Page 7 of Burning Escape (Chasing Fire: Alaska #3)

THREE

A loud noise in his dream woke Orion slowly. His back was chilled, but something warm and soft curled against his chest. Drawn by the warmth, he pulled it closer.

“Wake up!” Pressure on his foot, a strange voice…what was going on?

Orion opened his eyes to see his good arm draped over Tori, who had cuddled up against him. She stirred.

But he was more worried about the man standing at his feet holding a knife.

A bushy salt-and-pepper beard and equally bushy hair and eyebrows gave him a menacing look.

Another man with dirty dark-blond hair and beard and a snake tattoo circling his neck stood next to him.

Although the man was younger, the shadowed look about him had Orion’s senses immediately on alert.

Orion raised his good hand and slowly sat up. “Hey, we don’t mean any harm.”

Tori moaned and rolled up against his leg, shivered. Poor girl had to be freezing.

“Get your woman up.” The older man jerked his chin toward Tori. The younger guy eyed her sleeping form, igniting a protectiveness in Orion as he nudged her shoulder.

“Tori, honey. Wake up.” He kept his arm around her. Maybe if this guy thought they were a couple, he’d keep away from her.

She cracked one eye open, paused. She shot up to a sitting position and finally noticed the strangers standing over them. “Who are you?”

Orion crouched in front of her and moved to stand face-to-face with the men and block their view of Tori. Oh, and apparently they weren’t alone. Three more men were behind them a few feet away, standing guard.

But Tori must’ve stood too, because he felt her small hand rest on his arm from behind him. “What’s going on?”

“What are you two doing out here?” the older man asked. His eyes narrowed as he looked Orion up and down. He must be the leader of the group.

These guys were big, fit, but there were no ATVs or big equipment like the militiamen had.

Their clothes were sturdy, worn but clean.

No logos or anything. All sported beards, looking almost like the lumberjacks of old—except for the one with the snake tattoo.

Maybe they weren’t with the militia. No one wore camo or combat boots.

But better to be safe if the militia was still after them. “We’re trying to get back to Copper Mountain. We’re…hikers. Got lost.”

“What happened?” The leader gestured toward Orion’s head wound. “And why dontcha have any equipment?”

“I fell, slid down a ravine. Lost one of our packs.”

“Are you part of that troop running around on ATVs and shooting up the air, scaring away all the game?”

By the scowl on the lumberjack’s face, apparently they weren’t part of the militia and weren’t overly fond of the group.

Orion shook his head. But who were these guys, and could they be trusted?

Tori’s stomach grumbled loud enough for them all to hear.

“I take it you’re hungry.” The leader looked back at the others and nodded. “Come with us.”

“Why should we come with you?” Tori hopped on one foot and stood shoulder to shoulder with Orion, suspicion in her eyes. “How do we know we can trust you?”

Tattoo Guy kept a lingering gaze on Tori, scanning her from top to bottom with obvious interest. And not the polite kind.

Orion didn’t want him getting close to her. He was tempted to walk away and say they’d make it on their own.

The leader crossed his arms. “Look, I don’t trust you much either, but we’re Christian folk, and we’re commanded to help the injured and the lost and the hungry.

Guess you qualify. We have two canoes not far from here that we’ll take to our establishment.

But if you want to go out there alone, you’re a good fifty miles from Copper Mountain. Go for it.”

Tori looked at Orion. He couldn’t read what she was trying to say. But the way his head and shoulder throbbed with searing pain, and the fact that she wasn’t standing on her injured ankle, meant they were never gonna make it fifty miles without food or water and help.

Maybe they could bypass this whole thing. Orion addressed the leader. “Do you have a satellite phone? We could contact our friends and?—”

“We don’t have anything like that. We live a simple life, off-grid.

I’m not crazy about bringing strangers in, but if you come with us, we can tend to your wounds until you’re better, feed you, and point you in the right direction.

Since you’re married and all”—he pointed to the ring on Tori’s left hand—“you can stay in one of the cabins.”

Tori balked. “Oh, but we’re not?—”

“We’re not going to turn down the help and such a generous offer.” Orion threw an arm around Tori.

