Page 61 of Protecting the Flame

Chapter 4

When she woke,she was spooned against Mattie’s back, and the light was gone.

She held herself still a moment, getting her bearings. Her cheek still ached, and her mouth tasted of dead blood. Her brain was fuzzy, and her lashes were crusted with salt and sleep. The only truly pointed sensation was the sharp beaky feeling in the pit of her gut as if she’d swallowed a giant parrot that was trying to gnaw its way out through her belly button.

Starving. On the other hand, what was new? Since they’d crashed she’d been either puking her guts out or trying to pretend three mouthfuls felt like thirty. She was going to have to talk to Will tomorrow about scouting more, maybe figuring out if there was any game up here or a lake or something. She doubted they’d find anything. Except for the wolves and that mountain lion’s prints, she’d seen no other animal trails, which wasn’t surprising. In winter, animals kept to the lower elevations where they had a better chance of finding food. The only reason predators were skulking around up here was because they were potential prey. God, Hunter was, for sure; she’d caught a whiff of what smelled like rotting meat when she’d helped him wash his face this morning. Plus, there were bodies to scavenge with the promise of more to come.

What time was it, anyway? She raised an arm to squint at her watch. Almost nine. They’d slept for nearly six hours.

Moving in slow motion, she disentangled herself, freezing when Mattie let out a soft moan. When the girl’s breathing evened out again, she slid away, forked hair from her face then patted around her parka until she found the pocket where she’d shoved in her flashlight. As she pulled it out, something tumbled onto the sleeping bag with a muted but brassy tickle.

Mattie’s voice, still half-asleep: “What was that?”

The kid had radar. “Something I found in the…” She almost said pilot’s pocket but caught herself, certain that if no one had told Mattie about her grandfather, they’d not elaborated about Burke either. “In the snow. Near the wreck. It’s an old-fashioned pocket watch. See?”

“A watch?” Mattie’s tone held only a smidgeon of interest, but she sat up, sweeping hair from her face. Her cheeks were creased from the sleeping bag. She scrubbed her eyes with the ball of a fist. “How do you know it’s old-fashioned?”

“Because it takes a special key to wind it. See?” Opening the back, she inserted the slim watch key into the hole in the case and gave it a twist and then another. The movement made the plane-shaped fob and the other silver key clash together. “Why don’t you try it? A couple twists is all you need.”

Mattie gave the key a few dispirited turns, withdrew it, and then held it to an ear. “Okay, so it’s ticking.” Turning it over, she frowned how at the dial. “It’s the wrong time.”

“That’s because you need the key to move the hands.” She showed the girl how to slot the key over the center peg. “And see, now, when you turn it, the hands move. Why don’t you set it for nine-ten while I see what we’ve got for food.”

“Not much.” Mattie worked the key with all the enthusiasm of the condemned. “I counted. We have to do something, Emma. Like, hurray, there was a drone, but it’s been hours, and there’s nothing. We can’t wait around for someone to rescue us. I don’t get that anyway. The drone doesn’t make sense.”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” she said, reaching for the pack of their provisions. “The only thing I can figure is we’re someplace that takes a long time to get to.”

“No.” Mattie gave an emphatic shake of her head. “It doesn’t make sense. Because now that we’ve seen the drone, we can’t leave, can we? Or we shouldn’t? It’s almost like it was a tease. Like, ha-ha, sit tight, we’ll be back soonest.”

“Oh, no, I don’t think,” she began—and then stopped. Wait, she’s right. She and Will hadn’t thought of that either.

“It’s weird. If you see something that says, oh, rescue’s on the way, you’re not going to wander off even to look for food. You’re going to wait for rescue to get here, but if you have no idea when rescue might show up…”

“You could be waiting a long time.” They stared at one another, and then Emma ventured, “Checking us out?”

“Or waiting for us to get weaker or seeing how many of us are left? Or all three?” Mattie nodded. “Doesn’t it feel like that to you?”

It did. Any of what Mattie had suggested was possible. But why?

“Do you think Hunter knows?”

I always knew this business would come back to bite us if we stayed in too long.She’d found it curious when Hunter said it then; she really wondered now. “I don’t know. He might. I would have to ask him.”

“If he’d even tell you.”

“The guy’s trapped, and he needs us. I think he’d tell us.”

“Unless he’s worried it will only make you mad and then you’ll leave him.” Then Mattie said, without a hint of irony, “It’s something Scott would do.”

This girl was way too grown-up for her own good.

After a moment’s silence, Mattie prodded, “We have to do something to get ready.”

“Whatever we do depends on what we find out.”

“Then we need to think of all the possibilities and plan for them.”

“Such as?”

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