The Wilderness

THE WILDERNESS

When Daria agreed to take the job at The Wilderness Resort, she couldn’t help but think that it was a bit too on the nose for a repeat of The Shining. A resort closed for the season—check. Said resort was in a remote location in the mountains—check. She was a writer trying to finish her work—check. Haunted twins? She had no idea. Nothing she read about the resort hinted at any type of haunting—in fact the resort was only eight years old, so no old-timey parties to be conjured up from the past. As far as she could tell, no one had ever died there. And she certainly did not have the “shine.” And definitely could not see dead people (different movie, same premise).

It wasn’t that kind of resort. It was small, only twenty rooms—not the grand Overlook Hotel from the book. And there was no big old cranky boiler in the basement constantly threatening to blow the place to kingdom come. It was rustic-modern. There were stables, a riding centre, some out buildings, and the resort itself.  

She’d been told by general manager, Hans Hanson, that The Wilderness job was fairly straightforward—that’s how he referred to it, as The Wilderness, as if it was the one and only, and all other wilderness resorts were less than. The Wilderness had a state-of-the-art security and safety system. It had top tier fire suppression equipment, a direct link to emergency services in town, about an hour away (in good weather). It also had a back-up generator if the power went out, with a significant supply of fuel to keep it going. There was a satellite phone for emergencies with both nine-one-one and the ranger station preprogrammed into it. And to her utter relief, both Starlink and a cell booster. She couldn’t be happier. The ranger station was about halfway between town and The Wilderness. If she needed help, she could make it down the mountain in about thirty minutes. Yes, she was alone in the hotel, but she was pretty close to other people, and she had all the tech needed to stay in touch with the outside world.

Hans, who had also either read The Shining or had seen the movie, assured her that there were no topiary animals, nor was there a hedge maze to get lost in. Daria laughed, obligingly. No need to let him know that maybe she was a little nervous about the coming six months. He must have seen it in her face.  

“You can have guests, if you wish. No need to spend all your time alone.”

Daria sighed audibly. She wasn’t sure who she would invite up, but she was definitely going to invite someone or someones up. Hans also told her that he had hired a Mr. Will Campbell on retainer to visit the hotel just to check on her and make sure everything was good and going well.

“Unfortunately,” said Hans, “Mr. Campbell is away from town this week, and I won’t be able to make the proper introductions today, but I’ve scheduled his first visit two weeks from now, on Wednesday to get acquainted. Mr. Campbell is also a handyman and I have him on retainer to fix anything that may go wrong or need repair. His contract information is in the office.”

 Daria nodded, wishing she had a photo of the man.

He cleared his throat. “And, there’s one more thing.”

Daria looked at him cautiously. She hated last-minute surprises. “Okay,” she said, tentatively.

“Chloe,” said Hans.

Chloe? Who was Chloe? Was there actually a ghost living in The Wilderness named Chole? Was Chloe a disgruntled employee who vowed revenge on those who took her job? Was she the last caretaker who mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again?

Chloe?” asked Daria out loud.

Instead of answering her, Hans whistled—a short, sharp whistle. A black and white border collie ran into the room, and sat beside Hans’s chair, wagging her tail. He smiled. “This is Chloe. She is the shepherd, Dominic’s dog, but Dominic was called back to Spain for a family emergency.”

“Shepherd?” asked Daria.

“Yes. The Wilderness has a flock of forty sheep—for grounds maintenance, and wool. It’s part of the reduced environmental footprint that we strive for here. In the winter they are moved down south. Dominic usually travels with them, and takes Chloe. This year, only the flock travelled south with neither Chloe nor Dominic.” He paused and smiled at Chloe. “I was hoping that you could keep Chloe this winter.” He bent down and rubbed Chloe’s head. He looked back up. “If not, she can stay with me until Dominic returns. Unfortunately, I live in a condo during the winter, in Mexico. I’m afraid a move like that will be difficult for her. It’s a long flight, and I don’t think she’s ever been in an urban environment.”

Daria leaned over and looked at Chloe. She looked like she was smiling. Daria had always had a dog growing up, so she wasn’t worried about looking after her. “Is she friendly?” she asked, moving her hand forward. As if she understood, Chloe walked over, sniffed Daria’s hand, put her head under her palm, and pushed up.

“I think she wants you to rub her head,” said Hans, smiling.

So Daria did. Chloe moaned, then twisted around so that her back was under Daria’s hand. Daria gave her butt scritches.

“She’s very affectionate,” said Hans. He paused. “She’s also very well-trained, and is very comfortable with the resort.” He looked at Daria. “This is her home. Without Domenic, this is all that she has left of her usual life.”

Daria smiled at Hans and Chloe. “I’m sure we’ll get along. Maybe she can help me write my book. And, I won’t be alone, so that’s a bonus.”