Thankfully, she stayed quiet, even though she jabbed him in the side with her sharp elbow.

He looked at her, raised his eyebrows. Couldn’t she see he was trying to protect her? “Let’s just gather up our stuff, honey . These men want to help.”

She rolled her eyes, but thankfully, the strangers couldn’t see her face. “Sure, sweetheart . But I need to take care of some…personal business first.”

She wasn’t the only one. Orion spoke to the leader. “We’ll be right there.” Orion tried to smile through the pain.

The man nodded and went off with his buddies a few yards away.

“Why did you let him think we’re married?” she hissed.

“Call it a hunch. I dunno. Thought it would be safer. Just go along with it, please.”

She glanced at the men. “Fine, but don’t get any ideas.”

“Believe me, I learned my lesson.”

After a short hike—one that still took an obvious toll on Tori by the way she relied completely on her crutch, sweat dripping down her ash-caked face—they took the canoes through a calm stretch of river.

Orion was grateful they could get off their feet but hated being at the mercy of complete strangers. He couldn’t even help paddle. The river widened after a while, and they disembarked, leaving the canoes on a rack situated between two big trees. A well-worn path led them away from the river.

One of the men held a string of fish. The other had a game bag, but Orion couldn’t be sure what was in it.

A group of children—various ages, most of them barefoot, and all the girls wearing long skirts and dresses—met them on the path.

Their hushed awe at Orion and Tori gave him an unsettled feeling in his bones.

Guess they didn’t get many strangers out this way.

Up ahead on the trail, there was a break in the trees and multiple log structures.

One of the older boys reached for the stringer of fish. He pointed to the game bag the guy with dirty-blond hair carried—the one who spent way too much time watching Tori.

“Hey, Jeremiah, what’d ya find in the traps?”

“Hare and grouse.”

“Can I help you skin the rabbits?” the boy asked.

“Sure.” Jeremiah and one of the other men branched off and left the group. The boy skipped off with them.

“You come with me,” the leader said to Tori and Orion. “I’m Amos, by the way. And this is the Refuge.”

Orion could see why it was called that. Protected by towering spruce and pines, the place did feel like a natural fortress.

The children surrounding and following them didn’t say much, but they looked and whispered to each other as the whole entourage traipsed through the forest path to the middle of the group of buildings.

It was a little slow going with Tori leaning heavily on Orion’s good arm on their way up the path.

Two big log structures faced each other.

Six small cabins, three on each end of the long buildings, helped create a central grassy area in the middle of the community.

Beyond them were smaller sheds and maybe more cabins under the trees.

A huge kettle bubbled over a fire in the center of the buildings.

Women, also in longer skirts and dresses and wearing sweaters and kerchiefs over their hair, lingered around the kettle.

One matron with gray hair stirred whatever they were cooking.

Others stood near her with babies and toddlers on their hips.

All conversation stopped as Amos led Tori and Orion to the fire.

“Hannah, these folks need help.” He addressed the older woman, who stirred the kettle.

She looked at them, her lips thinning. “What exactly do they need, and why can’t they find it elsewhere?”

“They’re hungry, dirty, and injured. We can spare a little Christian charity, don’t you think?”

It wasn’t really a question.

Hannah stared them down, eyes narrowing. Then she turned her gaze to Amos. The older couple seemed to communicate silently. The man finally sighed. “Think of it this way. The sooner they’re healed and fed, the sooner they’ll be on their way.”

Orion felt the need to smooth things over. “We don’t want to bother you. I’m Orion. This is…Victoria.”

The woman still stared and said nothing.

“For goodness’ sakes, woman. They’re married. No need to worry about these two. Just feed them and show them where they can clean up. Have Mara check over their wounds. I’ve got fish to clean.”

The man stomped away. Hannah faced them both, hands on her hips. “Amos might trust you, but my trust is not so easily bestowed, and I’ll expect you both to pull your weight around here. Understood?”

Orion nodded. Tori too.

“Follow me. Mara, put the babe down and come with us.”

At Hannah’s brusque words, a younger woman, not even twenty if Orion guessed right, handed off a tow-headed baby in a long gown to another girl, and followed them. Hannah marched to one of the small cabins.