Crawling backward on his belly, he reached a spot far enough from the broken area that the ice should be strong. Then he pushed to his feet and took up the mule’s rope.
Before they moved forward again, though, he mapped outa slightly different route to the shore, staying far away from the compromised ice. The new path moved him closer to the saplings breaking through the frozen surface, but he’d have to take the chance.
When Damien tugged the rope, Gulliver plodded behind him, and he gave as much distance as he could between himself and the animal. Best to put as little weight on each spot as he could.
All went well until Damien reached the shore. Gulliver had only a single step before his front hooves found solid ground, but one of his rear feet crashed through the water near a tree.
The mule squealed as he gathered his weight on the other three legs and pulled the soaked hoof out of the water. Damien tugged hard on the rope to keep him moving forward. Though the water would be shallow, another hoof might break through any moment.
It did.
The ice under the wet leg cracked, then shattered.
“Walk on!” Damien pulled hard to get the animal the rest of the way to shore, and Gulliver did his best to obey. As one front hoof reached solid ground, the other rear hoof broke through the ice.
Gulliver squealed as he lunged forward, hopping to raise his hind legs high. Finally, he managed to get all four feet on the bank.
Damien released the rope as Gulliver dropped his head, breathing hard. Damien’s own chest heaved the same way. “Good boy.” He patted the mule’s neck.
But he couldn’t take time to rest.
Glancing around, he found Charlotte sitting on the snowy bank a few strides away, her arms wrapped around herself asshe bent forward over her knees. Her entire body convulsed in shivers he could see even from this distance.
Blankets. And a fire. Something warm to drink.
He grabbed his roll of fur bedding, jerking the tie so hard he ripped off the end. In three strides, he dropped to his knees by her side and pulled the first well-used pelt around her shoulders. She clutched at the edges, pulling it tight. Her teeth chattered so forcefully that she might break a tooth if they didn’t get her warm.
And much worse than that could happen.
He wrapped another fur around her shoulders, laying it atop the first. With her hands covered, she didn’t grasp this one. And when he adjusted it to lay smoothly, the act felt almost intimate, her nearness rising so strong into his awareness. The next two furs he rested on her legs, which still had water dripping from her leggings. He wrapped the last fur around her shoulders once more.
She still shivered, her teeth hammering, but her eyes weren’t quite as glassy as before.
“I’m going to find a place to camp around here, then I’ll come get you and we’ll start a fire. You’ll be warm before you know it.”
She flicked her gaze up to his for only a second as she nodded. Then she tucked her chin deeper in the covers.
As he stood, a glance around showed a cluster of trees downstream that might give enough cover for the night. He took up Gulliver’s rope and led the mule to the spot. Once he had a fire built and Charlotte warming beside it, he’d rub down the animal’s legs to help dry them. After walking in the snow all day, the dunking of his rear limbs probably hadn’t added much more wetness than what was there already.Thankfully, Gulliver possessed a hide thick enough to shield him from most of the cold.
As soon as Damien kicked enough snow out of the way for the fire and for Charlotte to sit, he jogged back to where she waited for him. Except for shivering, she hadn’t moved a hair from where he left her. Her eyelids had closed, though, and the sight sent a needle of fresh worry through him. Arsenault had spoken more than once about how sleepiness came when one grew too cold in the elements.
He dropped to his haunches beside her, resting one hand on her shoulder. “Charlotte, I found a place to camp. Can you walk there?”
For an instant, she didn’t respond, and his worry turned to panic. Then her eyelids drifted halfway up, and her gaze seemed to search before it landed on him. She didn’t speak.
He gave her shoulder a little shake. “Do you think you can walk?”
She stared at him through those heavy-lidded eyes for a long moment, as though trying to sort his words into meaning. “Yes.” Her voice rasped as though she’d just awakened.
They didn’t have time for her slow reactions. He had to get her to a fire. These wet things had to come off, and she needed warmth inside her.
“I’m going to carry you.” As he slid a hand around her back and one under her legs, his fear gave him the strength to lift her as easily as he would a kitten and carry her to camp.
Charlotte slipped in and out of the fog, but some of the shaking had eased from her body. She curled tighter into thewarmth beside her, the body cradling her more closely than she could ever remember being held.
Then she was being lowered, seated on something hard. The warmth pulled away, and she whimpered, curling deeper into herself.
Hands rubbed her upper arms. “I’ll build a fire for you.” The voice rumbled near her ear, and she leaned toward it.
