I had to destroy parts of the home Elias built if I wanted any chance of keeping myself alive.<\/p>\n
That was the part I had not understood when I first found his drawing.<\/p>\n
I could not afford a second stove.<\/p>\n
I could not afford lumber for an entirely new door.<\/p>\n
I could not purchase a proper stone wall.<\/p>\n
Everything I needed had to come from the mountain, our cabin, or the abandoned materials scattered around the old workings.<\/p>\n
The work began with the floor.<\/p>\n
I had already opened the entrance enough to pass through standing.<\/p>\n
Now I needed a level surface inside.<\/p>\n
The chamber's natural floor sloped toward the front.<\/p>\n
It was covered with gravel and hard-packed earth.<\/p>\n
In places, the frozen ground resisted every strike of my pickaxe.<\/p>\n
I wanted to lower the floor by another two feet.<\/p>\n
That would provide more room beneath the sloping stone ceiling.<\/p>\n
It would also make the chamber easier to arrange for living.<\/p>\n
I began near the back wall.<\/p>\n
The first several inches were the worst.<\/p>\n
The earth was frozen so firmly that the pickaxe sometimes bounced from it.<\/p>\n
I had to swing repeatedly at the same patch.<\/p>\n
Then I used the shovel to lift the broken material.<\/p>\n
My shoulders hurt.<\/p>\n
My back tightened.<\/p>\n
I felt the effort in my wrists every time the blade struck stone.<\/p>\n
I had been accustomed to hard work before Elias died.<\/p>\n
I had gardened, carried water, stacked wood, and helped maintain the cabin.<\/p>\n
But excavating frozen ground was different.<\/p>\n
It punished the same muscles for hours.<\/p>\n
I had an old wheelbarrow left from when the cabin was built.<\/p>\n
I brought it to the draw.<\/p>\n
I filled it with gravel and earth.<\/p>\n
Then I pushed each load outside.<\/p>\n
Instead of dumping the material farther downhill, I carried it across the front of the chamber.<\/p>\n
There I began forming a low bank.<\/p>\n
It would interrupt the wind before it reached the stone wall I intended to build.<\/p>\n
It would also help hide the entrance.<\/p>\n
Each load was small.<\/p>\n
Together, they slowly changed the ground.<\/p>\n
I learned not to measure progress by how exhausted I felt.<\/p>\n
There were days when I worked until my fingers could barely close, yet the floor looked only slightly lower.<\/p>\n
So I measured the depth.<\/p>\n
I measured the cleared area.<\/p>\n
I compared what I had done with Elias's sketch.<\/p>\n
Numbers told me the truth when my body insisted nothing was improving.<\/p>\n
At night, I returned to the original cabin.<\/p>\n
I ate whatever was easiest to prepare.<\/p>\n
Sometimes beans.<\/p>\n
Sometimes bread with a little salt pork.<\/p>\n
I had to conserve the provisions purchased for winter.<\/p>\n
I also had to eat enough to keep working.<\/p>\n
I slept deeply but not comfortably.<\/p>\n
My arms stiffened during the night.<\/p>\n
In the morning, I sometimes struggled to lift the kettle.<\/p>\n
Then I went back to the draw.<\/p>\n
I knew the calendar was moving.<\/p>\n
December fifteenth approached whether my work advanced or not.<\/p>\n
When the floor was finally level enough, I turned to the front wall.<\/p>\n
That was where I needed to use the stonework Elias had taught me.<\/p>\n
Our fireplace had been built without elaborate equipment.<\/p>\n
He showed me how to select stones that would support one another.<\/p>\n
He cared about the broad surfaces.<\/p>\n
The angles.<\/p>\n
The weight.<\/p>\n
He said a wall would be reliable only if its stones settled against one another properly.<\/p>\n
I remembered his hands turning each piece before deciding where it belonged.<\/p>\n
Now I used the same method.<\/p>\n
I gathered granite from the nearby slopes.<\/p>\n
Flat pieces whenever possible.<\/p>\n
Angular stones that could lock together.<\/p>\n
Small fragments for filling gaps.<\/p>\n
The larger foundation pieces were too heavy for me to carry.<\/p>\n
I used Jericho to help drag them toward the entrance.<\/p>\n
He moved slowly, leaning into the effort.<\/p>\n
I walked beside him and watched every stone.<\/p>\n
