“I’ll do only the minimum to get us through this,” I promised. “That’s the most I can promise you, though. If we’re lucky, the storm will blow itself out quickly. Otherwise, I’ll have to take steps. I secured the tent anticipating a blow, and all of our supplies are in here. On that front, we’ll be fine. We’ll have to make sure we keep warm, but we can start a fire easily enough, and we’ll be able to catch fish. I’m not worried about that. The real problem is if a lot of snow sticks. It’s harder to hike through the snow, and we’re not dressed for it.”
“Our shoes.” Melody sighed. “And we left the crash site, so if someone did find the plane…”
“The chances of someone finding the plane just went from slim to none, realistically. The snow will cover the crash site, and it’s far enough off the beaten path to make it difficult to find.”
Kevin sighed. “Your Highness, we were off course, and far enough off course that it’s probable no one will even think to look over that section of land for us anyway. It was obviously planned, which means the tracking equipment was probably disabled.”
Melody grimaced. “Edwardo had the talent to do that. I know. We’re really stuck, aren’t we?”
To get us all through our situation, which would test my skills more than I liked, I’d have to make sure Melody and Kevin were able to stay calm. “We’re not stuck. The storm isn’t helping, but we’re not stuck. We’re definitely in the sort of survival scenario I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but as long as Kevin’s arm doesn’t get infected, we will be able to get to civilization on our own.” Then, wincing at the truth of what I was about to say, I added, “I’m going to have more fun than I should.”
“You like the outdoors, you enjoy showing off your skills, and this is what you’re good at,” Melody replied. “Right?”
“Right. Obviously, I’d prefer to do this as part of a search and rescue training cycle, but we have more gear than during those scenarios, anyway.”
“Wait. You do stuff like this as a part of your training?” Melody’s eyes widened. “I could go to a school, and at the end, I’d have to try to survive like this on my own?”
“Well, yes. I do refreshers every two or three years. During the survival scenarios, we’re monitored and tracked, and we have staff making sure nothing goes wrong—and ready to rescue any students who are struggling. But there are schools for this. Usually, the excursions last a week, but I did a three-week stint once as part of a survival challenge.”
“Are these solo, or do they do pairs?”
“I’ve seen pairs do the courses, though they tend to have harsher challenges and conditions to work through since there are two of them.”
Kevin narrowed his eyes, regarding the princess with open suspicion. “You are not interested in doing such a thing, are you?”
Melody pointed at me. “I want him as my partner, and I want to do one of these courses. He’s amazing. Look at what he’s done. We’re camping in a blizzard, and I don’t think we’re going to die.”
“We’re not going to die,” I confirmed. Well, we weren’t as long as I had anything to say about it. “I prefer not to camp where there is extreme weather, but despite some oddities of the survival kit, it does have everything we really need for this. Good job, Kevin.”
“Thanks. Next time, I’m going to ask you to stock the kits and tell me the reasons for why you stocked it.”
“I’m game. Honestly, if I have any say in the matter, you’re probably going to be run through a survival training course.”
“I can work with that once I’m cleared from this broken arm.”
“As you’re already getting a taste of what it’s like to survive while injured, I can work with that condition.” I grinned at the agent.
The agent laughed and shook his head. “You’d take over the RPS if I let you right now, wouldn’t you?”
“I have thoughts.”
“I do, too. Most of them aren’t pleasant.”
“I have a pleasant thought,” Melody announced. “These blankets are a lot warmer than I thought they’d be. It’s too bad there isn’t a nice, cheery fire. If there were, this would actually be fun. Mr. Asshole is having a great time, too.”
I guessed the princess had reached her general threshold of bad luck and shit circumstances. “As dinner tonight will be fish, you’ll get your desired fire at some point. I’m hoping the weather will clear out, but if not, you’ll get to see a useful application of ice magic.”
“Talent exertion,” she warned.
“Igloos are fun and won’t exert me that much. How about this as a compromise: I’ll catch extra fish, I’ll gorge myself silly, and we’ll sleep in as long as we can afterwards.”
Melody scowled, took her time thinking about it, and nodded. “You’re going to make an igloo?”
“Would you prefer an ice teepee?”
“You can make an ice teepee?”
Despite everything, I laughed. After doing what I’d done to the oil tanker, an ice teepee was barely a ripple comparatively. “I could probably make you an ice palace if I really wanted, but that would take a lot of time and energy. Igloos and teepees are easier. I could also do a rectangle, but it’s easier to redirect the smoke with igloos and teepees.”
“Which one is better for your magic with the heat from the fire? Which is less intensive for you to do?”
I shrugged. “I’d guess the igloo.”
“Then do the igloo. Will you form the ice in bricks like I’ve seen in pictures?”
“Probably not. That’s extra work, and I’d rather my doctor didn’t get angry with me.”
“Your doctor will be watching you very closely.”
I couldn’t tell if she was flirting with me or not, but Kevin’s snort, which turned into a laugh, implied he certainly thought so—or she’d said something he thought was funny. Once again, I couldn’t tell which.
“Should I be concerned, Kevin?”
