Writing is painting with words to create colors and pictures.
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 41
Jenn steadied her
balance on unseen rocks beneath dark water before taking a tentative step
toward shore. With Katie propped on his shoulder and dragging their submerged
bags and packs behind like anchors, Matt called over his shoulder, “Coming?”
Before she could force words between her chattering teeth he reached back and
grabbed her sleeve and pulled her forward, nearly yanking her over.
“I’m fine,” Jenn
gasped, slapping his hand away. But at the rate her legs moved, she
despaired—it would take weeks to reach shore. But soon the water lapped at her
thighs, then her knees and finally her calves. She stumbled, falling headlong,
arms flailing outward, smacking the water. Matt turned back and grabbed her
shoulder to pull her up, but she had frozen in place. By the time he’d
deposited Katie on shore and returned, she’d crawled to the edge. He grabbed
her arm and helped her clear the last few feet of water.
Tears, rain and lake
streamed down Jenn’s cheeks. She clutched her screaming daughter to her wet
clothing knowing she had no warmth to offer. Matt pulled her to her feet and
guided her to a fallen log sheltered beneath dripping pine boughs. He gathered
wood, and after scraping through soggy bark to reach the dry core, coaxed a
fire. Smoke leaked from the bundle and flames followed. They huddled close.
Matt pulled out
the remaining bread and poured the lake from the bag. “Do you like bread soup?”
She frowned and shook
her head.
He handed Jenn the
bottle of peanut butter. “Feed Katie.”
With her finger, Jenn
scooped and Katie licked it off. Within minutes Katie stopped crying. Matt
wrapped soggy bread around a stick and toasted the coil over the flames. He
pulled a piece off and held it out. “See if Katie likes this.”
Jenn dipped it in
peanut butter and Katie devoured it.
“Do you have any
food?” he asked.
She shrugged toward
the diaper bag. He dumped all their bags out and sorted the contents, waving at
the meager food supply. “Do we finish this off now—fuel our bodies to produce
heat—and hope for the best tomorrow, or should we save it for breakfast?”
“We won’t touch it. It’s all Katie’s.”
Matt repacked the bags
and stood. “Feed the fire while I hunt down food.” He pushed a pile of sticks
within her reach.
“Leave both guns.”
“I'm only taking
myself.”
Jenn watched him walk
away, guns untouched. He wandered alongside the water, then stripped off his
shirt and began washing it—slapping it against the water and dragging it to
shore. So much for being a provider. Her fingers itched to seize the
weapons—but he’d know and confront her. She ignored crazy Matt and transformed
the little flame into a bonfire. She wrung water from Katie’s blanket and
spread it on the log, then propped up soggy diapers close enough to dry without
melting.
“Hungry?” Matt
unrolled his wet shirt, revealing dozens of tiny flapping fish.
She grunted and leaned
away.
“Watch this.” He
strung them on a branch and held them over the fire. Their scaly skins
blistered. “Ever been to a fish fry?”
“Do you know how gross
that is?”
“This is the real
test.” He pulled off a charred minnow and popped it in his mouth.
Jenn groaned. “I'm
going to be sick.” But she watched instead of turned away.
“Crunchy. Hot all the
way through. Not bad. Want one?”
“There’s no bribe big
enough.”
He laughed and ate a
few more. “They weren't hard to catch once I got the hang of it. There are
thousands of little schools along the rocks.” He held one out. “Here, see what
you think.”
“I'd rather die.”
He turned to Katie.
“Yum, yum. Want one?”
Jenn knocked his hand
away. “No!” She swung her daughter behind her back so she couldn’t be tempted.
“They’re not your home
cooking, but better than starving. Try one. If you like it, or think it might
save your life, I'll catch more. Katie needs food too. Test it for her.”
With her stomach in a
tight, hungry knot, and refusing to picture Katie dying, she closed her eyes
and held out her hand.
“Eat it in one bite.
Don't spend a lot of time chewing.”
Jenn pulled a face—and
ate the fish.
“Not bad, huh?”
“This is between just
the two of us, got that?”
He laughed and zipped
his lips.