I would not risk injuring the only animal I had.<\/p>\n
At the chamber, I set the foundation stones in place.<\/p>\n
Then I began stacking.<\/p>\n
There was no mortar.<\/p>\n
I packed the spaces with small stone and earth.<\/p>\n
I adjusted each piece until it sat firmly.<\/p>\n
The wall grew slowly.<\/p>\n
Its base was nearly three feet thick.<\/p>\n
I had no reason to make it delicate.<\/p>\n
It needed to withstand wind, snow, and the pressure of winter weather.<\/p>\n
And it needed to remain stable while I lived behind it.<\/p>\n
I left space for a doorway about four feet high.<\/p>\n
Beside it, I planned a small square window.<\/p>\n
The wall took four days of gathering, hauling, lifting, and fitting stone.<\/p>\n
I sometimes became so frustrated with a stubborn piece that I had to put it down and walk away.<\/p>\n
Then I came back.<\/p>\n
Tried another angle.<\/p>\n
Found another stone.<\/p>\n
There was no one to hurry me.<\/p>\n
Only the deadline.<\/p>\n
When the front wall stood, I examined it from outside.<\/p>\n
The granite blended with the rockfall.<\/p>\n
That pleased me.<\/p>\n
I was not trying to build a handsome house.<\/p>\n
I needed a place that would remain unnoticed.<\/p>\n
The doorway was next.<\/p>\n
I went back to the original cabin and stood between the main room and our bedroom.<\/p>\n
The door there was solid oak.<\/p>\n
Elias had chosen it because it was strong and well made.<\/p>\n
I remembered him hanging it.<\/p>\n
He had adjusted the hinges until it swung without scraping the floor.<\/p>\n
Now I took a screwdriver from his tools.<\/p>\n
I began removing the hardware.<\/p>\n
The first hinge resisted.<\/p>\n
I worked it loose.<\/p>\n
The second came away more easily.<\/p>\n
When the final hinge was free, I had to support the weight of the door myself.<\/p>\n
It was heavier than I expected.<\/p>\n
For a moment I stood holding it, breathing hard.<\/p>\n
Beyond the opening lay the bedroom.<\/p>\n
Our bedroom.<\/p>\n
The place where I had last watched Elias sleep before he left for the upper basin.<\/p>\n
I had avoided changing much in that room.<\/p>\n
I had kept his things where he left them.<\/p>\n
Removing the door made the cabin look unfinished.<\/p>\n
It also made me understand how completely I was leaving it behind.<\/p>\n
I set the oak slab down carefully.<\/p>\n
Then I carried it outside.<\/p>\n
Jericho helped transport it to the hidden shelter.<\/p>\n
I had to protect the wood from damage as we moved over the rough trail.<\/p>\n
I could not afford to split it.<\/p>\n
At the chamber, I examined the doorway and the door.<\/p>\n
The opening needed a wooden frame.<\/p>\n
I remembered an abandoned mining structure beside the creek.<\/p>\n
Some of its lumber was still usable.<\/p>\n
I went there and removed the pieces I needed.<\/p>\n
The boards were weathered, but sound enough for framing.<\/p>\n
I hauled them back.<\/p>\n
Then I began fitting the frame into the stone opening.<\/p>\n
I checked the alignment repeatedly.<\/p>\n
The door had to close properly.<\/p>\n
A narrow gap could allow winter wind to enter for hours.<\/p>\n
I had no second person to hold the oak slab while I secured the hinges.<\/p>\n
I supported it as best I could with blocks and stones.<\/p>\n
Then I fixed the hardware.<\/p>\n
The work took most of the day.<\/p>\n
I lifted.<\/p>\n
Adjusted.<\/p>\n
Lowered.<\/p>\n
Moved the supports.<\/p>\n
Tried again.<\/p>\n
By the time I finished, I was trembling with exhaustion.<\/p>\n
I pushed the door.<\/p>\n
It swung.<\/p>\n
I pulled it shut.<\/p>\n
It met the frame closely enough to be useful.<\/p>\n
I opened it once more.<\/p>\n
Then I closed it again.<\/p>\n
I stood in the chamber with my hand on the oak.<\/p>\n
It was the same door I had opened every night before going to bed beside Elias.<\/p>\n
Now it stood inside the mountain.<\/p>\n
I had not expected that to hurt.<\/p>\n
But it did.<\/p>\n
I sat down for a few minutes.<\/p>\n
Then I returned to work.<\/p>\n
The stone wall and oak door could keep out wind.<\/p>\n
They could not keep me alive through the coldest weeks without heat.<\/p>\n
For that, I needed the stove.<\/p>\n
