Desire in the Arctic (10 page)

Chapter 13

“That’s just great,” Redd said through gritted teeth. “Thundersnow. Perfect timing.”

“Yup. I’m not sure how things could get much worse.” Ana put down her backpack and took out the parkas. “Here you go,” she said, handing one to him. She slid into hers, surprised to find it fit, albeit a little large. The dark-brown coat’s material was thin, seemingly waterproof, and could be unzipped into lighter weight components or even a vest. It also had a detachable duckbill hood. Large flaps on the side of the hood would easily cover her ears and lips if she closed the Velcro clasp around her face. “Glad they gave us useful coats,” she commented, zipping the coat closed but leaving the hood to hang loose on her back.

He was zipping his parka up, too. “I was expecting worse.”

Ana pursed her lips.
I guess that’s Redd-speak for “Yes, these are good.”
She shoved her hands into the gaping, bulging pockets and found matching gloves. Hastily she shoved them on, relishing the feel of the warm fleece against her cold fingers.

“Close your hood,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir,” she quipped, clasping the Velcro together.

Now that her hands were warm enough to move again she picked the camcorder back up. When the red light lit up, Ana talked into the lens. “It’s snowing out, as you can see. It’s also gotten horribly cold.” She paused. Should she sound like an average survival documentary commentator or sound like Ana Davis? She opted for the later. “Worst. June. Ever.”

“I
told
you, this is not uncommon in June.”

“You are
so
not helping, Mr. I-told-you-so.”

“I am merely pointing out the correction for the audience’s benefit.”

“How about benefitting us? What are we going to do now?”

“Make camp. There’s nothing else we can do.”

A howl from some animal sounded in the distance.

We can pray.

“Here?” The high-pitched tone of Ana’s question clearly showed her incredulity. “You want us to pitch the tent here?”

Redd nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. Camping on the moon is out of the question. I’m out of rocket fuel.”

He saw Ana almost put the camcorder down in annoyance. To her credit, or perhaps simply to annoy him, she held it back up. “Ladies and gentlemen, William
Redd
Redding throws a steaming pile of sarcasm into the face of adversity.”

Redd didn’t know whether to laugh, feel insulted, or mark up the comment to off-beat Ana simply being herself. He opted to ignore it and move on to more important issues. He wasn’t on a social mission; he was on a survival mission. If they didn’t make camp soon, he wouldn’t even be accomplishing that. “Instead of bantering, I suggest we make camp.”

She surveyed the area doubtfully. “What do you need me to do?” she asked, placing the camera on a rock, though leaving it on.

“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll do it all.”

“Can you act less Special Ops and more like a normal teammate?”

He felt himself stiffen. “Marines always act the best way. We know how to do the job right.”
If the woman doesn’t know this, she doesn’t know anything.

“Wouldn’t that mean letting me help?”

“Help, yes. Hinder. No.”

“Damn, Redd, what’s your problem? I’ve been trying to impress the hell out of you, but you just won’t let me. Let me pull my weight around here. Please?”

She sounded like Hailey. He pictured her tiny frame, her flaming-red hair flowing behind her. “I can take care of myself, Redd. Can’t you let me? Please?” He tried to shake off the painful image, but it was tough. He had trusted her to take care of herself. And what happened? He left to go into the military. And when he came back, she was dead. No, Ana could not be trusted to take care of herself. If something happened to her, he would blame himself for the loss.

“Redd?” Ana prompted.

How can I say no without sounding like an even bigger jerk?
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll break off the tree branches we need, and I’ll let you start setting up the tent. Okay?”

“Super,” Ana said, sounding like she meant it.

Good. Dodged a bullet.

Redd set off to find pines with low hanging branches. He needed limbs thin enough to break off but were dense with needles. Better if the branches were long, too, because then he’d need less and they’d knit together better.

By the time he’d gathered what they needed and headed back to Ana, he saw she had managed to mostly set up the tent. Biting back a smile, he had to admire her tenacity. When Ana set a goal she wasn’t going to be put off easily. Fighting with her was going to be scary, his military background be damned. Her tenacity was one for the Marines.

