Page 15 of Thunder Pass

Gunnar strode into the living room and gathered up every hand-woven throw and blanket he could find.

“Just one would have done fine,” Martha said dryly when he returned. Ruth took the blanket on top and wrapped it around her sister. “You can take the rest back. Then I’ll need warm water and antiseptic soap. I got some stuff for the sheep out in the barn. Ruth, go help him. Grab some clean rags, too.”

They spent the next stretch of time scurrying around, following Martha’s orders, until Sarah was bandaged up and falling asleep from the valerian tea Martha had given her. The girl insisted on walking on her own two feet, even though she was limping, as Martha escorted her to a bedroom.

Alone in the kitchen, Gunnar and Ruth both let out a long breath at the same moment. Ruth smiled a little, the first time her expression had eased this whole time. “Are you okay?” he asked her gently.

“Yes.” Then she shook her head. “I don’t know. Do you think Sarah will be okay? If she gets an infection…”

“Did you see how clean Martha got it? That stuff she uses, it really works. I got my hand stuck in a gear shaft once and she healed me up.” He showed her the scar on his hand. She peered at it for a long moment, then lifted her eyes to his. Her look of utter exhaustion tugged at his heart.

“In case you haven’t figured it out, we left home,” she said softly.

He nodded, letting her continue before he said anything else. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I’m worried for Sarah, because Luke does have the right to make her go back. I’m worried for the other kids because I’m not there to protect them. I don’t know exactly what to do next, or where to go, or…”

“You can stay with me.” The words came out before he’d even realized that his mouth was open. He felt his face heat. “Both of you. You can stay in my father’s old room.”

She was shaking her head. “That won’t work. If there’s one place my family can’t avoid completely, it’s the gas station. They still need fuel. And you’re right in the middle of town.”

Embarrassed that he’d even suggested it, he nodded and looked at the floor. Her hand came onto his arm, a soft touch that sent a little electric shock up his arm. “But it’s really sweet of you to offer. I didn’t even thank you for rescuing us. I was so relieved when I saw it was you, not anyone from home…” Tears filled her eyes, but she stubbornly blinked them away. “You were like our angel in the forest.”

I’m no fucking angel, he wanted to say. But her sweetness stopped the words and a goofy smile took their place. “Cool,” he said. Whatever that meant.

8

They slept at Martha’s that night, in sleeping bags on a double mattress that Martha hauled out of a storage shed. If you could call it sleep—Ruth kept jerking awake, her heart hammering in her throat. She would have tossed and turned, but she didn’t want to wake Sarah, so she lay still and stared up at the bare raftered ceiling and considered their options.

They needed to stay in Firelight Ridge, that much was clear. Neither she nor Sarah knew anything about how to survive in the rest of the world. Also, she wanted to stay close enough so she could help the other kids if need be.

Gunnar’s offer had been so kind, and so spontaneous. She’d seen the look of surprise on his face when he’d heard his own words. Thinking of it now, she wanted to giggle. The last thing Gunnar needed was two damsels in distress moving into his place. That would really interfere with his summer fun. All those pretty backpackers and rock-climbers and kayakers would wonder why he was babysitting two young women in homespun clothes.

Speaking of which…Sarah hadn’t thought to pack much in the way of clothing. Ruth might be wearing Gunnar’s hoodie for the foreseeable future. She had it bunched next to her now, as a kind of extra pillow slash security blanket. She found the scent of it reassuring—fresh air with a hint of motor oil and a big dose of clean masculine skin.

She rolled over onto her side and snuggled it to her chest. Often, when she couldn’t sleep, she conjured up a scene from one of her books. But none of them would coalesce in her mind, and instead she floated off to sleep remembering how it felt to fly through the forest next to Gunnar’s strong body.

When the deep blue of twilight was just shifting to the gray of dawn, she woke up with a fully formed plan. She crept out of the sleeping bag, pulled on Gunnar’s hoodie, and tiptoed out of the house. The fields were just coming alive with the murmur of birds awakening. The sheep were sleeping in their pen, some bedded down, some huddled together; Martha was keeping them there until her fence was fixed.

Which was where Ruth’s plan would begin.

By the time Martha wandered outside, coffee mug in hand, yawning and stretching, Ruth had repaired about half of the gap in the fence line. She waved at Martha, whose jaw dropped in amazement. The older woman jogged across the field in her mud boots, her hair loose from its usual braids, a cable-knit sweater buttoned askew over a set of long johns.

“You fixed the fence?” she said in disbelief.

“Not all of it. But I should have the rest done soon. Go enjoy your coffee. I’ve got this.”

“How’d you find the tools? You don’t even have work gloves. Handling that wire is hard on the hands.”

“I looked in your tool shed. I couldn’t find any gloves, but it doesn’t matter. We have fences too, you know. I’ve spent a lot of time fixing them. We have sheep, but not as many as you do. I’m quite good at shearing. Sarah is too.”

Martha’s expression shifted as she picked up on what Ruth was hinting at. “Is that so?”

“Yes, actually we both have a lot of experience with farm work. We have cattle, both for milk and for slaughter. I know how to butcher any kind of farm animal.” When Martha flinched, she realized she’d said the wrong thing. “I know you don’t do that here. You just produce wool.”

“I’m a vegetarian.”

Ruth knew what a vegetarian was, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever met one before. Certainly not at the Chilkoot compound.

“We grow all our own vegetables all through the winter, with as little extra heat as possible. We have a special technique and I can show you how we do it.”

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