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I want to cross the tent and rake his face with my nails, grab a rock and hit him again. Only this time I won’t stop until he’s dead. “We are nothing alike,” I tell him.
“Really?” He smiles at me, the smirk that is quickly becoming the star of all my nightmares. “’Cause you seem just as concerned as me with saving your own skin.”
He is gone, the tent flap snapping shut in his wake, before I can think of a reply.
“Try it again,” Caleb says. “Don’t push so hard with the knife.” He grips my wrist and turns it slightly so the blade is angled to the side instead of straight down. “That way it’s easier to separate the skin from the meat.”
I ignore the slide of sweat down my face, the sun beating down on my bent neck like an open flame. “Like this?” I cut the dead rabbit’s fur away. Not as cleanly as Caleb or Ash, but better than the last time I tried.
“You’re getting there,” Caleb says, rewarding me with a half smile.
Ash is sitting under a nearby tree, and she tosses a small twig at Caleb’s head. “When is this lesson going to be done? I’m drowning in my own sweat over here.”
Caleb throws the twig back, a direct hit to the middle of Ash’s forehead. “You’re in the shade,” he reminds her. He looks back at me, flickering his eyes to the rabbit. “Finish it up.”
“Yes, sir,” I say, and Ash hoots.
“You want to learn or not?” Caleb says, his smile fading.
“Yes,” I say. “Sorry.” I roll my shoulders, the muscles tight from being hunched over the small carcass.
When I’m done, I hold up the skin for Caleb’s inspection. “I’ve seen better.” He bumps my shoulder with his. “I’ve seen worse.”
I grin at him and raise my eyebrows at Ash. “Careful, Caleb,” she says, rolling her eyes. “You’re turning into a big softy.”
Caleb takes the rabbit, along with the half dozen he skinned while waiting for me, and puts them in his bag. I give Ash back her knife, and the three of us head toward the river without speaking of our destination. We all need the relief of water. As we pass a small group working in the garden, one of the men calls out, “How many today?”
“Seven,” Caleb says.
The man smiles. I think his name is Andrew. Or maybe Albert. “Not bad.” He looks at me. “Caleb teaching you the tricks of the trade?”
“He’s trying.”
“She’s holding her own,” Caleb says.
The man nods, leans his weight on his hoe. “Doesn’t surprise me. Any daughter of Justin Westfall’s has gotta be a quick learner. Your daddy’s a great man.”
I remember the way my father sat and watched me be dragged out of the courtroom, destined to be put out beyond the fence, and didn’t say a single word in my defense. The way he wanted me to kill an innocent boy. “Yes,” I say.
“Must’ve been hard on him, watching you be put out.”
“Yes,” I say again, voice a low rasp. It’s the only word I can find.
The man shakes his head. “Surprised he didn’t follow you out.”
I duck my head, bite the inside of my cheek to keep the tears at bay. Caleb’s probing gaze on my bare neck burns as hot as any sun.
“Come on,” Ash says, pulling at my hand. “We’re heading for the river,” she tells the man. “Need to wash off the rabbit guts.”
I let her lead me away, put one foot in front of the other, and pretend I don’t feel Caleb’s eyes on me every step of the way.
I’m trying to be quiet as I follow Caleb and Ash through the woods, but every few seconds I snag a branch or snap a twig beneath my feet, and finally Caleb rounds on me, eyes narrowed.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
“Don’t. Talk,” he bites out through a clenched jaw, and I realize this is not just an exercise, that we are tracking something, or someone, who is a genuine danger. When we’d started the return walk to camp after setting a series of snares and Caleb had veered off, mumbling about following a trail only he could see, I hadn’t thought much of it. Just assumed he was teaching me more about tracking, although even straining until my eyes hurt I couldn’t see the signs he was following. I should have noticed the way Ash got quieter and quieter as we moved deeper into the trees, her shoulders tensing up, her hand hovering above her knife.
Now I make an effort to be more careful, falling slightly behind as I pick my way gingerly across the ground, which suddenly seems strewn with objects put there just to thwart my stealthiness. Ahead, I hear the murmur of voices, and my head whips up, my body freezing in place. Caleb drops down to a crouch, and Ash and I follow, the three of us hidden behind a stand of bushes.