She noticed him and stood back, gesturing to her handiwork. “Almost done,” she declared. Obviously she was trying to bite back a smile, too. “I thought I couldn’t do it, but I was determined to try.”

“I can see that. I can also see you can’t be dissuaded easily.”

“Nope.” Her arms were crossed over her puffed out chest, her nose a good inch up in the air.

“Scary as hell,” he muttered.

“Hey, what did you say?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Obviously she hadn’t believed her ears or she would have been completely pissed. “I said,” he responded calmly, “we’ll make our camp here as secure as hell.”

“Oh. All right.” Her face brightened.

“I’m glad you helped out. You managed to get the base of the tent down before the snow got too high. Let me finish it for you.” He snapped the remaining rods into place and threw the branches over the outside of the tent.

“Why are you doing that?”

“The pine needles will act as insulation. I want to see if these branches can be knit together. The more we’re under cover, the better. We’ll need to retain all the heat we can.”

The urge to make sure she stayed safe gave him a new vantage point. Maybe he should let her help out. Two people could work faster than one. “Ana, can you give me a hand with them?”

Her brightest smile yet emerged. “I’d be happy to.”

Ana marveled at the polar opposites of her experiences. On the one hand, the weather was worsening. On the other hand, her relationship with Redd was improving. Maybe her experience out in the wild would improve, too. Although the weather was doing its best to make the outcome doubtful. The wind had died down but the snow kept falling with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

At least she was pulling her weight. With a smile, she twisted around to see if the camera was still on.
Yep.
Not only proving her worth to Redd but to her “friends” back in Brooklyn and possibly the executives at Teleworld. The ones who thought she was too flighty to do much of anything. She had videotaped all of her tent making and had more than enough footage of their hike to prove her chops.

“Ana.” Redd’s voice sounded not too far away but with the heavy snowfall it was impossible to see him.

“Yes?”

“Can you clear a spot in front of the tent? Push the snow away with one of the pine branches. I want to try to build a fire. Oh, and if you see any rocks when you clear the snow, be sure to gather them up.”

“No problem.”
I am Ana, wilderness goddess.

Checking again to see if the camera was still taping, she grabbed a branch and began swatting at the snow. Clearing off the ground wasn’t easy. Especially with rocks in the way. Her gloves were starting to get wet, despite the allegedly waterproof fabric.
Maybe Teleworld decided to cut costs.
Ana shoved the thought away and pulled off the gloves to continue tackling the clearing job.

The exertion was more than anticipated. A thin sheen of sweat dampened her brow. Her mouth turned pasty. A desert inhabited her throat.
Water. I need water.

Forcing a smile on her face she turned to the camera. “I wonder if this is what people mean when they say they need a drink,” she joked. Grabbing a pile of snow with her hands, she slowly lifted it to her lips. The cold sensation against her teeth and tongue stung until it dissolved in her mouth. A shiver, worse than before, shot through her when she swallowed.

Feeling somewhat hydrated she turned her attention away from the camera and back toward clearing the campsite. She was almost done when Redd reappeared.

“What the hell are you doing?” he boomed, louder than the crack of thunder had been.

Hmmmm. So much for our getting along.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“I know what you’re doing. What I’m asking is how you can be so stupid doing it?”

“Hey—”

He picked up her gloves from the ground and held them under her nose. “These are off.”

Ana bit her lip to stop the words she wanted to retort. “They weren’t helping me anymore because they’re wet.”

“Are you trying to get frostbite?”

Ana dug deep within herself to find inner patience. Avoiding an argument with him was not easy. “Frostbite is not my goal, no.”

“Then why aren’t you in the tent?”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Because the job isn’t done yet.”

“It’s done for you.” His tone left no room for discussion.

Couldn’t he understand she was trying to help? Why did he have to be so ornery and dictatorial? What was wrong with him? “Fine,” she snapped and headed off into the tent. She crawled inside and immediately shut off the camcorder.
Five more minutes of footage to definitely be edited out.