“I believe you’re safe from your doctor due to a lack of privacy reasons.”
Melody’s face turned red. “Kevin!”
The princess’s RPS agent rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you’re acting embarrassed. And you know what I think? I think you’re keeping a close eye on him because you want to test your luck and make sure he’s the one you bond to. I’ve known you since you were little, Your Highness. You can’t trick me.”
Kevin didn’t seem old enough to have known Melody since she was little. “How old are you, Kevin?”
“Fifty-three.”
My eyes widened; I’d figured the man to be in his thirties, maybe his early forties as a stretch. “You don’t look fifty-three.”
“Good diet, better genes, and a healthy lifestyle. The RPS takes care of its own, and I’ve been serving the royals for a long time.”
“We do try to take care of our own,” Melody announced with a sniff.
I didn’t doubt that at all. “It shows.”
Mostly. In a way, I hoped the storm took its sweet time passing through; I’d rather take my chances with the weather than send the princess back to the dangerous world of royal treachery.
The storm lasted a few hours before petering down to a light flurry. The wind remained, a hazard I could work around with a little magic in the form of an icy wall. Melody protested me using my talent at all, although providing her with several large fish silenced most of her concerns. To make her happy, I kept my word, ate so much the thought of another bite sickened me, and trusted the pair to keep watch while I caught up on sleep.
Either I needed a lot more sleep than I thought, I’d pushed my luck, or my kitten had cast some form of wicked spell on me, but I slept until after noon the next day. While I’d been asleep, Kevin and Melody had made use of the fishing supplies from the survival gear to catch lunch, and according to the smells wafting into the tent, Kevin had dug into the dry rations to add rice and beans to the meal. While I stretched and yawned, Sparrow attacked my toes.
“Finally awake?”
Melody asked, her tone amused.
I decided since she found any humor in the situation, everything was fine. “I think so. How’s the weather?”
“It’s warmed up a lot, but the ground is a muddy mess. Most of the snow that stuck has melted, though. Lunch is almost ready. I’ve decided we’re staying here, you’re going to eat and sleep, and if things are looking better in the morning, we can resume hiking then.” Melody glared at me, and she pointed a spoon in my direction. “You’re just going to have to like it. Your health matters, too, and you’re wiped out. The weather’s a lot nicer, and I don’t feel like hiking through mud today. We can hike through mud tomorrow. I checked your suppressors while you were sleeping, and I’d like you to keep them on until tomorrow morning. No magic. We can fish, and we can use more of the rations if needed. The water looks clean, but we’re boiling it anyway.”
A day could hurt, but it could also help, too. I thought through the pros and cons, ultimately deciding the princess had the right idea despite it going against my initial instinct to get us out of our situation as soon as possible. I also appreciated they’d known to boil the water despite its clean appearance. “All right. We’ll evaluate the situation in the morning.”
“It’s a miracle,” Kevin muttered.
“I don’t like hiking through mud, either,” I replied in my defense. I’d done enough muddy hikes in my life, and I didn’t savor the idea of making one while hauling equipment, my kitten, and keeping an eye on Melody, Mr. Asshole, and Kevin. “And anyway, I think I could use some more sleep.”
“After you eat and tell us what we need to do for the rest of the day. I figured you were about ready to crash and burn. Frankly, I’m impressed you lasted as long as you have.”
I didn’t have to think long on how or why. “Adrenaline.”
“And adrenaline fatigue is a real issue, and it’s one that’s easily missed when my stubborn patient is also suffering from the consequences of talent exertion. You get to take it easy and tell us what we need to do. I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
“I’m surprised you’re not checking on me today.”
Melody smirked. “I checked on you while you were sleeping. But don’t fret, Kevin supervised.”
On one hand, I was disappointed I hadn’t gotten a chance to see her work. On the other hand, I was intrigued by her implication she needed chaperoned. “I’m not fretting. Are you fretting?”
“Not at all. You’ll recover nicely if you take it easy today. The exercise did more good than harm, and I’m pleased with your progress. Kevin’s doing all right, too, but he’s complaining he can’t fish.”
“I’m mostly complaining that she’s better at fishing than me,” the RPS agent grumbled.
“I’m better at fishing than both of you.”
That comment earned me a pair of identical glares, and I grinned while stretching out the kinks. “Thank you for catching lunch, Melody. If you want to have a fishing competition where I don’t cheat with my talent, I’m game at some point, Kevin.”
“What about me?” Melody demanded.
“You’ve already proven you can win. This is between us men now. You’d have to give us a handicap.”
She scowled. “That was sly, Jack.”
“But honest.”
“Do you even know how to fish without cheating?”
“I know how to fish. It’s a requirement. It’s also fun and relaxing. I’m a master at knots.”
Kevin’s brows rose, and Melody snickered. “Is that so?”
No matter what I said, I’d annoy someone—or be laughed at. “All right. I walked right into that one, I guess.”
“I don’t care what types of knots you know how to tie, Jack. Just don’t do any demonstrations when I’m around.” Kevin left the tent and waited until he was outside to laugh.
That was something, at least.
