with marble but made with oak. She had a fireplace in front of the sofa, several books piled high on the glass coffee table, most of which she read. 

On the second floor was her bedroom, a bedroom for her 7 wolfish dogs and a bathroom. Her bedroom was simple; a wardrobe, a neatly made bed, a bedside table, a lamp, a clock and at least 10 shelves which crowded the walls, books stacked beneath them as they were full to bursting. 

Instead of buying individual beds for her 7 wolfish dogs she brought several memory foam mattresses for dogs, they fit perfectly on top of the hardwood floor, like a jigsaw puzzle they slotted perfectly into place, she placed blankets and the pelts of several bears over the beds to make them more comfortable. Several large bowls of water led in the hallway on non-spill mats. 

The woman was called Ida, she had called this place home now for 10 years. Before that she lived in Britain, the midlands, she worked in a zoo as a chief zoologist, she earned a pretty penny too. Now she lived out here, she earned money by writing; Using her knowledge to write many books, most of which were about the animals she used to care for, while others focused on her life out here and the practical skills she needed to survive. 

Like how to start a fire, how to survive a bear attack, what to do if you run out of food or water, How to know if water is safe to drink? How to gut a fish, how to use a knife properly. 

She was a broad woman with short, dark hair, most of which was always plaited back quite tightly. She had acclimated the bitter-cold winter months well enough to wear cargo trousers almost every day, they had an abundance of pockets for an abundance of essential things. Mainly her knives. She had a worrying collection of them. 

She paired them with steel-toe capped boots, thermal socks and a thermal top. The summer months were much like Britain, not unbearably hot but hot enough to get a nice tan, so the cargo trousers were replaced with cargo shorts and a tank top. Occasionally she’d wear a splash of colour but since she was in the middle of nowhere there was no need for occasional dress. 

Her wolfish dogs had their own names and personalities; Cain was the largest of the group, by far the most wolf like out of all of them, in fact she was 100% sure he was a wolf, he was primarily grey with dashes of white on his belly, any treats she gave them he had to have the first one, any attention the others received he received it first, he was the leader of the pack and that was evident. 

The second was Able; he was entirely grey, he would often fight over treats, attention and leadership with Cain, she had thought they were brothers. They would growl and snarl at one another but Able always backed down, he had blue eyes unlike Cain, he was the only one with blue eyes. 

The third and fourth were sisters; Freya and Frey, they were glued to one another, they always shared their food and treats, always slept huddled closely to one another, they both shared the same snow white coat and dark brown eyes. The Fifth was Anbuis; the second biggest, he was completely black with bright yellow eyes, he was the most laid back out of the pack, Ida had thought he maybe older than the rest of them as the fur around his mouth threatened to turn white. 

The Sixth was the least wolf-like of them all; Ida called him Pickle, because he always managed to get himself into a Pickle. She woke up one morning to find him upside down in a hole or tangled in the tarp that covered her car, his coat was mainly brown with a few dashes of red along his spine. 

The last was the smallest and youngest of the pack; Ava, who had a white belly and a black body, Ava practically bounced off the walls in the morning, excited for her morning walk she would jump into the air from the time Ida set foot out of her room to the moment she opened the door. 

Ida had the same routine every morning. She would crawl out of bed at 7:00am, awoken by Ava’s howls and Cain’s scratching at the door, she would open the door and be crowded by 7 large dogs excited to see her and excited to go out. 

After escaping the jumping fest she would go downstairs to make a cup of coffee, she would proceed to be watched by her dogs while eating breakfast. They didn’t beg, they just watched with eager anticipation, licking their snouts, batting their puppy dog eyes.

“Guys! I know you're really hungry and I know you really want to go out” Ida sighed as Ava whined.”Ava! I hear you girl! Loud and clear but can you please let me just finish this bowl of cereal please?”Ida asked as if Ava herself would answer, Ida scoffed the last of her cereal and went to her front door. 

She briefly looked out of the window. Her pack was once 8 strong, one day she didn’t check before opening the door, he was no match for a male brown bear. It was all clear. 

She opened the door and the dogs poured out the warm house into her garden which was 10 acres, it was a brisk and breezy morning. They darted around, catching any interesting scents from the night before, mainly from the lynx and wolves that had passed through the area. 

