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Her new favorite drink was hot black tea. She relished it with their daily antipasto-type lunches, which she started to look forward to. The afternoon activity was her choice as long as it involved doing something. The hungry pangs seemed to disappear after a few weeks.
When the snow got heavy they pulled out the snow shoes; a new experience for her. There were no skis at the lodge. Her clothing was getting a bit loose. Logan didn't have a scale. She enjoyed her daily hot showers but was disappointed that there was no sauna.
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As the season changed the weather changed and as the weather changed the workouts changed. At first, there were no real workouts as such. Sherry just kept busy with her walks and fitness room workouts. She was just playing around with the equipment as a way to keep busy. Logan would join her most time. Slowly she started getting serious about what she was doing. She found that she enjoyed the rowing machine. She started to head for that first thing in the morning. The first month she was doing a thousand meters just to warm up. Soon it was up to two thousand and within two months she was doing three thousand meters. Every day the time it took her to complete got shorter and shorter.
When the snow was too heavy, she spent her afternoons on the treadmill. For the first two months, she was just walking, but then she started to jog. Logan gave her an MP3 player; one channel had songs and the other had Spanish lessons. She had once mentioned to Logan that she had always wanted to learn to speak Spanish.
The meals had become routine and pretty standard. After she passed the KETO flu phase, it got a bit easier. Friday she got a little break; it was popcorn night.
Christmas came and Logan got her a whole new wardrobe. They celebrated by burning all of her old stuff. She had no idea how many pounds she had lost, but she did know it was quite a few inches. She felt bad because she had nothing to give him.
She needed to have her hair done. She needed a manicure. She missed her last two dental hygiene visits. She started to make a mental list of things that she would do after she got out of there. It was not serious. She was no longer dwelling constantly about leaving. She had become used to her status. She wondered if he was still using that mushroom incense.
Every two weeks or so, a boat would arrive with supplies. It would pull up at the end of the long dock, pick up a few things that Logan had left there, and drop off all of the new stuff. Later, Logan would drive the SUV to the end of the dock and collect everything. Occasionally, if the lake was too frozen, the boat would not show up.
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The best part of the day was after supper. It didn't matter if it was game night or movie night, it was always enjoyable. She didn't enjoy chess, but she was getting pretty good at GO and Parcheesi.
It was over two months before Logan and Sherry started to have actual conversations. He knew all about her, but she knew nothing about him. He seemed more open to talking on popcorn night.
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Logan had married right out of college. They both started working for different dot-com companies in San Jose and both took max stock options. In ten years they were ultra-wealthy but had no kids. Thousands and thousands of dollars did not help the situation and Mavis became extremely depressed. What good was all that money if they had no family? She refused to adopt. She refused counseling. She started drinking. Her drinking became obsessive. Before she died from it, two years later. She made Logan promise to do something to help other women with problems. She apologized for not allowing him to help her.
Sherry had no way to verify the story and she didn't want to. If that is what he said happened, she would just accept it. It was bull shit, but at least it was a sort of an explanation.
They usually shared the couch on movie night with one big popcorn bowl. Once in a while, Sherry would nod off during the movie and found Logan's shoulder to be a convenient pillow. By the time, winter came to an end they were often waking up, in the morning, on the couch together. There were no advances made by either of them.
After five months, Sherry was in pretty good shape except for an unsightly bunch of excess skin. It wasn't as gross as it would have been if she had been over five hundred pounds, but it still was apparent. Logan surprised her with another new set of clothes. It seemed that he liked her in Land's End and L.L.Bean style clothing. She didn't complain.
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"I got you a new toy." Sherry was all ears.
"This is a handheld GPS unit. It is accurate to within three feet."
"It is just like the program on the cell phones?"
"Yeah! Pretty much so, but instead of using addresses, it finds map coordinates."
"Like geocaching?"
"Exactly. You know about geocaching?"
