Chapter 1053 - Vacation on Mt. Rainier (2)

The cabin is nicely tucked in between evergreen trees, and there is a smoke coming out of the chimney.

"I instructed them to start the fire when they delivered our things earlier today.", Aiden explained while keeping his skis in the rack on the front porch of the cabin.

Sarah set up four drones to watch over the area, just in case if someone comes their way. You can never be too careful.

Inside the cabin is not big. It is perfect. Lower floor has an open sitting area which is facing the big stone fireplace, and in the back are kitchen and dining areas. Bathroom is there as well. Open wooden staircase leads to the loft which covers roughly half of the cabin, and it has a king size bed and a small siting area with two oversized sofa chairs facing huge windows.

Aiden found the place, and that means: electricity, running water and internet are a must-have. He is not the one who can enjoy life without modern luxuries.

Sarah ran her fingers through super-fluffy blankets which are on the sofa in the sitting area on the main floor. She smiled while imagining her snuggling next to Aiden in front of the fireplace, wrapped in those blankets... naked. After this image appeared in her mind, she didn't care about the bed on the upper floor... and she could not wait for the evening to try if it will feel as good as it is in her mind.

After changing into more comfortable clothes, the two of them got busy with cooking.

They didn't cook together often earlier, but since Aiden woke up, they prefer to do everything together, if possible.

In the kitchen, Sarah takes the role of a sous-chef by helping Aiden prepare the ingredients.

Sarah loves watching him while he is immersed in cooking. She knows that he enjoys the process when his carefully handled and measured ingredients transform into a scrumptious meal. And when he adds that last dash of spice and his eyes lit up after tasting… she knows that he got it right.

Sarah was surprised when he asked her to chop the fruits, and she smiled happily when she found out that he is making a fruit custard.

"It needs to sit few hours in the fridge.", he explained. "It will be ready for dessert, after dinner."

After lunch, they looked at the map the got from the safe in the underground hideout. It's a topographic map showing few lakes and several hills or mountains maybe. Four dots are clearly marked on the map, but not labeled.

"We will get Eve to process this when we get home.", Sarah said and kept the map on the side. "Hopefully no more than one location matches what is on this map."

Aiden was surprised that Sarah is leaving this for later. With Eve-vision, Eve has access to whatever they see. He is happy that she accepted this as a vacation (finally).

"What do you want to do now?", Aiden asked.

Sarah thought for a moment before her face lit up. "How about we make a snowman?"

He didn't object. The two of them idling in the snow, sounds like a perfect way to spend their vacation.

"We have almost two hours of daylight left.", Aiden informed Sarah and headed to gear up for the weather outside.

Before starting on a snowman, they rolled in the snow a bit to create a stable surface where their snowman will stand. The lower layers are compacted, but the recently accumulated top layer is easy to sink in. Sarah enjoyed the rolling part very much and refused to use shovels that Aiden offered. She pulled him down with her and he had no option other than to cooperate.

Aiden enjoyed the snow-angel making, especially the one when he got on top of Sarah. 

They were putting the third snow-sphere on the top of their snowman, to serve as a head, when Eve warned them that five people are heading in their direction, individually, at a speed of 40km/h (about 25 mph).

Sarah confirmed that drones are useful.

Sarah and Aiden exchanged glances and shared an understanding that this is too fast for regular recreational skiers, especially because this is not well traveled path and the fresh snow is difficult to ski in.

Less than a minute after Eve's warning, they saw four skiers slow down as they approached them.

Eve identified four as three males and one female. And the fifth skier is a male, located about ten meters behind other newcomers, within the evergreen foliage.

They had large skiing goggles over their eyes and scarves covering their mouths, so their faces were not visible.

"Nice snowman!", one newcomer called.

"Thanks!", Sarah responded while turning toward the newcomers.

Aiden got close to Sarah protectively. "Can we help you?"

The man in front spoke: "We are looking for our two companions. They descended somewhere down this area today, we are not sure when exactly since they left us this morning. Did you see them?"

"We arrived here this morning and we didn't see anyone come this way. We got out only an hour ago.", Aiden gestured toward the snowman. "So, if they passed by here before that, we would not see them."

Four people exchanged glances and commented on the good size of a snowman before saying their goodbyes and continuing their descent.

Sarah and Aiden returned to work on their snowman.

Few minutes later, Eve informed them that the fifth person took a detour around the cabin before heading down to join his companions.

"Do you think they are looking for us?", Aiden guessed.

Sarah acknowledged that it is a possibility. "The guys we left behind woke up about half an hour after we left. If these people are looking for us, they are acting fast. They could see based on the tracks that there were two people on skis. It's logical to assume that we left downhill. Based on their speed and that they came straight here, it's obvious that they are familiar with the area. They are probably checking all the cabins while going downhill and hoping that they get lucky."

Sarah observed a frown on his handsome face. She removed her glove and pressed gently between his eyebrows. "Are you worried that they will come back?"

Aiden kissed her palm and didn't respond. He looked at the snowman. "What is left for this big guy before we can go inside and have hot cocoa?"

"Facial features and arms.", Sarah responded.

Aiden got a carrot from his pocket and placed it in Sarah's hand. "Here is the nose. You find something for eyes, and I will go get branches for arms."

He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before moving toward the back of the cabin to find branches.

Sarah looked at the carrot in her hand and smiled. He got it from the pantry on his way out because he knew they will need it for the snowman. Her Aiden thinks of everything.

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