Murder on Display (Hygge Hideaway Cozy Mysteries Book 1) by Thea Cambert

Author:Thea Cambert [Cambert, Thea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summer Prescott Books
Published: 2021-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The Pronghorn Trail was considered advanced on the scale of hiking difficulty, so Esme hoped that she and Ethan would cross paths with Ace and Winona before things got too hairy.

“Are we sure we want to capture this on film?” Esme asked as she tightened the straps on her snowshoes.

“Absolutely,” said Ethan, taking out his pocket-sized video camera. “Now, as we head down the trail, just do what you would naturally do.”

“Got it,” said Esme. She took a step and tripped over her right snowshoe. “Did you get that?”

Ethan lowered his camera and cleared his throat. “Take two.”

Esme righted herself, pointed the snowshoes down the trail, and began to walk along Pronghorn. Soon, she got into the rhythm of walking in the shoes, widening her stride to make it easier. All was calm and quiet, the whole world muffled by a blanket of white, the only sounds the crunch of the snow under her feet, the songs of the fluttering leaves, the birds, and the distant Beaver Creek.

“Talk to me, Esme,” said Ethan from behind her. “Tell the viewers what you see.”

Esme stopped and looked around her. “It’s beautiful here,” she said, smiling back over her shoulder. Then she walked on. “The air is indescribable. It’s crisp and fresh and . . . life is somehow simpler here.” She stopped walking and looked back at Ethan. “It reminds me of what Henry David Thoreau wrote, in Walden: I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach . . .” She paused and thought of Ted, now gone from this earth. “. . . and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

The wind blew softly, and Esme felt the tickle of her hair moving around since she’d lowered her hood. “I think that’s what we’re doing out here—living in a tiny house, simplifying our lives. We’re trying to live deliberately. Mindfully. Here, it’s easy to connect to what matters most in life.” She turned and walked on.

“And cut!” Ethan snapped the lens cover back onto his camera and returned it to his bag. “That was perfect. I’ll take a few still shots along the trail and then edit this and try to upload it when we get back.”

“Sounds good.”

“You’re a natural.”

“Well, this time I just said what was on my mind.”

“It was perfect.”

“Can we take off these snowshoes now? The trail is getting steeper.”

“Good idea. Plus, I brought snacks.”

They sat down on an obliging stone and unstrapped the shoes. Esme took a deep breath of the glorious air as Ethan spread a napkin on the rock and set out nuts and apples.

“You think of everything, don’t you?” said Esme, picking up an apple and taking a bite.

“I try to always be prepared,” Ethan said, popping an almond into his mouth.

“Like a Boy Scout?”

He grinned. “Eagle Scout.” He gave her a little three-fingered salute.

They sat there in companionable silence, eating their snacks and taking swigs from their water bottles.

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