Mystic Ridge

Chapter One WITH A FLICK OF THE wrist, Bev turns off the radio. Cate takes a deep breath. Inhale, exhale. You need to do both or it’s lights out, Catherine! The music crackling through the car’s speaker system has filled the space between them for more than an hour. Now there’s nothing to occupy Cate’s ears but the sound of gravel crunching beneath all-season tires. “Keep an eye out,” Bev says. “There should be a carved sign when we’re getting close. That’s what the lawyer said to watch for.” Cate taps her finger against the passenger window when she spots the mossy wooden sign. “There it is!” It’s almost illegible after years of neglect. The yellow and white paints are peeling away from the dark brown background. “The Resort at Mystic Ridge! Turn here!” Bev hasn’t said much on the drive up, but she goes extra-silent as they pull off the main road. The crunch of gravel gives way to a smoother sensation. The dirt drive is broken only by the odd tree root or fallen branch. They arrive at a chain barrier with a sign hanging across: Closed for the Season. Bev parks the car. She sits in the driver’s seat, staring straight ahead at a dirt road that seems to get narrower as it weaves into the woods. “What’s wrong?” Cate asks. She glances at the padlock keeping the chain in place. “Don’t you have the key?” “Oh, probably.” Bev feels absently for the envelope from the lawyer’s office. “Let’s get out and walk.” “How far is the main cabin?” Bev’s brow furrows. She tilts her head and looks at Cate. “Aren’t you the one who was all excited about moving here? Moving onto this huge plot of land? You can go for long walks every day and never worry about condo construction or drivers running stop signs or those food delivery guys who ride their bikes on the sidewalk?” Cate shoots her girlfriend a meek smile as she opens the passenger door. “Touché.” The air outside carries a fresh spring scent: green leaves and buds bursting into bloom. As Cate steps out of the car, she feels uplifted. Her lungs are two balloons ready to float up to the sky. She closes her eyes and takes a deep, fragrant breath. “I love this place already,” Bev says from the other side of the vehicle. “We’re going to live well, here. This is our Happy Ever After.” Cate’s breath hitches. She glares at her girlfriend across the top of the car. Proclaiming eternal happiness is pushing your luck, inviting the universe to prove you wrong. “Come on,” Bev says. Once she’s stepped over the chain gate, she extends a hand in Cate’s direction. “Let’s check out our new home.” During their drive to Mystic Ridge, the sun had been hovering in the sky like a soft yellow yolk. Now it’s lost beyond a thick spread of arrow-like pines and fluorescent green leaves. Cate lets Bev grab her hand. She holds loosely to her girlfriend’s long fingers. The couple who built this resort must have named it in the springtime. There’s certainly a mystical quality to the walk down this long dirt drive. Cate half expects a parade of pixies to cross their path. “Well?” Bev asks, squeezing Cate’s hand. “You haven’t said much.” “We just got here. I’m taking it all in.” Off to the left, mature trees and undergrowth are alive with vernal force. Cate can feel it in her veins. “Where do you think the ridge is?” she asks. Bev nods to the right. “My guess is that-a-way. There’s got to be a path through all these trees, but let’s check out the cabins before the natural wonders.” “It’s like something you’d see in a movie,” Cate says. She’s thinking horror movie, but she doesn’t mention that detail. “What’s like a movie?” Bev asks. Cate would have thought that was obvious. “Inheriting this huge property in the woods from an aunt you’ve never even heard of.” “Great-aunt,” Bev corrects her. “Great-aunt, same difference.” They walk on. “It’s hard to believe this is really happening,” Cate says. “Did you ever imagine we’d give up our apartment? Move out of the city? Away from our friends? Live the rest of our lives in... what’s this place called?” “Mystic Ridge,” Bev says. “You know that.” “No, I mean the town. We just drove through it and I already forget what it’s called. That’s how memorable it was.” Bev offers a mean squint, like she’s taking Cate’s derision of the town personally. “Sorry,” Cate says, because it’s just plain easier to apologize before the fight breaks out. “That pie shop we passed looked pretty cute. Their main street was very... cute.” She can’t think of a better word than “cute” to describe the strip of tourist trap shops they drove by on their way to Mystic Ridge. Bev stops abruptly. She holds Cate’s hand tight. She must have spotted a wild animal: a fox or a wolf or maybe even a wild boar. Cate isn’t too sure what’s out here in these woods. It isn’t an animal. It’s a building: a dark brown two-storey wooden lodge. Cate isn’t an expert in architecture or design, but she can’t help focusing on the woodwork surrounding the windows. Once white, now yellowed. Chipping paint. The German Arts and Crafts style gives the lodge the look of an artisanal gingerbread house. “Wow,” Bev says. She grips Cate’s hand as she takes it all in. They’re twenty feet back from the main entrance, and still it’s overwhelming. “Looks just like those pictures the lawyer showed us. When were those taken?” “The twenties, I think. This place hasn’t changed since the original owners were in charge.” “Well, it hasn’t been an active summer resort in decades.” A dreamy smile crosses Bev’s lips. “But it will be, once we fix it up: a camp for LGBT kids and teens, a place where they can come and just be themselves, be with other kids who won’t hassle them for being queer. It’ll be amazing. We’re going to change lives here at Mystic Ridge.” “Yeah,” Cate says flatly. “Can’t wait.” Bev points farther down the dirt path, where big trees cause the route to twist and turn. “The visitor cabins must be over there. Come on!” Tugging Cate along the path, Bev blathers about how great it’s going to be, living here, setting up camp—literally. Of course, the lawyer warned them this place has no water or electricity. Bev went ahead and hired a plumber, an electrician, and