26. Danger

You place a hand over your mouth as you attempt to calm your breathing. The man below you crouches down by the fallen rabbit and you see him pull what you assume to an arrow out of its side. The bow he’s holding in his other hand looks rough and homemade. Wet black curls hang down around his head. You haven’t seen his face yet but you feel incredibly uncomfortable. After a moment he stands and you get a better look at his body. He’s quite lean but you get the sense he’s stronger than he looks. You continue leaning back against the tree trunk as you watch him walk forward and disappear into the forest ahead.

You wait a little over half an hour before finally descending the tree. You glance at your watch and see it’s slightly past two o’clock. Time is slipping away from you and you still haven’t caught anything. You reach the bottom of the tree and decide to go in the direction the man had originally come from. You round the base of the large tree and freeze in your tracks. There is the man standing straight ahead of you. He has an angular face and dark cold eyes that put you at unease. He holds the rabbit up and says in a somewhat taunting manner “Looking for this?”

You consider reaching for your rifle but you’re trembling far too much to attempt it. You don’t reply to his question and continue surveying him warily. He cocks his head to the side for a moment before tossing the rabbit down at your feet. “This one’s on the house.” He winks at you then turns and walks away. You don’t like whatever game this man is playing but eventually pick the up rabbit.

When you return to the cabin you quickly toss the rabbit down and change into clean clothes. It feels like the temperature is well above 100 degrees today. While you’re changing you think back to the encounter in the woods. You shiver as a bead of sweat drips down your spine. You’re mad that your natural reaction in that situation was to freeze instead of fighting or at least fleeing. At least you made it home safe so maybe your body instinctively made the right choice.

You don’t sleep that night. You’re exhausted from your journey but you don’t trust your surroundings. Eventually when you finally feel like you can’t keep your eyes open any longer you get up and walk into the kitchen. As you reach into the cupboard you feel guilty for pulling out the small bag of coffee grounds. You saved it for special occasions but you figure a small cup can’t hurt. You already feel yourself perking up when the aroma hits you. It’s a crappy brand of coffee but it tastes like the most delicious cup in the world to you.

You settle back in your chair and take another drink, savoring the flavor. A jolt of energy races through you with each sip and before you know it you’ve sadly finished the cup. You get up and pace around the room, the coffee has woken you up, but it’s heightened your anxiety. You go to check outside the window again, there’s still no fire, you wonder if that’s good or bad. The rest of the night passes by uneventfully. At some point you had pulled the chair up to the back window. You stare at the sky and watch the stars slowly fade away as the sun rises.

You’re head is pounding the next morning. The mixture of the caffeine crash and pulling an all-nighter makes you feel hung over. Your mouth is parched and you decide to grab some fresh water from the pump outside. The morning air feels nice and slightly cool against your skin. It’s been so miserably hot lately even the water pumped from deep well below wasn’t as cold as normal. The first bucket you pump feels slightly warm so you lean your head back and pour the water over your hair. Some of the water tickles down your neck and underneath the front of your shirt. You wring some of the water out of your hair before returning to pumping.

The next bucket is more to your liking so you begin walking back home. You reach the door and bend forward to set the bucket down. As you straighten up you gasp as a hand slams on to the door in front of you. Whirling around you find yourself facing the man from the woods. You take a step backwards and find your back against the door. His lanky frame leans down toward you while his right arm remains on the door cutting off the path to your left. You briefly glance at the open space to your right before looking up into the mans dark eyes.