Our cast-iron stove was heavy enough that I could never have moved it whole.<\/p>\n
So I began taking it apart.<\/p>\n
I removed the legs.<\/p>\n
The stove door.<\/p>\n
The detachable sections of the firebox.<\/p>\n
The stovepipe.<\/p>\n
I separated everything that could safely be removed.<\/p>\n
Then I arranged the pieces according to weight.<\/p>\n
The iron was cold against my gloves.<\/p>\n
Some edges were rough.<\/p>\n
I had to stop frequently to protect my hands.<\/p>\n
Transporting the stove took two full days.<\/p>\n
Jericho carried what I could secure to him.<\/p>\n
For the heavier pieces, I used the old wagon and handled the difficult sections a little at a time.<\/p>\n
I did not rush.<\/p>\n
One broken component could ruin the entire plan.<\/p>\n
When everything had reached the chamber, I began putting the stove together again.<\/p>\n
The assembly was familiar.<\/p>\n
I had watched Elias work on it before.<\/p>\n
I checked the connections carefully.<\/p>\n
I positioned it where I believed it could heat the chamber without interfering with the door or window.<\/p>\n
When it stood upright, I felt relieved.<\/p>\n
But I had not solved the most important problem.<\/p>\n
Smoke.<\/p>\n
A stove without proper ventilation would not make the chamber safe.<\/p>\n
It could kill me as surely as the cold outside.<\/p>\n
I could not simply pass the pipe through the front wall.<\/p>\n
Anyone walking through the draw might notice smoke escaping from the hidden entrance.<\/p>\n
The entire purpose of the shelter depended on keeping it concealed.<\/p>\n
The pipe had to rise through the granite overhead.<\/p>\n
I studied the ceiling.<\/p>\n
Near the front, a narrow natural fracture suggested the rock might be thinner.<\/p>\n
I chose that spot.<\/p>\n
I took Elias's heavy steel rod and the sledgehammer.<\/p>\n
Then I began working at the stone.<\/p>\n
The sound echoed through the chamber.<\/p>\n
Every strike traveled up my arms.<\/p>\n
Small fragments fell onto the ground.<\/p>\n
Dust settled on my clothes.<\/p>\n
I worked for hours.<\/p>\n
By evening, I had made only a shallow opening.<\/p>\n
I examined it.<\/p>\n
Then I looked at the ceiling.<\/p>\n
There was far more granite between me and the upper surface than I could remove with a hammer before the deadline.<\/p>\n
I thought of the keg Mr. Abernathy had placed in my wagon.<\/p>\n
The blasting powder.<\/p>\n
Elias had worked with explosives in the course of his surveys.<\/p>\n
I had observed him and understood that careless handling could be fatal.<\/p>\n
I did not take the material lightly.<\/p>\n
I knew I had no right to assume that knowing a little made me an expert.<\/p>\n
But I also knew the chimney had to be completed.<\/p>\n
I prepared a limited charge as carefully as my knowledge allowed, following the kind of precautions I had seen Elias observe.<\/p>\n
Then I left the chamber and sheltered behind a large boulder before the blast.<\/p>\n
The sound was dull and heavy.<\/p>\n
It seemed to pass through the ground beneath my boots.<\/p>\n
I remained where I was until the dust had time to settle.<\/p>\n
Then I approached cautiously.<\/p>\n
Inside, fragments lay beneath the opening.<\/p>\n
The explosion had broken through the thinner section of granite.<\/p>\n
A passage roughly six inches across reached the upper surface of the fallen shelf.<\/p>\n
I looked upward.<\/p>\n
I could see daylight.<\/p>\n
I had spent days thinking about that chimney.<\/p>\n
Now there was an opening.<\/p>\n
I brought in the stovepipe sections.<\/p>\n
I fitted them together and passed them through the ceiling.<\/p>\n
I used the sheet of tin to form a protective collar around the pipe.<\/p>\n
Clay and fine gravel helped close the remaining space.<\/p>\n
I checked the joints and the surrounding stonework.<\/p>\n
Then I examined the outlet above.<\/p>\n
It emerged among rocks and low scrub on the false floor of the draw.<\/p>\n
From a distance, it would be difficult to distinguish from the surrounding ground.<\/p>\n
That was what I needed.<\/p>\n
But I still did not know whether the stove would draw properly.<\/p>\n
I had to test it.<\/p>\n
