Into the Cold

Unable to think of a response that wasn’t hurtful, Caleb simply grabbed his gun and left the cabin.

Amelia regretted the words the second they were out of her mouth, but it was too late, he was gone.

Fighting back tears, she looked around for something to do, something useful, her eyes fell on the empty kettle sitting on the table. She remembered seeing the dented thing filled with steaming water everytime she woke up, now it sat idle.

Taking it, she went to the bucket Caleb filled with snow multiple times a day, she filled the kettle one scoop at a time. Lifting the ladle for the tenth time, she had to admit that only having one arm was limiting and arduous.

Putting it on the stove, it gave off little hisses as the little droplets of water hanging from the bottom evaporated against the hot metal.

Amelia was startled by a loud ringing gunshot from outside, causing her to stumble into the stove in fear burning her hand.

“Caleb,” she cried, dropping the utensil.

The silence seemed to stretch out forever before Caleb walked back in, finding Amelia standing with her back to the wall shaking with fear, crableing her burned hand to her chest.

Dropping his rifle, he quickly moved to her side.

“Amelia,” he said, gently taking her by the shoulders, “what happened?”

She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face.

“I was so scared,” she breathed, “I thought something had attacked you.”

“No,” he said, gently touching her cheek, “there was a wolf prowling around the meat shed. I just fired a round to scare it off.”

Amelia sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck.

Caleb slowly wrapped his own arms around her, holding on to her tightly and trying to soothe her while she cried.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffled as she lifted her head from the crook of his neck. “It’s just after last night, I realized that if anything happened to you I would die. When I heard the shot, then silence, I didn’t know what to do.

“I didn’t know if it was safe to go outside to find you,” she continued hiccuping.

“I’m okay,” he assured her, cupping her face with his hand.

The feel of his rough, warm hands on her face made her think of the previous night, of his lips seeking out hers, his hands groping at her.

Feeling himself becoming aroused at her closeness, Caleb reached up and pulled at her hands, trying to disengage her body from his.

Touching the burn, Amelia winced in pain and snatched her hand away, holding it to her chest.

“Let me take a look,” Caleb said, reaching for her.

Amelia showed him the bright red mark that looked like it might be starting to blister.

“Come on,” he said, leading her to the door.

Stepping outside he scooped up a handful of ice and held it to the burn.

“You are seriously accident prone,” he said, shaking his head.

Amelia remained silent as he added more ice to the wound.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence, “for yelling at you earlier. I shouldn’t have done that.

“I guess you can say I’m lacking in social graces and patience,” he explained.

“No,” she sighed, knowing he’d been right, “I am accident prone, and I’m also hard-headed. I know you are just trying to make the best of things, and I will do my best to listen and do what you say.”

“Okay,” he agreed, nodding as he pulled the snow away.

The burn looked like it would be painful, but it shouldn’t blister.

“Let’s get inside,” he said, turning his head to the sky, “it’s going to snow.”

“How can you tell?” Amelia asked, looking in the same direction, but seeing nothing that would indicate it.

“Trust me,” he encouraged, “I’ve been here a long time.”

Before closing them in, Caleb made sure that there was enough firewood inside to keep them warm for a few days. While he didn’t think it would be that bad, he knew the wilderness was no place to take a risk.

Once everything was ready, he then sat at the small table running through some numbers in his head. Not wanting to try fishing again, he could think of only one other way to supplement their diet before he would be able to go hunting for anything edible.

He’d have to hike up to the plane once the storm passed. Every bush plane that flies out here was required to carry an emergency pack. There should be dried food, medical supplies and other things they could use until his own pilot arrived. Unlike the lake, getting up the mountain should be relatively easy, as long as it didn’t snow too much. Hopefully the trail he’d broken to his satellite camp would still be good. From there he could find her track up the mountain to wreckage.

The only problem he really saw was the young woman, sitting across from him. He was pretty sure she wouldn't want him to go, but without the assurance of those extra supplies Caleb knew he'd be more and more worried as the winter progressed.

If the storm was mild and didn't last too long, he could leave in a day or two and be there and back within a day.