Sin: A Survival Romance Fiction (Her Story Trilogy Book 1)

by Kensley Hatch

  “I-I used them to chop more firewood.” Julian stammered, feeling the sickening realization of his actions. “I put them on the other side of the tent.”

  Summer marched over to where he had pointed and found the holster lying against the tent’s canvas in innocent idleness.

  “How could you do that?” Her voice was rising. “I have specified that no one is to touch these besides me and you took the liberty of taking them without permission and then misplacing them! Well, I hope you’re happy being warmed by the fire with the wood you cut because now we certainly won’t have anything to cook over it.”

  “I’m sorry, but first of all I never knew that your axes were untouchable,” Julian’s tone had switched to defensiveness. “And second of all, I didn’t misplace them. I told you right where they were.”

  “The point is that they weren’t where I had them, and because of that we’ve probably lost our only opportunity to catch food.”

  “Come on.” Julian’s laugh had no amusement in it. “I’m sorry we didn’t catch it, but we have the traps set up, and I’m sure Bridger will be back soon to save the day for you.”

  Summer came down to the fire where Julian was, and her next words were spoken through clenched teeth.

  “What’s your problem?” The rhetorical question made it clear that she thought she already knew. “Are you embarrassed that he can get food for us while you can’t?” She said, baiting him.

  “No,” The veins in Julian’s neck were bulging, but his face remained composed. “I just don’t think this whole episode is that big of a deal, considering how you may not have hit the stupid animal even if you did have your axes where you left them. That’s probably why Bridger didn’t want you to come on the hunt with them.”

  His flat words hit Summer in a place she hadn’t realized had been vulnerable to him until she felt the sting of his inference. The silence in the rest of the camp was deafening with everyone frozen, watching the fight.

  She opened her mouth for a seething response, but no words came out. Instead, they stared at each other as if challenging the other one to say anything more. Finally, Summer stepped back and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Actually, you’re right.” She admitted. “I probably wouldn’t have hit it, and I’m sure tomorrow morning our traps will be full with birds and Bridger will be back with a whole herd of deer for us to feast on. Since game is so obviously abundant right now, there really is nothing to worry about.”

  She continued to walk backward while her speech dripped with irony then promptly turned around and headed for the tent.

  Julian watched her go, but suddenly the anger was gone and instead it was replaced with the pang of regret.

  “I’m sure we’ll catch something tomorrow.” Tania eventually broke the silence with an attempt at reassurance.

  Chapter 14

  “We didn’t catch anything.” Michael’s dejected announcement came unwelcomingly when they had returned from checking on the traps the next morning.

  Summer plopped herself down next to the fire without making eye contact with anyone.

  “We were there too long yesterday.” She said, ripping shreds of bark off of a stick. “The birds probably could smell our scent and stayed away.”

  No one else said anything. Nor, did anyone attempt to make breakfast with their other supplies, besides Stephanie making tea for Meline.

  Summer got up and began to restlessly pace up and down the length of the campsite between the two furthest tents waiting for Bridger’s return. She and Julian had not talked since last night’s outburst, and he kept his distance from her nervous walking, though Tania sat next to him and seemed more than willing to throw sour glares in her sister’s direction. Summer noted them with irritation, but she soon forgot about them as the hours passed on and still there was no sign of Bridger or Phil. They hadn’t traveled that far in between the day from when Phil had allegedly seen the animal tracks and when they camped here. Summer could only imagine how much distance they could have already covered with the time they had been gone. She tormented herself once again with wondering whether or not there had even been any tracks. The pain in her stomach was a constant reminder of the pain in her mind, but she couldn’t tell which one of these was causing her actual headache. It didn’t really matter because the throbbing got worse without regard to what was creating it.

  Meline was still having coughing fits, but miraculously had gotten a couple of hours of sleep in between each hacking attack last night, which made it much easier to sleep for everyone else in the tent. However, it didn’t do any good for Summer because she had been unable to fall asleep last night for different reasons. After her fight with Julian, she was trapped staring up at the canvas ceiling of their tent mulling over the argument again and again. Summer knew she had been in a touchy mood all of that day, and it was easier to confess to herself that she had likely overreacted. Yet, her brain stubbornly recalled the harshness of his words and sleep became elusive as she compared them to the harshness of her own. She tried switching from one side to another, but she finally gave up and allowed her mind to race and repeat while she laid on her back sullenly.

  When the sun was high over their heads, Julian left camp with a machete-like knife and headed into the surrounding woods. The irregular sound of branches being hacked down eventually followed his departure. Summer picked up her own axes and headed in the opposite direction of where he had gone. She soon found a tree that looked partially dead and commenced to hew it down with the heavy slashes of her ax at the base of its trunk. It was a smaller tree and only stood a couple of feet above Summer’s head, but soon she felt the stickiness of perspiration underneath her thinning coat. Her breathing turned into heaves as she continued to strike the tree until it fell to the ground and she then cut it into logs they could use for burning.