a general contractor to come in and fix things, but that process won’t get underway until tomorrow. She and Cate sure don’t have the knowledge or experience to do it themselves. Tonight, it’ll just be the two of them roughing it at a tumbledown resort with no running water and no electricity. Just what Cate always wanted! Who needs a shower? Who needs a good cup of tea? “Look!” Bev squeals. “Here they are! Wow, this is amazing.” The visitor cabins form a little village in the woods. Tree cover is slightly more sparse out here, which allows more sunlight to stream in. Good thing, because the small cabins are painted dark brown on the outside. When Cate peers through one of the grimy windows, the inside doesn’t seem much brighter. In fact, Cate feels as though she’s staring into a black hole, a place where light goes to die. “This one’s open,” Bev says, making Cate jump. Cate hadn’t even noticed her girlfriend letting go of her hand, walking to the other side of the dirt path, testing out doorknobs. How long has she been staring into the abyss? When Bev opens the cabin door, Cate follows behind her. Bev’s taller, so Cate can’t see over her shoulder, but she probably wouldn’t have been able to see much anyway—not at the outset. Her eyes take their time adjusting to the relative darkness of the cabin’s interior. “Someone’s been in here,” Bev says, kicking a dirty mattress that’s been pulled off one of the beds. “Teens from Lament, I guess.” “Teens from where?” “Lament—the town we drove through.” A shiver runs down Cate’s spine despite the warmth of the day. In fact, it feels colder inside this little cabin than it did outside. “That’s what the town is called? Lament?” “That's what it's called”. As Bev lifts the flimsy mattress out of her way, Cate’s eyes adjust to the darkness. Now she can make out two sets of bunk beds pushed up against the walls. The cabin is long and narrow to begin with, so this clunky wooden furniture makes the space feel wholly claustrophobic. “Wow, there’s a bathroom back here!” Bev says from the far end. “I wonder if every cabin has one. This is the last thing I expected. I figured it would all be outhouses.” “A summer resort from the twenties?” Cate replies with a bit of a laugh. “They would have gone all out for guests. Those Edwardians were demanding.” “Was it still Edwardians in the twenties?” “I don’t know. Whoever they were, they liked the best of the best, even in a rustic retreat.” “I can’t see Edwardians sleeping in bunk beds.” Cate throws her arms in the air. “What do I know? Maybe the cabins were for kids and the adults slept somewhere else. Who cares? Can we go now?” Her burst of anger comes out of nowhere, and it doesn’t subside until Cate steps out of the cabin. She walks away from Bev without looking back. She doesn’t stop walking until she comes across a playground that needs to be levelled yesterday. If she were to guess, she’d say it was built in the 50s: a dangerously steep slide, the metal dull in the best of spots, rusty in the worst. Not that you could climb to the top. Most of the ladder rungs are mysteriously absent, probably rusted to the point where local teens could yank them right off. The climbing contraption hasn’t fared much better, but the straightness of its lines remind Cate of a prison. Would this structure ever have appealed to children? The swing set is another story. It draws her in. She can feel the grit of its rusted chains without touching them. One seat has been broken through. Looks woven out of horsehair. Long strands hang to the sandy ground. The other two swings are still intact. “Cate! What are you doing?” Bev asks, appearing behind her. “I was just gonna swing.” “Well, don’t. Look at the state of those chains. You want to pinch your fingers?” Cate forces a smile. “Guess not.” Bev doesn’t mention Cate’s explosion in the cabin. They’re trying to stay out of each other’s way these days, emotionally. Moving is a big deal, a big decision. Just because Mystic Ridge is the start of something new doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten the life they lived before. Cate has given up a lot to come out here, to this long-abandoned property bordering on Lament. Yeah, it’s a big deal. “What’s down that way?” Bev asks, pointing to where the dirt path disappears beyond the rusty playground. “See? The trail keeps going.” They follow it to a beachy clearing that dips its sandy toes into water so crystal clear Cate can see every grain, every pebble, every piece of nature lapping the shore. “A swimming hole!” Bev says, bending low to dip her fingers in the water. “And it’s warm!” “Ha-ha.” “No, really.” Cate shoots her girlfriend a look that says: give me a break. “Can’t be warm this time of year.” “Well it is,” Bev says playfully. She rises and flicks her wet fingers at Cate, sending droplets flying. Cate barely feels them, but if Bev’s making the effort to be playful, Cate feels she ought to give it a shot. Crouching at the water’s edge, she plunges her hand into the natural pool, fully intending to splash her girlfriend with all her might. When she feels its balmy temperature, she looks at Bev in awe. “Holy Crow, you weren’t kidding. It really is warm.” “Told you so.” “How is that possible? It must be a relativity thing, like the air is cool so the water feels warm?” “The air isn’t that cool, not for spring.” “Yeah, I know, but you don’t usually plunge your hand in a lake in the spring.” “I wouldn’t call this a lake.” “Oh my God,” Cate growls, pulling her hand from the water and flicking droplets across its glassy surface. “Can’t we have a simple conversation without arguing?” She looks at Bev, who seems like a giant from this perspective, expecting anger to flicker across her girlfriend’s face. But no. If anything, Bev seems distant, tired. Cate is tired, too. Tired of this tension between them. Rising to her feet, she says, “We came here to relax, right? Guess I’m still in city mode.” The smile returns to Bev’s lips. “We’ll get there.” She takes Cate’s wet hand in hers, brings it to her lips, and gently kisses Cate’s cool skin. “This is home now. We’re in it together.”