“I can help with that. Stay here while I fetch some kindling to burn.” Cillian ordered.
Ooh, a fire? That sounded toasty. I could have offered to help but quite honestly, given my intense shivering, I probably wouldn’t be much use.
It didn’t take Cillian long to return with an armful of wood, which he dumped on the floor that I could barely see.
“Dig into my coat pocket for my lighter,” Cillian ordered as he began arranging branches.
My hand felt around inside the pocket. “Why would you carry around a lighter if you don’t smoke?” Not finding it on the left, I checked the right.
“Never know when something might need to be lit on fire. I also always have a few feet of wire,” which explained the metallic ball of thread my fingers groped, “And a pocketknife. I was born in a time when basic tools could mean the difference between survival or death.”
As my fingers closed around a rectangular shape, I said, “You must have used them a fair bit, seeing as you’re pretty old and still carry them around.”
His teeth flashed bright despite the gloom. “Even once is enough to make sure I don’t leave home without.” He held out his hand and without being asked, I placed the Zippo lighter in it.
“Now for some heat.” He clicked it once and a bright orange flame flickered to life. It took a bit though for the cold and damp kindling to start smoldering.
See the dark flume rising had me blurting, “Won’t we asphyxiate from the smoke?”
“I built the fire close to the opening of the cave so that the smoke would be drawn out, but even if it didn’t, we’d cough and our lungs might be uncomfortable, but we wouldn’t die.”
“Just smell like brisket,” I muttered.
“Mmm. Now there’s something I miss,” he remarked. “Now that the fire is started, I’m going to grab some more wood since I doubt what we have will last until morning.” As Cillian rose to leave, a thought occurred to me.
“How will Randy and Gwen know where to find us?”
“They’ll know.”
“How?” I insisted as he stood framed at the cave’s opening. “The sleet will obliterate our tracks.”
“They’ll smell the smoke or spot the glow of flames, most likely.”
“And if they don’t?” I insisted.
“They’re bound to me, meaning so long as I’m alive, and keep our link open, they can find me.”
An interesting revelation that I couldn’t question because he left.
I crept closer to the fire which began to crackle as the flames jumped from the burning brand to another branch. I held my cold hands out and sighed at the heat already starting to radiate.
Cillian returned to a toasty cave and me sitting on my coat, his spread out beside me. He dropped his armful by the entrance and joined me on our coat carpet.
“Feeling better, I see,” he stated.
“Much.” A glance at his hands showed them mottled from the frigid temperatures. I grabbed them and hissed. “Jesus, you’re freezing.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re a popsicle,” I exclaimed rubbing his chilled flesh.
“The kind good enough to lick and suck, I hope.”
The provocative comment surprised because he didn’t seem the type.
“I see I’ve shocked you,” he stated.
“A little. You’re usually so proper.”
