One Man's Dream E-Book

Steve Blum

• Herausgeber: Proisle Publishing Services
• Kategorie: Abenteuer, Thriller, Horror
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 240

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

The mountains had called to Steve for the better part of thirty years, but not until John Long came into his life did he have the opportunity to make his dreams a reality. A host of interesting stories about a long life in the mountains and a unique proposition by John finally brought Steve to a hidden valley in the Rocky Mountains, where he quickly fell into a contented life of solitude. A life in the remote mountains wasn't easy, and Steve soon found predators to be a daily source of concern. But Steve and his trusty dog, Mouse, soon became part of the land, living a comfortable life and preparing for a long, harsh winter. However, a small plane crash soon jolted Steve out of his quiet life and into a world where love was realized and where human predators were a far bigger threat than any animal he would encounter. Steve's devotion to a young woman and her children and an urgent need to protect not only their lives, but his life as well, soon led Steve to hatch a plan that would require using everything he had learned about the land- along with the unexpected help of a young pup.

Leseprobe

One Man’s Dream

Steve Blum

Copyright © 2022 by Steve Blum

ISBN:978-1-960224-26-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher disclaims any responsibility for them.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Proisle Publishing Services LLC

39-67 58th 1st Floor Woodside

New York, NY 11377, USA

Phone: [phone])

[email protected]

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Introduction

The mountains had pulled at Steve's very soul for the bigger part of his life. He didn't understand why but it had gotten worse every year since he was in his mid-twenties.

Then, John Long came into his life. An old man he met that was ninety-three years old with lots of stories and adventures about his life in a hidden valley somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

Steve spent a lot of time with John and never tired of his stories. He could actually imagine himself living the stories other than John when they were told.

They became very close over one summer and fall and before winter was over John made him an offer. He wanted to live close to his family but had to be on his own. He had been on his own too long to be able to live with his children. He was also too old to survive by himself in the Rocky Mountains anymore so he made Steve a proposition.

For the exchange of only Steve's place to live out his days, he would sign over all rights to his hidden valley. There wasn't anyone in his family interested in it anyway.

Steve never hesitated, feeling he had nothing to lose. He made sure John had enough money to live on, and by spring he was on his way knowing he could always come back if things didn't work out.

Finding the valley turned out to be just a small challenge compared to keeping it safe from both predators and humans.

He had to learn how to survive, and if not for the young dog he had taken with him he wouldn't have.

Then, of all things, another love came into his life. The way her and her children survived upon arrival was a miracle in itself. What they had to do to keep their family and valley was beyond anything the law could or would have tolerated.

One Man’s Dream

Chapter 1

It was early April of 2001. Steve had left Ohio on April first and driven for five days. He hadn’t tried to kill himself even though the excitement was more than he could stand. He had learned patience over the years though, and was just trying to enjoy the trip and scenery.

Steve was fifty years old and everyone said that he was crazy for doing what he was, which was leaving Ohio and heading for the Rocky Mountains to live in a hidden Valley, supposedly no one knew the whereabouts. He was believing this more all the time, because he had been two days longer on back roads looking for landmarks and such as the old man had instructed him on very clearly. Every time he was ready to give up or at least was getting badly discouraged, he would see something that was clear as a bell as to what the old man was talking about.

This particular old man was ninety-three years old. He had lived up in the mountains for most of his life. His name was John Long, and he had come back to Ohio for family and health reasons. He said it was too much work to survive in the mountains at his age and just thought he'd like to be with his children and grandchildren for the rest of his life.

Steve and John had spent a lot of time together for the past year and had gotten very close. John was always telling him about life in the mountains and his valley, and Steve never tired of it.

One evening they were talking and Steve mentioned how he would love to see his valley. He said it was hard to grasp how anything could be as beautiful as John described. He told John he bet he missed the mountains something fierce but John just said his memories were enough. He said he didn't have that much time left anyway and wanted to be with his family.