They darted around the garden, noses to the ground, sniffing intensely, covering the scent over with their own. Sometimes they strayed from the cabin but Ida didn’t mind, she knew they’d come back and when they went, they went as a pack. 

The next thing on her agenda was to mosey into the nearest town for a few essentials which was her least favourite part of the week. She knew people would ask her questions she would prefer to not answer, the locals thought she was weird enough already. 

She couldn’t speak Romanian very well but she knew well enough to know when they were gossiping about her. They would turn their backs to her and whisper, pointing at her, then looking at each, then back at her, giving her a spiteful glare. 

Sometimes when she didn’t want to be pestered she’d take Cain with her, his monstrous size and stature is enough to put anyone off approaching her, let alone talking to her. 

“Everyone in!” Ida yelled loudly as Cain looked up and walked back inside, the rest of the pack followed instinctively, Ava hung behind slightly, sniffing a log. “Ava!” Ida barked again as Ava looked up and ran back inside. 

Ida got changed into some clothes before grabbing her keys and leaving the cabin, she walked to her which was a stone's throw away. She kept it under tarp in hopes that the loud noise it made would put any wild animal off touching it.

It worked most of the time, sometimes a curious young bear would rip the tarp, she had to replace a few tires in the past, an exhaust pipe here and there but nothing too major. It was an old pickup truck the old man had given her, it was falling apart but somehow it kept going. She didn’t use it often enough to buy a new one so settled with repairing the old one.   

She made her trip to town short and sweet. Only really getting what she needed before darting back out again, she had a little list of shopping to get, some fuel to buy and a few letters to post. She had wanted to buy a few other bits but saw a few of the locals that she knew for a fact didn’t like her, she shoved everything into her car, leapt back into it and took a deep breath. 

She should’ve brought Cain.  

She got back home to find a visitor at her door. A lynx was apprehensively sniffing around her front door, he meant no harm, he was a young female trying to find a suitable place to shelter, she probably smelled food and became intrigued. 

She wasn’t the only one sniffing at the front door. Ida stayed in her car for a moment, the lynx hadn’t registered that she was there. Her hand hovered over the horn. Cain growled from the other side of the door which set the rest of the pack off, Ida could hear their loud ruckus from the inside of her car. The lynx darted off quickly, she climbed up a tree in fear. Ida got out of the car and sighed. 

“Sorry about them little lady, he’s just got a loud mouth”Ida apologised as the lynx looked down at her and hissed. 

She was indeed a young lynx, quite small, still had quite a long tail and her limbs were quite lanky. She struggled to remain stable on the thin branches. Ida removed her shopping from the car and took the semi-frozen salmon slices from her bag, she ripped the bag open and left a piece on the far side of the tree. 

“Eat up now little one! You're going to need all the strength you can get!”Ida said before she walked away. 

She fought her way back into the cabin. The dogs frantically sniffed her with wagging tails, they sniffed her shopping bag with curiosity. She placed it onto the counter and started to prepare their food which was salmon, raw mince meat and some dry kibble. 

Even when she lived in Britain she would often be caught talking to animals as if they were humans, she had to tone it down as people thought she was weird, what they forgot to say was that weird is good. At least now she could talk to animals without being judged. 

She grabbed the bowls from the sink and as she did she saw that the lynx had jumped from the tree and was chowing down rather quickly on the salmon she had left. Ida smiled.  

The rest of her day passed in a blur, she walked her pack for a few miles before winding in for the evening, reading her favourite book for the 5th time this month. She’d often thought about going back to civilisation one day but she didn’t think civilisation would suit her anymore. 

She’d grown accustomed to this new way of life and preferred her new life she made for herself. Far removed from humanity. It was peaceful and serene, she’d accepted that was what she wanted after all. 

And as she sat sipping her hot chocolate out of her favourite mug, her pack trying to fit on the small sofa, trying to huddle into one another. Pickle snoring peacefully away, Ava sprawled across the sofa, spilling onto the floor. 

Freya and Frey were huddled together of the sofa alongside them which was covered in the pelt of a bear, Anubis managed to sprawl out behind them. 

The quiet hum of an engine, something she thought she’d never hear again. She swung her head back and growled. Someone was here to interrupt her peace.