"I used to do it with some friends years ago, before smartphones. It wasn't serious, just some weekend fun." Sherry did not want to tell him that she was an experienced Geocacher and had over two thousand finds to her credit.
"So, I don't have to teach you how to use it then?"
"No! But I have to know what I am looking for."
Logan tossed her the GPS unit. "Your target is called 'prize 1'. Go get it!"
It took her only a few minutes to get her boots and jacket on. She fired it up as Logan watched. He was amazed that she knew exactly what she was doing. A short while later she had her satellites and was logged on to prize 1.
"Damn Logan. That's over a half mile away."
"Is that too hard for you?"
She gave him the finger, jumped off the porch, and took off.
Logan was snickering as he went inside and logged on to the computer. He could follow her with the tracker in her jacket hood. He was fairly pleased with himself, not realizing that he had made a fatal mistake.
Two hours later she was back. He was sitting on one of the porch rockers when she walked up with a blank face. "You didn't find it did you?"
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Snickers candy bar wrapper. She grinned as she waved it in front of him. "Ta Da! Got it."
Logan laughed. "You couldn't wait until you got back?"
"No way. That is the first I had in months. I gave it a merciful death." She tossed him the GPS and they went into the lodge for lunch. They both seemed to enjoy that it went so well.
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After lunch, they sat in front of the fireplace with coffee and tea. She hadn't started her afternoon workout yet.
"Logan, we have to talk!"
He cringed when he heard it. "Can it wait until tonight?"
"I guess so. I just wanted to know what the timetable is like. Angel went home after four months and Maggie stayed five. Isn't it about time for me to go back?"
He didn't say anything. After a few seconds, he just got up and took his empty cup back to the kitchen. Sherry moved to the fitness room and started to row. Logan took the SUV to recover the ammo box that the candy bar was hidden in. Next time, he would use a smaller container so that she could bring it back with her.
After reaching her target that morning, she first got comfortable to enjoy her candy, then she started scanning with the GPS. She expanded the search area bit by bit until she finally got the hint of a road. She marked the closest point. It was twelve miles as the crow flies from her present location. That means that it could be up to twice that on the ground. She switched to terrain mode and was able to determine that she could circumvent most of the higher ground if she planned properly. It might be a bit longer, but a lot easier. She could not do it in one day. Before starting back, she erased all evidence of her probing.
After supper, Logan said that he was not ready to talk about her return yet. He excused himself and went to his room. Sherry grabbed one of the Sue Grafton novels and got comfortable. She was up to the letter 'H'. Unfortunately, she could not concentrate. She decided instead to start planning.
She had a plan. She had a project. It wasn't that she was dying to get away from Logan or the lodge, it was more like a challenge. It was like game night in the real world. She got excited thinking about it. For the first time, she felt that she was not going to be completely open with Logan. It was not going to be a desperation project; it was going to be fun. To do it right she was going to have to make a list of everything that she would need and then figure out how to gather it all together secretly.
The next morning everything was back to normal. She did thirty minutes on the rower and another thirty on the treadmill. She decided that she had to add more treadmill time to her daily routine. She had preferred to wear her sketchers when she walked, but the hiking boots would be better for the longer trip.
There were some emergency thermal blankets in the utility shed. That was her best choice since she had no access to a tent. It was still chilly at night, but not freezing. She grabbed one and hid it away.
It was two days later when he gave her another cache challenge; prize 2. She was ready this time. She wore her hiking boots. Pencil and paper were the most important things that she needed. Logan was glad that she seemed to enjoy the new exercise. Little did he know. It took a bit longer to get to her destination but she didn't mind. She figured it was all part of her training. This time her Snicker Bar was in a thermos bottle. Logan asked her to bring it back so that he would not have to retrieve it. She didn't eat it this time even though it was tempting. She would save it for her trip.