Steve told John how every fall, especially in the fall, the mountains always had a way of pulling on his thoughts. It seemed like they pulled on him stronger every year, but he was where he was and that's the way things were.

Two or three weeks went by and one night they were talking when John said that he'd been thinking about things. He had made the offer that if he could live the rest of his life here, he’d take care of the place and as long as it didn't cost him anything to live here, that he'd deed the place over to Steve. If things didn't work out, just come home and they'd work things out later.

Steve thought he sure wasn't out anything and he was more than financially able, so they wrote up agreements, and now here he was in upstate Wyoming, Rocky Mountains.

Well anyway, back roads had turned into cow paths and trees and rock walls, overhangs were covering the road, or cow path, almost like a tunnel.

You'd never be able to see the road from an airplane or helicopter, he didn't think. The road was mostly flat rock, maybe fifteen feet wide at widest and eight feet at narrowest. It set between two hills that actually had trees and other vegetation growing on the sides, part of the time. The rest of the time, it had rock ledges that hung out over the road from one side or the other. It would be hard to make a road out of it from above, without knowing it was there and then you,d have to know what you were looking at.

The road finally ran out after about fifteen miles, made a hard right between two big boulders, ran across a little stream, under a big overhang and then into a deeper pocket which had partially been hidden with smaller rocks on the sides. Inside was maybe thirty feet deep and just as wide. Outside looked like a rockslide and nothing else.

Well, he had arrived. He had another half day's hike and if everything went well he’d find his cabin. By now he knew it was very well hidden.

He looked around, found enough brush to hide the entrance, made it look natural as he could, walked back to his s u v, unpacking his food and supplies for the night, made a small campfire, fed his dog, made a supper of beans and franks and enjoyed a pot of coffee. Next he loaded his rifle and pistol before rolling up in his bedroll and relaxing.

The food was extra good for some reason and coffee had never tasted better.

John had said to never get to relaxed, but he couldn't help it for now. There was a fresh bowl of water in the cave coming from a spring out of the rocks. it caught in an upper pocket about a foot deep and ran over into a pocket at ground level. The dog could drink there. He knew the dog would wake him if anything came around, so he fed more wood on the fire, rolled up tight in his blanket and went to sleep.

Chapter 2

About two a.m. Steve woke. He was wide-awake and very alert. For a second he just lay there and listened. Everything was dead quiet which was probably what woke him. With his right hand he reached for his pistol, found the grip, eased it out of the holster and waited for about five minutes. At first he heard nothing, then over at the end of the cave he heard the slight growl of the dog. A quiet growl that meant he was ready to fight.

He added a couple of dry sticks of wood to the fire and pretty quickly flames shot up. He could barely see the dog against the far wall, half crouched, hair up, and looked like business. He eased out of the blankets, checked the loads in the forty-four magnum, and then added some more dry wood. Then he went over next to the dog. He could see nothing, but trusted the dog that something was surely there. Then as quickly as everything began, the dog stood up straight and acted like everything was fine. "Well Mouse", he said, "you scared the crap out of me, I ought to shoot you for lack of anything better to do right now. It wouldn’t help anything but it would sure make me feel better right now. I'd hate it later, I guess I'll see what was out there in the morning".

Mouse, what a name for a one hundred and five pound dog. He'd had a lab with pups about a week old when my daughter in law came carrying this little black pup from work. She worked for a local vet and said that an older lady had come carrying him in that morning. She said the puppy was lying beside her car door, so she picked him up and took him to the vet's office. Must've been a first-time mother that had the pup and then left it where it laid. Anyway that's how it ended up at my place. They fed the puppy at the office that day, and it came to my house. I must have a soft heart because I took the pup out to the barn, lay it with the lab, helped it for a few seconds, and it went to nursing.

