UnEarthing Toroid

Part 10.2

Ten minutes later, Talisi was as bundled up as she was going to get. Two pairs of Hazel's long socks over a pair of thick tights, Talisi's own skirt, then a knitted shawl over a jacket over a sweater. She was draped in fabric like a tent, pieces hanging down in some places and hitching up in others. Almost like a fortune-teller from a children's story. She came back into the kitchen pulling harshly on her boots and stumbling.

"Damn, how are her feet so little?" She complained, once again trying to loosen the laces on Hazel's boots.

"Aha!" Jierro laughed despite himself, though he didn't want to be caught talking about their hostess when she wasn't there. "I don't know, she is pretty small."

"No kidding." Talisi left the boots alone, stomped her feet once, then hastily pulled on a pair of gloves. "Okay. I might lose a toe, but I'm ready."

Jierro grinned a little at that, taking the cue to open the sliding glass door and hold it open for her. Talisi stepped outside, and Jierro quickly shut the door before more snow could blow in. Then they were left standing on Hazel's deck, their boots crunching in the snow, crystal flakes drifting down around them.

The spot where they'd sat in the hot tub was still melted, the edges just now turning back to slush. But everywhere else on the deck—and the whole world as far as they could see—was coated in a foot-thick layer of snow.

"There's gotta be a staircase to get down, right?" Talisi glanced from side to side, her breath misting up in front of her.

"Um, yeah. Maybe this way?" Jierro led the way in a random direction, hoping there would be stairs on both sides of the deck, and Talisi followed. Luckily, there was a stairway leading down, and in seconds, they were off the deck and on the ground.

And in the wilderness.

It was amazing how quickly they could go from a cozy civilized cabin to completely isolated forest. Once you took two steps away from the house, thick trees obscured it until it could barely be seen. There was no yard. Just trees, instantly and immediately.

They both liked it.

It made Talisi feel at-peace to be so far removed from society, and Jierro was definitely a lot more comfortable having this much elbow room between him and other people. They walked for a moment in silence, just enjoying the muffled quiet of the snow forest, the sounds of birds and breeze and rustling pine needles. Their footprints marked the path behind them.

"Damn." Talisi finally breathed out in a puff of white vapor. "It's too bad snow is so cold, because man, is it beautiful."

"I know, isn't it?" Jierro smiled, looking around dreamily. "There are few things better than a snow-covered forest in the mountains."

"Do you work around snow often?" Talisi asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Um...Sometimes." Jierro shrugged. "Not so much anymore, but I used to work in some places with really bad winters. It would get cold up on those mountains. Now I mostly work in pasturelands, but we still get snow here and there."

"Ah, gotcha." Talisi nodded. "You're like...a farmhand, right?" It was pretty obvious from the things he talked about, even though he'd never stated it outright.

"A ranch-hand, yeah." Jierro corrected subtly, because in his mind, it was an important distinction. "I guard the animals mostly, take care of them and things like that. Repair equipment when I need to, mend a saddle, fix things up here and there. Whatever job I'm needed on."

"You live on a ranch then?" Talisi tucked a single red curl behind her ear.

"Um...yes." Jierro answered hesitantly. "Well, I guess you could say that. My employers have a little cottage for me on the property, and I live in it during the off-season. During spring and summer though, I usually just camp out with the animals."