as you do cooked rabbit. The two sticks thing is harder than it sounds, especially when you don’t have sticks. Wouldn’t you think with all the junk we found in the plane, there’d have been at least one box of matches?”
“Actually, I’ve read that raw food is better for you,” Anne suggested. “Even the meat is better raw. More vitamins, or something. And it tastes better, too.”
“Another lie like that, Miss Wilson, and I may have to waste some of my waning energy on spanking you. It’s been four days since you stepped out of line or called me something grossly obscene. It would be a shame to break what’s probably a record for you.”
“You told me I was a slow learner,” she said. “Maybe I’m improving.”
He chuckled. “Let’s not get our hopes up too high, shall we? It’s more likely the lack of protein that’s making you too tired to argue about every single thing.”
She hesitated, then asked the question she’d been wanting to ask.
“We could still try walking out of here, you know.”
“I’m beginning to think you want that spanking,” he said quietly.
“Is it really that hopeless?”
When he didn’t answer immediately, she watched his face for a moment, and asked her second question.
“It is possible, isn’t it? If we leave right away, while we’re still not too weak?”
“No, it’s not possible. Not both of us.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I can lay in enough food for you to survive on ‘til I can get back with help, I might make it on foot. With luck. And decent weather, of course.”
“Without me ?”
“I can move faster alone, and hunt as I go. I’ll take the rifle, and leave my sidearm with you, in case you need it. But you’ll have to promise me that you’ll stay in the plane, or within a few feet of it, at most. If we’re this short of food, the bears will be, too. They’ll probably be denning up, soon, but there’s still a risk of another visit. They tend to come back to anyplace they’ve found food.”
“I won’t let you go alone,” she said firmly. “What if something happens to you?”
“It won’t.”
“Now, you’re just being arrogant,” she said. “And stupid. You’re not as young as you used to be, you know.”
He grinned. “Thank you.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s true. Besides, you know perfectly well how accident-prone I am. What if I shoot myself in the foot, or something?”
“You’re too smart for that. And if you do anything that foolish, after I’ve taught you how to handle a loaded weapon, you’ll get the mother of all spankings— even with your foot in a cast.”
She smiled. “Just what I’ve always said. You’re a bully and a brute.”
He stood up, and looked up at the sky. “In any case, we don’t have to decide that, now. We’ve got a couple of days, yet, before it gets to that point. Right now, though, it looks like we’re in for another snow. Late tonight, probably.” He glanced down at the campfire.
“Why don’t you clear up here, and rinse out the dishes, while I reorganize in the cabin. We may be stuck inside for a day or so.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I did the dishes last night,” she said.
“Nice try, but I did the dishes last night. And the night before that, as I recall.”
“You know what I read?” she asked. “I read that when you get close to forty, you start losing more than 400,000 brain cells a day. Isn’t that shocking?”
“Shocking,” he agreed, as he walked away toward the plane. “Now, wash the damned dishes.”
“What about the bears?” she asked sweetly.
“They can wash their own dishes.”
* * * * *
It was more than a half an hour by the time she carried water from the lake, scoured the dishes as clean as could get them with nothing but sand, and walked back to the plane.
As she came closer, she heard noises from inside, and a moment later, several items sailed out the rear window into the snow.
Curious and mildly alarmed, she flung open
“Actually, I’ve read that raw food is better for you,” Anne suggested. “Even the meat is better raw. More vitamins, or something. And it tastes better, too.”
“Another lie like that, Miss Wilson, and I may have to waste some of my waning energy on spanking you. It’s been four days since you stepped out of line or called me something grossly obscene. It would be a shame to break what’s probably a record for you.”
“You told me I was a slow learner,” she said. “Maybe I’m improving.”
He chuckled. “Let’s not get our hopes up too high, shall we? It’s more likely the lack of protein that’s making you too tired to argue about every single thing.”
She hesitated, then asked the question she’d been wanting to ask.
“We could still try walking out of here, you know.”
“I’m beginning to think you want that spanking,” he said quietly.
“Is it really that hopeless?”
When he didn’t answer immediately, she watched his face for a moment, and asked her second question.
“It is possible, isn’t it? If we leave right away, while we’re still not too weak?”
“No, it’s not possible. Not both of us.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I can lay in enough food for you to survive on ‘til I can get back with help, I might make it on foot. With luck. And decent weather, of course.”
“Without me ?”
“I can move faster alone, and hunt as I go. I’ll take the rifle, and leave my sidearm with you, in case you need it. But you’ll have to promise me that you’ll stay in the plane, or within a few feet of it, at most. If we’re this short of food, the bears will be, too. They’ll probably be denning up, soon, but there’s still a risk of another visit. They tend to come back to anyplace they’ve found food.”
“I won’t let you go alone,” she said firmly. “What if something happens to you?”
“It won’t.”
“Now, you’re just being arrogant,” she said. “And stupid. You’re not as young as you used to be, you know.”
He grinned. “Thank you.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but it’s true. Besides, you know perfectly well how accident-prone I am. What if I shoot myself in the foot, or something?”
“You’re too smart for that. And if you do anything that foolish, after I’ve taught you how to handle a loaded weapon, you’ll get the mother of all spankings— even with your foot in a cast.”
She smiled. “Just what I’ve always said. You’re a bully and a brute.”
He stood up, and looked up at the sky. “In any case, we don’t have to decide that, now. We’ve got a couple of days, yet, before it gets to that point. Right now, though, it looks like we’re in for another snow. Late tonight, probably.” He glanced down at the campfire.
“Why don’t you clear up here, and rinse out the dishes, while I reorganize in the cabin. We may be stuck inside for a day or so.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I did the dishes last night,” she said.
“Nice try, but I did the dishes last night. And the night before that, as I recall.”
“You know what I read?” she asked. “I read that when you get close to forty, you start losing more than 400,000 brain cells a day. Isn’t that shocking?”
“Shocking,” he agreed, as he walked away toward the plane. “Now, wash the damned dishes.”
“What about the bears?” she asked sweetly.
“They can wash their own dishes.”
* * * * *
It was more than a half an hour by the time she carried water from the lake, scoured the dishes as clean as could get them with nothing but sand, and walked back to the plane.
As she came closer, she heard noises from inside, and a moment later, several items sailed out the rear window into the snow.
Curious and mildly alarmed, she flung open
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