The lab had no problems taking the pup, but it was so little compared to the rest of the litter, we started calling it Mouse. We had to mix up a formula for the pup, because the other pups kept pushing him out, but he finally started growing and wouldn't quit. Near as I could tell he's part mastiff, and German shepherd. Total guessing, but not far off. A big, powerful, nice-looking dog, and I sure wouldn't want him mad at me.

By now, it was going on three a.m., so he built up the fire, rolled back up in the blankets and tried to go back to sleep. For the most part though, there wasn’t a lot of sleeping. One eye stayed open, and with Mouse pacing back and forth, didn't help.

Chapter 3

Next morning Steve woke up with a chill that went clear to his bones. It was colder than a well diggers butt so to speak. He threw some wood on the coals and soon had a fire going. The fire was in a small rock overhang so as soon as the rock started heating up the rest of the little area he was sleeping in would get comfortable.

He put the coffee pot on a couple of flat rocks after putting more coals between them. He pulled his blanket over his shoulders and fed some small sticks under the pot. It wasn't long before it was too hot for the blankets, so he rolled them up and started some eggs and bacon frying. He then made several pieces of toast over the fire.

When he was finished he had four eggs and half a pound of thick sliced, hickory smoked bacon on the plate, toast, butter, and a pot of coffee. Later he sat back and marveled on how good breakfast was. He didn't believe he could remember ever tasting anything any better.

After about half an hour, he heated up some water, washed up the dishes, packed up his backpack and walked out the back opening of the cave. There was a small solar electric fence hooked to a gate about ten feet wide which kept about everything out except mice, rats etc. But he had put rat and mouse poison around to keep everything like that out of the s u v. He'd come back later to get the rest of his supplies.

Over the years, John had thought of and packed in most everything a person would need to live fairly comfortable with a little maintenance and upkeep.

Steve looked around at the tracks and couldn't really tell what was bothering the dog the night before but whatever it was he figured sooner or later they'd come in contact with it, or at least figure out what it was.

Then he looked and seen where a wide trail went between a two rocks before it went around the mountain. Probably fifteen feet wide and about the same height, was a ledge that hung out over the trail that kept a lot of the weather off of it. John said it was hid, and he wasn't lying so far.

He walked up for about a quarter mile and the trail went between a split in the wall. Just about the time he thought the trail was ending, he could see light on the other end and that was it. There was enough over hang on both sides that it was like a big cave. About halfway through the cave he felt a wet nose and hot breath on the palm of his left hand and his heart stopped just for a second. Lord, he hated it when that dog did that. He was pretty sure the dog knew it too. As soon as he jumped about ten ft. in the air and hollered a few profanities at the dog, well let's just say the dog didn't get any closer then ten feet of him for a while, not until he had cleaned his pants and got his wits back about him anyway.

At the other end of the cave the valley opened up. It was about fifty feet below, maybe five hundred yards wide and two and a half or three miles long. A big lake sat right where the valley split, maybe three quarters of the way down the length of it. The two walls separated into two directions about two hundred yards wide ending at another high wall.

The walls squared off and came back toward the middle of the lake almost like the edge of a knife. Scattered trees, some small patches of woods, thicker but not so large and what looked like a cave that let the water run through an out of the valley. He couldn't tell much from this distance, but he was high enough he could see the beauty with clarity.

Now, where was the cabin? Scanning the walls of the valley he could see a lot of overhangs, and there, back in the shade, he could make out a couple of horses that John so often had talked about.

Looking farther out to the left of the lake on higher ground was a big ledge. Tucked back, he could see the slight glare of something. What was it? Finally, he made out the front of a log cabin that actually sat back in against a rock wall.

After he studied it for a while, he could tell the roof was actually a large rock overhang with the log front wall sat back in under. No way to see it from above or most any angle other than right in front of it. He probably wouldn't have seen it if not for the glare from something shiny on top of the flat overhang.

