Page 15 of The Edge of Never

“Aye.”

My hand went to the beanie, fingers brushing over the soft weave. He wore this and was okay with sharing it with me.

“I… I’ll take care of it.”

Thane’s cheeks darkened, and he looked at the ground. Another point for his redeeming features. He listened and found solutions without being asked for them. He cared in his own way. And that was almost too much for me to take.

“See that ye dae.”

He looked up at me again. The tension in the air was almost stifling. I didn’t know what to think or say, and he didn’t either.

“All right. Are we ready tae go?” came Callan’s voice from across the room, disrupting the moment.

There were general murmurs of agreement. I nodded without speaking since my throat felt all tight.

“Aye, right. Let’s get moving.”

Everyone started filing out. I followed Thane, whose cheeks were still red, but he had a stoic expression as if he didn’t want to acknowledge his sweet gesture towards me. I decided not to give him a hard time about it. Wouldn’t do me any good to be on his bad side. We had quite the day ahead of us. I wanted to show Thane that I’d learned enough to be safe during the mountain ascent, so he wouldn’t have a reason to give me any shit.

Or maybe you just want to impress him, so he looks at you differently.

Brain… do one!

If I could keep my damn thoughts under control, then maybe today would go better than the very low expectations I had. Because a lot of things could go wrong with the very strong possibility of the weather turning. Callan had warned everyone about it the day before. And I just had to hope everything went to plan for all our sakes.

Six

Thane

My skin itched, but I refused to look at Kit. They’d been staring at me since I gave them my beanie for the day. I wasn’t trying to be nice, merely practical. If I had to listen to them complaining the whole day, it would do my head in. They already irritated the fuck out of me without that.

The past couple of days hadn’t made things any better between us. They tested my patience at every turn, making me question why I was here in the first place.

I was only on the course as a favour to Callan. I didn’t have to be here. My conscience wouldn’t let me quit. Our friendship was more important to me than the mild inconvenience of being stuck with Kit. Well, it wasn’t exactly mild, but I was trying to remain positive about things. It was our last day. I wouldn’t have to see them again after this.

We were about an hour into our trek across the glen towards the base of the mountain. It wasn’t accessible by road. We’d left early since, at this time of year, the daylight hours were limited. Not to mention the sun was hiding behind the cloud cover. It made everything duller and darker, but I didn’t mind so much. The weather could be temperamental at any time of year around here. We often got four seasons in one day, especially in winter.

“You never answered my question about whether you’re carrying around a dead body.”

I gritted my teeth. Kit wasn’t going to drop the subject of my pack, clearly. I didn’t have to explain anything to them, but I was getting sick of them insinuating I carried around dead people on the regular.

“No, am no a killer.”

“Okay. What do you do then? You never told me.”

I wasn’t one for sharing personal information about myself with strangers. Particularly not ones who had a habit of pushing my buttons. However, I had learned with Kit it was better to tell them what they wanted to know. Otherwise, they would pester me for hours and I couldn’t abide by that.

“Forestry. I work in forestry.”

“So you manage the woodlands?”

“Aye.”

I preferred the outdoors to sitting inside all day. Staying active helped keep my dark thoughts at bay, at least during the day. Besides, the preservation of our forests, especially the ancient ones like the Rothiemurchus and Abernethy Forests near where I lived, was important.

“You know, that’s exactly the type of thing I imagined you doing.”

“Oh aye, and why’s that?”

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