Chapter One Continued

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"Aah, get away from me!"

Mitch jumped up from his bed. Isabella scream sounded as if she was terribly scared. He took hold of the fire poker from his room and went to her room to find out what was going on. Grunts and squeels were coming from inside and her door was weide open. When he got to the doorway, Mitch first peeked around to scope out the situation. A greasy elderly man with a long beard and frizzy hair was trying to pull Isabella toward the open window. She bit his arm and he screamed out in pain and then threw her against the wall.

"Listen to me, woman!" He commanded, "You belong to me! You will do as I say!"

Angrily, Mitch stormed into the room, the fire poker held high above his head, "Let her go!"

The knobby hands secured around Isabella's arm tightened and her captivator pulled her in front of him. "She's mine and she belongs with me. I bought her fair and square."

"You bought her? Don't you think that this young woman should have a say in her own life?" Mitch growled, slowly walking towards them.

"This has nothin' to do with ye, mister. Just let us go and you won't get hurt." The man wobbled drunkenly as he spoke, clenching Isabella tight against him.

Isabella bit down hard on his arm again and he yelped out in pain, immediately releasing her from his grasp.

"Get behind me, Isabella!" Mitch ordered as he ran for the man who has holding onto his arm in pain.

Once he was sure Isabella was safe, Mitch took hold of the man and pulled him out of the room by the collar of his filthy shirt. "You are going to stay away from Miss Isabella and if I ever see you again, you will not be this lucky."

Mitch threw the old man out of the front door and watched him stumble over a stone and fall down clumsily. He stood up and muttered aloud, clearly angry at the nights occurances. But, he backed off into the brush and Mitch waited until he could no longer see the figure in the darkness.

After closing the door behind him, he turned around to find Isabella standing in his shirt in the kitchen. She looked pale and exhausted and her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked, walking towards her with concern in his eyes.

She nodded, clutching the shirt to her self-consciously, "Thank you for that, he was very angry."

"He will never bother you again. I will see to it." He brushed away a tear from her cheek and smiled, "Now, why don't you go on back to bed? You need a good few hours of rest yet."

Isabella whispered goodnight and crept back to her room to sleep. Would she be able to even fall asleep after what had just happened?

The Love of a Mountain Man

Chapter One

High up in the Cascade Mountains, above the luscious Fraser Valley in British Columbia, a lone man sat on the roof of his newly built log home. It had taken him five years to build and now as he sat watching the sun set as he drank coffee from a battered tin mug, Mitch Van Duren sighed with contentment. He had dreamt of this moment for a very long time and now that it had arrived, it felt surreal.

Five years ago, when he had started the project with the little money he had, Mitch's family had thought he was absolutely crazy to build a home by himself. But it was his dream and he did give up on it. He had always been considered a loner, but when his best friend, Jason Lafferty, died in a stagecoach accident, which Mitch had been driving, he withdrew completely. All his time was spent up in the mountains with only the wild animals for company and an occasional delivery man.

Mitch designed his home so that it overlooked the valley below and the Fraser River which wound its way throughout the lush forests. He had cut down the trees in front of the foundation and used them as lumber for his home. Shipments for glass windows, bath tub and other indoor plumbing took months to arrive so they were the last to be put in. Altogether, his home had five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large kitchen, diningroom and a livingroom which overlooked the valley. Of course, it all lacked a woman's touch but he wasn't in any hurry to marry.

Beside his home, Mitch had constructed a shed which he would use to make furniture. He had learnt carpentry from his Uncle James, his father's poor younger brother. James van Duren had always seemed more of a father to him, mainly because whenever Mitch's parents went on business trips, he would be sent to his Uncle's farm. The time there was spent fishing, working on the farm and, of course, constructing things with his Uncle. So, it was natural for him to want to build things for a living. His father, Charles, had been livid when Mitch confessed his dreams of carpentry. Charles had always wanted him to be a banker or a lawyer, but Mitch needed the fresh mountain air to survive. He could not handle office work, to him it seemed like being held in jail.

As the sun set in the west, Mitch finished the last drop of his coffee and than made his way down the roof to the ladder he had set up. Just as he was blowing out the lanterns in the kitchen and heading off to bed, a loud knock sounded at the front door. Groaning, he lit the lantern once again and carried it with him to the door.

Outside stood a young woman, barefooted and clothed in a dress much to short and wide for her tall body. Her brown hair hung in knots around her pale face and her blue eyes looked at him in fright.

"What's the matter?" he asked gruffly, looking around to see if anyone was with her.

Her voice shook as she spoke, "You have to hide me, sir, he's after me and I know this time he'll kill me."

Mitch frowned, "Who is after you?"

"Please..." she started to cry and her body began to shake uncontrollably, "help me."

Unsure of what to do, Mitch sighed and then gestured for her to come in. "Go into the livingroom and we'll talk. Would you like some coffee?"

The young woman nodded as she hobbled past him on blistered feet. Clearly she had been through some rough times.

In the kitchen, Mitch got out a mug and poured in the last of the coffee. Then he sliced up some bread and cheese and went back into the livingroom. After setting the tray down on the table, he handed her the coffee and settled in a chair across from her.

"My name is Mitch van Duren, I live here alone. I won't hurt you, just tell me what is wrong." He leaned forward and watched her carefully as she wrapped her hands around the mug and took a long sip of the warm liquid.

"You can call me Izzie or Isabella. I live down the mountain a ways with my Pa."

"Is he the one who is after you?"

Isabella shook her head, "No, but he might as well be."

Mitch frowned and then gave her a questioning gaze, "What do you mean by that?"

"My Pa couldn't pay the rent on our place so he promised old man Talher that he could have me as payment."

"What?" Mitch scoffed in disbelief. "He is selling you like a horse?"

She nodded as tears began to fill her eyes once more. "When he came to ge me the first time I hit him over the head with a cast iron pan. But now he came back and is very angry with me."

In shock, Mitch watched her cry and then he sighed, "Well, you are going to stay the night and get some rest. Tomorrow a woman is coming to work for me as my housekeeper. However, I still need a cook. Can you cook?"

"I've been cooking nigh on twelve years now," she replied curtly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

He nodded, "Good, we'll do a week's trial and then I'll make my decision. But for now, you could probably do with a hot bath and a warm bed, am I right?"

She smiled softly, "Thank you, Mr. van Duren. You are most certainly the answer to my prayers."

Mitch blushed but said nothing and led her to the bathroom where he showed her how to work the taps. Then, he brought her one of his shirts to sleep in and gestured to the bedroomshe could use. Once he was satisfied that she had everything she needed, Mitch went to his own room and got ready for bed.

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