Knight Shift

by Paulette Miller

  After finalizing the plans, they decided to call it a night so that they could head out early in the morning. Each set of twins went to their shared tents while Penny walked to her own. She couldn’t stop looking out into the woods and discretely scanning the trees, wishing she would catch Ice coming their way. She knew that he had said he had other things to do, but she was disappointed that he hadn’t changed his mind.

  She finally gave up and crawled into her tent alone. When she woke for her normal nightly stroll, remembering what Ice had said about nighttime dangers, she stayed in bed and stared at the tent above her. She filled her time by letting her mind wander with thoughts of a particular tall, dark, and deadly Changeling.

  The next day after a long morning of hunting, they returned to their camp to eat and rest. Once they were done with lunch, both sets of twins decided to do some additional hiking, but Penny decided to stay behind saying, “You four have worn me out. You boys can go and I’ll rest a little longer. I’ll have dinner waiting for you when you get back.”

  After the camp was quiet again, Penny decided to take a quick swim in a spring she had spotted the first time she hunted in this area. She didn’t bring a swimsuit so she stripped down and jumped into the cool water. While humming and floating lazily, she heard someone clear their throat. Thinking that her campmates had returned early and found her, she spun around in the water. She was shocked to find Ice squatting at the top of the ledge where she had dove into the water. Although secretly pleased, she cringed at his bad timing.

  When they made eye contact, Ice teased, “Hi Peanut.”

  Hearing her nickname, she said, “Not you too.” While trying to distract him from the fact that she was naked, she sunk down as low in the water as possible and said, “I thought you weren’t going to join us.”

  “I decided to drop in to make sure the twins were behaving.” He looked around and added, “Where are they? Are they eating your brothers?”

  “No. They actually get along great. It’s frightening how alike they are. They’re on a hike right now. They wore me out so I decided to stay behind.” Seeing the look in his eyes she added, “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe. My brothers don’t know and none of us are going to tell them.”

  Trying to make conversation, he asked, “How’s the hunting?”

  While continuing to tread water, Penny proceeded to tell him stories of their hunting adventure. Her tale was interrupted when she felt a twinge in the back of one of her legs. She yelled, “Ouch!” and awkwardly rubbed her leg while attempting to make sure that her body remained hidden under the water.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “My leg is cramping up.” After she swam to the edge of the spring, she said, “I’m getting out so turn around.”

  “Why?”

  “If you haven’t noticed, I didn’t pack a swimsuit.”

  Ice faked a surprised look, although he was very aware of her lack of attire . When she grabbed at her leg again and cursed, he decided to do what she asked. With his back towards her, he heard her splashing in the water with a steady stream of whispered curse words. Without turning around, he asked, “Do you need help?”

  “No. It’s just that the rocks are slippery and my leg cramp isn’t helping any.”

  After several more failed attempts to get out of the water, Ice turned around. Seeing her distress, he held out his hand to help her.

  Penny treaded water and stared at what he offered, unsure what to do. “Ahhh, well… thanks, but as you can see…” She pointed at a pile of clothes located at the base of a nearby tree and added, “I’m not exactly dressed for mixed company.”

  As she bobbed helplessly under water several times, he said, “Penny, let me help you out before you drown.” Seeing her growing expression of discomfort, Ice became concerned. He was giving her one last chance before he was jumping in and dragging her out.

  When Penny coughed out another mouthful of water, she knew she had no choice. She wouldn’t be able to get out without help and there wasn’t time to wait for her brothers to return. She cursed again and reached out for his extended hand.

  Ice leaned over the ledge and wrapped his large hand around hers. He hesitated for a moment and asked, “Are you ready?” When she nodded, he pulled her out as if she weighed nothing.

