Out Of Time

Mr. Bear's First Winter

Sam kept staring at the man chopping wood and soon all the girls in camp surrounded Sam, joining her in watching the spectacle. 

"Oh my goodness," Tilly said.  "What is Arthur doin'?"

"I don't know, but I'm certainly enjoyin' it!" Karen said with a laugh.

The girls started giggling but Sam just kept on looking at the muscular man.  She wanted to head right over and make out with him, among other things, but she could only keep her shocked hazel eyes on the man as he chopped wood.  "Sam, put your tongue back in your head," Tilly said.

Sam instantly shut her mouth and looked away.  The women started giggling again.  "I wonder why he's doin' this?" Abigail asked.  "Not that I'm complainin', of course."

Mary-Beth looked down at Sam who was now looking at the girls.  "Sam, you and him snuck off earlier.  What did you do?" she asked with a broad smile.

"Nothing!" Sam shrieked.  She cleared her throat.  "Nothing.  We only went out to talk."

Karen burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.  "Oh suuure.  Just to talk."

Sam shook her head and went back to scrubbing clothes.  "I'm not lying.  We even got shot at by O'Driscolls."

"What?!"

Sam sighed.  "It's fine, Arthur killed them all." 

The memory of it sent a shiver down Sam's spine.  This world she was in was not a world meant for her.  "Well, what else happened?"

"Nothing.  I...I took his shirt off to check his arm because I thought he'd been shot and...well...he caught me staring at him.  So..."

"Wait, so he's doin' this for your attention?"

Sam blushed profusely as  she eyed all the women standing around her.  "...I was only joking about him finding more opportunities for me to oggle him." 

That was a flat out lie.  She had not been joking at all, and from where she was standing, Arthur hadn't taken it as a joke.  The women burst into laughter and started teasing Sam, to which her response was more blushing.  But then the girls started talking about Arthur and Sam found herself getting a little...jealous.

"Look at those arms," Karen said.  "If I wasn't with Sean, I'd want those arms around me all night."

"And that chest full of hair, my goodness," Tilly exclaimed. 

Sam made an low, inaudible growl at the girls and they all looked at her strangely.  Well, that came out of nowhere.

"Sam, are you getting jealous?" Mary-Beth asked.

"Me?" Sam scoffed.  "No, of course not!"

Karen sat down next to Sam with a mischevious grin.  "So, if one of us girls were to hit on Arthur, you wouldn't have a problem with that?"

Just the thought of Arthur with another woman made Sam grind her teeth.  "No."

Karen stood up.  "Alright.  Which one of you girls wants to go first?"

Sam stopped scrubbing and looked at all of them.  "Go first doing what?"

"Hittin' on Arthur, of course."

Sam squeezed the wet cloth in her hands.  "I'm sorry, what?"

"I'll go first!" Mary-Beth shouted and went scurrying about towards Arthur.

Sam watched her go and her eyes narrowed while she tightened the soaked fabric in her hands.  The soapy water bubbled out and Sam tossed it into the bin.  "You guys are being ridiculous, you know that?"