The coordinates for the lodge were in the GPS. She carefully wrote them down and double-checked to make sure that she had them right. She then expanded the search area until she found the road she had seen the first time. She marked it and then carefully copied down those coordinates. She used the topographic page to set waymarks so that she could easily bypass the steeper areas. It all seemed too easy. She went over everything again to make sure she didn't miss something. She erased the new marks and started back.
The weather was beautiful.
By the time the next cache challenge came around, Sherry had a nice little stash of food saved up. There were always low-carb snacks around to nibble on, so she just put a few away every day. She loaded up on carrots sticks, nuts, and pumpkin seeds. She squirreled away a couple of avocados and some string cheese.
Prize 3 came on the next Saturday morning. She was anxious to get started but felt bad about deceiving Logan. For some reason, before she started for the cache, she kissed Logan on the cheek; something she had never done before.
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The Great Escape was underfoot. Sherry did not think of the endeavor as an escape. It was a conflict in more ways than one. Yes; she was being held captive, but she did not feel threatened in any way. There was no great urge to get away, it just seemed like a fun and timely thing to do. She could not explain it. She had other things to worry about.
Prize 3 was located in the wrong direction. She had to go out of her way and then swing wide around the back of the house so that Logan would not see her. She was not aware of the tracker in the hood of her jacket. When she was about a half mile from the lodge, she sat down and carefully entered her new cache coordinate and the waymarks she would need to get there. Now things would get serious. She was able to follow the established trails for a while, but eventually, she had to head cross-country. The going got a bit rougher but still doable.
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It was several hours later when Logan decided to check Sherry's progress. He figured that she should be getting back by now. The AirTag location popped right up. She was almost three miles away and it was obvious that she was not going for the cache. From the map location, he knew that it would not be possible to use the SUV to track her down. Any attempt to catch her now would just be a wasted effort. He leaned back in his chair. He was confused. He didn't know if he was mad because she left, or proud because she felt brave enough to attempt it. Was he sad, mad, or glad?
He could not follow her. The best that he could do was to anticipate where she was going and beat her there. It was easy to see where she was going from the satellite maps. It was a bit harder to determine how long it was going to take her to get there. He got a fresh cup of coffee and started to work on his problem.
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Sherry was making better time than she thought she would. Unfortunately, it would still require her to stay overnight in the woods. If everything went well she should reach the highway by mid-morning. She made a few planning mistakes. She didn't bring enough water or toilet paper, but the big problem is that she did not bring any matches or anything to start a fire with. The thermal blanket was a godsend. It was still a cold and uncomfortable night, but she survived. She was glad that she brought plenty of snacks. In a few hours, she would be back to civilization.
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It took two hours for Hickman to arrive at the lodge. Hickman was Logan's contact point in the real world; a retired Air Force Master Sergeant. Logan paid him well and in return, Hickman did his job well. In addition to delivering all the supplies for the lodge, he made sure that the propane and nitrogen tanks were always full. He also took care of Logan's mail and other requirements. The evening boat ride was cool, but they got to split a rack of ribs to recover. Logan spent the night at Hickman's and was on the road early the next morning. It took him two hours to drive around the mountains to reach Sherry's anticipated extraction point. His laptop was charged up and it only took a few moments to pull up her AirTag. She was still about a mile from the highway. He found a place about a half mile East where he could pull off the road without being seen.
There was steady, but light traffic on the highway; with more commercial vehicles than private cars. The Air/tag was getting closer and about thirty minutes later he spotted her blue jacket on the roadside. The first two cars passed her by without even slowing down. The third was a fully loaded timber truck. She had to jog down the road a bit to reach it.
There did not seem to be anything that Logan could do to make this all turn out right. His first impulse was to pick her up and take her back. He quickly rejected that option. Now that she had a ride, he felt obligated to follow and make sure she was safe. About thirty minutes later they finally reached a lightly civilized area. The big rig pulled over in front of the Madison County Medical Center. Sherry waved goodbye to her benefactor and entered the building. Logan breathed a sigh of relief and started a slow drive back to the lodge.
