watched for any path up the cliff side, they were working together as if they’d scouted as partners for years.
“Read your mind?” She snorted in a delicate female way that tightened his guts and other things a bit lower on his body. “Only a few paragraphs there.”
Her dry humor never ceased to intrigue him. He’d enjoyed her wit when they first met, but she’d lost her sense of humor when he’d tried to deepen that relationship.
“Guess we should rest up for the night.” He wanted to press on, but ever since they’d seen the female Savage, Cara had insisted on caution above and beyond what the situation called for them to use. But something in her eyes, some desperate wariness, prompted him to indulge her. He knew her well enough to not ask.
“Under one of these big pines?” Cara pointed at one of the towering trees.
The ancient evergreens’ boughs swept low and many of them touched the ground. He shook his head. “Too many damned bugs under there. Look up the cliff here. I think there’s a bench up there wide enough for the both of us, and no one can surprise us. We can see both directions on the trail and what would notice us up there above their heads?”
“Boost me up.”
He made a step with his hands. Her foot was tiny and she was ridiculously light. He lifted her with little effort until she could get a hand hold. With the strength of a warrior, she used a patch of stubborn grass as another hand hold and scrambled up further.
He lost sight of her for a moment as she moved away from the edge, but her head appeared in a moment. “It’s even bigger than it looks and relatively flat. Toss the packs up.”
ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 32
He took his hook and line out of his pack before slinging it up to her. She caught it and the others and set them aside.
“Do you need a hand?” She reached down as if she could pull his weight up.
“I’m going to jog back to that stream we passed a half mile back and see if I can catch some fish. Why don’t you clear a spot for a fire?”
“We can’t do that. For all we know there could be a pack of Savages through the next stand of trees.”
“Maybe, but we need to eat.” He took off before she could argue. She was already so thin he worried about her strength and stamina holding out. They’d been eating only one meal a day and that one was seldom filling.
He followed the stream away from the cliff where the long shadows of the cliff had yet to reach it. The rushing water still glinted with sunshine and in one spot it widened into a slower moving pool. After a quick search, he found an ugly brown crayfish to use as bait.
Fish were plentiful in the cool, clean waters but it still took him over an hour to catch four of a size to keep. One moon rose with the setting of the sun and along with it came the chirping of insects and tree frogs. He retraced the path to their camp, hoping he wasn’t leaving too obvious a trail. His boots crushed much of the new green spring growth along the stream.
The scents of parsley and even some mint caught his attention. He scooped up some handfuls and stuffed it in his pockets. A little treat.
He paused at the base of the cliff and listened. No sound and not a sight of her. Good.
“Cara?”
She came to the edge, her face and hair pale and shining against the background of dark rocks. “Is that you, idiot?”
Not happy. Now what, damn it. “I’m going to toss up some firewood.” He gathered some sticks as wide as his fingers and a few the size of his wrist. Not much heat was needed to cook fish. He couldn’t tell if she caught the wood, but at least she didn’t throw it back down at him.
He’d strung his line through the gills of the fish and now tied it around his wrist.
Hopefully they wouldn’t drip on his shirt and make it smell like fish. There was no offer of a hand to help him this time, but he didn’t need it.
The first moon threw some light into their little refuge.
“Read your mind?” She snorted in a delicate female way that tightened his guts and other things a bit lower on his body. “Only a few paragraphs there.”
Her dry humor never ceased to intrigue him. He’d enjoyed her wit when they first met, but she’d lost her sense of humor when he’d tried to deepen that relationship.
“Guess we should rest up for the night.” He wanted to press on, but ever since they’d seen the female Savage, Cara had insisted on caution above and beyond what the situation called for them to use. But something in her eyes, some desperate wariness, prompted him to indulge her. He knew her well enough to not ask.
“Under one of these big pines?” Cara pointed at one of the towering trees.
The ancient evergreens’ boughs swept low and many of them touched the ground. He shook his head. “Too many damned bugs under there. Look up the cliff here. I think there’s a bench up there wide enough for the both of us, and no one can surprise us. We can see both directions on the trail and what would notice us up there above their heads?”
“Boost me up.”
He made a step with his hands. Her foot was tiny and she was ridiculously light. He lifted her with little effort until she could get a hand hold. With the strength of a warrior, she used a patch of stubborn grass as another hand hold and scrambled up further.
He lost sight of her for a moment as she moved away from the edge, but her head appeared in a moment. “It’s even bigger than it looks and relatively flat. Toss the packs up.”
ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 32
He took his hook and line out of his pack before slinging it up to her. She caught it and the others and set them aside.
“Do you need a hand?” She reached down as if she could pull his weight up.
“I’m going to jog back to that stream we passed a half mile back and see if I can catch some fish. Why don’t you clear a spot for a fire?”
“We can’t do that. For all we know there could be a pack of Savages through the next stand of trees.”
“Maybe, but we need to eat.” He took off before she could argue. She was already so thin he worried about her strength and stamina holding out. They’d been eating only one meal a day and that one was seldom filling.
He followed the stream away from the cliff where the long shadows of the cliff had yet to reach it. The rushing water still glinted with sunshine and in one spot it widened into a slower moving pool. After a quick search, he found an ugly brown crayfish to use as bait.
Fish were plentiful in the cool, clean waters but it still took him over an hour to catch four of a size to keep. One moon rose with the setting of the sun and along with it came the chirping of insects and tree frogs. He retraced the path to their camp, hoping he wasn’t leaving too obvious a trail. His boots crushed much of the new green spring growth along the stream.
The scents of parsley and even some mint caught his attention. He scooped up some handfuls and stuffed it in his pockets. A little treat.
He paused at the base of the cliff and listened. No sound and not a sight of her. Good.
“Cara?”
She came to the edge, her face and hair pale and shining against the background of dark rocks. “Is that you, idiot?”
Not happy. Now what, damn it. “I’m going to toss up some firewood.” He gathered some sticks as wide as his fingers and a few the size of his wrist. Not much heat was needed to cook fish. He couldn’t tell if she caught the wood, but at least she didn’t throw it back down at him.
He’d strung his line through the gills of the fish and now tied it around his wrist.
Hopefully they wouldn’t drip on his shirt and make it smell like fish. There was no offer of a hand to help him this time, but he didn’t need it.
The first moon threw some light into their little refuge.
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