Riley's Journey (7 page)

“Look behind you,” Nathan whispered to the others, “he’s almost on you!” Nathan turned to her. “I don’t understand it, they usually have three or four just on lookout, but no one seems to be on guard right now.”

Nathan stood up in full view and whistled as loud as he could, pointing in the direction of the bear’s approach. They were too far away, or too intent on the fishing to notice him. Riley was about ready to try throwing rocks when Demon bounded up. The dog looked down and spotted the bear immediately. His hackles bristled and a low growl rumbled from his throat.

“
Demon!
Go!
” The dog immediately started down the steep incline, moving quickly and effortlessly.

“You can’t send him after the bear—it’ll kill him!” Much as she didn’t like the dog, she liked the idea of him being hurt even less.

“He’ll be fine. He knows what to do and all he needs to do is distract the bear long enough so maybe the others will notice.”

Demon had reached the bottom of the incline and was running towards the bear, putting himself between the stalking carnivore and the unwary fishermen. The bear stopped, smelled the air and turned towards Demon, weaving his head back and forth as he sensed the danger. Demon ran closer and began growling and snapping, drawing the bear’s total attention.

Riley watched the scene with trepidation, worried that Demon would get too close and the bear would injure or kill him. The dog’s excited barking drew the attention of several of the fishermen who immediately grabbed their weapons. Demon kept up his attack, dashing in and jumping quickly out of reach of the bear’s raking claws and gnashing teeth. By now, most of the fishermen had taken up their weapons and were forming a defensive half-circle in front of the bear. Nathan whistled again and Demon whirled and ran back.

“No reason for him to continue now that they know the bear is near,” Nathan commented too casually as he watched the scene below. “They can handle it from here.”

The others poked and prodded the bear, jumping out of the way whenever he clawed or lunged at them, and finally, out of frustration, the bear lumbered off, the others whooping and hollering as he shambled away.

Nathan turned and started back along the pathway as Riley scrambled up, followed shortly by Demon, his eyes sparkling and tongue lolling out as though he had just come from a pleasure run. He moved into position between Nathan and Riley, once again affirming his position in the pack. Riley sniffed, but decided he deserved some consideration—after all, he was the one who fought the bear—not her, thank goodness.

“Are all the bears so enormous and are there a lot of them around?” She nervously eyed the dark forests on all sides.

“He was pretty big, larger than most I have seen, but in answer to your question, yes, most of them are pretty enormous and there are more than a few. His descendants will one day be our world’s native brown bears.”

Riley digested this information. The image of the huge bear would be imprinted in her brain forever and she doubted she would ever feel comfortable knowing that he or one of his buddies might be lurking behind the next tree or large rock.

“What other huge predators are we likely to encounter?”

Nathan stopped and turned. “Makes you nervous, doesn’t it?”

“Of course it makes me nervous! Where I come from animals like that bear are in the zoo and the only predator I have to worry about is man!”

“Well, in this reality, not only do you have to worry about men, but there are any number of wild carnivores that would view you as a perfect lunch entree. It’s best that you remember that little bit of information if you are going to survive here.”

Anger boiled up again and Riley vented. “Survive here? I never asked to be here at all, let alone survive! And unless I’ve misinterpreted the situation, I am stuck here! Forever!
With you
!” Riley glowered at him, her eyes begging him to contradict her.

His own anger surfaced and Nathan countered. “Let’s get something straight! I didn’t ask Bethany to send you here. I wouldn’t have done that to anyone. I’m sorry she did what she did, but I can’t change it. The only thing I am very sure of is we can’t return and unless you have a better plan, I suggest we try to make the best of a very bad situation.”

Unable to maintain the “tough guy” attitude any longer, Riley sat down on the nearest rock and began to cry, great heaving sobs. Not having had to deal with any human emotions other than his own for the past five years, Nathan was unsure how to comfort her. Awkwardly, he gathered her close, gently rocking her until the tears subsided.

“I don’t suppose you have a Kleenex on you?” Riley hiccupped.

He grinned, his eyes warm pools of compassion. “No, but you can use my parka sleeve if you want.”

“No thanks!” Her face screwed up in disgust. “I brought some of your bathroom leaves just in case I needed them.”

He laughed, relieved that she had calmed down and the crying episode was over. “Good thinking! The pickings are pretty scarce out here and it’s been so long since I’ve been around a woman, I didn’t even think about that.” As if suddenly remembering that he hadn’t been around a woman in a long time, he stiffened, dropping his arms and stepping back awkwardly. “I wish Bethany had thought through her actions before she went ahead and sent you back here.” He lifted his head, searching the sky. “We’d better be getting back. It’s still quite a distance to the shelter and, unless you want to spend the night in the open, we’d better keep moving.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

T
he trek back to the cave was indeed quite a distance and slow going due to the depth of the snow. By the time they arrived, Riley’s feet and legs were numb with cold and the relative warmth of the cave’s interior was a welcome relief. Quickly and efficiently, Nathan had a fire blazing and water warming before she even had her boots pulled off. Remembering the previous night, she laid the boots by the fire to dry. Nathan nodded approvingly. “I’ll have dinner ready soon. You can use the shower if you want. I’ll have plenty of hot water ready in just a few minutes.”

A hot shower sounded too wonderful to be true and Riley saw no reason to refuse his offer. She hung her parka on one of the pegs protruding from the cave wall and then entered the back room, her mind on the simple pleasure of a hot shower. Nathan came in behind her, carrying a large clay basin filled with steaming water, which he poured into a receptacle at the top of his shower apparatus.

“Where did you get the clay pots?”

