The Carbonite's Daughter by Deryn Pittar

Author:Deryn Pittar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: IFWG Publishing International
Published: 2022-01-21T07:16:44+00:00

Chapter 12

“What on earth are you doing out there?”

“Just checking that the water won’t run into our sleeping area if it rains.” Mathew could be heard rustling around in the dusk, which under the tree canopy seemed to be almost dark. Calista peered into the gloom.

“Mathew? Are you coming to bed?” She looked at the canvas cover that hung above her. If it did rain it would fill up with water in the middle and collapse with the weight. This young man didn’t seem very practical when it came to camping. Perhaps she’d read more books on camping than he had.

When he didn’t answer, she slid out of her sleeping bag, ‘down-filled’ her father had assured her, and felt around for the long stick she’d found earlier. She’d suggested he drape the canvas over the pole, between two trees, but two such trees weren’t obliging in this bit of bush and all stood too far apart. Instead, they had picked the tall bracken ferns and heaped them on the forest floor. At least they were springy and better than the hard ground to sleep on. She propped the stick into the thick mulch and wedged the flat end up into the middle of the canvas. It should hold unless one of them knocked it in the night—if he ever came to bed.

She smiled to herself and wriggled back into her sleeping bag and waited and waited. Finally, he crept onto their bed of ferns and she heard him slide into his sleeping bag beside her.

“What were you doing for so long?”

“I was waiting for you to go to sleep.”

“Why?” A long silence followed. She was just about to ask again when he answered.

“I wasn’t sure what to do.” His voice was soft and if it hadn’t been dark she was sure she would have been able to see him blush. At times like this she wanted to hug him. He was a gentle soul and the best friend she’d ever had.

“Honestly, Mathew. If we are to disguise ourselves as a married couple the least we should be able to do it act in a relaxed manner with each other.” She didn’t know men could be this difficult. “You could move over closer to me. Perhaps snuggle into my back because it’s getting colder by the minute.” More silence. She tried again, “Then I can get my cape to stretch over the two of us if you are closer. At least I will try to convince it to cover you as well. That’s something I haven’t tried before but it should work if I think very hard about it.”

The bracken crunched and crackled as he moved closer until she could feel him barely spooned into her back. “That’s better. Now let me think.”

She lay her hands on her cape, which lay draped over her sleeping bag and asked it nicely, albeit silently if it would stretch to cover both of them. For moments nothing happened, then under her fingertips she felt movement and the cape rustled and stretched as she had asked.

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