The date was December fourteenth.<\/p>\n
One day before the company expected me to leave.<\/p>\n
I brought in a small supply of seasoned wood.<\/p>\n
I checked the pipe once more.<\/p>\n
Then I lit the fire.<\/p>\n
At first, I watched the flame anxiously.<\/p>\n
I examined the stove.<\/p>\n
The connections.<\/p>\n
The chimney.<\/p>\n
I looked for smoke escaping into the chamber.<\/p>\n
The fire strengthened.<\/p>\n
The draft carried smoke upward through the pipe.<\/p>\n
I stepped outside and climbed far enough to examine the outlet.<\/p>\n
The smoke rose among the rocks and dispersed into the cold air.<\/p>\n
There was no great black column announcing that someone lived beneath the ridge.<\/p>\n
I returned inside.<\/p>\n
Warmth began spreading from the stove.<\/p>\n
The granite walls remained cold.<\/p>\n
I knew they would take time to absorb heat.<\/p>\n
But the fire was burning.<\/p>\n
The chimney was working.<\/p>\n
The door closed.<\/p>\n
The front wall stood.<\/p>\n
I had made the place habitable.<\/p>\n
I sat near the stove and held my hands toward it.<\/p>\n
They were scratched.<\/p>\n
Swollen.<\/p>\n
Marked by small cuts and bruises.<\/p>\n
My shoulders hurt so badly I could barely raise my arms.<\/p>\n
I wanted Elias to see what I had built from his drawing.<\/p>\n
I wanted him to tell me whether I had understood it correctly.<\/p>\n
Instead, I listened to the small sounds of the stove and the faint wind outside.<\/p>\n
The chamber was not beautiful.<\/p>\n
It had a rough stone wall and an oak door that had once belonged to our bedroom.<\/p>\n
The floor was bare earth.<\/p>\n
The window was small.<\/p>\n
The ceiling was low near the entrance.<\/p>\n
But it was dry.<\/p>\n
Protected.<\/p>\n
Warm enough to make me believe winter might not defeat it.<\/p>\n
I spent the remaining hours carrying essentials from the original cabin.<\/p>\n
I moved what I needed most.<\/p>\n
Food.<\/p>\n
Blankets.<\/p>\n
Tools.<\/p>\n
Elias's journals.<\/p>\n
The rifle and ammunition.<\/p>\n
A lamp.<\/p>\n
Cooking things.<\/p>\n
I left enough furniture in the upper cabin that it still looked like a place someone had recently lived.<\/p>\n
I did not want to draw attention to what I had taken.<\/p>\n
Nor could I move everything in a day.<\/p>\n
The original cabin remained standing.<\/p>\n
But my necessary possessions were now below the granite shelf.<\/p>\n
On December fifteenth, I listened for horses.<\/p>\n
I expected a man from the company.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Finch.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a sheriff.<\/p>\n
Perhaps someone sent to make certain I had obeyed the notice.<\/p>\n
Nobody came.<\/p>\n
The day passed quietly.<\/p>\n
The trail remained empty.<\/p>\n
I stayed in the hidden chamber that night.<\/p>\n
I kept the stove burning and wrapped myself in a blanket.<\/p>\n
The granite still needed time to warm.<\/p>\n
I could feel the cold coming from the deepest part of the wall.<\/p>\n
But I was out of the wind.<\/p>\n
And for the first time in a month, I was sleeping somewhere the company did not know to search.<\/p>\n
The next morning, I opened Elias's journal.<\/p>\n
I found the drawing dated October 12, 1886.<\/p>\n
I looked at the rough lines he had made two years earlier.<\/p>\n
He had seen an unusual formation.<\/p>\n
I had seen the possibility of surviving.<\/p>\n
I closed the book and placed another piece of wood in the stove.<\/p>\n
I had not escaped the company's claim.<\/p>\n
I had not defeated the winter.<\/p>\n
And I had not solved every problem that lay ahead.<\/p>\n
But I was no longer waiting inside a cabin for someone to put me out.<\/p>\n
I had built another place to live.<\/p>\n
I had to destroy parts of the home Elias built if I wanted any chance of keeping myself alive. That was the part I had not understood when I first … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-sory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17683,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17663\/revisions\/17683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastestdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}