He just stood there for a while and soaked up the beauty of everything. Finally he picked up his rifle, and started down the trail into the valley. By the way the trail went he probably had at least an hour and a half before he would get to the cabin and see everything.

As he started down the trail he could see there was a storm of sorts coming in so he thought he had better hurry. He told the dog to come on and if he scared him like that again, he’d shoot him. The dog kept his distance.

Chapter 4

It took another hour before he finally made his way to the base of the rock wall below where the cabin was located. The sky was getting dark, it couldn't be much past noon so he really hurried, now it seemed like the weather was closing in on him very fast.

Walking around the bottom edge of the wall he finally saw a small opening, about three feet wide. As he stepped in, he could see where John had laid flat rocks in to form steps up and around a slight bend to the left. It was a sharp enough bend that you could only see about six feet ahead of yourself.

The dog had already run ahead so he didn't waste much time. Flat stones were wedged and braced securely so there was no problem climbing up. Just as he got to the top of the steps he seen that the dog was dead still staring with it's back hair sticking strait up. He eased his backpack off and then the safety off of the rifle. He then eased out into the open and caught a glimpse of a mountain lion. As it turned and ran up and around a slight trail about half way up the side of the cabin wall and out of sight.

Hadn't he had enough excitement for one day? Mouse had already scared ten years off of his life earlier. Looking over at the dog he said "I guess you've redeemed yourself. I won't shoot you today."

The cabin door was locked, or at least he thought it was until he saw a small knot tied at the end of a rope, sticking threw a hole in the upper right-hand corner of the door. When he took hold of the knot, it came out with about eight inches of rope before it stopped. Pulling on the door with his left hand, and the rope with his right, the rope came out and Steve could fill a heavy board pull up and out of a latch on the inside releasing the door.

The door swung freely open and he walked in, letting the dog in behind him. There was an oil lamp on the table and matches. He walked over and lit the lamp, and turned back to close the door when he noticed the snow was starting to fall.

He closed the door telling the dog how lucky he was a storm was coming, otherwise, he'd be sleeping outside with the cat.

He walked over to the stove, opened the door and the flue, through some kindling from the box into it, and lit it. It's started easily, but he had to close the door fast and open the vents until the stovepipe and chimney warmed up so it would start drawing properly. Once everything was working properly he added kindling and wood. It wasn't long until the cabin was warming up quite nicely.

Now, to look things over. Everything a person could need was there. Cupboards, sink, some canned food, plates, utensils etc. Everything raped in plastic, and taped up. Unbelievable, he'd have to figure out how to get running water in the house and it wasn't real late so why not now.

He checked his pistol for some odd reason and opened the back door of the cabin. He had the lamp in one hand and pistol in the other, telling himself he was being foolish, but John had said you couldn’t be too careful. Always be alert he had said. Be stupid and be dead, never forget that. That was his wording.

He stood there with the door open for a moment letting his eyes adjust. Hollered at the dog and then they stepped through the door together. Mouse never showed any alarm, so Steve walked to a bench where there was another lamp, struck a match and lit it.

There were several other lamps on shelves so he lit them and then he could see a large cave on back in. The cabin just closed the cave in. It was about fifty five degrees back there according to a thermometer on the cave wall. John had sealed everything up very well over the years. No wonder he had stayed until he just couldn't stay any longer. Ninety three was a little old to be taking care of yourself in a country like this.

He said he found the valley when he was in his late forty’s, and figuring on wintering here for one winter. Truth was, he was stranded in the mountains by bad weather, stumbled onto this valley, and just couldn't leave. He had stayed in the cave where the s u v was parked and while hunting for food walked into this valley. As the years went by, he just kept adding and building working on whatever needed done and every spring when things turned green you'd of had to shoot him and carried him out. He said he just got too old to live here, but wanted to come back someday when he knew his days were over and be laid to rest. He said he had a gravesite picked out so I promised I'd do everything possible to lay him to rest there. I'd have to make sure I found it, come good weather. Shouldn't be a problem, John had drawn a map.