“Wonderful!” said Hans, clapping his hands together. “I’ve created a document with all her needs—food, which we have a large store in the pantry—commands, activities. Her bed is in the horse barn. We can move it into your apartment if you like …” As he continued talking about Chloe, Daria hoped that she had made the right decision.  

For the next hour and a half, they walked the property. Hans showed her the garage with the resort’s vehicles—a Kubota tractor with the snow plow already attached. Hans reminded her that the best way to maintain the private road and driveway was to keep up with the snow. He reiterated that some winters they received upwards of ten feet of snow, all told. He stressed that she needed to police the snow so that Mr. Campbell could get to the property. Or Emergency Services if there was a problem. There were also three pickup trucks, each with the resort’s logo on the side, two snowmobiles, and an all-weather ATV. Hans reassured her that there was more than enough fuel in the gas reserves for both the generator and all the vehicles. He asked that she start the vehicles weekly, just to ensure that they didn’t sit idle all winter.

Next was the barn—which had an enormous attached indoor arena. There were no horses now, but Daria counted six empty stalls. Apparently they went south in the winter as well. There were staff bunk houses, but they had been cleared out, and winterized, so she had no reason to go in there. There was the pool area, and change house, also put to bed for the season.

Back in the main lodge, Hans showed her the pantry (stocked to the ceiling), the kitchen, the wood shed, the office—replete with a number of coloured folders, each labelled for different aspect of care for The Wilderness. And their final stop was her apartment. It was a two bedroom suite, complete with a kitchenette if she didn’t want to use the main kitchen. She had satellite television, a fire stick, and about a million channels if she wanted to watch cable, as well as every streaming platform out there. Daria was hoping that the siren call of binge watching all the reality shows wouldn’t keep her from her writing. 

Then it was time for Hans to leave. “I know this is a lot. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.” He smiled. “In fact, I would be surprised if you didn’t call me. I’m sure that I have forgotten something.”

As he drove down the driveway and on to the private road, Daria felt the isolation of The Wilderness swoop in. She looked down at Chloe. “Well, girl, it’s just you and me now. I hope we’re ready for this.”

The first few days were a bit scattered. The majority of her time was spent getting acquainted with the grounds and the resort itself.  But within a couple of days she was settling into a pretty solid routine. The weather was lovely—crisp fall days, and cold evenings—not winter cold, but Daria could feel it coming. She hiked the paths criss-crossing the property, Chloe at her side. Hans had reminded her that there were predators in the mountains and it was imperative that she be armed once she left the compound. Daria didn’t like guns, but she understood the need. She was no match for a grizzly, or a wolf, or a cougar. Pretty soon the grizzlies would be denning down for the winter, but right now it was fat bear season, and they would be very active, looking for food. She knew to never get between a hungry grizz and berries. Wolves and cougars would be stressed once the snow came, making her and Chloe targets for the hungry predators.

She was getting a lot of writing done. If she continued this pace, she might be able to start on volume two of her magical realism trilogy. And, because The Wilderness was as technically dialled-in as you can be on a mountain top, Daria would be able to send her agent chunks of her completed work. This, Daria believed, was going to be a good opportunity to get stuff done!

She’d been at The Wilderness for about two weeks when she heard tires crunching on the driveway. Well, that and Chloe’s barking.  She walked out of the barn where she’d been creating an agility course for Chloe. She watched as a shiny new pickup truck slowly drove towards her. When it stopped, a man, about her age, hopped out of the truck. Chloe stood behind Daria growling quietly. Daria realized that she’d never heard Chloe growl before. It put her on edge.

“Hey there!” said the man, stepping forward.

Daria was pretty sure this was Mr. Campbell—it was the second Wednesday, and Hans had said Mr. Campbell would be up.

“Can I help you?” asked Daria, keeping her distance.

“You must be the new caretaker. I’m Will Campbell. I believe the manager, Mr. Hanson, told you I’d be up today?”

He started to walk towards her, hand out to shake. Chloe darted in front of Daria and growled louder. 

This isn’t right, Daria thought.  Something’s wrong. She looked down at Chloe. Her hackles were raised along her back, her lips were curled back, teeth bared, body rigid.  

“Whoa!” said Will Campbell. He smiled weakly at Daria. “Can you, uh, call the dog off. It looks like I’m its next meal.” He took a step backwards.

“Do you have some ID?” asked Daria.

This took Will Campbell by surprise. “Didn’t Mr. Hanson tell you I’d be up today?”

“He did,” said Daria. “But I’ve never met you, so, I just want to be careful.” She didn’t smile. She trusted Chloe a lot more than she trusted this stranger, and Chloe did not like the man in front of her.

