“If you two survive that together, you can make it through anything.”
“Right!” He chuckled, but his stomach was as unstable as a baby reindeer taking her first steps. This trip was big–in so many ways–and he knew it. “Don’t forget those prayers-–I’m going to need them.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
The day passed quickly as Clove and Drake figured out the logistics of taking a reindeer-powered dog sled from Montana to North Dakota. She mapped the route, sticking to wooded areas and backwoods trails so that they wouldn’t be spotted. Otis had an old paper atlas with maps of all 50 states. She ripped out the ones she needed—much to Colter’s shock.
“The librarian would make you pay for that,” he said around a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. None of them had the heart to make the kid go to school, and he’d been with them or in the house with his grandma all day long.
Drake texted Forest for a list of supplies. He started with shelter and staying warm. As the text thread grew, so did Clove’s anxiety. “How are we going to get all this? It’s not like we can wait around for two-day shipping.”
Turned out that outfitting a dog sled wasn’t all that difficult with Otis on their side.
“I ordered two sub-zero sleeping bags to try out before my race in February.” He dug around in the corner of the shop and came back with two small boxes. “Here we go.”
Clove gulped. “Those are . . . compact.” Did her voice waiver? She didn’t mean for it too. She wanted to appear confident in Felix’s plan–yes, she knew she was following a reindeer into the woods in the middle of winter.
She also knew he thought it would be a grand adventure.
And she knew that Drake also thought this was crazy–brilliant.
She, however, wasn’t sold on the idea. It wasn’t that she was averse to the cold. Yeah, that made her strange. Most women hated the cold and would rather be under an electric blanket than trudging—or sledding—across the snow for hours every day and sleeping in the snow at night.
Was she really going to do this?
Drake worked with Colter and Felix to make the harness more secure. He took the trail through the woods back to his truck and trailer and came back with an armful of leather straps and pieces. He and Colter worked to mesh things together. Drake’s brother, Pax, was on video, giving advice. He looked happier with the challenge than a kid in a pie-eating contest. They hadn’t fired up the welder, but the option stayed on the table as they discussed the best fasteners.
Forest moved on to texting her food items to pack. He’d spent the better part of a year trudging through the wilds of North America–and sometimes into Canada, though he’d deny that if the Mounties asked. The reindeer he’d tracked down, Snowflake, popped into their video chat every once in a while. She even offered to come out and meet them, but Forest told her that wasn’t a good idea. If she was caught, they’d be in a worse predicament than they were now.
She huffed:You didn’t catch me.
Forest glowered. “I caught up to you.”
She chortled:Never would have happened if Billy didn’t come along.
“If Billy didn’t come along, you would have been wolf bait,” he teased her.
She turned and flicked her tail:I’m not talking to you anymore.
“Beautiful wolf bait!” he called after her. “The most stunning wolf bait ever.”
Faith chuckled. “I love seeing you all interact with the reindeer. Makes me feel like Grandma and I are normal-ish.”
Forest threw his head back and laughed. “As normal as you can be with these fur balls around.” He leaned closer to the screen and cupped his hand around his mouth. “Don’t tell them I called them fur balls.”
She pressed her lips together and zipped her fingers across them. “What else do we need?” She turned the camera around so he could see the pile of supplies. They had a two-man tent that would be cozy, and she wasn’t thinking about how close she and Drake would be as they snoozed.Ifthey ever fell asleep–she wasn’t sure she could relax enough in wolf country to ever find REM.
They also had a daypack. Two would have been better, but Otis only had one. Their snowshoes and trek poles, an avalanche beacon (she didn’t want to think about why they would need that), a snow shovel, three compasses, binoculars, solar chargers, sunscreen, sunglasses, matches, and water bottles. Although the dehydrated meals didn’t look like much, they’d sustain life. It was only for a week, right?
Drake would put in the tools he needed to maintain the sled and the tack.
Once they were away from this place, they might be able to send one of them into town for supplies while the other one waited with Felix in a safe place. They weren’t worried about drawing attention by having a small fire to melt snow and cook over, so there was that.
“Listen,” Forest leaned back and stretched his arms over his head. “If you get into trouble out there, call. We’ll be there in a jiffy.”
Clove nodded. These wranglers never ceased to amaze her with their loyalty and willingness to jump to the rescue. “We will. Thank you, Forest. You’ve been a big help.”
He grinned. “I’m looking forward to sitting around the fireplace with you all and hearing about your adventures.” He wagged a finger at her. “Keep it on the Nice List while you’re all alone in the woods.”