  When she tried to stand on her own, her leg wouldn’t hold her weight and forced her rescuer to grab onto her waist to prevent her from falling over the ledge and back into the water. As her leg was seized by another cramp, she cried out. She had no time to dwell on the fact that she was dripping wet and completely naked. Ice instantly twisted her around so that she was draped over his hip. In the same position a rider would pick the hooves of a horse, he leaned over her and grabbed onto the offending leg. The pain forced her to let him work on the cramp with her bare backside very close to his face.

  At first she debated on fighting to get away but, within seconds, his fingers had massaged out the knot. She couldn’t stop herself from taking a moment to close her eyes and moan as the pain slowly eased away.

  With the major discomfort gone, she refocused on the position she was in. She tapped Ice on his back to get his attention and said, “I thank you for another rescue, but you can let me go now.” The amount of heat in her cheeks informed her that her face was beet red.

  Ice gave her leg and her backside one last look and then helped her stand upright. Without changing his blank expression, he said, “Stay here and I’ll go get your clothes for you.”

  She watched him walk away, seeing absolutely no acknowledgment to the fact that she was standing in front of him naked. She was horrified and humiliated by his lack of reaction. She couldn’t stop herself from looking down and wondering how bad she must look to his eyes. She thought, “Maybe he doesn’t find me attractive.” The idea made her feel like a slug.

  Ice returned moments later and handed her the clothes, saying “Would you like assistance in getting dressed?”

  She silently shook her head, her face flaming with her embarrassment. Seeing her flushed cheeks, he walked away to let her get dressed in private.

  Once she was dressed, he asked, “How’s your leg feeling now?”

  She put her full weight on it and couldn’t stop an expression of relief from washing across her face. “It feels much better. By the way, how did you do that?”

  He shrugged. “Being a Changeling, we shift forms often. Sometimes the change isn’t as smooth as we would like or we hold a form too long and we get cramps. Over the years, I’ve learned techniques that seem to ease the discomfort.”

  She put her embarrassment to the side for a moment and said, “Thank you for your help…both for my leg and getting me out of the water. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come by.”

  Although his outward expression never changed, inside he cringed, realizing what the outcome would have been if he hadn’t been watching. To get his mind focused on something else, he asked, “How about we get you back to camp so that you can rest that leg of yours?”

  Penny nodded and started to walk toward their camp with Ice at her side. They didn’t talk so Penny’s mind went back to his lack of reaction to seeing her naked. As the scene repeated in her mind, her embarrassment slowly turned to anger. She was upset over the whole situation, but she was even angrier over the fact that she cared about what he thought of her. By the time they stepped into the camp, her mood had turned foul.

  Ice could sense her swing in moods, but decided to ignore it. His mind was replaying the rescue and what Penny looked like wet.

  While Penny silently berated Ice from within her mind, she chopped up their food for dinner with unnecessary force. Ice kept his distance and worked on building the fire and preparing the leftover meat from the morning hunt.

  The meal was well on its way when the hikers walked through the trees. The moment they saw Ice in the camp with Penny, Tadd and Taylor tensed, while Penny’s brothers smiled.

  While they ate
their meal, the twins told stories from their hike. Penny nodded occasionally to show that she was listening, but she remained uncharacteristically quiet. Although she tried to hide her anger behind a fake smile, her brother’s knew her well enough that they were certain she was mad about something. Given the glares she occasionally shot over at Ice, they also knew he was the target for her mood.

  To try and find out what had happened, Max asked, “So Penny, what did you and Ice do while we were gone?”

  She pointed behind her and said, “There’s a great little swimming hole back there and I spent time relaxing in the water. Although it isn’t big, it’s deep enough to dive into. Ice arrived as I was getting out.”

  She was saved from sharing any more details of the tale when huge grins lit across the hikers’ faces. Then, as a practiced chorus, they let out a combined yell, tossed their plates, and ran in the direction Penny had pointed. The race was on and they stripped along the way. It was obvious that none of them were shy about running around naked. Penny followed behind and was touched that Taylor and Tadd made the race a close call since she knew they could outrun a cheetah.

