Action & Adventure
I felt light and free, like an escaped prisoner. Tonight, for the first time ever, I would sleep up here on my own. Just me and the wilderness. I wanted to bellow out in triumph, like a big old bull elk. But I had almost reached my cabin, so I loped along on silent feet. Like a creature of the wild, I approached my lair in silence. I slowed down, advanced cautiously, stayed on high alert to keep my territory safe from predators.
I raised my head, sniffed the air and knew something was wrong. Mixed with the musty odor of damp earth and the Christmas-tree scent of firs, was a trace of wood smoke. A chill spread up the back of my neck. Here in the forest, smoke could come from only one place. My cabin.
The wind was a shrieking monster behind us and Jeopardy was barely in control, surfing down steep waves with an eerie roar as the water rushed under her hull. Every so often, a wave came at us beam on—sideways—rolling us dangerously to one side. I'd been out in all kinds of weather, but I'd never seen waves as steep as these. "It's nuts," I said flatly. I raised my voice so that she'd be able to hear me over the screaming wind and the crashing water. "And it's only going to get worse..."
