After we stopped laughing, I got off his chest, my stomach hurting from laughing so much after so long of not laughing at all. I lay on the cool cave floor next to him, gasping for breath. He turns his head to look at me after a few minutes, and I tilt my head up to look at him. He smiles slowly. “I’m soaked too,” he says, good-naturedly. I grin. “That’s what you get for pushing me in the lake,” I tease. He rolls over on his side and he’s really close to me. I suck a breath in as he reaches out and pushes my hair out of my face.
“When I go back down, I’ll get some proper bathing supplies. Maybe even some blankets,” he tells me. I smile softly at him, the firelight casting flickering shadows over us. “If you take me with you, I can help carry stuff, so we can get more,” I offer. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone far from the cave, and suddenly I want to. His hand is still cupping my cheek, and it’s warm, and I’m not complaining because it’s human contact which I haven’t had in a really long time. “I’m not letting you out for long without decent clothes. You’ll freeze to death,” he mumbles, glancing away. “Well, you should get busy,” I say. He glances back at me and smiles. “I should.”
He sits up and moves over to the supplies he brought back the previous night. I sit up and lean against the cave wall, still shivering. Ice cold water drips down from the ends of my hair and runs down the back of my neck, keeping me from getting warm. I sit as close to the fire as I dare. Dallas looks up at me from across the room, where he’s getting to work on the outfit. The deerskin is lined with fleece, making it a good clothing choice in this damned winter. “If I hurry, I can have it done by tonight,” he tells me. I smile at the prospects of finally having clothes.
Just then, from outside the cave, I hear a bark. Dallas and I both tense up, but I motion for him to keep working, grabbing my knife and exiting the cave. My senses are pretty good, having been honed by constant use. Looking around, I kept my knife held in a way that would easily allow me to bring it into use. Standing still, I heard a whimper coming from the same bush where I’d found Dallas. Moving closer, I saw a small gray wolf puppy, looking pitifully hungry. I lowered the knife and moved closer, going slowly, a hand held out in front of me.
When I was two feet from the bush, the wolf noticed me. Shivering, it slowly moved towards me until it was sitting at my ankles, pressed against me, trembling so hard I could feel it. Leaning down, I ran my hand over the pup’s dirty and matted coat of fur. It pressed closer against me and I stooped down and picked it up. Rather than fighting me, it curled up against my chest. I felt my heart melting as I went back to the cave, moving slowly so I wouldn’t startle the small wolf in my arms.
When I entered the cave, Dallas looked up at me, his mouth opening, probably to ask what I’d found. When he saw the pup in my arms, he was confused. “He looked hungry,” I say, by way of explanation. I set the wolf down and he bounds over to Dallas, sniffing him, then curls up by the fire, looking at me expectantly. I put the knife in it’s spot and grab the wolf a huge slab of meat, laying it in front of him. Sitting next to the dog, I reach out and pet the dirty gray fur. It’s oily, but I pet him anyway as he eats, his tail wagging wildly.
“Can we keep him?” I ask, glancing up at Dallas, who’s returned to work, his fingers flying with a needle, in and out of the lined deerskin. He looks up momentarily to give me a smirk. “What’s one more stray?” he says. I grin and the pup looks up at me as he gnaws on the meat. “What’s your name?” I asked him, feeling self-conscious; seeing Dallas smile out of the corner of my eyes. “I think Bones is a good name, considering you can see all of his,” Dallas remarks. “Bones,” I say, and the wolf’s tail wags faster. “Do you like that, boy?” He makes a noise in the back of his throat, and I smile. “Bones it is.”
