“No. We’re just going to find a sheltered spot where we can light some flares and then wait for your dad to find us.”
“Can we gothatway?” Maya asked through chattering teeth, pointing in the opposite direction from the cougar’s deep tracks.
“Definitely.” Artie gave a choked laugh, and he eyed her carefully. There was an edge to her voice that made him worry she was about to lose it. After the day from hell, she fully deserved to have a complete breakdown, but it would help if she could hold it together for another couple of hours.
“You good?” Although he kept the words light, so as not to scare the girls, Artie must have caught the serious undertone, because she took a deep breath and met his gaze squarely.
“Yes,” was all she said, but it was steady and resolute enough to send a burst of warm pride through Derek. He wanted to hug her, to tell her how amazing he thought she was, how brave and smart and simplyawesome, but he had to be satisfied with holding his fist out to her.
As she bumped it, her lips tugged up into a shaky smile.
“How about you, Maya? Can you walk a little longer?” Derek asked, careful not to shine the flashlight in her eyes as he looked her over carefully. Both children had been dressed for the cold, and he was pretty sure that Maya’s trembling was from the encounter with the mountain lion rather than the beginning of hypothermia.
“Okay. My hands are cold, though.”
Derek glanced at Artie over the kids’ heads, and they shared a concerned look. Crouching down by the smaller girl, Artie tugged off her own gloves and then Maya’s mittens, while Derek directed his flashlight beam at their bare hands.
Maya hissed between her teeth as her tiny fingers were sandwiched between Artie’s palms. “Your hands are really hot, Ms. Rey.”
“I know it hurts,” she said with brisk sympathy, “but we need to warm yours up fast. There’s no sign of frostbite, so that’s good. They’ll sting a little, but you’ll be okay.”
Derek loved how she was with her students, like a kindly drill sergeant. After warming Maya’s hands and replacing her mittens, Artie stood and pulled on her gloves.
“Any cold parts on you, Zoe?” she asked. Although the girl shook her head, Derek frowned. It might have been the blanching effect of the flashlight, but Zoe’s face looked pale and pinched.
“Let’s move, then. The quicker we light those flares, the sooner we’ll get you home to your warm beds.”
“And hot chocolate?” Maya asked.
“And soup,” Zoe added.
“And pizza.”
“And macaroni and cheese.”
Apparently, the kids were hungry. As they started walking, with Derek leading the way, the two girls in the middle and Artie taking up the rear, he made a mental note to give them a protein bar when they found a good place to wait for rescue.
“What happened?” Artie asked when the girls stopped naming foods. “Why’d you run off like that?”
Silence greeted her question, but Artie didn’t push. Instead, she waited them out, and Derek grinned. He wasn’t surprised that she was skilled at interrogation.
“Is Chase dead?” Zoe finally asked in a small voice.
“No,” Derek assured her, a little startled by the question. “He’ll be fine. The doctors will have him stay at the hospital overnight just to make sure, but he should be back at school and harassing you again really soon.”
Zoe started sniffling, and Maya’s sobs soon joined her. Unnerved by the tear fest behind him, Derek kept his gaze on the trail ahead of him.
“Enough,” Artie said firmly. “You can cry later. Right now, it’ll just make your faces cold. How about we sing a song? That way, our voices will warn any wildlife to stay away.”
With a snort, Derek said, “Especially yours, Ms. Rey. I’ve heard you sing. The animals will run like they’re fleeing from a forest fire when they hear you.”
Although they were watery, there were two distinct giggles behind him.
“You shouldn’t be throwing stones in that glass house of yours, Mr. Warner.” Her voice had a frosty edge, but he heard the laughter she was hiding underneath. “You forget that I’ve heardyouas well. You sounded like a sick walrus.”
Now the girls were definitely laughing.
Racking his brain for a kid-appropriate song, Derek said, “How about ‘The Itsy-Bitsy Spider’?” His suggestion was greeted by three groans.