  When she arrived back at camp, she could smell the distinct odor of the lentil soup they had been surviving off of these past couple days. It took several loads to get all of the wood she chopped over to their campsite, and she placed them next to the pile of branches that she assumed was put there by Julian.

  Meline was standing above the fire, stirring the pot of soup with a ladle.

  “That’s for you.” Meline gestured to an olive colored bundle sitting on the tarp. Summer gave her mother a curious look and picked it up to examine it. She unfolded the fabric to display a thick winter coat with fur lining inside and deep pockets on either side. She looked to Meline for an explanation, and she saw the look of contained pleasure from seeing Summer’s surprise.

  “It’s from Julian. He said he had promised to give you a new coat a couple of weeks ago, but hadn’t up till now because he didn’t want to upset Bridger.”

  Summer took off the off-colored blue coat that she had stolen from the old hardware store and hesitantly slipped the new coat onto her body. The fur inside was incredibly soft, and she didn’t realize how lightweight her other coat had been until she felt the insulation of this one. Meline was beaming when Summer turned to show her in the new coat, and Summer realized that she didn’t know about yesterday’s confrontation. Summer’s smile weakened as the event reentered her memory, and she looked around the camp anxiously.

  “Where is everyone else?”

  “They left to go searching for roots. Mary started talking about how she used to do that, and I think they needed something to do instead of loitering around here.”

  Summer looked to the horizon to see the hazy sun starting its descent into the west.

  “I guess I’ll go check on the traps then.” She responded after aimlessly looking around for something to occupy her.

  She put her hands in her pocket as she followed the footsteps of her previous trek to the location of the traps. She noticed with satisfaction how deep the pockets were, allowing her to stick her hands in well past her wrist. They were also lined with fur and f
elt like the luxury of gloves. As the traps came into view, she heard a slight tingling of bells, and she quickened her pace eagerly.

  She couldn’t believe what she saw—three dangling birds on the end of her ropes. The closest one to her was the one with the bell on it, and it was ringing with the movement of its capture. A weight was lifted from Summer’s shoulders and suddenly she saw Mary and Tania running towards her as well.

  “We caught them!” Tania exclaimed, punching the air with her fist.

  The others weren’t far behind them, and the woods boomed with cheers as they saw the prize of their waiting. Michael ran up and tackled Tania and Summer in a bear hug that pushed them over onto the ground, but they only giggled with relieved delight. Mccarthy’s face was glowing, and Summer stood up to embrace him and Julian in the height of her celebration.

  “Help me cut them down.” Summer instructed, and Tania passed one of her knives over to Julian as she started on the first trap.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to use your ax?”

  Summer stopped in momentary shock at Julian’s question. She smiled and smacked his arm, causing his smirk to get larger.

  “Shut up.” She quipped and pulled on the pheasant’s feet that were hanging above her head.

  The gleeful party took the birds back to the camp like they were carrying first place trophies and showed them to the three women who had stayed there. They plucked the feathers off speedily, and Julian and Michael stoked the fire to an increasingly larger size. The mood had lifted, and the whole camp was bursting with new energy like they had just started a new day. The birds were promptly cooked, and it only became quiet during the ravaging of the first bird when everyone was too busy filling their stomachs to make time for conversation. However, after their stomachs had gotten partially full, the sound picked up again. Mccarthy began singing an old Irish song he had learned as a boy, and everyone sat in a circle and clapped with the rhythm.

  “He’s back!” Tania cried, all of a sudden, pointing to the trees behind Mccarthy’s back.

  Everyone turned to see the almost phantom-like form of the fox with its sparkling eyes staring at the bird carcasses. Tania broke off a leg and threw it towards her furry friend.

  “I thought we had lost him for good.” Summer mumbled to herself in wonder.

  The night grew dark, but this time, it was almost welcome since it added to the feeling of belonging and safety around the fire. The flickering light gave the faces around it an ambient glow, and even the older countenances of Mccarthy and Meline appeared to be young again. Summer felt it like it was a kind of magic that had been cast on them by some woodland fairy, for the smiles around her truly seemed to be enchanting. The loud voices and laughter eventually subdued to the soft murmur of the untold stories of people’s past.

  Summer learned that the younger Mary had been a track star in her middle school and had been looking forward to entering the high school competitions before The Invasion happened. Mccarthy elaborated on a time where he almost quit grad school in pursuit of a Ukrainian woman he had met at a cocktail party of one of his classmates. The story ended in a hilarious series of errors that prevented their love and Summer suspected that the tale was probably more fiction than fact, but everyone enjoyed the telling of it and begged for more. Julian spoke of his engagement that he had apparently broken off only a month into it.

  “I think we were more in love with the idea of each other than who we actually were.” He confided in a thoughtful air. “On paper, we were perfectly matched, but when it came down to it, I realized she didn’t really see me and I had probably never really seen her.”

  “So why didn’t you try to see her?” Meline asked with the gentle prodding of a mother’s inquisitiveness.

  Julian breathed out and lifted his shoulders.