He made a mistake. A big mistake.
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Logan stayed with Hickman for the next two days. Hickman had beer and Hickman had the hard stuff. Logan was not a professional drinker so he did not handle it well. By the second day, the miraculous reappearance of Sherry Barr was the hot national news. Within hours she had been transported back to LA. It was hard to tell who was after her the most: the media, the different level police agencies, or the internet. Logan found it particularly interesting that she was talking about being gone for five months, and never really said anything. He cringed when she said the word 'Kernow' during one of the interviews, but it never went further than that. She used the words 'spa' and 'rehab' several times without clarifying anything.
"What are you smiling about, boss?" Hickman was afraid that Logan was going to have a problem, but instead, he seemed to be amused.
"She's blowing smoke, Sarge. She is putting on a hell of a show, but it is all bull shit. I think we are going to be Okay."
"What does that mean?"
"It means we are going to go back to the lodge; clean it all up, and get ready for our next guest."
"Don't you think that you might be rushing it a bit?"
"Maybe! You might be right. How about we take a couple of months off and do a little fishing? We still have to clean out the lodge first."
"Err, boss. I don't want to be pushy, but I think a week or so at Tahoe or Reno would be a nice little distraction." Hickman gave him a little shrug and a small smile.
"You got it!"
"And then do a little fishing?"
"Don't push it!"
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Sherry was overwhelmed with lawyers, agents, police officials, and the media. Claiming excessive stress from the ordeal she was able to get herself admitted to a medical retreat, near Palm Springs, which also included privacy. Her lawyers were able to find a facility that also specialized in bariatric surgery. She was not looking forward to any more isolation, but this had to be done. It also gave her time to do some planning. First, she had to locate Angel and Maggie. Guess what she found with Google; Satellite Views. Things were looking good.
Her skin problems were not as bad as anticipated. She had more skin elasticity than she had thought but still would benefit from some selective removal. It was also a bit more painful than she had thought it would be.
She kept in touch with her lawyer, her agent, and, her parents. Her parents flew in from Sydney, Iowa but could only stay a few days. They were not that close. Things took an interesting change a week later. A mysterious lady, named Estelle Desser, had contacted her agent, left her phone number, and told her to tell Sherry that she had also been to Kernow.
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The first three times Sherry called the number she got no answer. She did not leave a message. The fourth time it worked.
"Hello! Ms Desser. This is Sherry Barr. I am, so to speak, returning your call."
"Yes. I thought that we should speak." "Are you a reporter or a journalist Ms Dresser?"
"No! Please call me Estelle. I am just another woman who got to spend some time with Logan. I thought that you might be interested."
"Why didn't anybody know about this before? I never mentioned Logan. How did you know about him?"
"You mentioned 'Kernow'. We both know that Logan is 'Kernow', don't we? No one knows about me, because I was not a public figure like you and Angel and Maggie. I was just an average person that needed help and Logan found me. The media had no interest in me."
"What do you want?"
"From your interviews and articles, I sense that you have a rapport with Logan that you don't wish to destroy. I feel that Angel and Maggie do too. I'd like to help if I could. I owe it to Logan."
"Why was Logan helping you?"
"I'd rather not say. Could you send me an e-mail address so that we can keep in touch? Please let me help in some way. I have to go now. Thank you for calling." She seemed to end the call abruptly and curtly.
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Three months later, Maggie, Angel, and Sherry decided to meet in Taos, New Mexico. Sherry had made an extra effort to keep it low-key so there would be no media attention. They each arrived incognito and did not contact each other until the time of the meeting. It was a small private room with coffee and light snacks.
All three of them arrived at about the same time. After a few minutes of introductions and greetings, they sat down. Sherry had sort of set herself up as moderator and the other two had no trouble accepting that arrangement. Although privacy had been assured before they could get started, a fourth person entered the room.
