Near the Bone(9)

He released the front of the coat abruptly and her head crashed back to the ground. Sharp rock bit into the back of her skull and warm liquid flowed into her hair. Stars shot across the vision of William looming over her.

“Explain,” he said in that voice that made Mattie think of frozen rivers, of icicles with long sharp points.

She tried to draw in a deep breath but the bottom of her ribs was trapped beneath William. If she didn’t explain soon his fury would crash over her, more terrible than before.

“Wasn’t . . . feeling . . . well . . . the climb,” she panted. “Then . . . smell from the cave. Rotten.”

His gaze sharpened. “I didn’t smell it.”

“I . . . check again.”

“You’re not hiding a pregnancy from me?”

Mattie shook her head, but this made her vision go crazy again. “I . . . wouldn’t. Wouldn’t.”

He leaned close, which took the pressure off her lungs, but his breath was hot on her face and made her stomach jerk again. She hoped to God that she wouldn’t be sick with him this close because he would really hurt her if she threw up on him.

“You’d better not be lying. You know what happens to girls who lie.”

Cold darkness. The sound of a door slamming closed. Fists swollen from beating desperately against the wood.

“The Box,” she whispered. “I’m not lying. I wouldn’t.”

He seemed to see what he wanted to see in her face because he abruptly climbed off. Mattie lay there for a moment. She felt blood trickling down her skull and hoped the wound wasn’t deep. Infection was always a risk with any open wound, and William became irritated when he had to look after her.

“Get up,” William said.

Mattie did, slowly, because the world tilted crazily and she still didn’t have her breath back. William watched her dispassionately, making no attempt to assist her.

He doesn’t cherish you. He doesn’t love you, she thought, but the same despairing thought followed that always did—Where can I go? What can I do?

She was completely dependent on him in every way.

As soon as Mattie was on her feet, William jerked her toward the cave mouth. Almost immediately they were bathed in the waft of fetid air. Mattie turned her head away, covering her mouth and nose with her scarf. Even William, normally so self-mastered, made a gagging noise.

Mattie couldn’t help a tiny little smile of satisfaction at that, and since her mouth was covered she allowed herself to have it. William would never know.

He pulled up his own scarf and took a few steps inside the cave. The cave’s deep shadow swallowed him up immediately.

“Smells like a cache,” he said. “But bears don’t usually keep a cache where they sleep, or in places where they can’t cover up the food.”

“If it is a cache shouldn’t we stay out?” Mattie asked.

She did not want to go inside where it was dark and stank of dead things. Her legs felt wobbly and off balance and her vision still hadn’t righted itself. Everything would blur, then clear, then seem like it jumped up and down, then go blurry again and the cycle would start all over.

“If it was in the cave we would know. It would have rushed out the second you started making all that noise. I didn’t come all this way just to turn around because you’re so weak you can’t climb a hill.”

He pulled two candles from his pocket and handed both to Mattie. He lit each one with a long wooden match.

“You stay right next to me so I can see. I can’t hold a candle and the rifle at the same time.”

Mattie nodded. William wanted to go inside, so there wasn’t any point in arguing any more even if this was the most foolish idea he’d ever had. Her throat felt clogged up with her fear, a tangible thing that she couldn’t swallow down.

They shouldn’t go into the cave. Even if the bear (or creature) wasn’t there at the moment it could return at any time. When it did they would be fish in a barrel, trapped with no way to escape.

Mattie kept pace with William as they entered. Hot candle wax dropped onto her mittens, but she’d knitted them thick and tight to keep out the cold. The wax settled and cooled quickly without burning her.

The smell was much worse just a few paces into the cave. The walls took a sharp turn and grew narrower, the ceiling much lower. Mattie and William were able to walk side by side, but only just.

“There,” William said, pointing to the ground in front of them. He tucked the rifle under his arm and took one of the candles, crouching down to peer at the dirt. “Do you see?”

Mattie stepped closer, squinting down. The flickering candle allowed her to just make out two of the prints they’d seen yesterday, side by side and about a foot apart.

“It must have to bend over to get through here,” Mattie said.

“I knew it was up here. I knew it,” William said, triumph ringing in his voice. “Now I can kill it before anyone comes looking.”

“Comes looking?” Mattie said. “Why would anyone?”

“An animal that big will attract trophy hunters and other types,” William said darkly. He didn’t elaborate on what those “other types” might be. “All that has to happen is for one fool to catch a glimpse of it somewhere down the mountain. They’ll all swarm up here like a bunch of ants, stomping through our woods and killing our game. They’ll come knocking at our door, asking idiotic questions and wanting water and food. But if I can stop it all before it starts—”