“See?” he murmured, and kissed her. “There are ways.”
Inga leaned against him, soft and pliant with afterglow.
This had to work out, she thought. Whatever she and Luke were to each other, she already couldn’t stand the thought of him staying behind, and never seeing him again.
LUKE
Sneaking backinto the cabin after cleaning up at the spring, giggling as they stumbled into things in the dark interior, had done absolutely nothing to subdue the suspicions that Inga’s friend Nita was clearly still harboring about them. Inga took the bunk above Luke’s and was perfectly well-behaved all night, but in the morning, Nita gave them knowing looks all through breakfast.
They enjoyed a leisurely and slow morning. After they ate, Nita took Jo-Jo down to the shore to splash in the shallow water as a seal, while Inga played with the baby griffins and Luke helped her clean up the cabin and stow things away.
His decision had been made overnight, and when he finally said, “I’m coming with you, you know,” he only got a quick sideways smile.
“I’d hoped so,” Inga admitted. She took his hand quickly in hers, squeezed it and let it go.
Working together, they set the cabin to rights, packing up the bedding in vermin-proof containers and the remaining nonperishable food in tight, sealed cans. Inga laid out fire-starting materials for the next resident, cleaned the stove, andcapped off the chimney. After climbing back down, she held out the hammer to Luke.
“You took the board off the window, so you can do the honors when we’re ready to leave.”
Luke stood back to gaze at the clean interior of the cabin. It looked as if they’d never been there at all. He was aware of a strange twinge in his chest, something akin to homesickness. This was the first place in a long time that he had felt safe.
Nita arrived with a mostly naked Jo-Jo in the crook of her arm, and a wet and sandy Rogue bouncing alongside. “Are we ready to go? Just let me get her into a clean diaper before we finish packing up. Let me tell you, it’s a lot easier to change a diaper on a surface that’s not moving up and down. That’s assuming she’ll stay in it for more than five minutes,” she added. “They don’t make diapers that will stay on a seal.”
When Nita had finished getting Jo-Jo into a clean diaper and tucked in the car-seat-style carrier that she’d brought with her, they finished clearing the last of their things out of the cabin. Luke nailed the board over the window, and Inga locked the door.
“What about them?” he asked, turning to the griffins.
“They’re staying here,” Inga said promptly. She sounded sad but resolute. “They’re wild animals. They’ve been doing just fine on their own, hunting small rodents and fish. There’s no point in relocating them to Westerly Cove again. In fact, the neighbors probably wouldn’t thank me if I do.”
She went over to say goodbye, petting the young ones, who were now trying their stubby wings in short, gliding flights.
As they started down the path to the boat, Luke glanced back and noticed one of the babies—he thought it might be Cinnamon—scampering after them. Inga had to stop, pick it up and carry it back up to the top of the path, putting it firmly with the others.
“Are you sure they’re going to let us leave them behind?” he asked, amused, when Inga rejoined them and bent to pick up the pack she was carrying for Nita.
“They’re wild animals. They’ll get over it.”
As they stowed their supplies in the boat, one of the parents, the raccoon mix they had designated Pepper, circled overhead. Rogue bounced around, getting underfoot, and barked.
“Sit down,” Luke ordered him, trying to hand a cooler from the rickety dock to Inga without being knocked into the water.
Rogue plunked his shaggy butt in the bottom of the boat, but kept looking up at Pepper. The griffin circled and landed on the skiff’s stern, hissing at them.
“I don’t think your decision to leave is at all popular,” Luke told Inga.
“They’ll be fine,” Inga retorted, lashing down supplies. “They’ll survive without a steady influx of dropped pancakes and bread crumbs. In fact, they’ll probably be better off. All that junk can’t be good for them.”
“Have you told them that?” Luke pointed to the hill, where it looked like all four of the little griffins were headed down the path to the dock, some of them running and others gliding in short hops.
“Oh, come on!”
Inga dropped the strap she was using to lash down supplies in the boat, and Luke gave her a hand up to the dock and then watched her run up the path. The baby griffins went wild as soon as they saw her, jumping up and down, flapping their wings. One started flapping so hard it actually managed to fly to her shoulder, then nearly fell off, clinging halfway down her back by its claws and looking baffled.
“Good luck!” Luke called.
“Get up here and help me!”
Nita was laughing so hard she had to sit down in the boat. “I think you’re on your own, my friend.”
