THE TIME STAR Read Free

recognized the
attraction for what it was. Purely physical.
    And yeah, despite the pain, welcomed.
    Insane. But she wasn't about to deny her
own reactions. She just needed to control them better. She thrust out the
cloth. "All done." Their eyes met, and Waneeta found the sharp blue
softening. He took the rag over to the enamel wash basin and rinsed it out with
water from a pitcher. She watched him; oh, it was hard not to. He filled the
whole room. His massive shoulders and thick muscular arms told her he worked
out regularly.
    I guess hauling water and wood in a
hunting cabin keeps a guy in shape. Thank God for rural living , she thought
with an appreciative smile.
    The smile faded. She was only here
because something really creepy happened to her. Hopefully tomorrow, she'd walk
down that snowshoe trail and find the snow well-packed, the trail obvious, and
everything normal again. 
    Waneeta blew on her injury, checking to
see if it was dry so it wouldn't stain her clothes. It was still damp, and while
she waited, she made good use of her time by glancing around the cabin.
    Simple furnishings crowded around the
hearth made the cabin rustic and old-fashioned. To the left of the fireplace stood
a washstand and to the right of it, the bed she rested on. The rough-hewn table
with a single bench on one side was shoved against the side opposite the hearth.
Beside the door sat a large, squat barrel. On the side closest to her stood a
well-preserved pie safe.
    The ceiling was low, not even seven
feet. Since her host towered over six, Waneeta was sure; it must have been uncomfortable
living here. The roof sloped to meet the walls at an even shorter height. He
wouldn't be able to stand comfortably and look out of the window. Two huge logs
spanned the length above her, supporting, Waneeta presumed, the logs on the
roof. She looked up again, a frown forming. Logs on the roof? The logs on the walls
had their gaps sealed with whitewashed clay, but the logs on the roof remained
unsealed. How was it that the roof didn't leak?
    She pointed at the ceiling. "Why
didn't you seal those logs?"
     
    Thomas frowned at the odd question. He
followed the woman's gaze upward, where an understanding finally sank in.
    "Oh, the roof? There are scoops on
the outside, too. You don't need to seal them. The rain runs down the upper
scoops and off the roof by way of the lower scoops."
    "Scoops?"
    He chuckled at her blank look. "The
logs are split lengthwise, scooped out and then laid side by side. Then more scoops
are laid over the joints. I guess you've never seen a camboose shanty before?"
    When his guest shook her head, Thomas went
on. "They're built to house the shanty men at the lumber camp. I suppose a
lady such as you wouldn't be found around a lumber camp. Mind you, this isn't
exactly a camboose shanty. I have the fireplace instead of the open pit. I
wasn't anxious to have a gaping maw in my roof."
    She laughed out loud at his description.
"Now you're beginning to sound like that teacher," she teased.
    He shrugged. "A hazard of the
occupation. So, where are you from?"
    "Pembroke. Lived there all my life.
Great place. I love it. There's always tons of stuff to do, especially in the
winter."
    His eyebrows shot up. "Pembroke? What
are you doing so far into the woods?"
     
    Waneeta didn't consider here that deep
in the woods, especially when she drove her Skidoo the whole way. Yes, it took
a few hours, but travelling that distance on a Skidoo wasn't unheard of. She
and Kevin had really planned a short ride, but the weather had been nice this
evening, and they'd kept on going. Not the wisest decision. But, she shrugged, when
a woman shows up alone at the doorstep of a strange man's cabin on a winter's
night, it's bound to raise a few eyebrows.
    She waved away her host's question. "My
cousin took off on me and I lost his trail." Yeah, and just wait until
I see Kevin next. Nice guy to take off.
    The man lost his smile. "What a
delightful cousin."
    Waneeta