Page 73 of Storm over the Caribbean
The stones stubbornly remained silent. And stony. Just like a certain someone. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, considering who carried them around with him, should I?
Grumbling, I picked up the stones and tried again. And again. And again. The result wasn’t exactly the warm, crackling fire I had hoped for. Breathing heavily, I glared down at my bruised hands.
So much for that.
Another shiver wracked my body. God, it was getting cold! I had to find a way to do this! But how?
Well…
There was one way, wasn’t there?
Glancing around, just to check if anyone was watching, I grabbed two of the sticks on the ground and pressed them together between my hands. Slowly, I placed them on top of another piece of wood.
“All right, Lilly, you can do this!”
After all, it couldn’t be that difficult, could it? Cavemen did this all the time.
Roughly ten minutes I had found out that, yes, in fact itwasthat difficult. On the positive side, though, my hands felt warmer now. Quite a bit warmer, actually.
“Ow! Ow, ow!”
Cursing, I blew on my hands, trying to dispel the burning feeling—with little effect. The sticks on the ground didn’t seem any more affected by my death glare than the flintstones had been.
Note to self: friction causes heat. Just not in the right places!
Glancing around one last time for anything, really anything, that might possibly help, I finally sagged forward and let out a defeated sigh.
It was no use, was it? There would be no fire or water today.
I trailed a hand over my dried, cracked skin.
And maybe not tomorrow either. Because, with how things are going, I might not survive till then.
Another shudder wracked my body, much harder this time. And it didn’t stop. I barely managed to make it over to Mr Ambrose and snuggle against him before my muscles gave out on me. Hugging him close, I tried to soak in every little bit of warmth he could provide—which was quite a lot. All the while, I silently prayed that the not inconsiderable amount of body heat didn’t come from the most likely source I could imagine: a fever.
Well, look at the silver lining, Lilly. At least you’ve found this cave. At least the both of you are in a safe place for the night.
Sighing, I pressed more tightly against Mr Rikkard Ambrose. Yes, at least there was that. I could count myself lucky I had found a cave that was uninhabited and—
My thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a gruff sound. It almost sounded like a…growl?
No. Oh no.
Slowly, very slowly, I turned around, only to come face-to-face with two glowing yellow dots in the entryway of the cave. Glowing dots that looked suspiciously like a predator’s eyes.
“Oh crap,” I said.
Man’s Best Friend! Woman’s? Not So much…
I stared at the glowing yellow dots.
They’re just fireflies,I told myself.Fireflies. The soft approaching sounds are definitely not the footsteps of a predator.
That was when the canine decided to step out of the shadows into the moonlight, fangs bared.
“Grrrrrwwl!”
I swallowed.