“You really did walk right into that one, Jack. Don’t feel bad. We’ve been flinging around inappropriate jokes all morning. You’re more than welcome to join us. It’s been therapeutic.”
When given the choice between laughing or crying, I’d go for the inappropriate humor, too. “Well, if that’s the case, I’m really good with rope.”
“If you weren’t, I’d be concerned. I’m going to go check on lunch. We’ll discuss your knot tying abilities and rope use skills later, if you please.” Melody scrambled out of the tent, and I wondered how I’d get through the next few weeks with my sanity and dignity intact.
Chapter Eighteen
Eighteen days after the plane crash, we reached the highway. When I checked my phone, I breathed a sigh of relief at the signal on it before handing it over to Kevin. “If Mr. Asshole is doing all right, it’s possible to call. I have reception.”
“Mr. Asshole is fine, and I can keep him fine for a few more days,” Melody reported, although I could hear how tired she was. “I’m okay with not turning that town upside down, but we will need to take him to a vet.”
We were all tired, and I expected we’d all be under the scrutiny of doctors as soon as we reached a safe haven. While Kevin could’ve called Canada for assistance, he wanted to rely on Montana.
Less was likely to go wrong if he worked with Montana, in his opinion.
I could live without anything going wrong for the rest of my life. The freak snowstorm had turned the countryside into a soggy mess, but Mr. Asshole’s diet of fish and the outdoors had done him a lot of good. Coupled with Melody stretching his medication and working her magic, I suspected the elderly cat was doing the best out of all of us. Somehow along the way, Sparrow had convinced me to let her ride on my shoulder most of the time, although I kept her harnessed and maintained a firm grip on her leash.
My back appreciated dumping the carrier’s extra weight, although it’d been harder to make sure Sparrow stayed where she belonged. I didn’t envy Melody; she’d carried her much larger, heavier cat without a single complaint.
She could also run circles around us.
While Kevin’s arm healed to her satisfaction, recovering from the injury had taken a lot out of him. Pushing as hard as we had through the mud hadn’t helped either one of us. I expected the first soft, comfortable place I found would become my sleeping place for the next day—at a minimum.
My kitten purred and nuzzled my cheek, a habit I enjoyed a little too much, although I would never willingly admit it.
“You’re whipped,” Melody informed me while Kevin urged us to leave the roadside and keep out of sight from any passing cars, not that the road looked like it saw any passage; debris from the storm still littered the worn asphalt.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied, determined to reclaim some of my pride.
“Sure, Jack. Keep telling yourself that. All Sparrow has to do is squeak for you to fawn over her, just as you should. You’re going to be as cat crazy as I am in a week. What are you going to name your second kitten?”
I was going to have a second kitten? My eyes widened. “But they come with names. Sparrow was named!”
“You realize you can name her whatever you want, right?”
“But her name is Sparrow. That’s what Antoinette told me.”
“I see I will have to give you an unnamed kitten.”
I stared at her, wondering how to tell her I could barely take care of the one kitten I had. “But why wouldn’t the kitten have a name?”
“They aren’t born with names, Jack. Obviously, I’d have to give you a young kitten who hasn’t been named yet. We don’t name them until they’re at least a week or two old. It’s heartbreaking to lose a kitten we’ve named, so we give it a week or two to make sure we won’t lose any before we name them. I’ll have you name one from the next litter, and your new kitten will be friends with Sparrow. Your kitten will be sad without friends.”
Seeing how often Sparrow and Mr. Asshole played together, I feared she was right—and I worried how Sparrow would react when her old playmate passed away. “You ha
ve a compelling argument.”
“I usually do.”
She did, which didn’t bode well for the future. The instant she realized I enjoyed the outdoors far beyond normal work-based interests, she’d started her campaign to convince me Maine had everything I’d enjoy and more.
As soon as she clued in she topped the list of what Maine had to offer, I’d have to wave the white flag of surrender. I didn’t consider myself to be a knowledgeable man about women, but I could recognize when she was strongly hinting at what she wanted.
Not that she hadn’t told me, right out of the gate, what she had in mind.
Eighteen days stuck together in the wilderness did a good job of removing any illusions about our personalities, as tempers ran high right along with general frustration levels.
I hadn’t found anything about her I didn’t like. Hell, despite Kevin whining he couldn’t do more because of his arm, I hadn’t found much about him I didn’t like.
Our situation could’ve been a lot worse if we’d started bickering.
“It’ll be a few hours,” Kevin announced. “We’re to lie low and take shelter until Montana’s RPS arrives; they’ll be with some members of the Canadian RPS. I told them what medications Mr. Asshole needs, and they’ll bring everything with them as well as a vet to check up on both cats.”
“Think the vet can do checkups on us humans?” I asked, grimacing at what the machines would likely tell us about eating nothing but fish, rice, beans, and whatever I else I could safely forage.
I held some concerns we might turn into fish given a few extra days of our diet.
“No. Canada is sending a royal physician with the crew. Sorry, Your Highness. You’ll be expected to deal with it. I requested we keep our ongoing survival quiet for now.”
“I’m up for a brawl with a rival doctor,” Melody announced.
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