Free Smoky Mountain Setup by Paula Graves

to other people.”
    “You never talked much about your past.”
    “It wasn’t important.”
    “It should have been.” He caught her wrist as she continued forward, forcing her to turn and face him. “I should have asked.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” she said, tugging free of his grasp once more and continuing up the mountain. What was done was done, and there wasn’t a thing either of them could do to change it.
    * * *
    S NOW STARTED FALLING again late in the afternoon, a blizzard of tiny flakes at first, creating a fine mist that looked like the tendrils of mist that gave the Smoky Mountains their name. But within an hour, the flakes grew larger and the snowfall thicker, reducing visibility to almost nothing.
    Landry had no idea how they’d be able to find Parson’s Chair when they couldn’t see ten feet in front of them.
    “Stay close,” Olivia called, her voice almost whipped away by the wind.
    “Wouldn’t dream of letting you out of my sight,” he muttered.
    After what felt like another hour of hiking, though a glance at his watch told him only fifteen minutes had passed, Olivia slowed to a halt. “There it is,” she said.
    He followed her gaze and saw the faint outline of a rocky outcropping visible through the wall of falling snow. “Parson’s Chair?”
    “Let’s go,” she said, hiking forward at a reinvigorated pace.
    Tightening his grip on the travois, he followed, ignoring the ache in his calves and thighs. When they finally reached the mouth of the cave beneath Parson’s Chair, he eased the front of the travois to the ground and stretched his sore limbs. “Remind me to hit the gym more often when I get back to civilization.”
    She shrugged off her backpack and shot him a look of amusement. “And here I was thinking you were looking lean and ripped.”
    “That’s from walking everywhere I went, hauling around a backpack and eating only a couple of meals a day.” He eyed the dark opening of the cave. “Any chance there’s a bear inside?”
    “They’d be hibernating at this time of year anyway.”
    “I heard black bears don’t hibernate.”
    “Why don’t you take this, go in there and find out?” She handed him a flashlight from her backpack and waved her hand toward the cave entrance.
    “Gee, thanks.” He took the flashlight and took a step inside, swinging the light in a slow arc to get his bearings.
    The cave was larger than he’d expected, a cavern about twenty feet wide with a high ceiling. The back of the cave disappeared into darkness, suggesting there might be a tunnel that went even farther into the mountainside.
    “Any bears?” Olivia’s voice was right in his ear, giving him a start. He hadn’t even heard her approach.
    “If there are, they’re hiding.” He shone the flashlight in her face, making her squint.
    “Give me that.” She took the flashlight and headed back outside to grab her gear. He joined her, unloading the travois and helping her take their supplies deeper into the cave.
    He had to give her credit; she’d prepared well for a night in a cave. The well-packed duffel he’d been dragging behind him on the travois contained a portable propane heater, two fleece-lined sleeping bags and extra bottled water. “You forgot the portable toilet.” He slanted a sly look her way.
    She waved her hand toward the cave entrance. “The toilet came with the accommodations.”
    “Yeah, I’ve used it before.” He folded one of the sleeping bags into a square and sat cross-legged in front of the duffel bag, looking through the rest of the supplies. “No wonder that bloody thing weighed so much. You packed half your cabin.”
    She followed his example and folded her own sleeping bag into a makeshift seat cushion. “I wasn’t sure how long we’d have to be out in the elements.” She opened a bottle of water and took a drink.
    He grabbed his own bottle of water. It was icy cold, which might have been good about six months ago when he was living through