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Reluctantly, Sandrine helped Josie wedge the door back into its frame. It kept the cold air out but one strong gust of wind would probably knock it out of place. Sandrine hovered near Josie’s elbow, watching Nicola and Brian warily. Alice stepped over the bed frame and knelt in front of them. “Take off your coats.”
“It’s freezing,” Nicola complained.
“You literally broke the door down to get in here,” Alice snapped. “You don’t get to complain. Coats off. I need to see how bad it is, and then we’re leaving.”
Brian started to take his off and hissed in pain. “I don’t think I can,” he said. “He got me here.” He pointed to his ribs. “It hurts really bad.”
“Fine,” said Alice. “Let me see your head.”
While Alice used her own sleeve to wipe away some of the blood from the slice in his head, Josie said, “What happened?”
“What happened is that we were standing outside the rage room and the bear came out of the woods,” said Nicola. “It attacked me. Brian grabbed a piece of pipe from inside and started hitting it. The bear swiped at him, too. It all happened so fast but then Brian dragged me back inside and we made a bunch of noise, and it ran off.”
Brian pointed to his forehead. “But he got us pretty good. I felt lightheaded. We got scared so Nic said we should find you guys.”
FIFTY-ONE
Josie could feel the anxiety rolling off Sandrine’s body. Alice eventually gave up trying to stop the bleeding from Brian’s head, instead lifting his arm up and pressing the sleeve of his coat against it. “Hold this here,” she told him and moved toward Nicola, who had already taken off what was left of her coat.
Sandrine said, “It serves you right. Now you know how it feels!”
“Not helping,” Alice said over her shoulder.
Nicola eyed Sandrine with disdain. “Does it?” she said. “Does it serve me right, sister?”
She said the word “sister” with such venom that Sandrine shrank behind Josie and went silent.
Alice held Nicola’s arm out. “I have nothing I can wrap this with. I’m sorry. I don’t think it needs stitches though. Just put your coat back on.” She looked back at Josie. “What’s wrong?”
Josie stared at the long slice along Nicola’s arm. Something wasn’t right. Her mind worked to figure out what.
“Josie?” said Alice.
Brian raised his head. “Is the bear out there?”
This time, Sandrine went to the window. “I don’t see anything.”
“Josie,” Alice said, voice louder this time. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes moved from the clean slice along Brian’s hairline to the clean slice along Nicola’s arm. “Nicola’s head,” she said. “Check her head.”
“Oh no,” Nicola said, putting a hand to the top of her head. “It’s fine. That one’s not bad.”
Alice scoffed and started pushing her fingers through Nicola’s locks, searching for the source of the blood. “How do you know? You can’t see it.”
Brian watched Josie, eyes suddenly wary. “Put pressure on that,” she told him, pointing to his forehead. He obeyed, lifting his forearm to cover his head once more. Josie frantically looked around the room for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing. The only thing in this entire cabin that could possibly be used as an effective weapon was the lid from the back of the toilet and that was too far for Josie to reach in time. Now that it was broken, the door wouldn’t be that easy to open in a rush. Josie could still try to get it open and push Sandrine out but there was a chance Brian and Nicola would grab Alice before she made it out with them.
Alice finished checking Nicola’s head. “I don’t see anything. Where did all this blood come from?”
Nicola squirmed away from her. “I told you it wasn’t bad.”
Alice arched a brow. “You don’t lose that much blood from nowhere, Nicola. Let me check again.”
Josie stepped forward. “We need something to clean her up.” She looked over at Sandrine, whose dress was already torn from their earlier efforts. “I need a piece of your dress.”
Sandrine tried to step back, away from Josie, but the room was too small. She banged into the wall. “No,” she said.
Josie reached down and gripped the edge of her dress where she and Alice had torn it earlier. “I’m sorry,” she said. This time, it ripped more easily. Josie clutched the fabric in her hand victoriously and walked into the bathroom. She tossed the scrap onto the floor and went right to the toilet, lifting the lid from the back of it. Holding it in both hands, she returned to the main room. It was warmer now with all their bodies pressed inside. Or maybe it was Josie’s nerves making her sweat again.
