Page 66 of Kiss Across the Universe
The trees had thinned out, until there were almost none, except for straggling clumps here and there. Snow appeared in patches, mostly in the shadowed areas. But as the afternoon wore on, the snow became more frequent and thicker underfoot.
To Alannah’s left, which she knew instinctively was close to true north, she spotted a narrow blue-green band that grew steadily closer as they climbed. Finally, she could make out details. It was a band of water. Possibly a river, or a very long and narrow lake—she wasn’t certain which, for the water didn’t seem to be moving at all, except for when a breeze touched the still surface and sent shadowed ripples along it.
They had drawn level with the water when Kit paused to look around, his boot resting on a rock.
Alannah stopped next to him and watched him size up the land.
“There,” he said firmly, pointing.
What he pointed at was a trio of lodgepole pines, looking spindly and faded, this late in the season. They huddled on a little hillock close by the water. One of them, she saw, had a branch hanging low to the ground, but it didn’t look nearly long enough to provide shelter for the night the way the big, broad pine branch had done last night.
“Okay,” Alannah said doubtfully and headed toward the trees. It was very rocky around here, and the grasses were thin and short.
The trees were farther away than she had realized. As they got closer to them, she saw that the low lying branch was much larger than she had guessed. And the ground itself changed from barren rock to normal earth and grass, with a thick layer of snow laying over all of it. The snow was a few days old and the sun had melted it down a little, especially around the bases of rocks and clumps of grasses. Even this high up, there was not an even blanket of pure white snow. She spotted animal tracks and the wind up here had scattered dead leaves and twigs across the surface of the snow.
Kit lowered the big backpack down to the earth at the base of the pine with the long low branch and looked around, sizing up the area.
“Branches for the side of the branch?” Alannah guessed.
His smile was quick, but warm. “Use my knife.” He pulled the sturdy knife from its holster on his belt and held it out to her. “You’ll have to cut fresh stuff, up at this level. We have to stay warm.”
She agreed with him one hundred percent. The serrated edge of the knife was an adequate saw for the ends of the branches she collected. She had to move over to the nearest other clump of trees to gather enough branch ends that were at a height she could reach. By the time she thought she had collected enough, Kit had weighed down the tip of the big branch with stones, had started a fire of spindly branches and dried pine needles and twigs, and was building a heat shield on the other side of the fire, made of greener branches that would bend easily.
Alannah silently helped him with the shield. There was no way she would sit on her ass and get even colder, for the fire didn’t seem to be throwing off heat the way last night’s had.
Then she propped the branch tips she had cut against one side of the big branch that was their shelter, spread the plastic sheet Kit handed her and weighted everything down with pebbles and small stones.
Eventually, everything was done. Green growth from the pines, what little there was, made a thin mattress with the rubber sheet over the top. The sleeping bag was unzipped and laid over it.
Kit pulled out the bison meat and dug in the backpack for more supplies. The furrow was back between his brows.
Alannah reluctantly sat down. She didn’t want to talk to him, for she got the feeling he wasn’t in the mood for talk. As usual.
He made another meal from his dehydrated supplies, along with pulled bison. A fried rice, this time. It was hot and filling. The coffee, afterwards, was as delightful as lunchtime’s cup.
They ate in near silence, until close to the end of the meal. As Kit handed her the coffee, he said, “Would you like me to heat more water? You could take a bucket bath. Water won’t be an issue now.” He inclined his head toward the lake behind them.
“It’s drinkable?”
“I’ve got purifying tablets, but even without them, we could boil the water to kill off most bugs.”
“A bath sounds heavenly,” she confessed.
“You know how to do it, out in the wild?”
“Oh yeah,” she said. She’d learned how to sponge off in the cold by not undressing completely, just removing the layer in the way and putting it back in place even while she was still damp. After a day of competition jog-walk-running, washing off the sweat was a treat. It would be now. Only, she was used to having a tent, privacy, a change of clothes and deodorant. Competition camping was sybaritic compared to this survival-level camp.
Kit set about boiling water, letting it bubble for minutes after it had come to the boil. Then he handed her the pan. “It’s not a lot of water.” He handed her a cloth that looked like an old towel, torn into pieces. The edges weren’t hemmed.
“It’ll do,” she assured him, and looked around. “Stay where you are and watch the fire. I’m stepping behind the tree.” The smoke was blowing in that direction and would keep the mosquitos away. She didn’t mind smelling of smoke. It was inevitable, out here. But she itched to wash away the sweat.
It was one of the best baths she’d ever had. Despite the touch of the cold air, and having to don the same clothes, she felt refreshed and clean as she carried the empty pan and damp cloth back to the fire. “That was heavenly,” she confessed, and shrugged back into her borrowed jacket.
“Climb under the bag and stay warm,” Kit told her. “I’m going to have a bath, too.”
It was good advice. By the time Alannah had settled under the sleeping bag and found a comfortable position on the mattress, Kit already had the shallow pan of water boiling. A few moments later, he took the pan behind the same tree.
Alannah closed her eyes to give him full privacy, but that made it worse. Her imagination went into overdrive. How much of his tanned skin did he expose as he washed? Did he strip completely? He didn’t seem to notice the cold the way she did. What did he look like under the shirt? Were his muscles rounded. She would like to see them flex as he moved…