After Katie sampled a
crunchy fish, Jenn said, “If this kills her, her death will be on your hands.”
“I've been trying to
avoid that for days now.”
“If you were doing a
better job of it, we wouldn’t have gone swimming in a semi-defrosted glacier.”
He remained silent,
piling sticks on the fire.
Jenn readjusted
everything on the improvised drying racks. “You must watch too much TV. When we
get back, do me a favor and switch to home improvement shows.”
Matt studied the
forest for a moment before facing her. “I’m prepared to die for you and Katie.
You're practically my kid sister and she’s like my niece—maybe my own kid. Your
husband is my best friend, and so is your brother.”
She studied her knees.
“Stop being sentimental—it’s not working. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m a
hostage.”
“I've lost family—my
mother, Rebecca and a baby. Losing you and Katie are the last thing I want. The
situation is holding all of us
hostage—not me.”
When his voice
cracked, she looked up. “Will you swear that’s true on a stack of Bibles?”
“Better, I’ll swear on
my life. Will that do?”
“For now. But we’re
lost. What do we do to live?”
“Hike out, just as
soon as you and Katie are warm enough.”
Jenn checked the
diapers. “It will be a while.”
Matt nodded and headed
off to fish. He toasted another meal for them before he checked the diapers
himself. “Let’s go,” he said.
Jenn doubted they were
ready but packed everything up—damp blanket and towel included. As she put
Katie in the pack, Matt smothered the fire. As if on cue the rain stopped and
the clouds lifted. “Look up,” Matt said.
Instead of men
hoisting guns, snow dusted the hillside they'd descended above the lake. He
turned her shoulders away and they started hiking in the opposite direction.
Presently the sun broke through and warmed their backs. Life improved until
more clouds moved in and the wind whipped up, whistling through the trees and
stirring bone-chilling cold. They hiked until full darkness halted them. Matt
lowered Katie to the soggy forest floor. “We’ll spend the night here.”
Jenn sank down,
certain she'd never rise again. She caressed her daughter's chilled cheek. “I
can't believe anyone can sleep wedged in a pack.”
Matt wrapped her and
Katie in the poncho.
“Will you build a
fire?”
“The sky’s clearing.
Someone would see the smoke.”
Having already
survived a night without heat, and hoping luck would hold out and they’d do it
again, Jenn cuddled Katie while trying to find a comfortable position.
Everything was bumpy, wet and drippy, but fortunately, not frozen
“Care if I join you?”
Matt said, stretching out beside her.
“Find your own place,”
she snapped.
“For heat
conservation, not intimacy. To save our lives.”
“I'll take my
chances.”
“What about Katie?”
“She agrees with
me.”
Matt ignored her and moved
from beside her and stretched out beside Katie. He turned his back on them and
placed his empty backpack over Katie like a blanket. Too cold to sleep, Jenn
burned with anger. What right did he have trying to cuddle? She was
married—happily! He might have been the boy across the street a long time ago,
but he wasn’t the same nice kid from way back then. He’d become sinister.
Shawn had once told
her, “Matt’s a good guy—always looking out for others, always on his best
behavior—the kind you can count on.” She had believed her brother until
recently, and wanting to cuddle witnessed against him.
Shawn had also said,
“Matt is driven. He goes after what he wants until he gets it.” Less than a
month ago Shawn had said, “He seems happier. Monica must be good for him.”
Jenn had replied with
something like, “Monica is a trophy—not good for much except bragging about. It
seems like Matt wants to change something in his life. He started with her, but
who knows where he’ll stop.”
Shawn had laughed.
“You don’t like her.”
“Am I too obvious? A
few years ago Matt traveled and thrived on it. Nick does the traveling now.
Matt hasn’t said so, but I think he regrets the switch. How long can a
friendship survive if Matt envies Nick?”
“He’ll find a way to
compensate,” Shawn had said. “He always wins.”
In the darkness Jenn examined ways Matt might
attempt gaining victory. Her thoughts spiraled downward, growing
darker—envisioning wolves wearing wool while hiding fangs behind promises—all
looked like Matt.
End Chapter 41
No comments:
Post a Comment