When Hugh Mathews decides it's time to get out from under his tyrannical father's thumb and away from the life he's been living, he does it in a big way. Packing what he'll need to survive in the wilderness, and with only his dog, Orion, for companionship, he heads into the mountains. When they find a abandoned cabin, Hugh begins the arduous task of repairing it, as well as hunting for food and everything else they'll need to stay alive.<br><br>Soon after, Ansel Jeffries, a nature photographer, arrives at Hugh's cabin, seeking an abandoned mine he wants to photograph. After talking with him, Ansel sees the potential for a story in what Hugh is doing -- and why.<br><br>Ansel convinces Hugh to let him tell it, meaning he'll be living at the cabin with Hugh. When he moves in, will what becomes friendship between the two men grow into more?

Off the Beaten Path

“How so?” Ansel asked from a few feet away.


“It occurred to me, if our cabin had a root cellar, maybe this one did, too.”


They were at the ruined cabin, and had begun moving more of the fallen walls, in search of anything metal they could use to protect the chimney from rain and snow. Hugh had been tapping the floor, as he had at his cabin, searching, as he’d said, for a possible root cellar—and heard a hollow reverberation under two of the boards. He used the blade of the axe to pry them up, revealing a deep hole. There were or had been shelves—most of them lying broken on the earthen floor, now.


Using the LED light on his multi-tool, Hugh scanned the area. The light reflected off something. Probably broken glass, but…He dropped down into the hole to find out. It was glass. However, when he lifted one of the shelves off the muddy floor—because of last night’s rain, he figured—he also founda battered pot lid. He handed it to Ansel, who was now standing at the edge of the hole.


Chapter 24