Once we hit the water’s edge, I got to work, grabbingthe bucks by the legs and dragging their bodies over. The meat we’d carved was still spread out on a rock, dusted on top with some snow and a bit of dirt.
“What are you doing?” Que called after me when I grabbed the meat and made my way to the embankment.
“Gotta clean these before we can cook 'em,” I explained, sticking my hands into the freezing water and rinsing off the chunk of deer.
Que winced, likely seeing how my skin turned bright red from the frigid temperatures.
“Listen, I like your hands too much for you to lose them to frostbite,” he whined, skipping small rocks across to the deep end of the lake. “I wonder if this thing is natural or manmade?—”
THUNK!
Que froze and looked over at me. But I wasn’t moving either. Just staring out at the water while trying to wrap my head around the source of the sound.
“The fuck? That ain’t no fish. Something big is down there,” he said.
Instead of replying to the obvious, I shook my hands in the water, watching the ripples distort the reflection in the waves. There was definitely something there.
“What do you think it is?” I said, more to myself, pushing to my feet and walking around to the other side. I needed to get closer without actually taking an ice bath.
“The Loch Ness Monster—wait, never mind, that’s in your pants!” Que cackled while following at my heels. It was a stupid joke. It was also something he did whenever he was anxious. He’d try to make light of a situation by tossing humor at it.
Rolling my eyes, I snatched up some more rocks and took aim.
THUNK.
THUNK.
THUNK.
“It’s fucking heavy.” I assessed the sounds, continuing to chuck little pebbles and stones around the object to gauge how big it was and what shape it might have been.
“What is it, Rue-Rue?” Que questioned, his eyes following each rock as I tossed it out in front of us.
“I don’t know yet.” I scooped up another pile and balanced myself on the edge of the muddy snow surrounding the bank.
“Want me to jump in to look?” he continued, and I sighed.
“No. I’d prefer your dick didn’t become a popsicle, thanks.”
Que snickered. “Aw, you do love me.”
I scoffed but couldn’t help the smile playing on my lips. Maybe I did. Who the fuck knew?
Those words were easy for Que to say and he said them often. Me, not so much. Didn’t mean I didn’t feel deeply for the guy. I just didn’t know what I felt. Falling in love with my best friend was not how I saw my future playing out. Neither was a life sentence, though.
“Maybe Nickie knows what’s down there?”
Hmm. It was possible. Or her grandmother—wherever the fuck she went.
“I don’t think she would tell us,” I countered.
Que just shrugged. “Guess we all have our secrets. She doesn’t exactly know she’s sharing her home with a bunch of escaped convicts.”
I shook my head.No, secrets were not safe.We needed to know what was down there.
I sighed, turning and walking back towards the sled. I placed the tugline on the palm of Que’s hand. “Go back and give the meat to the guys.”
He smiled. I could see the smart-ass remark burning the tip of his tongue. But instead of saying something like “oh, I’ll give them the meat” or whatever other nonsense he usually came up with, he gave me a quick peck and started to walk away.
