Chapter 9

The next week passed slowly. I put a new splint on Kelsey's leg, making sure it was as secure as possible so I wouldn't have to make her go through the pain a third time. She'd cried a lot and I'd felt like an a*s for hurting her, but in the end I think we were both glad that it was done. It would allow for a lot more movement without us having to worry as much about her agitating the fracture.

Our food situation had become a real problem. Though we rationed, our food supply was gone by our fourth day. I found a bush with berries that I recognized as safe, so we had been managing to sustain ourselves. We could only rely on the berries for so long, though, and I was worried. My shotgun hadn't turned up, even though I'd ventured as far away as I'd dared looking for it. When the temperatures dropped, we would need something more substantial. I hadn't had any luck with fish from the stream...it was small and shallow and I doubted that it would produce anything. The pole was still valuable, though...maybe even vital. The reel was wound with fishing line, perfect for making snares. I'd done a lot of hunting in my life, but trapping had never been an interest of mine. I knew how to set some basic snares, but I'd never used one to get any kind of game before. I set four nonetheless, and hoped for the best.

I'd managed to find two sturdy logs and fashioned some makeshift crutches for Kelsey. She was a clumsy and awkward with them at first, but with a little help I felt comfortable enough with her abilities. I could tell even making a trip to thicker cover to use the bathroom hurt her, though. I had to admit she was a trooper, though...she only reached for the Tylenol when her pain was enough to make tears shine in her eyes. My ribs still hurt like hell, but I'd expected that much. At least it didn't feel like knives were plunging into my sides every time I breathed anymore. Now it just felt like I'd been run down by a mack truck.

Circumstance had forced Kelsey and I to tolerate each other enough to keep things civil. She depended on me, though it was obvious she hated it. I was pretty sure she didn't like me too much, not that I could really fault her for it. I hadn't exactly made a great impression with her. When I'd first seen Kelsey, all I had been able to focus on was the fact that she was famous. I was so used to carting around high society to the resort, that I guess I'd formed a bit of a stereotype. It probably didn't help much that I'd done business with her sister Maggie as well. Kelsey was the complete opposite of her whiny and demanding diva of a little sister, I'd come to find out. Hell, she was probably one of the most down to earth people I'd come across in a long time. And pretty selfless, too. She talked pretty freely about her life, and I gathered that she'd sacrificed a lot to help her father and sister when her mother had died. Not too many of the clientele I worked with would do something like that.

There were no more planes since the one that had gotten so close on the third day following the crash. I tried not to think about it...it was not only depressing to think they had stopped looking for us already, but it scared the hell out of me too. The temperatures had been getting so cold at night, I had been thinking about moving us into the plane. If the trend kept up like this, winter was going to come earlier than anticipated.

Exactly one week from the day the plane had crashed, we had our first stroke of real luck. I'd gone out to check one of the six snares I'd set, and the first five had been empty, as seemed to be the norm. When I got to the sixth, however, I didn't believe my eyes at first. Strangled in the fishing line was a rabbit! My mouth watered immediately, and I quickly moved to clean the carcass. I thought Kelsey would be appreciative if I dressed the animal away from camp. I did opt to keep the skin though, thinking I'd try to tan the hide if possible. Neither Kelsey nor I had enough warm gear, any any additions at all would only help our chances.

Kelsey was near the berry bush when I got back, the can from the chili balanced on a nearby rock. She was slowly plunking berries into the can, as she'd taken to doing the past few days. "Kels, come here."

"I've only got the can half full." She glanced over her shoulder at me, looking almost indigent that I'd interrupted the one task I'd allowed her to have in our food efforts.

I held the skinned carcass up, grinning. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather munch on this tonight. The berries can wait."

The look on her face would have been comical under any other circumstance. I saw shock light upon her pretty features, followed immediately by pure and simple joy. She snatched up the can, holding the edge of it in her mouth as she limped herself to me. She was smiling hugely.

When she got to me, she let one crutch fall and wrapped one arm around my neck, letting out a squeal of delight. I chuckled, slinging my free arm around her, perfectly happy just to celebrate for the moment. "You did it! Mauston, I can't believe you really got one!" Then, with a laugh, she planted a big, smacking kiss on my stubble-roughened cheek. I had a feeling that if her leg wasn't busted up, that Kelsey would have been jumping up and down in excitement. It kind of made me feel good to know I'd made her happy, if even for those few minutes.

"I couldn't believe it either. I was starting to think I'd have to start digging for grubs." I released her carefully, not wanting to unbalance her as I reached for the discarded crutch and gave it back to her."Think you can manage to get a log on the fire while I hunt down a stick big enough to cook this guy on?"

She was still grinning, eying our kill appreciatively. "I think I can handle that."

A little while later, we were sitting next to the fire with the smell of roasting rabbit wafting on the breeze. Nothing had ever smelled so good. Kelsey must have thought so too...she looked like she was in heaven as she watched the flames lick at the meat. "How did you learn this kind of stuff?"

"What stuff? Cooking rabbits?" When I looked at her, I saw she was staring at me speculatively.

She shook her head. "No. How to do things like splint my leg, build the lean-to, and snare animals?"

I shrugged. "I grew up doing stuff outside. My dad was pretty big into hiking and camping, and he hunted jut about every kind of animal you can get a license for. We took a lot of trips."

"In Canada?"

I smirked. "Is my accent that thick?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "No, it's not that. I just know you went to school with Ben. I just didn't know if you'd always lived there."

"Yeah, born and raised. I spent some time in the States, though...they have a good guide service education program in Montana. I learned a lot of what I know there, too." Consequently, it was also where I'd met my ex-wife. I didn't fell like going down that path, though, so I didn't mention it. "Are you from Fairbanks?"

"No, the cold was never for me. I was born in Minnesota. I went south just about a soon as I was able. I moved to Nashville right after I graduated high school." She looked at me sheepishly. "I kind of had a dream of becoming a country singer."

I raised a brow. "Well, why didn't you?"

It was her turn to shrug. "I'm too shy. Performing is my sister's niche. It didn't take me long to realize that." She paused to push some of her curls out of her eyes. "Tennessee is beautiful though...easy to lose yourself in So I stayed, and worked on honing my other talent. Turns out I'm a better writer than I am a singer."

I had never read any of her work, but if the hype surrounding her last book was any evidence, she must have a knack for the art. "You don't seem so shy to me." I pulled the rabbit from the fire, glad to see it was done.

"If you saw me on a stage, you'd beg to differ." She motioned to the meat. "Is it done?"

I nodded, and we dug in. The grease burned our fingers as tongues, but neither of us cared. The meat was the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted. I decided if we ever made it out of this thing alive, that I'd never take my refrigerator for granted again. Hungry as we were, it didn't take long to devour the rabbit.

I set the smaller bones down on a piece of metal from the wreckage. "We can chew on those in the morning for breakfast. There's some nutrition in them."

Kelsey wrinkled her nose, but didn't object. Instead, she sighed in bliss. "I didn't think I'd be full again for a long time. That was great."

Neither of us were accustomed to larger volumes of food, so it hadn't taken much to fill our shrunken stomachs. I kind of wished Kelsey had eaten more...she'd been tiny to begin with, and was already looking like she'd dropped a few pounds. She needed to keep up her strength if that leg of hers was ever going to heal. "I'll increase the number of snares I've got out there tomorrow. Maybe we won't have to wait as long for the next one."

She hugged her coat around herself, scooting closer to the fire as the wind whistled through the pines. "I hope not." I think we both would have been a little more worried about it, but it was damn near impossible to feel anything but contentment with the pangs of hunger finally silenced for a while.