  As she watched them playing in the water, she noticed that Ice remained at her side. “Aren’t you going to join them?” she asked.

  He teased, “I think I’ll stay where I can play life guard and drag anyone out that needs rescuing.”

  Penny gave him a scowl and said, “You’re very funny today.” As her mind invented images of Ice wet and naked, her anger welled again, but this time at her lack of mental self-control. She stood and, seeing those in the water rough housing, she announced, “Watch over the boys and make sure they don’t kill each other. I’m going to go clean up the camp.” She looked into the sky. “A storm is coming and I want us to be ready.”

  By the time Penny had cleaned and packed up the supplies, everyone else arrived back in camp. With lightning and thunder in the distance, they sat around the fire and told stories. Embarrassing tales of Penny’s childhood seemed to be the favorite topic.

  When a coyote howled in the distance and Penny turned to look in the direction of the sound, Morgan said, “Oh no, Penny. You better look out; it might be a chicken.”

  Penny shot him a stare telling him silently to keep his mouth shut.

  Tadd asked, “A chicken?”

  Max’s face lit up with mischief as he said, “Hasn’t Penny told you?”

  Penny threw a clump of dirt at her brother and said, “Don’t you dare say it!”

  Taylor asked with curiosity, “Say what?”

  While dodging several well aimed clumps of dirt, Max said, “My fearless sister is afraid of chickens.”

  “Chickens?” Tadd exclaimed while holding back laughter.

  Max explained. “It all started when we took her to a poultry farm when she was around five years old. We were half-way through this massive chicken coop when she decided she wanted to free one of the caged animals. Once she opened the cage, it came flying out. It scared the living daylights out of her and she screamed. She ran for it with that damn chicken right behind her. Her screeching made the entire coop erupt. By the time she reached the door, her fear of the nasty foul was well engrained.”

  Morgan added, “Mom wasn’t allowed to buy or cook chicken for almost a year after.”

  Penny tried to explain her fear. “When they get mad and those feathers start flying around…” Her body involuntarily shuddered, making everyone laugh. “My brothers took turns staying in my room for months until I could sleep on my own.”

  Max said, “I often thought that’s why you never sleep through the night.”

  Tadd asked, “She told us she didn’t sleep well, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

  Revealing another of her secrets, Max said, “Yup. She’s like an alarm clock. Each night she wakes around two o’clock and stays up until the sun starts to rise.”

  Tadd turned to Penny and asked, “Is this true?” When she nodded, he asked, “Every night?”

  Penny nodded again and said, “Every night—even on weekends.” Seeing their interest, she explained, “That habit started when I turned twelve and entered puberty. For some reason my body starts to overheat when I sleep and I wake up covered in sweat. My Mom took me to the doctor and they said it was just a phase I would grow out of, but over the years it continued to get worse. Once I turned eighteen we tried some medication. The side effects were so bad I decided lack of sleep was better. I’ve learned to accept it and now it’s just the way I am.”

  Taylor asked, “What do you do each night?”

  “I cook, paint, watch movies…”

  As Ice stared at the subject of their discussion, he thought about all the stories he could share about her nighttime activities. He kept his mouth shut tight, wanting to keep those stories secret.

  When Penny playfully attacked her brothers because they started to share her lack of tolerance to alcohol, Ice, Taylor and Tadd stared at the battle. Even though Penny and her brothers teased each other endlessly, they all longed to have a family like hers. They had no nice stories to tell of their childhood so they avoided that particular subject all together.

  When a raindrop hit Penny on the arm, she announced, “I guess we had better call it a night.” Seeing the three tents and the six people, Penny turned to Ice and said, “We don’t have a fourth tent so you can share mine.”

  Taylor’s eyes opened wide in horror and he replied instantly, “No way. I don’t think it’s wise for him to stay with you. I doubt he wants to stay anyways.”

