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He swung around, blocking Molly with his body.
“Don’t hurt her!” The young man held the limp body of a snowshoe hare in one hand. He had carroty red hair and a freckled face, along with a tough, wiry build.
“He’s not hurting me.” Molly slid from behind Sam and stepped forward. “We were just joking around. This is Sam. He’s my friend and he wants to help us.”
Sam noticed that she didn’t share Elias’ name; maybe she was leaving it up to him to introduce himself. “That’s right. I’m here to help. I’m a pilot with my own plane.”
“Sam?” Elias repeated. “Sam the Spy?”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you a spy? Soraya says you’re a spy.”
Well, hell. The Chilkoots were definitely onto him—as if the flying bullets hadn’t already told him that.
“He’s not a spy, but he has been keeping an eye on your family,” said Molly.
Goddamn it. He frowned down at her. Then again, Elias already knew he was a “spy,” so maybe there was no harm done.
“Kind of like a guardian angel,” Molly continued. “He’s been helping Soraya with something important. And now he wants to help you too.”
“Angels aren’t real.” Elias frowned.
“Well, Sam is real. And he has a plane, and it has wings, so you could say he’s kind of like an angel.”
Elias scrunched up his face at that logic, but shrugged. “Okay. Whatever. What was he helping Soraya with?”
Sam decided it was his turn to take charge. “I was helping her with something medical. But it’s confidential so I can’t say anything more. I’m good at keeping things secret. That’s why Molly thought I might be able to help you with your situation.”
“Medical? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” Sam saw an opportunity to glean some information. “She’s an impressive young woman, very strong. She can really handle a firearm, too, am I right?”
“She once hit a squirrel from five hundred yards away,” said Elias.
That confirmed Sam’s suspicions. On one hand, if Soraya was that good of a shot, she could have killed him last night, and she hadn’t. On the other hand, why was she shooting at him at all?
Molly held up the Ice Falls note. “Elias, did you write this?”
“Me? No. I don’t know how to write.” When they both stared, unable to hide their shock, he added, “I’m too stupid. I can’t learn it. I tried but the letters don’t stay in the same place. They’re like rabbits, but at least I can trap a rabbit.” He lifted his catch. “After I skin this, are you hungry?”
Molly made a soft choking sound. “I only eat chocolate bunnies, sorry. But you should…do whatever you need to do.” She edged away from the kitchen counter. “I need to get back to Lila’s before she wakes up. She’ll be worried about me. Are you two okay here for the next hour or so?”
“You can’t go alone,” Sam said with a frown.
“Why not? It’s a quick run down the trail and no one’s popped up so far. Elias, have you seen anyone around?”
Elias shook his head.
Sam struggled with the idea of Molly heading off on her own when they still didn’t know who had shot at them or why. But she was a grown woman, and he wasn’t the boss of her. “At least take Buttercup with you. He’ll alert you if he scents anyone.”
He whistled for Buttercup, who came trotting over. Molly scratched behind his ears the way he liked. “Want to go for a run, Buttercup?”
As soon as Molly and Buttercup had left, Sam turned to Elias.
“I’ll help you with that rabbit,” Sam offered. “I make a mean rabbit stew.”
He’d never made rabbit stew in his life, but he had his secret weapon, his encrypted satellite phone. A quick trip to the outhouse and a google search, and he could probably fake it.
