Knowing the Watch: #7 (Where Sage Meets Sky Series)

Ash locked the bookstore and headed for Mountain Time’s back room. She looked at the mountains and shivered.

Mountain Time's back room glowed with coffee, warmth and company while snow fell outside. Ash's hands trembled slightly as she checked her phone for the hundredth time - no updates from Sarah's rescue operation on Saddle Peak. Tom, whose husband Dave was also on the SAR team, recognized the look in her eyes.

"Come here," he said gently, spreading a worn topographical map across the work table. Coffee stains marked its corners, evidence of many such sessions. "Let me introduce you to the mountains that are watching over them right now."

Mattie appeared with fresh coffee - her special "waiting blend" that somehow tasted of comfort and hope. She settled beside them as Tom's weathered finger traced the Bridger Range's dramatic spine.

"The Crow people call this 'Where Eagle Sits,'" he said softly. His other hand unconsciously touched the wedding ring Dave had placed there fifteen years ago. "And they're up there right now, our loved ones, moving through those ancient rocks like eagles themselves."

His finger found Sacagawea Peak. "See how the limestone cliffs catch afternoon light? That's five hundred million years of seabed, turned vertical by forces we can barely imagine. The same formations that look intimidating actually provide perfect anchor points for rescue operations."

Ash leaned closer, letting the familiar academic details settle her nerves. "The Madison Limestone formations?"

"Exactly." Tom smiled. "Those layers of ancient sea creatures now...