Claw Heart Mountain


 
 
 
 
 CLAW HEART MOUNTAIN
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DAVID OPPEGAARD
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CONTENTS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Part I
 
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 Chapter 2
 
 
 Chapter 3
 
 
 Chapter 4
 
 
 Chapter 5
 
 
 Chapter 6
 
 
 Chapter 7
 
 
 Chapter 8
 
 
 Chapter 9
 
 
 Chapter 10
 
 
 Chapter 11
 
 
 Chapter 12
 
 
 Chapter 13
 
 
 Chapter 14
 
 
 
 
 
 Part II
 
 
 
 Chapter 15
 
 
 Chapter 16
 
 
 Chapter 17
 
 
 Chapter 18
 
 
 Chapter 19
 
 
 Chapter 20
 
 
 Chapter 21
 
 
 Chapter 22
 
 
 Chapter 23
 
 
 Chapter 24
 
 
 Chapter 25
 
 
 Chapter 26
 
 
 Chapter 27
 
 
 Chapter 28
 
 
 Chapter 29
 
 
 Chapter 30
 
 
 Chapter 31
 
 
 Chapter 32
 
 
 Chapter 33
 
 
 
 
 
 Part III
 
 
 
 Chapter 34
 
 
 Chapter 35
 
 
 Chapter 36
 
 
 Chapter 37
 
 
 Chapter 38
 
 
 Chapter 39
 
 
 Chapter 40
 
 
 Chapter 41
 
 
 Chapter 42
 
 
 Chapter 43
 
 
 Chapter 44
 
 
 Chapter 45
 
 
 Epilogue
 
 
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 About the Author
 
 
 More from CamCat Books
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 
 
 More Spine-tingling Reads from CamCat Books
 
 
 CamCat Books
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CamCat Publishing, LLC
 Brentwood, Tennessee 37027
 camcatpublishing.com
 
 
 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 © 2023 by David Oppegaard
 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address CamCat Publishing, 101 Creekside Crossing Suite 280, Brentwood, TN 37027.
 
 
 Hardcover ISBN 9780744307504
 Paperback ISBN 9780744307511
 Large-Print Paperback ISBN 9780744307528
 eBook ISBN 9780744307535
 Audiobook ISBN 9780744307559
 
 
 Library of Congress Control Number: 2022941978
 Cover and book design by Maryann Appel
 5 3 1 2 4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 For Joyce Jorgenson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PART I
 
 
 
 
 
 
 WINDFALL
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Claw Heart Mountain sat apart from everything, like a forgotten god hunkered in thought. It looked both eternal and lonely, without a friend in sight, surrounded by rolling hills dotted in sagebrush and cheatgrass, the summer sky a hazy blue above it. Nova watched the mountain through the SUV’s windshield, hypnotized by its looming presence. She was driving, while Mackenna sat in the front passenger seat, playing a game on her phone. The three dudes—Landon, Isaac, and Wyatt—were sprawled in the SUV’s two-tiered backseat. Landon and Wyatt were asleep, while Isaac listened to music on his earbuds.
 The SUV was quiet except for the soft whir of the air-conditioning fans. Nova didn’t like listening to music or talk radio when she drove; she preferred to focus on driving, which she took seriously. The SUV, some kind of luxury Mercedes and probably super expensive, belonged to Mackenna’s wealthy family. At eighteen, Nova didn’t have much driving experience. She was worried she’d wreck the vehicle in a random accident, get everybody mad at her, and ruin her driving record before it had really started.
 A petite five-two, Nova felt slightly ridiculous piloting such a massive beast of a vehicle, like a toad telling a dragon what to do. Still, they’d made it this far. They’d left Greenwood Village, a suburb in south Denver, later than planned, because predictably, Mackenna had shown up late. Mackenna had driven for the first two hours, through the traffic of Denver and into the mountains, before asking Nova to take over. Nova protested, hoping Landon, Mackenna’s boyfriend, or one of the other guys would take the wheel, but it turned out all three of the dudes had eaten marijuana gummies before they’d even left Greenwood Village. She should have known. This was their big end-of-summer road trip before returning to college, so naturally they’d be stoned from the get-go.
 They’d all gone to the same prep academy in the Denver suburbs. Nova, a year younger than the others, had just enrolled as a freshman at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, where the others would be sophomores. Nova had told her parents she’d be spending the next three nights with Mackenna’s entire family at a cabin in Vail. This was partially true—they were going to stay at one of the Wolcotts’ cabins—but it was her family’s cabin on Claw Heart Mountain, across the state border in Wyoming, and Mackenna’s parents would not join them.
 Nova didn’t like lying to her sweet, trusting parents (and this trip was by far the largest lie Nova had ever told them) but she knew they would have said no. It was the end of a long summer for Nova—a summer that had started with getting dumped by her boyfriend—and she’d grown tired of hanging around her house and her lame suburban neighborhood, going for walks and eating her dad’s overcooked barbecue. The memory of endless time on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic still fresh (sometimes it felt like being stuck at home, bored, had been her entire teenage life), by mid-August Nova had finally reached