“I made them. They’re not very pretty, but they’re serviceable. There’s some good clay dirt down by the river and working with clay was one of the things I studied before I came back here. It’s really very simple. The hard part is shaping it properly. My first attempts were pretty pathetic, but I got better the more I experimented.” He finished pouring the water, then pulled out some thin pieces of what appeared to be felt material. “Here’s some towels, just hang them by the fire when you’re done.”

“Where did you get felt?” Riley rubbed the texture between her fingers.

“Well, I don’t know if felt is supposed to be around for quite some time, but only having animal skins or leather is a real problem sometimes so I fashioned a few things out of felt. I’ve even been considering taking up weaving.”

“Weaving? You have a loom?” She was amazed again at his ingenuity.

“Not exactly, but I don’t think it would be that hard to put one together. I know the basic design.”

“How do you make felt?”

“Take your shower while the water’s hot. We’ll talk over dinner. If the water’s too hot, just add some cold from the spring.” He turned to leave. “There’s a robe of sorts made out of felt as well. You can use it if you want. It’s by the bed.” Walking to a shelf, he handed her a small clay pot. “This is my own version of soap. I made it from tallow and wood ash. Works pretty good but I haven’t been able to figure out how to scent it yet.”

“Well, you have been just a regular little
Holly Homemaker
since you’ve been here,” she teased him, smiling for the first time.

He paused, his eyes drawn to her face. Her Cupid’s bow lips curved, dimples peeking out from her smooth cheeks. The smile lit up her direct eyes with its glow. He swallowed hard trying to formulate an intelligent response, tongue-tied by the subtle thaw in her heretofore chilly attitude. It had been so long since he had indulged in more than a one-sided conversation and even longer since he had laughed with a beautiful woman.

Riley watched him, amused by his obvious discomfort. He was squirming, shuffling from one foot to the other, his face flushed, a slight sheen of perspiration coating his upper lip. She almost laughed out loud. He was exhibiting all the reactions of a confused teenager. Here was a man who had lived on his own for five years or more with only a dog for company, surviving in the harshest of environments, only to falter at the mere act of conversing with a woman. Maybe it wasn’t so strange, she thought. She might be a little nervous herself under the same circumstances.

Nathan coughed, clearing his throat. “Come on out when you’re ready. I’ll have dinner on the table.” Turning, he almost ran from the room, escaping with what little dignity he could muster.

Riley undressed and stepped into the makeshift shower. Reaching up, she pulled down hard on a leather thong attached to the shower apparatus and warm water sluiced down. The sensation was too wonderful to describe. Hurriedly, she soaped all over and rinsed off before the warm water ran out, wrapping herself in one of the towels. Using the other, she dried her hair and then pulled on his robe. She rinsed out her underwear as well, the only pair she had. Not having any other sort of night clothes and having slept in her clothes the previous night, the relative freedom of the robe was a welcome respite from the heavy leather. If she was stuck here, something would have to be done. She needed more than one set of clothes.

Nathan looked up from setting the table as she stepped through into the living area. She wore his robe and, unless he was mistaken, nothing else. Unconsciously, his body reacted. Embarrassed, he turned away, breathing deeply and trying to focus on anything other than her nearness. She hesitated, confused by his reaction. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sure! Why do you ask?” He mentally damned Bethany once again.

“Well, you acted like you were angry at me or something,” she explained as she gingerly sat down at the table.

“No, I’m not angry, just not used to being around people.” His response seemed to satisfy her and she relaxed.

“Thank you for the shower. It was wonderful!”

“No problemo—anytime.” He ladled out dishes of food for her, himself and lastly, Demon, who slurped his down in two bites and look expectantly at their bowls.

“Go lay down,” Nathan commanded the dog. “You can have the leftovers.” The dog acted like he understood as he lay down and patiently waited for them to finish.

“He’s pretty smart, isn’t he?” Riley commented, watching the dog, who immediately bared his teeth at her, “or maybe not.”

Nathan laughed, his eyes sparkling in the soft glow of the fire. “He’s actually pretty amazing. I haven’t really worked with him too much, but he picks up so fast and he doesn’t forget. I don’t know what I would have done without him. He’ll get used to you, just give it some time.” They ate in companionable silence for awhile.

“You were going to tell me about felt making,” Riley prompted.

He explained. “First, I had to find some wool. That was the hard part. There are some wild sheep or goats of some sort around here, but they aren’t that easy to catch and I had to get pretty inventive. I did finally catch some young ones and I have them penned up in a cave near here. They’re about 3 years old now. After I finally had some wool, I carded it with some combs I made. I stretch the locks of wool into rectangles and layer the rectangles with the fibers all going in the same direction,” he demonstrated the technique by hand gestures. “Then I make a second layer at right angles to the first. Most of the time I only use two layers, but I could use more if I wanted additional thickness. Afterwards, I wet the whole thing down between two layers of skins and then I walk all over it until the fibers had compacted together. That takes forever! Then I squeeze all the water out and stretch and shape it to add strength. Then it just has to dry for about a day or more. That’s it.” He made a very complicated process sound so easy.

“And you learned that how?” She was finding it hard not to be interested in surviving here.

“Aunt Bethany had quite a number of “How To” books that I read before coming here. She thought they would help.”

“I guess so! I am amazed that you retained all that information. All I got prior to coming here was the basics on hand-to-hand combat.”

“Which you were doing pretty well before we came on the scene.” His compliment was surprising. “I have a photographic memory—if there is such a thing,” he added almost apologetically. “It’s one of the reasons I was picked for Black Ops.”

“
A photographic memory
? What I wouldn’t do for one of those! I have to study everything twenty times to retain even part of the information.”

“It has its strong points but not always. I never forget anything either and that isn’t always good.” He stared into space as his mind went over a memory, one he apparently didn’t want to share.