Frozen by A M Arthur

Author:A M Arthur [Arthur, A. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Published: 2012-03-21T11:00:00+00:00

Ten minutes later, they were dressed and in the kitchen, the space heater doing its best to knock the bite out of the air. Roman filled a large pot with water and put it on the stove to boil, while Lee collected a box of angel hair and a jar of meat-flavored sauce. The simple food was a go-to meal for Lee in the winter. In the summer, he took turns cooking proper food with Kerry and James — anything from steaks to casseroles to fancy salads — but never bothered when it was just him. Lee would have liked to cook something nicer for Roman, he just didn’t have the supplies.

Maybe after the storm he could get down to Mr. Porter’s store and find something fancier than jarred spaghetti sauce.

With the salted water on a burner, and the sauce set to a slow simmer on the back of the stove, they no longer had preparation tasks to keep them busy. Lee fumbled for conversation, unable to even come up with a humorous story about some idiot tourist to fill the silence. All he wanted to do was ask questions he wasn’t sure Roman would answer. Questions Lee wasn’t entirely certain he wanted answered just yet. The snow had built a temporary bubble around Roman’s reappearance, and anything that attacked them from the outside world could destroy the fragile connection he’d already lost once.

“When do your business partners come back?” Roman asked.

“Second week in April, or thereabouts.” As conversation starters went, it wasn’t a bad one. “We’ll get everything cleaned and prepped, and do a few test trips to see how the water levels are in different parts of the creek. Then we open for the season on May first.”

“Do you say pretty busy?”

“Mostly. We’re closed on Monday to trips, but most other days we go out multiple times, unless it’s an overnight. James usually leads those.”

“You don’t camp anymore?”

Lee shook his head and traced the length of the box of pasta on the counter. “I tried, but I got so spooked I canoed home in the dark. Not my smartest moment ever.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Seven years. First year I was back on the creek after…you. The mountains in the dark just felt too awful. Ominous. Like some unknown evil was waiting to swallow me up, like it took you.”

Roman closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them again. Grief and frustration reflected back at Lee from those odd, blue lenses. And oddly, seeing those things in Roman’s eyes piqued Lee’s anger. Anger at the things he hesitated to ask, and anger at Roman for not making it easier for Lee and simply offering up answers. Lee didn’t want to be angry at Roman, not about anything, but Roman was here, standing in front of him — a perfect target. The nameless, faceless reason Roman disappeared, the reason Lee stayed off the water at night, wasn’t.

“Do you remember everything about our last trip?” Lee asked. “Everything I don’t?”

Roman started shaking his head, but stopped.

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