The tent was only marginally warmer inside than outside. The air still, thick and quiet. She curled into herself for warmth. Breathing hot air on her fingertips, which were ghostly white, was not helping. Plus, a headache was setting in. They had hiked for hours to get to the tree line. They hadn’t rested much. Nor had they eaten since breakfast. And now she was cold. The outer layer of her parka was as wet as her gloves. At least the water hadn’t seeped all the way through. Or did it? Her whole body felt damp. If they were lucky enough to get a fire going, she could at least put her gloves on a stick and hold them above to dry out.

Redd was making a lot of noise outside but it wasn’t conversation. Unless random curse words could be considered dialogue. She stopped herself from shouting, “Need any help out there?” because offering to help would be futile at best. And, at worst, start a fight.

Not being able to help out was hard. Restless and frustrated, she grabbed the sleeping bags and unrolled hers. After a few minutes of sitting on it, staring at the tent’s walls, she unzipped it and crawled inside. The bag was also cold, but eventually it would get warm. Hopefully, her hands would, too. They were starting to sting. Despite the pain, she felt her eyes droop and her thoughts get fuzzy.

I must be dreaming. I keep hearing popping and cracking noises outside . . .

“Ana?”

Ana bolted upright in her mummy sleeping bag.

Redd let out a sharp laugh. “Wow. Now I know what King Tut would look like if he rose from his tomb.”

“Funny,” she said, letting out a yawn.

“Yeah, I’m a laugh-riot. Sit up for a little bit, Ana. I’ve got a fire going and I want you to warm your hands before you fall asleep.”

“You got a fire going? How?”

“I built up a pile of small logs so the fire’s off the wet ground. Fortunately, I took some of your riverbed branches with us since they burn easier.” She watched him breathe in deeply. “It smells nice out there.”

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply herself. The smell of fresh snow, pine and smoke was surprisingly pleasant. Clean and pure, like a bar of fresh, scented soap.

“Here, move up,” he coaxed her. “Toward the tent’s flap.”

She did. In turn, he took out his own sleeping bag. The two of them huddled closer, sitting by the entrance. They warmed themselves as best as they could from the fire a few feet away.

“I was able to melt a lump of snow in the pot they gave us,” he said, offering it to her. “The metal is not too hot now. Go ahead and drink. It’ll warm you up.”

“Thanks.” The lukewarm water flowed down her throat giving more relief to her dried out body. “Don’t you want any?” she asked, wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

“I had some. You can finish it. Then you should go to sleep. I’ll take the rocks in with us again when the flames die down. Given this heavy snowfall, that won’t take too long, I’m afraid,” he said.

“It’s okay,” she said, exhaustion straining her voice. “I don’t think I could sit up for too long anyway . . .” Her eyes were closing. Molten lead was weighing them down . . .

“I’ll stay up. When you go to sleep, I’ll stand outside for a bit to see if I can dry your gloves out.” He paused. “You know, taking them off while working outside was very . . .”

“Stupid. I know,” she said sleepily.
Might as well cave in. I’m too tired to fight.

“I was going to say dedicated. Strong. Helpful. Wonderful teamsmanship . . .”

“Well, which one of those things, mister?” she joked.

“I was going to say all of them,” he answered quietly.

“Yeah?” If only her eyes weren’t closing, she could properly thank him for that. Maybe they could even start to bond. But warding off sleep was as impossible as warding off the snowfall outside . . .

A feeling of warmth spread over her. Spreading everywhere. Warming her fingers. Warming her heart . . .

Ana’s eyes popped open. Her hands were wrapped in Redd’s. He was rubbing them in gentle circles, no doubt trying to get her circulation back. His eyes met hers soulfully as he held first her right hand, and then her left. Then put one of her hands up to his mouth, blowing warm air.

“Thanks,” she gasped.

“You’re welcome. The color is back in your fingers so I’m going to stop now. You need to get some sleep.”

He helped her scoot the sleeping bag deeper into the tent and dragged his own bag next to hers. “I’m going outside to see what I can do about your gloves and then I’ll be in.”