the storm of '48

Four

December 24, 1948, the Cabin in the woods

That morning the snow was almost up to the top of the window, it was lightening up yet still falling steady. Peggy woke up with her body entwined with Dottie's, her face in Dottie's neck, her arms wrapped possessively around her. Dottie was in a very deep sleep, she didn't stir when Peggy untangled herself and out got out of bed. Peggy stretched testing her shoulder, it felt good, still sore but better than she expected it to be. She felt the lump on her head and was happy to feel the swelling had gone down. Peggy put water on the stove to heat for coffee then checked out the cabin.

It didn't take Peggy long but she found three different hand guns and four knives hidden very skillfully in the cabin out of sight yet within easy reach. "You are a clever girl, Dottie." And Peggy promptly hid all the weapons in new locations.

Peggy heard the water boiling and pulled the pot off to add the coffee grounds. She put it back on the stove and soon the cabin was filled with the scent of brewing coffee waking Dottie up. The brunette woke with a big satisfied sigh and sat up stretching out her arms until it dawned upon her that Peggy was up and walking around. Dottie's arms snapped down to her side and her face twisted into pouting frown full of concern.

"How long have you been awake?" Dottie demanded.

"Not long, the coffee's just finished brewing." Peggy answered as she searched the cabinet for their food supplies. She was surprised to find four eggs along with their other foodstuff. Peggy took two eggs and some of the bread making them both a simple breakfast; she didn't notice that Dottie had seemly woken in a very bad mood.

Dottie sat up in bed, her irritation and anger at herself was instant and overwhelming. She silently berated herself for being asleep while Peggy was awake in the cabin. How could she have been so foolish? How could she have been so sloppy? Dottie's bottom lip trembled with her anger, she wanted to scream but Peggy was right there. It was one thing to flirt and have fun; it was another to let herself go so much so that she allowed someone to get the upper hand on her.

Getting out of bed, Dottie got dressed with a frown then sat down at the table with her arms crossed. Her ice blue eyes watched Peggy make their breakfast with an angry glare, when it was done Peggy quietly served them both then sat down at the table with Dottie. That's when Peggy finally noticed the silence and the heavy frown on Dottie's face.

Peggy wanted to ask what was wrong, only she caught herself before the words left her mouth. Peggy thought it through, and recognized the sole cause behind the sudden bad mood. She decided to use this knowledge to her advantage to push Dottie over the edge and win the game.

Eating breakfast silently, Peggy was polite to Dottie, even going so far as to collect their cups and wash them. Then pulling out the suitcase and going inside to retrieve the deck of cards which only pissed Dottie off more. The brunette got up from the table silently pantomiming her anger at Peggy for going into her suitcase without her permission. Then Dottie circled Peggy several times as Peggy walked back over to the table and sat down with the deck of cards in her hands. Being ignored made Dottie slam her right hand on the table palm down several times to get Peggy's attention, Peggy quickly mouthed the words "I'm sorry Dottie, I wanted to play a game."

Dottie paused with a conflicted expression and sat down at the table. Peggy smiled and shuffled the cards. Peggy mouthed one ward to Dottie. "War." And Dottie narrowed her eyes at Peggy and nodded in agreement mouthing silently back, "You're on!"

Peggy and Dottie played the card game "War" for over an hour non-stop with Peggy winning three times for every one of Dottie's wins. Dottie was growing more frustrated by each new hand dealt, and Peggy was growing more gleeful and more celebratory with each win. Still neither woman had spoken or made a sound other than a few squeaks, huffs or unintended groans.