Page 91 of The More the Merrier

“Claire? Where are you?”

She pushed against Ati’s chest with a final burst of strength, her head popping up out of the snow.

“Here, please help us.”

Gregor was above her, digging with swift efficiency.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, but Atticus has been unconscious since we crashed. I didn’t know what to do, he was too heavy for me to move, and I couldn’t leave him.” The tears tracked down her frozen cheeks as Gregor lifted her out of the snowbank and placed her on his snowmobile, which was much larger than the one she and been on with Ati.

“I’m going place Atticus in the front, Claire, so I can hang on to him as I drive. You will hold on from behind me as tight as you can.”

She nodded her head, teeth chattering in the gusty winds that were now whipping through the woods. The snow was more ice and it stung horrifically when it hit the exposed skin of her neck and face.

Gregor seemed impervious to the weather as he carried Atticus effortlessly to the sled.

“Swing his leg over the seat, Claire.”

She did as she was told. The three of them now huddled together had a calming effect on Claire. She clung to Gregor’s back, no longer feeling the cold or the anxiety.

By the time they pulled into the undercover at the chalet a short time later, she could barely make her legs move as she stumbled off the snowmobile. Claire instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, not able to drum up a memory of ever being this cold. She followed Gregor numbly up the stairs and through the front door, thrilled to see the embers from their earlier fire still orange and hot.

“Claire, I’m going to lay him down in front of the fire. I need you to go down the hall and on the left is the bedroom. Grab every blanket and some pillows for his head.”

Claire walked down the hall to the room and grabbed what she could with her lifeless fingers. Gregor had Atticus stripped of his clothing and reached for the blankets from her, wrapping him up mummy style. He placed the pillows on the floor and lay his friend’s head down gently.

“In the linen cupboard, there are more. You grab those while I stoke the fire.”

Claire was moving a little easier now as her body began to thaw. She pulled out every blanket in the storage closet and came back.

Gregor had a roaring fire in a matter of minutes. When he was done, he stood and worked on Claire next, removing her outer gear, boots and everything else as it was all soaked. She’d been so cold she hadn’t realized she was soaked right through.

Gregor stripped her down to her birthday suit and wound a blanket around her. “Sit,” he ordered.

She dropped onto the couch while he went in search of what, she didn’t know until he returned with several pairs of wool socks. He placed two pairs on her feet and two sets on Atticus. Then he checked his friend’s pulse and gently felt around his scalp.

“He has a small bump on the head, probably a mild concussion. I will get air transport as soon as this storm clears. Now for you, young lady, let’s get you hydrated.”

Claire had been silent since their arrival and waited until the cool water quenched her sore throat to speak. “I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared and then the thing blew up and I hid us in the snow. I didn’t want Atticus to get burned.”

Gregor lifted her onto his lap and rocked her gently. Claire snuggled into his chest feeling safe and secure. He was such a big man, so strong but it was more than that. He had something about him that made her feel like he could and would burn down the world for her should she ever require it.

“You did all the right things,” he cooed as if talking to a small, frightened child. “You may not know it but burying yourselves and insulating both of you was the smartest thing you could have done.”

The guilt of possibly leaving Atticus there gnawed at her.

“But I didn’t, Gregor. I hesitated. I was going to get on that snowmobile and leave him there after I radioed in. But I couldn’t find the walkie talkie and then I smelled the gas and that’s when I finally did what was right.”

She knew how awful it sounded, heck, she winced just hearing the words out loud. What an awful bitch she was.

“And why was my kitty wanting to run away? Hmm, what happened that was so bad that you felt you couldn’t just leave of your own accord?”

Now she felt stupid. Why was a good question. She’d wanted to do that to Blaze too, back home. Just slink away and not say anything but instead, he’d rejected her letter and sent her here.

“I’m not good with confrontation and saying goodbye to something I didn’t want to say goodbye to, felt impossible. Slinking away is more my MO. I don’t know why except to say that I’ve been alone so much or taking care of someone that I disappeared long ago, and keeping with what I know, regardless of it being right or wrong is easy. I guess I had to walk away from friends and school and a lot of other things I didn’t want to leave because of my mom. It was easier to disappear than getting into the why I needed to.”

Gregor pressed her back enough that he could see into her eyes. He held a sternness that made her squirm. The fact that Atticus hadn’t put the toys away from earlier didn’t help and she gulped when her eyes moved to the clear paddle on the table in front of her.

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