Read Online Poison by Bridget Zinn - Free Book Online

got to be kidding me.”
    “Love,” Fred said. “It does the strangest things to you, doesn’t it?” He reached down and vigorously rubbed the dog’s head. “I had no idea you were such a romantic, Langley.”
    When he stood again, he seemed steadier on his feet. “Good thing we caught some fish before we set out, as that elusive rabbit seems to have turned into a figment of my imagination.”
    Fresh fish. Kyra’s stomach growled. It was like the clouds had parted and delivered her greatest wish. She was probably drooling. There was his fishing rod poking straight up out of the top of his pack. “I didn’t think to bring my reel on this trip,” she said.
    “I wouldn’t leave home without it. Towns are few and far between in this part of the world. Makes it difficult to stock up on supplies without grubbing for some of it yourself. And there’s nothing like fresh fish.”
    “I wasn’t really thinking about that when I left home.”
    “Your trip probably isn’t quite as extended as mine.”
    “Why would you say that?” Kyra realized she was revealing too much. Damn her hungry belly.
    But Fred just shrugged. “You don’t exactly look equipped for a long journey.”
    Little did he know it had already lasted three months. “Yeah, um, that’s true. It’s just a short trip to my sis—I mean, cousin’s house. Delivering the pig, you know, as a gift. To her. Well, really, his kid. I mean, her kid. Right. So anyway, it’s only a few days’ journey and I didn’t plan that well.”
    She had spoken to so few people in the past three months that she didn’t really have much practice lying.
    “You’re giving Rosie away?” Fred’s green-gold eyes watched the small pig in front of him. “To be a kid’s pet?”
    “Yup.”
    “I never would have guessed it. She seems so attached to you. Sort of sophisticated for a kid’s pet, too.”
    “Sophisticated?”
    “Yes, sophisticated. Don’t give me that look. She has a very distinct personality, and it’s most certainly not the rough-and-tumble-with-kids kind.”
    “We’ll see.”
    “Yes, you will.” Fred squeezed her arm gently.
    The long shadows of sunset had disappeared and dusk was settling when Kyra heard water tumbling over rocks up ahead. As they broke through the trees, the shush-shush ing of the water grew louder. There was a stream, no more than a sword’s length across, falling over a small rocky ledge to a clear pool below.
    “Perfect,” Kyra said, thinking immediately of her laundry.
    “For?”
    “We should make camp soon, don’t you think?” Kyra asked.
    “So I’m going to have the pleasure of your company this evening? I had the idea that you were against socializing with strange men.”
    “It’s going to be full-on night soon. It just makes sense to share camp tonight.” Then she realized that a young man like Fred, especially a young man who looked the way Fred did, could take that invitation entirely wrong. “I mean—you know—in a friendly sort of way.”
    His eyes crinkled at the corners in amusement. “As opposed to an unfriendly sort of way.”
    “Er, yes.”
    “Sure.” Fred ran his hands through his perpetually rumpled brown hair, seeming to forget his wound, and flinching. “I suppose we could do that.”
    “Well, you don’t have to sound so excited about it.”
    “I would be honored to share a fire with you, Kitty. In a friendly sort of way.”

F RED STARTED BUILDING a fire from bits of leaves and twigs in a small clearing. “We’re going to need more wood.”
    “I’ll get it!” Kyra said. “I have some, uh, other things to attend to anyway.” No way was she wearing these undergarments one more day when there was a perfectly good stream to do laundry in just down the hill. “I’ll get the wood on my way back.”
    “ Things to attend to?” Fred looked up, small puffs of smoke rising in front of his face.
    “I have some items of clothing I need to clean. Which I’m going to go do. Down at the