Page 8 of Tiger's Trek
Stay close. And show me the distance from branch to branch.
“Okay. We’ll go slow.”
They made it down from the tree with relative ease, and Iriko suddenly wished it might have taken a bit longer. Nik regrouped with them at the base.
“Right. Now that we’re together, let’s figure out where we are and then find the others, shall we?”
Doesn’t matter where we are, Iriko said.Why don’t we just start looking?
“I agree,” Stacia said. “Iriko said we should just find them. Who cares where we are.”
“Not so,” Nik said. “I’ve learned from some pretty awful experiences that where you are matters. It can lead to death if you’re not careful. First, we need to take stock of our surroundings, determine our resources, fend for ourselves, then we seek our companions.” He ticked off a list on his fingers. “We need water, food, and shelter. Once we are safe, we can worry about other problems.”
Stacia raised her hands. “Okay, agreed. Resources.” She cocked her head, considering Nik. “You know, I have to say, I’m shocked you’re not wanting to run headlong into danger to look for my sister, especially knowing your”—she waved a hand in the air—“special connection.”
Nik frowned. “It’s not that I’m not concerned about Veru. If I knew her whereabouts, I’d certainly begin looking, but you can’t save someone if you aren’t standing on solid ground yourself, can you?”
“That much is true,” Stacia admitted. “Very well.” Turning around, she spotted a knapsack by a tree and picked it up. Inside, she found Nik’s magic boots and tunic.
When she handed it to him, the relief was evident on his face. “Thank the skies,” he said.
Water’s not far, Iriko said.Game should be easy enough to hunt near that.
“Iriko knows where to find water, and he can hunt for us.”
“Good enough for me,” Nik said as he rummaged through the bag. “Hold on. There’s something else in here.”
He pulled out a piece of parchment and unrolled it. When the tiger didn’t bother trying to look, he simply held it out for Stacia.
“It looks like a map,” she said.
“Yes. But to where?”
They studied the different sections until Nik’s stomach growled, then he rolled it up and carefully put it back into the knapsack. “We’ll figure that out later. Let’s find water and food first. If you’ll lead on, Iriko?”
The gray tiger with the unseeing glacier-blue eyes lifted his nose in the air and tasted the wind, then flicked his ears, listening.This way, he said.
Stacia slid her fingertips into the ruff of his neck and walked beside him, falling into an easy rhythm. The two of them began a one-sided conversation, which often led to Stacia laughing at something or another that Iriko said.
It wasn’t that Nik cared in particular. He wasn’t jealous of the half man, half tiger or his connection to Stacia. He just didn’t like the ease with which the big man had come into their lives and assumed the position of confidant and protector for his tsarevnas. That was his role. He’d worked hard to earn their trust. It was something that had taken years to develop, and it chafed that all Iriko had to do was show up with his big muscles and twitching whiskers, and they were eating right out of his hand.
Nothing ever came easily for Nik. It wasn’t fair or right. He deserved better. Someday he’d be given the opportunity to show his worth, and then everyone would see just what he was capable of. No one would laugh at him then or call him a coward. They’d know he was good and strong and brave and that he was a man who could do hard things.
The trio walked for the better part of an hour, when Iriko suddenly stopped.
“What is it?” Stacia asked.
I smell another person... and... and meat cooking.
“Is it Zakhar? Danik? Veru?” she asked excitedly.
No. It’s... he’s familiar, but... I’m not sure. Maybe we should keep heading toward the water.
Stacia turned to Nik. “He smells a person ahead, and whoever it is seems familiar to him. They’re cooking meat. What do you want to do?”
Nikolai liked that Stacia asked him. It meant she trusted him to make weighty decisions.
“Which direction?” he asked.
