Page 22 of Double Take

“I’ll hike to the vehicle in the morning.”

“We can both go then.” She shivered. “I’ll get a fire started. I wish we had more wood.”

She knelt beside the fireplace and peered into the flue. Hopefully no bird or rodent had built a nest. She opened the damper to allow for airflow. The previous tenant had left some kindling, which she piled on the grate and lit with a candle. It caught quickly, and she nursed the flame with a gentle breath. When the fire built, she added a couple of the smaller logs.

“Excellent work! You’re like a pioneer.” He applauded.

“Necessity. I have a fireplace in my cottage. I have solar heating panels, but I supplement solar with wood. I’ve had to learn a lot of new skills since coming here.”

Mark would have made a crack like driving obviously wasn’t one of those skills, but John didn’t. He hadn’t said anything about her crashing the vehicle. “Let me check on something.” He grabbed a lit candle and stepped outside.

Peeking into the wooden chest, she was relieved to find bedding. They wouldn’t freeze tonight.

He reentered with a couple of logs under his arm. “We’re in luck! There’s wood stacked against the cottage at the end of the porch” He set his load on the hearth.

“Excellent!” She checked out the wood. It wasn’t rotted, which indicated it hadn’t been that long since the cabin’s resident had vacated—a couple of years, maybe? However, the firewood would be well seasoned and burn easily. They’d have heat!

“How’s your head?” he asked.

She touched the knot. “Sore, but I don’t have a headache, if that’s what you mean.” Her hip and shoulder ached, no doubtfrom the impact. In the light of day, she’d probably discover many bruises.

“If you can hold the candle, I can bring in more wood,” he said.

“Let’s do it.”

After he brought in a couple of armloads, they decided they had enough to last the night. He brushed dirt and leaves from his chest, and she tried not to stare. She’d always thought Mark handsome, but she’d never reacted so viscerally to him.

“Um, there are blankets in the trunk, I found.” She pointed.

“Great. Heat. Bed. Blankets—this is almost like staying at the Happy Night Inn.”

She chuckled.

“What’s this?” He strode to a sliding panel against the back wall.

“Storage closet maybe?”

He pushed the panel to the side.

“What is it?” She couldn’t see around him.

“A lavatory…of sorts.”

“Oh, thank goodness. We won’t have to use an outhouse.” Or squat outside. She hadn’t thought that far ahead, but she was immensely grateful for indoor facilities.

“They don’t really use outhouses, do they?” he asked.

“In some of the remote areas, they do.”

Bringing a candle, she peered into the lavatory.

There was a commode. A metal tub on a wooden stand under a hand pump served as a sink. A large bladder with a nozzle hung over a bigger metal tub on the floor.

“It has a shower.”

“Acoldshower—unless you heat up the water first.” She pumped the sink faucet. With a groan, it spit out rusty-brown water. A person would emerge dirtier after bathing. Shewrinkled her nose. “Maybe if we run it for a while it will turn clear.” She wasn’t going to bathe in or drink rusty water.

She surveyed the cabin amenities. A cabinet stood against the side wall, along with a short counter atop upon which sat another corrugated metal sink-bucket and hand pump. In the fireplace, she noticed a metal swing arm with a hook and a cast-iron pot on the hearth. “I guess they heated water over the fire.”

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