Outlast the Night by Ariel Tachna

Author:Ariel Tachna
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SAM joined Jeremy, Chris, and Jesse at dinner again. He’d expected Neil and Molly to be back already, but he didn’t see them in the canteen, so either they’d been delayed or they were eating in their own house. Sam had seen a kitchen there, even if he hadn’t seen either of them use it beyond preparing a cup of tea or storing bottles of beer.

“What’s got you all in a twist?” Jesse asked when Sam looked around the canteen for the fifth time.

“I’m just surprised Neil and Molly aren’t back yet,” Sam said. “He said they’d be back today. I can’t decide if I should worry or not.”

“It feels later than it is,” Jeremy reminded him. “It’s getting dark earlier with winter approaching. I wouldn’t worry yet.”

“Neil knows his way around the station,” Jesse assured him. “He won’t get lost, and he’ll know if he’s in over his head. If he is, he’ll find a drover’s hut and stay the night. He might take risks by himself, but he’s not going to risk a single hair on Molly’s pretty dark head.”

“That’s true,” Sam said. “He has a phone. He’d call if he got delayed.”

“I’m sure he would,” Jesse said. “You could see if Caine’s heard from him. He might call the boss first.”

“He’d have to,” Sam said. “I don’t have a phone. I couldn’t afford one when I didn’t have a job, and I don’t really need one working in the office out here.”

Jeremy frowned. “If you leave the valley, make sure you either take a radio or are with someone who has a phone. As careful as we all are, things happen, and you don’t ever want to be out there without a way of communicating back if there’s a problem.”

“Is it really that dangerous?”

“It can be,” Jeremy said. “It can also be so breathtakingly beautiful you can hardly believe it’s real.”

The sound of a car door slamming interrupted them. “I bet that’s Neil and Molly right now,” Jesse said. “You want to go check on them?”

“No, there’s no need,” Sam said, tensing despite himself in anticipation of Neil’s reaction when he saw who Sam was sitting with. “They’ll come in for dinner. I’ll see them then.”

Jeremy must have felt his tension because he leaned toward Sam and asked, “Do you want me to sit somewhere else?”

“No!” Sam exclaimed, though he kept his voice low. “You’ve been kind to me. I’m not ashamed to be your friend. I’m just not looking forward to Neil’s reaction.”

“I don’t want to make problems for you,” Jeremy said.

“Neil’s the one with the problem if he can’t see that you aren’t your brother,” Sam insisted. “I just know what he’s like when it comes to making him admit he’s the one with the problem.”

Neil strode into the canteen with that same confident air Sam had noticed in the other year-rounders, although perhaps less in Chris and Jesse. Some of the others called out greetings that Neil answered absently as he looked around. When

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