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“I meant health-wise. How does your leg feel?”
“Stiff, but not as sore as yesterday.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Get up and move around on it. Let’s give it a test run.” He helped her to her feet. Once she had slipped her coat on and propped herself on her crutches, they went outside so she could have some privacy; the Gawrylows’ cabin didn’t have indoor plumbing.
When she emerged from the outhouse, the rising sun had turned the overcast sky a watery gray. That light only emphasized her wanness. Cooper could tell that the effort of leaving the cabin to go to the bathroom had taxed her. Her hard breathing created clouds of vapor around her head.
He cursed beneath his breath. “What?” she asked him anxiously.
“You’ll never make it, Rusty. Not in days.” Hands on hips, he expelled his frustration in a gust of ghostly white breath and said, “What the hell am I going to do with you?”
He didn’t soften the question with any degree of tenderness or compassion. His inflection intimated that he’d far rather not be bothered with her at all.
“Well, I’m sorry to inconvenience you further, Mr. Landry. Why don’t you bait a bear trap with me? Then you can jog all the way to that damn river.”
He stepped forward and put his face close to hers. “Look, Pollyanna, you’re apparently too naive to see it, but there’s a lot more at stake here than just getting to the river.”
“Not as far as I’m concerned,” she shot back. “If you sprouted wings and flew there, it couldn’t be fast enough for me. I want to get out of here, away from you, and back home where I belong.”
His stern lip all but disappeared beneath his mustache. “All right, then.” He spun around and stamped back toward the cabin. “I’ll get there much faster without having you tagging along. You’ll stay here.”
“Fine,” she called after him.
Then, setting her own chin as stubbornly as his, she made her halting progress up the incline toward the cabin. The men were in the midst of an argument by the time she reached the door, which Cooper, in his haste or anger, had left ajar. Turning sideways and using her elbows, she maneuvered her way inside.
“Be reasonable, Gawrylow,” Cooper was saying. “Reuben is twenty or so years younger than you. I want to move fast. He goes with me. You stay with my...my wife. I can’t leave her here alone.”
“But, Pa—” Reuben whined.
“He’s right, Reuben. You’ll move much faster than I could. If you’re lucky, you might reach the river by midafternoon.”
The plan wasn’t to Reuben’s liking at all. He gave Rusty one last, hungry glance, then ambled out, muttering under his breath. Cooper didn’t appear much happier. He drew Rusty aside and handed her the flare gun, curtly instructing her on how to use it.
“Think you can manage that?”
“I’m not an idiot.”
He seemed prone to argue, but changed his mind. “If you hear an airplane, get outside as fast as you can and fire the flare straight up.”
“Why aren’t you taking it with you?”
The flare gun had been within Cooper’s reach since they left the wreckage. “Because the roof of the cabin would be easier to spot than two men on foot. Keep this with you, too.” Before she knew what he was about, he pulled the waistband of her slacks away from her body and slid the sheathed skinning knife inside. The smooth leather was cold against the naked skin of her abdomen. She gasped and sucked in her breath. He smiled at her startled reaction. “That should keep you mindful of where it is at all times.”
“Why should I be mindful of that?”
He stared into her eyes for a long moment. “Hopefully you’ll never have to know why.”
She returned his stare. Up until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much she hated the thought of his leaving her behind. She had put up a courageous front, but the idea of covering miles of wilderness on crutches had been overwhelming. In a way she was glad he had opted to go without her. But now that he was actually leaving, she wanted to cling to him and beg him not to.
She didn’t, of course. He had little enough respect for her as it was. He thought she was a petted, pampered, city girl. Obviously he was right, because at that moment, she was sorely dreading the hours she would have to spend until he came back for her.
Cooper broke the telling stare and, with an impatient curse, turned away.
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