He tossed their belongings through the door, and slammed it shut behind him in one fluid movement. Then, he gave Ess a relieved smile, and headed to the window to see if he could ensure that it was sealed tight against the wild animal and the increasing cold.
Ess peered out the window from behind Max, fearfully curious to see if the thing in the woods had come closer. She was careful not to get too close to him, and was ready to jump out of Max's reach if she needed to.
It wasn't much longer before the nightmare creature they heard entered into view.
A deer. A deer? She let her kidnapper inside to escape a deer? Ess felt that Mother Nature had it out for her. She was determined never to think of deer as harmless gentle beings again.
A second deer came into view, then a third: a buck with large antlers. Now that the fear was gone, it was rather an amazing sight to observe the animals, so calm and at home in their surroundings. It felt like she was part of a National Geographic documentary. She didn't remember really getting this close to nature in motion during her youthful camping trips. It made her smile despite herself.
Max had been watching, too. He was just a little embarrassed that the sound of these three quiet woodland creatures had discomposed him so much in front of the woman whose opinion meant more to him than any other person he knew. He felt like such a coward.
When Max finally turned away from the window, Ess jumped backwards as though she was warding off an attack. That reaction hurt him. Obviously, he hadn't made any leeway into her confidence.
Ess realized that Max was not advancing on her and so straightened from the half crouched stance she had taken against him. By the light of the flashlight, she saw the pain her reaction had caused him. There was disappointment in his eyes; and Ess felt just a little guilty despite her best efforts.
Max turned away and reached for the bags. "You're probably very tired by now." Taking her suitcase, he went through a narrow door into a tiny adjoining room. This room, which smelled faintly of decaying wood, consisted of two sets of bunk beds, with little room for anything else.
Max set her suitcase down on one of the lower bunks, and returned to the main room. Ess stood motionless as he pulled some blankets from his duffle bag. He spread one over the other lower bunk, and moved to a small object in the corner of the room. Ess couldn't see what he was doing, but when he moved away, she saw a faint glow emanating from that corner space.
Max addressed her again. "This little heater will warm up the bedroom shortly. It'll get very hot, so don't touch it, or place anything close to it. I'll start up a fire in the fireplace out here, so the whole cabin will be warm for you by morning."
Ess continued to stand where she was. She didn't know what his intentions were, and she wasn't about to go to sleep in the same room he slept in.
Max continued to prep for the night, trying to ignore the fact that Ess was making no movement towards the bedroom. He grabbed a few logs from a pile stacked along the wall and set them in the fireplace. Next, he grabbed the other blanket and began spreading it on the mangy old couch. When he finally glanced back at Ess, the dejection she had seen in his eyes a short time before was under control.
"I hope I brought enough of your things to see you through. If you get too cold, you can use my blanket. I'll be fine as soon as I get the fire stoked up." Ess just stood there slowly registering what he was telling her. While she was doing so, a little of the pain made it's way back into Max's eyes.
"There's a lock on the bedroom door." He said to relieve her distress. "If you need to use the bathroom, it's through the door across from the heater. This place has plumbing that is supported by a well. I wouldn't take a shower right away, though. The water is like ice. I'll need to turn the water heater on, first, and it's outside behind the cabin. It'll take awhile for the water to heat up."
Ess nodded. It was the first cognizant response she made since Max began to settle them in. This small reaction was enough to melt most of the wretchedness Max was feeling. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Why don't you go ahead and go to bed? I'll take care of everything out here."
Ess nodded again, but didn't move. His continuing thoughtfulness and care just didn't fit with this whole keeping-her-against-her-will thing. She didn't want to trust him. It could be a trap. If he really wanted to harm her, though, wouldn't he have attempted to do so by now?
"You can lock the door," Max stated again when she still didn't move towards the bedroom. "I promise I won't bother you. Not even to use the bathroom."
Ess nodded, yet again, and finally walked towards the bedroom. Max let out a sigh of relief. It was a big step for them that she was willing to settle in. He moved back to the fireplace to work on igniting the flames. Behind him, the bedroom door thudded shut, and he heard the click as the lock latched. He didn't mind it if he didn't have her full trust, as long as she let him keep her safe.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The adrenaline spike was wearing off, and so was the coffee. Roden began to feel the exhaustion of pulling an all-nighter. He wasn't exactly as young as he used to be, and his company was considerably draining.
Manda had brusquely let him know that she was not at all impressed with the plan he presented to her when they left the gas station. He had proposed using the quickly sketched map to follow the roads (or dirt trails, to be more accurate) to each of the twelve cabins on the preserve. His intent was to find the cabin that Max decided to 'hole up' in by process of elimination.
"This is not an effective way to find her," Manda's argument was the same, over and over again as they drove through the forest. The only thing that changed was her word usage. So far the plan was deficient, poor, ludicrous, irrational, stupid, brain-less, time-consuming, impractical and asinine. Roden was getting very good at ignoring her.
"Hello?!" She caught on to his disregard. "I think I should have a say in this. Ess is my best friend. I have more concern for her well being than anyone else here, and I say time is of the essence. How are we going to find her by driving all over creation with no clue where to look?" She got no response from Roden. "We don't even know if they're here."
He didn't know why he bothered, but Roden re-iterated his reason for the plan once again. "We have more evidence that they came here than anywhere else. Max took the map of the preserve off his wall, and the man at the gas station saw them pass through. I'm sure we're headed in the right direction." He took a breath before he continued. "As for using the process of elimination to find the right cabin, I'll ask you once again: do you have any better ideas?"
Manda cast him an over exaggerated glare and turned away. She had no better solution, and this interchange would keep her quiet for at least another half hour, just like their last one did. Then, he could be sure, she would start up all over again.
Roden understood. He really did. This was a slow process. There were no quicker options, though. If there were, he would be the first to try it. He had as much desire to find Max and Ess as quickly as possible as Manda did. Manda's nagging only served to make him more desperate to find them and get this horrible situation done and over with. The real problem, he knew, would be what will happen when he does find the artist and his captive.