  The rain was starting to fall a little harder and she replied, “I think this is going to be a bad storm so he can’t leave now. Your two tents barely fit the four of you. I have the biggest tent and I don’t take up much space, so he’ll have plenty of room.”

  Max said, “I don’t know sis. Your choice of nightwear might be too much for him.”

  The thought brought back her anger from earlier events. “I brought shorts and a t-shirt, thank you very much. Besides, you don’t have to worry about him being around me. I guarantee nothing will happen. I bet I could stand naked in front of him and he wouldn’t even notice.” She shot daggers at Ice. Her brothers caught the angry glare, knowing that they had hit a nerve. But they also had caught the glances they kept giving each other during dinner and knew there was something more going on between these two camp mates.

  Penny stood and said, “I’m going to bed.” After rubbing her leg, she limped across the camp and added, “Come on Ice, if you want.” She disappeared into the tent with a huff.

  Ice pondered her offer. This was his chance to sleep next to her—an opportunity he couldn’t pass by.

  When Ice stood to follow her, Max called to him, saying “Just give a yell if you need us to come to your rescue.” He chuckled.

  Ice wasn’t sure what Max meant, but followed Penny into her tent.

  Once the couple was out of sight and Max noticed the concerned looks on his fire-side companion’s faces, he said, “You two don’t have to worry about Penny. I think she’s perfectly safe. It’s Ice you should be concerned about.”

  Taylor asked with surprise, “Why?”

  Max replied, “Didn’t you see the daggers coming out of my sweet little sister’s eyes? I don’t know what Ice did, but my sister is seriously pissed. I’ve been on the receiving end of that stare and it isn’t pretty.”

  Morgan added while looking at his brother, “I haven’t seen her that mad since we dragged her out of the backseat of a parked car with that kid. What was his name?”

  Max answered, “I think it was Roy, or Roger…”

  Morgan announced, “It was Robert. It was the night of a dance and her first date with a boy we didn’t like. I knew his intensions weren’t honorable.”

  Taylor asked with true interest, “What did you do?”

  Max replied, “We did what any older brother would do. We dragged the little bastard out of the car before anything happened and made sure he understood our disple
asure.”

  Morgan added, “I guess the fact that we did this in front of her entire class may have made Penny a bit angry. To this day she claims that night was the reason no one asked her out again.”

  Max ended the tale with an evil grin and said, “They all feared our wrath.”

  When the weather forced their conversation to end, both sets of twins ran to their tents. No matter what Max and Morgan said, Tadd and Taylor planned to keep their ears open for any signs of distress coming from Penny’s tent.

  *~*~*~*

  While Ice watched Penny rearrange the items inside the tent to make more room, she completely ignored him. After she unzipped her sleeping bag and spread it out as a bed they both could sleep on, she tossed him a blanket unnecessarily hard, saying “You can use this.” After digging out her night clothes, she said, “You might want to close your eyes. I would hate for you to be forced to see me naked again.” Her words were sharp and full of hidden meaning.

  Ice asked, “Why are you so angry with me?”

  After roughly pulling off her shirt, she lied, “I’m not mad at you.”

  “Maybe I think that because I can actually see fire flaming out of your eyes and it’s directed at me.”

  With her night clothes in her hand, she stopped getting undressed and glared at Ice. After a brief pause she replied, “This is why.” She stripped the rest of the way down and spread her arms. Seeing no reaction, she let out a growl of frustration and said under her breath, “Unbelievable.” She threw on her night clothes and roughly got into her assigned spot.

  “What did I do?” Ice asked, completely bewildered.

  She sat up, leaning back on her elbows, and said, “You didn’t do anything. That’s the problem.”

  Ice exhaled noisily and said, “I’m totally confused.”

  “Forget it. I should’ve known better.” She fell back down onto the blanket.

  “Please tell me,” he asked as sweetly as he was able.

  Hearing his softer tone, she turned her head to look over at him and said, “If you must know, my ego is bruised.”

  “Why?”