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“Do you remember how he did it?”
“Yeah. He had a flat piece of wood with a groove in the middle, and he rubbed the stick in there.”
“Anything else?”
Carly thought for a moment. “He had the fluffy stuff at the top of the groove.”
“Tinder,” Justin said. He gestured to his little pyramid. “Now, there’s something we have the guy in the movie didn’t. My knife.” Justin took the knife out of its scabbard and pulled something from the end—a little gray rectangle he laid in Carly’s hand. “Flint and steel.” He pointed to a small rough patch on the blade of his knife up near the handle. “Strike it hard and fast, like you would a match.”
She struck the corner of the flint against it and was surprised at how many sparks it produced.
“It’s another sort-of-slow method. You have to catch your sparks against very light tinder. Paper won’t do it unless you have it shredded very fine. Since I’m feeling sort of lazy tonight, I’m not going to demonstrate the whole process. We’ll save that for another night.” Out of his pocket he took a Zippo lighter and ran the flame around his little pyramid. Once it was blazing, he slowly added larger pieces of wood until the fire was steady and strong.
“Think you can light it tomorrow?” Justin asked.
“I can try.”
“You’re a smart lady. I think you’ll figure it out.”
“Do you really think I’m smart?” she asked, her voice hesitant and soft. “I sometimes feel like a moron because I don’t know these things.”
“Yes, I think you’re smart, Carly. You’ve just never lived a life where you need to know all of this. Most people would be in the same situation, I assure you.” Justin stood and gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m going to scout around a bit. Why don’t you relax and read for a while? I’ll be back soon, and we’ll cook dinner.”
“Be careful,” Carly said. Having him gone made her nervous because she didn’t know what she’d do without him.
He grinned at her. “I always am.”
Sam bounded off after him and left Carly and Shadowfax at the campsite. Shadowfax was grazing on the nearby vegetation and didn’t even look up as Carly approached. “I’m going to look at your feet, okay, girl?” Shadowfax chewed placidly as Carly crouched down beside her and tugged her foreleg until she lifted her hoof.
It was the first time Carly had ever looked at a horse’s foot, so she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for. The metal horseshoe was attached well; it didn’t wiggle when Carly tried to move it. The underside looked smooth and uninjured. Carly walked around to the other side and performed the same examination. In one back hoof, she found a little pebble wedged under the shoe and decided that couldn’t be comfortable, so she dug it out with a small stick. She stood and patted Shadowfax’s neck. “Thank you for not kicking me.”
She settled down to read, leaning against her rolled-up sleeping bag. Justin returned a few minutes later carrying an armload of large sticks. Carly looked around in alarm. “Where’s Sam?”
“I thought he was with you.”
“No, he followed you.” Carly’s heart began to pound. If they didn’t find him, there was no way Sam could survive out there on his own.
“Carly, don’t worry,” Justin said, his voice low and soothing. “He wouldn’t have gone far, and he can’t get lost. He’ll follow his own scent trail back. Or he’ll find mine and follow me back to camp. He—”
Justin didn’t finish the sentence as Sam came bounding through the brush. He stopped in front of Carly and dropped a dead rabbit at her feet.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Good boy, Sam!” Justin picked up the rabbit and rubbed a grinning Sam between the ears.
Carly hugged Sam tightly. “Good boy,” she said, though she wanted to scold him for taking off like that.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume you’ve never had rabbit for dinner, right?”
Carly shook her head.
“Then you may not want to watch this next bit. Why don’t you walk back to the creek and get us some water?”
“Where is it?”
“About a hundred yards that way.” Justin pointed. “You should be able to see the tracks I made in the leaves. But if you get off the trail, just yell. You’ll be within earshot.”
She found the creek and washed her face and hands before filling the bucket. Sam started lapping at the flowing water. “No! Don’t drink that until Justin purifies it.” Sam just looked at her with those eerily sentient eyes.
Justin had constructed a spit using two forked sticks with a parallel one across that held the cooking rabbit. It smelled delicious. Carly’s stomach growled, and Justin grinned at her. He had raked out some hot cinders upon which a pot simmered.
