Into the Woods

Natalia

A bag of apples thunked onto the ground where Grant stood seconds before. He looked up at her and shook his head. After a long-suffering sigh, he said, "Gnat, I heard you coming for over half a mile."

Natalia lay on the branch above him, her chin resting on her hands and her feet crossed behind her. She smiled at him. "How did you know?"

"You sound like a hippalo rooting through the underbrush," Grant answered, comparing her to the large, lumbering herbivores. "And you whistle the same tune."

"Liar! I didn't whistle on the way back," she protested.

He shrugged, then grinned when she rolled her eyes at him.

"The poachers never know I'm there when I spy on them," Natalia offered, shifting so she sat with her back against the trunk.

Grant stilled, his hand hovering over an apple he had crouched to pick up. "Why would you spy on them?" He looked up, letting his forearm rest on his knee. A shiver ran through her body as the dangerous vibe in the air grew.

Her cheeks turned red, and she shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I need to know how close they are to finding the rothmaru nests. They trap very few adults, and those don't breed in captivity. If they could get their hands on the eggs? I can't even imagine how much money they would make."

She chewed on her lower lip and watched his face. Grant didn't comment as he finished picking up the apples and stood, tossing them into the coals as she had instructed. The rinds were tough enough to withstand the heat, but the flesh inside would become pudding-like.

"They aren't close to finding the nests," he said, finally turning back to her.

Natalia sat forward, almost losing her balance in her excitement. "You know where they nest?"

He nodded and returned to his task. Natalia waited with bated breath for him to continue speaking.

"I've been watching them since you told me what the poachers are after," Grant told her. "I would know if they got too close."

"Grant, tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

"You are the most frustrating man I have ever met."

"Thank you," Grant replied, grinning up at her. "And stay away from the poachers."

He cut two large chunks of tenderloin from the pig and walked to the fire. It was only embers now. After adding some sort of seasoning to the meat, he tossed it onto the grill plate he'd set over the coals.

"These don't look like the apples I find," he said, motioning to the fruit.

Natalia let him change the subject, but she wasn't finished. Not by a long shot. "Ambrosia apples. You can only get them from the very tops of the reds over the cliff."

"You went over the cliffs to get these?" Grant asked, an incredulous look crossing his face.

She nodded, biting her lip. "Yes. Why not?"

His mouth twitched. "Because there is no reason to risk your life for something as insignificant as apples."

Natalia laughed, pulling the small guitar she'd brought with her from the belt loop she'd tied it to. "If you are going to provide something as dangerous as these boars for dinner, I feel I can only repay in kind."

She strummed a few chords and crooned. Grant listened, nodding occasionally to the beat as he worked. Every now and then he would check on the meat roasting slowly over the fire. Natalia couldn't think of a better way to spend her afternoon.