Timberline Trail Read Free

brown-checked recliner directly in front so she could enjoy the warmth of the crackling fire on long winter nights. The highly polished pine floorboards were covered in thick rag rugs whose vivid interwoven designs of brown and red complemented the beautiful golden-brown flooring. The right hand side of the room boasted a large blue and brown sleeper couch set at an angle and behind that stood a huge built-in bookcase jammed so full of books that Tia could be snowbound for six months and not make a dent. A large cabinet, in which a medium-sized TV and VCR were discreetly hidden behind closed doors, was pushed against the wall; and inside, a lavish display of jackets indicated over four hundred videos. A plastic bag rested nonchalantly upon the floor where five new tapes waited to join their comrades inside the cabinet.
    A gun case with her father’s three hunting rifles and ample ammunition was locked on the remaining wall space and Tia never opened it even though her father had trained her w ell, since a reliable weapon is always necessary in the untamed Alaskan wilderness. Positioned next to the gun cabinet and facing an incredible floor-to-ceiling arched window overlooking the lovely forest was her mini-gym consisting of a well-used treadmill, a stair step machine, a rowing machine, a small muscle-building set with hand weights, a slanted push-up bench, and her favorite, the arm and torso machine. It had been a major hassle hauling the awkward equipment to the remote cabin and her father had complained bitterly, but Tia knew it was the best method for keeping in shape and releasing cabin fever during the long, dark winter.
    To the left o f the small cabin nestled a good-sized kitchen installed with lovely pine cabinets and a center island. Tia admitted the kitchen seemed like a modern assault on the quaint design of the rest of the small cabin, but she loved it anyway. A large square table, hand-crafted by her uncle and accompanied by four leather-strung chairs in matching pine complemented the set. She’d placed the handsome table to the left of the entryway to minimize the draft from the front door. The cabin only had two bedrooms, if you could call the second office-sized room one. A powerful computer used by her father during his infrequent visits and a bookshelf loaded with all the trappings of the writing trade, as well as a CD player, filled the compact room. Anthony’s pine filing cabinet stuffed with her father’s papers and ideas were a constant reminder of her Dad’s preoccupation with his work.
    Latch hook rugs made by her mother during the last days of her life covered the walls , and one cluster of bright sunflowers reminded Tia painfully of her lovely mother, lost too young to ovarian cancer. A single bed, used more like a couch, hugged the wall and Tia would often lay there listening to Enya or REM or even old singers like The Mamas and the Papas. The master bedroom was three times the size of the office and had its own small fireplace and large French doors opening onto the forest. Designed by her father and housing triple panes and a solid cedar frame of nearly two inches thick, no bitter chill could invade the comfort of this cozy room!
    A huge king-sized bed dominated the room and still retained the masculine black and brown comforter her father had personally chosen. His taste has run to the dark rustic colors and trappings, but Tia had softened the room by placing pink silk flowers in a large vase and hanging a colorful reprint of Matisse’s famous bridge over the vanity. A spacious cedar walk-in closet and a very modern en-suite bathroom with a huge shower and tub, warmed by a large water heater hidden behind a tasteful closet, adjoined the oversized bedroom. The lovely bathroom, tiled in pale brown and occasional sea shell squares, reminded Tia of the distant Pacific Ocean. Her father had installed Scandinavian under-floor heating in both bathrooms and it was delightful to soak in the huge tub