Will Campbell shrugged his shoulders and opened his arms. “What?” he joked. “Don’t I look friendly?”

Daria did not think Will Campbell looked friendly. Chloe did not think Will Campbell looked friendly, either. In fact, Daria’s creep-o-metre was clanging in her head. She said nothing.

Will Campbell shoved his hands in his front pockets, looked around. “I, uh, don’t have my wallet on me right now.”  

Was it Daria’s imagination, or was Will Campbell starting to look annoyed? 

They stood there on a beautiful autumn day, Will Campbell looking out at the vista, Daria saying nothing, Chloe growling low and menacingly.

Will Campbell took his hands out of his pockets, slapped the front of his thighs with both palms, and said. “Well, I guess I’ll be going.” He turned and walked back to his truck, started it up, turned around, and sped down the driveway, a rooster plume of dust following him.

Daria watched until he disappeared, turned on her heel, and ran into the resort and straight to the office. She picked up the fuchsia coloured file folder labelled “Contact Information,” opened it, and called Hans’s cell number.

“Daria!” he said. “Is everything okay?”

Daria took a deep breath. “Has Chloe met Will Campbell?”

“Yes,” he said, a note of concern in his voice. “Why?” 

Daria recounted Chloe’s reaction to Will Campbell.

Hans was silent for a few moments. “That’s not Chloe’s usual behaviour. Will regularly brings his dog Earl with him, and the two play together well.”

“What does Will Campbell look like?” asked Daria, a knot forming in her stomach.

“Well,” said Hans. “He’s about my age, forty, forty-five, curly dark hair, going grey, full beard.”

“The guy claiming to be Will Campbell was no older than thirty, blonde hair, no beard.”

“Just a minute,” said Hans. Daria could hear him clicking something on his phone. “Daria, I just pulled up the CCTV feed from the front yard. The man who visited The Wilderness today is Cal Joseph, not Will Campbell. He’s a former employee.” He paused. “He was fired for making inappropriate advances towards a female guest.” Another pause. “Once he was terminated, three female members of staff came forward with complaints of inappropriate touching, sexual assault. Charges were filed, but he disappeared before he could be arrested. Daria, he is a dangerous man.”

Daria felt her heart pounding in her chest. Chloe, sensing Daria’s angst, leaned against her leg.

“I’m going to call the police, Daria. I will call you back.” 

Hans hung up, and Daria looked around the main building. She had to lock it down. If this Cal Joseph guy had the balls to show up pretending to be Will Campbell, he’d have the balls to break in. She didn’t know what he wanted, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. She ran around the building making sure that all the doors and windows were locked, and the security system was engaged. Then she sat and waited, Chloe on one side, the rifle on the other.

Hans called back. “Daria, there’s no one available at the police station right now. There’s some sort of horrific traffic accident. The dispatcher assured me that she would send the first available officer your way, but it could be a number of hours.”

Daria’s heart sank. What if the guy came back? “Hans, can you contact Will Campbell? I have a bad feeling that something’s happened. How did this Cal Joseph person know about my appointment with Will Campbell?”

Hans was quiet for a moment. “Yes, I will. And I’ll share your concerns with the police.” He paused. “Maybe you should leave, go into town. They have a few lovely B and Bs that I’m sure would have vacancies now that tourist season is over. Charge it to The Wilderness.”

Daria like the sound of that. But, she couldn’t do it. “No, I’m going to stay.”

“I’m serious, Daria. Cal Joseph is dangerous. I’d feel better if you were around other people.”

As tempting as the offer was, she couldn’t be running off every time something went wrong.  No she was going to stay. “Thank you, Hans, but I’m going to stay. It’s my job.”

Later that night, she heard the fire alarm blaring from the control panel. There was a fire in the barn. Her first instinct was to rush out. But what if Cal Joseph was out there? She knew that the fire suppression equipment would inundate the building with water. There was really nothing she could do. The land line rang. Daria snatched it up.  

“This is the security company. We have received a fire alarm from your address. The fire is in the barn. Can you confirm that this information is true?”

Chloe looked out the window. “Yes. I see smoke coming out the doors.”

“Fire services have been dispatched.”

Daria knew that it would be about an hour before they arrived. 

That’s when she heard glass breaking at the back of the house.

*****

When the police and fire arrived, they were unprepared for what they saw. First suppression equipment had worked as expected, and the fire was out before the truck had made it up a quarter of the way up the mountain. The damage was contained to the immediate area by the barn doors.

Second, Cal Joseph was found duct taped to a chair, his nose broken, a number of dog bites on his arms and legs. He was arrested.

After everyone left, and after she assured Hans that everything was okay, she looked at Chloe and smiled. “Only five and a half months to go.”