Anyway, back from his thoughts and to matters at hand. Steve noticed some canned potatoes, green beans, peaches, soups, etc. back on shelves. There was even canned meat marked elk, moose and mule deer. There was some jerky in plastic bags hanging where nothing could get at it and then he saw it. There were three cloth bags hanging on wire from the cave ceiling. He cut one down and found a sugar cured ham from a wild hog he guessed. It was all moldy but he had seen that before. Chances are that ham was just fine. Just slice it and trim off the mold, fry the ham, and it just didn't get any better than that. He took them out into the main cabin and walked back into the cave.

He had noticed two plastic lines going into the main cabin. He followed them on back into the cave where they had been brought in through an opening from the side and then covered with dirt. There were two valves right there. He turned them on and heard the water start flowing. Obviously the water supply was a lot higher because there seem to be a lot of pressure. All gravity. What else could a person ask for?

He felt the two lines and the inside line was actually getting warm. He went back in the main cabin, turned the water off in the sink and heard water running in a little side room he hadn't checked yet.

He opened the door and like he said, all the comforts of home . A shower, toilet, washbasin for hand washing clothes, with hot and cold water. He'd check everything else out later but there were no leaks in the lines, so far as he was concerned he was in Heaven.

Steve fixed a supper of ham, canned potatoes, and green beans. The cabin was very warm, so he let the dog out. He fed him some scraps and hoped the dog would be able to find his own food before long. He knew this kind of food wasn't good for the dog, so he'd have to figure something out. He also knew that he needed the dog, if for no other reason, it would let him know if anything was around.

When Steve opened the door there was a good four inches of snow on the ground already, so there wasn't much more could be done the rest of the day or night. He had gotten here just in time. Then he looked in some cupboards and found books and a Bible. He started reading the Bible that evening and was surprised at how interesting it was. He figured it might not help any, but it sure wasn't going to hurt anything either.

About three hours later he heard the dog scratch on the door so he let him in. By now there was at least another four inches of snow so he closed the door, banked the fire, shut the vent off and closed the damper back. Then he got his bedroll out and turned in.

In the morning he'd oil his guns. He had checked them and they were clean and dry, but he was going to make a habit of cleaning them on a regular basis. For that night though, he wiped them off with a rag that was damp with oil from cleanings before. He'd seen fingerprints of light rust on guns before, so he was always careful not to touch the metal. Rust was not an option.

Chapter 5

Next morning Steve awoke to the sound of high winds. Only thing was they sounded very far away. He opened the inside window shutters and let the light into the cabin. He could see out but not very far. Something seemed strange though. He stepped through the door and saw close to a foot and a half of snow, give or take. It had stopped snowing; the wind was blowing snow off the upper ledges. It was swirling high in the air and around some in the valley making his ability to see very difficult.

It took him a minute to realize that even though it was cold there was little to no wind hitting him. You could hear it screaming over top of the valley and through the mountains, but for the most part, the valley was sheltered which made it a lot more bearable.

After looking things over for a few minutes, he went back in and made a breakfast of ham and the last of his eggs, thinking he'd have to try to raise some chickens, if at all possible. Probably just a dumb thought.

Mouse was right under his feet like always but he really didn't mind. Actually the company was welcome and he knew that the dog would always let him know if anything was around or not, so after breakfast they went back into the cave to look things over more carefully.

There was another stone stairway laid up of flat rocks along the wall on the left going up, and at the top there was a small ledge that ended at a thick pine door. Lifting the plank lock and opening the door there was a short cave like tunnel that went hard left and opened up onto the rock ledge that sloped out over the cabin making a perfect roof.

Okay, now he knew how that was. He decided not to walk out onto the ledge for fear of slipping and sliding off. No sense in breaking any bones or even stoving oneself up. You had to be careful, a mistake could be fatal, even a minor one out here without any help.