Page 9 of Red Rabbit
To her credit, she never fell behind and she didn’t complain, two things I was sure would happen. By the afternoon I could see the top of the ridge in sight and with a final push I reached the top. The view was stunning and I heard Kaelin murmur her appreciation as she came up behind me. But then it was followed by a curse and I knew she saw what I did too: a vast expanse of nothing. Endless forests and plains framed by rugged mountains in the distance as far as the eye could see. To make matters worse, I didn’t recognize a damn thing. It honestly was a long shot that I would recognize something because it’s not like I spent a ton of time in these mountains but I hoped to at least see a familiar peak or a plume of smoke.
“We’re fucked aren’t we,” she said glumly.
I dropped the backpack off my shoulders and ran a hand through my hair. We didn’t have many options. The plane didn’t have a tracker so the crash site wouldn’t be discovered. Especially if the pilot didn’t report the flight plan and from the utter idiocy I witnessed before the crash, I didn’t think he did much by the book. I knew enough about this area to know itwasn’t a popular flight path in general so the flare was probably going to be useless. The most we could hope for was to hike in a direction I deemed promising and hope we ran into a town, homestead, ranger station—anything with a connection to civilization.
I turned away from the now depressing view and sat down on a log as I dug around for water and a granola bar.
“Yeah, it’s not the best situation,” I said.
She pulled out her phone.
“You won’t get a signal.”
She rolled her eyes like I was the idiot then put the phone away.
“I’m well aware of how it works, thanks. It hasn’t dried out enough to turn on yet anyways,” she said with a shrug.
“Let’s find a place to set up camp.”
I walked a short way down from the ridge to get some wind cover before I found a relatively flat area where we could stake the tent. She went off to collect some firewood while I pitched the tent and set up the area to make it comfortable for the night. Once seated around the fire, I looked over to see her chewing on her damn lip again. I wished she’d stop.
“So, Graham, do you have a family or anything?”
I could tell she wanted to distract herself but I shrugged and leaned back against a tree. I knew the questions would come and I didn’t want to talk about my past, especially my family.
“I’d prefer we didn’t do this,” I said and watched her throw up her hands in exasperation.
“What are we supposed to talk about if you won’t tell me about yourself?”
“Do we have to talk?”
“Fine,” she said in a moody tone.
She pulled her parka around her shoulders and pulled up her hood as she scooted closer to the flames.
Later, she crawled into the tent and she rustled around as she tried to figure out how to lie down. Earlier, when I set up the tent, I opened up the sleeping bag to make it wider with the blanket on top. I waited until she was settled before I ducked inside and I saw her shrink towards the wall as she watched me warily. My frame immediately filled up the tent and left little room to move.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
“Going to sleep,” I said slowly.
I got under the blanket and she looked over at me like I was a feral animal. She wasn’t far off.
“If you haven’t noticed I’m not the kind of gentleman who gives up the tent for a lady.”
“Just—don’t touch me,” she grumbled.
She laid back down as far from me as she could get which was really only inches.
“I thought you didn’t think I was a rapist,” I said dryly.
“Maybe you’re thinking about branching out into other crimes,” she retorted.
“Don’t worry sweetheart,” I said as I turned my back to her. “When I touch you, it’ll only be after you beg me to.”
5
KAELIN
