Inseparable

Just as the words came out of his mouth, the snow started to fall. It was heavy, wet, and starting to become a bit uncomfortable. I grabbed onto Jason’s hand, a little frightened and a little excited at the same time. Austin waved his hand to the left to a steep slope that would get us down the fastest. One by one, we started down the mountain, but as we got farther down, the snow started to fall faster, and the wind was blowing so hard that it was damn near a complete white-out. I looked up as Austin swooped around and motioned for everyone to stop on the side.

“We can’t keep going down the slope if we can’t see,” he yelled as we bunched together closely, trying to see and hear what was going on over the sheering wind.

“Hey, let’s all huddle under that big pine over there and see if we can wait out the storm,” Jason yelled, pointing over into the wooden area.

We made our way off of the trail and skied over to the biggest tree that we could find. I huddled close to Jason as he pulled his arms around me and buried his face in my hat. The wind was blowing so hard it felt like I wasn’t wearing a jacket at all. Jessica tapped us on the shoulders and waved her arms.

“We can’t stay here for long,” she shouted. “This is dangerous. Someone is going to get frostbite or hypothermia.”

“Look, over there,” Matt yelled out, pointing into the woods.

Off in the distance, there was a structure of some sort, just barely visible through the drifting snow. We squinted at it from a distance, all of us a bit timid to go tromping into a random house in the middle of the woods. Matt leaned forward into earshot.

“We should try to reach it and see if we can hide out in there,” he yelled. “Maybe there is heat or a fireplace or something that can keep us warm while we wait out the storm.”

We all looked at each other and nodded as a gust of wind almost blew me off my feet. Jason gripped tightly to my waist as we trekked through the trees toward the structure. As we approached, we realized that it was a small, rustic cabin. Amber climbed the stairs to the front door and knocked hard.

“Hello? Is there anyone in there?”

No one answered, and all the lights were off, so she tried the doorknob, but it was locked. She sighed and turned back to us shrugging. Austin handed Jessica his poles and took off his skis, walking up to the door and rattling the handle. He stepped back and kicked hard, watching as the door flew open, snow blowing inside.

“Come on,” he yelled, waving everyone in. “I’ll pay the owner for the damages. We just need to get out of this weather.”

The six of us walked into the cabin and closed the door behind us. We took off our skis and looked around, shaking the snow from our hair and arms. The cabin was expansive, with a large open room and a huge fireplace at the other end. Austin and Matt looked at each other and then back at the fireplace before racing over to see if they could get some heat into the place.

“Thank God there is a huge pile of wood.” Amber laughed. “I am not feeling my lumberjack skills today, or any day for that matter.”

I smiled and walked through the cabin, deciding that if we were going to be there for a while, I should see what the place had to offer. To the back right was a doorway into a large kitchen. I opened the fridge and the cabinets, relieved to find that whoever was here before had left the place completely stocked with food. No one wanted a situation where there were six hungry and tired skiers trapped together in the woods. It had the makings for a really bad made-for-TV movie written all over it. I glanced out the kitchen window, but it was nothing but a blanket of white, and the storm didn’t look like it was going to be letting up anytime soon. I wandered into the room across the hall to find a bathroom with two stalls with doors. Past those was one gigantic galley style shower room with multiple shower heads.

In the hallway were several doors, but they all opened up to closets and one small area for the water heater. I furrowed my brow, realizing there were no bedroom in this place. I walked back out into the main room where the fire was already crackling in the fireplace.

“Well, I have good news and, well, weird news,” I said, gathering everyone’s attention. “There is a large, very well stocked kitchen, so no one will starve.”

“Sweet,” Jason said, rubbing his hands together.

“What’s the weird news?” Amber was cautious in her question.

“There is one really big shower with multiple shower heads and absolutely no bedrooms,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Well, that’s weird,” Matt said. “This room is huge and has enough chairs, couches, and ottomans to seat like fifteen people. Why would they not use part of this as a bedroom?”

Jessica laughed. “Yeah, we could all comfortably lounge around all day, but where the heck do these people sleep? Maybe it is some sort of vampire cabin.”

“You watch too many movies,” I said. “Seriously, there is a daybed right there that is large enough to fit several people. And then the hammocks strung up in all the corners. It leaves more than enough space to sleep.”

“Who wants to go on a vacation to the mountain and sleep on a hammock indoors?” Austin pulled on one of the roped hammocks.

“Why would anyone build a getaway cabin made for this many people and not put in somewhere for people to sleep?” Amber looked around suspiciously.

I stood there staring around the room, feeling like I had been somewhere like that before. Then it hit me. It was just like the swinger’s vacation that Jason and I had taken to Bali several years back. This wasn’t a vacation cottage at all. This was something way more interesting and possibly even more perfect for my master plan than I could have thought of myself.

“Guys,” I yelled to get their attention. “I know exactly what this place is.”

“What?” Jason walked forward.

“This is a swinger’s pad!”

Chapter 6