  “I don’t know. I guess after that realization, it didn’t feel honest to continue, especially since she didn’t seem to have a problem with our previous understanding of each other. Some things just aren’t right, I guess.” He added and poked Tania in the side playfully to change the mood.

  Summer had been staring at the heated ring of rocks around the fire as she listened intently to this new space of openness where it felt safe to share with each other. She was content to be a listener only, and as Mccarthy started another one of his fantastical stories, she slowly scanned the people around their small circle.

  Michael was sitting next to the younger Mary and was showing her an eagle he had carved on a piece of wood. Mccarthy was standing up so that he could have a full range of motion as he swung his arms with every turn in his narration. Stephanie and the other Mary sat next to Summer and were enthralled by the deep voice that thundered with adventures. Across the fire, Julian sat in between Tania and Meline, who had her arm around his shoulders as they shared her new deerskin covering. The sight of the light in their eyes warmed Summer even more than her new coat, and for the first time in a long time, everything felt like the way it should be.

  Chapter 15

  Summer woke up late, which was highly unusual for a person such as her, who survived off of the systemic security of routine. However, last night had seemed like a dream, and she had gone to bed in a happy euphoria that coaxed her into what felt like an intoxicated slumber. When she opened her eyes, she didn’t move any other part of her body but stayed still as her brain dug to recall where she was and why she was there. The stillness was short-lived, however, for soon, she heard a harsh noise that brought the recollection of her situation.

  “Where’s Summer?” Bridger’s voice growled from outside the tent.

  She got up and flung open the flap of the tent to see Bridger eying with hostility the remainder of the dinner from the night before, while Phil was dragging something behind his back. Everyone else had already awakened and stood uncomfortably at the sudden return of the two men. Summer assumed Bridger had been addressing Michael for he darted a look over to her that seemed to be asking for help.

  “I’m here.” She announced, stepping into her boots outside the tent door.

  “It looks like you had a nice time without us.” Bridger looked put out.

  “We were able to catch some food for ourselves.” Summer raised her chin, thinking of her spurned offer to help before he had left.

  “Well, we also caught something.” Bridger turned to Phil who lugged the sled behind him. The carcass of a small doe lay tied down in the sled.

  “We’ll cook it tonight.” Bridger decided and started throwing snow into the morning fire. The camp was disassembled, and they were finally on the move once again.

  They traveled all the rest of that day, and Summer was glad to continue their journey, except there was a small feeling of sadness that pooled inside her heart. The night before had been something special. It had felt like home, when she was still a child and the world was easy and welcoming. There had been an unmistakable sense of belonging shared by those at that night’s bonfire, but it felt like that protective glass had cracked with Bridger’s return. His presence instituted a sense of hierarchy, and it was painful to have the shared feeling of equal comradery leave their group.

  They roasted the deer that night, but Summer couldn’t help but compare it to the full flavor of the pheasants from the night before. Though, she realized that it might have tasted better due to their extreme hunger that preceded it. The rule for two different campsites and fires was silently adhered to once again. The separation brought with it an almost eerie companion of silence among the groups.

  As the days wore on, Summer noticed something was different about Bridger. He had left her alone for quite some time now and she couldn’t exactly recollect the last time she had been in his tent. However, now she caught him staring at her often, and it made her heart freeze when she looked back at him. There was something untamed in his eyes.

  One day, they had stopped earlier than usual. Meline’
s pneumonia had doubled back with twice the amount of force that it had before, and it was hard for her to keep up. Summer kept her ax holster around her hips as they traveled and she left camp to chop more wood for the coming night. She hadn’t been gone long before she heard footsteps behind her. She had wandered into a denser part of the forest that covered the mountain, and it suddenly occurred to her that there may be other animals other than herself who roamed these woods. She waited to hear the footfalls again and then whipped herself around with her hand clenched around the handle of her right ax.

  Luckily, it was only Bridger who she saw when she turned around.

  “You scared me.” Summer said, putting her ax back into its place.

  “Sorry,” Bridger mumbled, drawing closer. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Chopping wood.” Summer responded, gesturing at their surroundings. Bridger’s tone had an unusual friendliness in it that caught her off guard. “What are you doing out here?”

  “I saw you leave and I wanted to make sure you were alright.” His face broke into a crooked smile and he walked a couple more feet closer to her.

  “You know, while I was gone, it made me realize how much I missed you.” His words were soft, and he reached for her hand. Summer moved away before he could grab it, but Bridger seemed undeterred.

  “That’s strange.” She retorted while watching him cautiously.

  “Do you know how beautiful you are?” He stroked her cheek with his thumb and pulled his arm against her back, drawing her closer to him.

  “Knock it off.” She demanded, putting her hands against his chest to resist getting closer.

  “Where’d you get this coat?” His words oozed with tooth aching sweetness as he undid the first button near her neck. She swallowed nervously and struggled to get out of his hold, but his large arms surrounded her easily.

  “Julian gave it to me.” She wriggled underneath one arm and got in a position where she could successfully push herself away from him. She backed away by several steps, but Bridger only smiled, amused at her attempts of resistance. He walked towards her slowly.