Page 15 of Homesick, Lovesick
Marvin gave a small laugh."I'm not the biggest fan of snakes, which sucks, because we'll see snakes before we see spiders."
"You're all ridiculous," Lynwood said."What's for dinner?"
Marvin looked up from his work putting dinner together."Chili.Me and some of the others spent damn near a whole month making and freeze-drying food for this.I've got chili, beef stew, beef and barely soup, mac and cheese…all kinds of stuff."He held out a steaming cup to Ronan."Here, some chamomile tea with honey."
"Thanks."Not his favorite tea in the world, but he wasn't gonna complain about something hot to drink.He took a sip and barely kept from wrinkling his nose.He didn't remember chamomile being faintly bitter, but then again, he hadn't had it in at least six months.He usually had mint or chai or one of the million unique herbal teas Match threw together.
By the time he'd finished the tea, dinner was ready, which was good, because Ronan could barely keep his damned eyes open.Not yawning between every single bite was an exercise in control."This is really good," he said around another yawn."Thanks for making it."
Marvin smiled absently, looking up briefly from his phone before going right back to it.They still had reception, but that probably wouldn't last as they went deeper into the woods and further from civilization.Thankfully, Marvin carried a satellite phone for emergencies.
"You look exhausted," Match said, rubbing a hand soothingly up and down Ronan's back."Go to bed.It's not like there's much else to do anyway.I'll be along—"
"We should switch things up," Lynwood said."We're gonna be out here a long time.We need to get to know one another.I should sleep with you, and Ronan can sleep with Marvin.Tomorrow we'll switch it up, and just keep rotating."
Ronan was going to punch him."You—"
"That's fine," Match said.
Ronan stilled, feeling like someone had just punchedhimin the face.But his eyes watered on another jaw-cracking yawn, and they felt soheavy."Fine.Whatever."He went into the tent he'd worked so hard to put together, which was nice and toasty now, and grabbed everything he'd left in there, then went into the other tent that decidedly showed a half-assed effort, and crawled into the first sleeping bag he saw.If they didn't like his choice, too damn…
"Ronan!"
Ronan dragged his eyes open, trying to respond to a voice that seemed so far away.Familiar and angry.He finally managed and stared groggily at Match, who was glaring at him in a way he never had before."Wha…"
"Why are you still asleep?"Match demanded."I shouted for you like six times!We needed your help.Ineeded your help!"
"What?"Ronan fumbled to get his hands under him, then pushed up to a sitting position."I'm sorry.I'm so tired.I can't seem to wake up.What happened?"
"A troll, that's what," Lynwood said from behind Match."It came right at our tent.If I hadn't woken up, it would have destroyed a lot more than that.If you'd woken up, we could have maybe saved more stuff, but as it is, we're down a tent and a heater and some of our food."
Ronan scrubbed at his face.Fuck, why couldn't he seem to wake up."I'm sorry.I'm really fucking sorry.I don't know what's wrong with me.I just can't seem to wake up."
"Here, take this," Match said, pulling a bottle out of his satchel and thrusting it into his hands, still clearly put out.
"Thanks."Ronan drank the bitter tonic down, and thankfully it started to work damn near immediately.He'd have a headache when it wore off, but he was already perking up and feeling clearer-headed, which was all that mattered.
Lynwood gave him a sneering look as he stood."You sure you're cut out for this?We can still call someone to replace you, and you can just help at camp."
Ignoring that, Ronan said, "I'll get the mess cleaned up and pack everything.We can leave the wrecked stuff here for someone else to retrieve, or I'll come back for it when we're done with this round.I really am sorry.I've never slept through danger before."
Outside, the air stank of dead troll, like someone had pissed on hot garbage.Pulling up the collar of his hoodie as far as he could to help block it, Ronan set to work bundling up the shredded tent, setting the bits of the broken heater in the middle, and tying it all up with the ripped cords from the tent.He secured that to a tree and placed an orange flag in the middle of the clearing for someone to easily spot if they came for the stuff.
By the time he was done, and the others had packed up everything else, the sky was just barely beginning to lighten.They turned on lanterns to help a bit and headed out, barely saying anything as Marvin led the way through the dark.
Ronan rarely ever felt compelled to cry about anything, even when his parents had been at their worst, but he really wanted to cry right now.He'dneverslept through danger before, not once.His various teachers had all, to the one, praised him on being so alert.It hadn't even been a difficult trek.Exhausting, sure, but he'd hiked way harder just for fun, usually with Match when he did one of his hardcore foraging expeditions.It made no sense.
Why the hell had a troll attacked anyway?Trolls were pretty skittish, generally.They rarely bothered anyone unless they were bothered first.If they'd been after the food, which was unlikely, they'd have been scared off after realizing there were multiple people around.Attackingout of nowhere was so weird.Never mind that if a troll was skulking that close, they should have noticed it in some way.
He looked up, staring at Match's back, yet another apology on his tongue.But Match had been distant all morning, since they'd broken camp… He glanced at his watch.Three hours ago now.It was only seven in the damn morning.And the tonic Match had given him was wearing off, the promised headache already throbbing at his temples.
Normally he might ask for something to relieve it, but dealing with a headache seemed the least he could do.Anyway, normally Match was pretty good at giving him stuff like that unprompted.If he wasn't this time…
Anxiety roiled in Ronan's gut.Was Match starting to change his mind?About staying in Harper Valley?About them?No, that was stupid.One bad night, one stupid mistake, wasn't enough to make Match quit anything.
Except it wasn't one mistake, was it?It was years of being underpaid and unappreciated.It was not one but several of his friends turning their backs on him when he'd needed them most.It was the mayor abusing him, throwing him out.It was months of a strange, miserable stalemate with the town as Match refused to speak with them, and they floundered on how to rebuild the bridge they'd burned down.
Now it was Ronan sleeping too hard to carry out his most important duty.
