The last plate was set on the drying rack. Turning back to the room, dark eyes surveyed the room hoping to find some other small project to keep herself busy. After rummaging through a storage closet, she had found housekeeping necessities enabling the table and kitchen countertops wiped down, floors swept, and general tidying up. She had not had the courage to go poking around to find what the man's laundry set up was, though she had thought it would be something as simple as washing by hand in the sink and air drying. The modern amenities of fully automatic washer and dryers were certainly appreciated now but she could remember bundling up in her frayed sweater, pulling on too-big boots and trudging out to the backyard hoping her underwear was not frozen to the line. She would have to pull everything off with as strong a tug as little ten year old arms could give and set them in front of the stove to warm up as she tried to stretch one egg into a breakfast for herself and little sister. Rubbing her arms at the memory bringing back the feeling of snow melting through her sweater, she refocused on thinking of something to fill the morning. She had already gone for her run, almost reluctantly as she really was not that familiar with the area. She had to settle for several loops around the meadow basically never deviating from the circle. She had thought of taking one along the route to the waterfall but did not feel comfortable visiting it without Mason. The place had felt special and she was not sure if that had been invitation for free use too.
Even so, in a new place, she had felt good after letting her body work up a nice sweat. To feel the burn in legs swung into a new stride even as they pleaded to stop, the cool air sending cooling brushes against sweat dripping down her neck... It felt good to be able to do something normal and routine. After, she had been happy to find that the bathroom setup was quite adequate. The shower was an outdoor one but connected via a little side door back to indoors. It was a little tight, standing in front of the mirror to brush your teeth but the door would not hit your backside while there. Definitely made on a tight budget, but it was clean, and efficient. Tidier than she would have expected of a man also.
Now that the house had been tidied up the best of her ability, she wondered on what to do next. She had taken a peek into the small fridge to find little of sustenance besides some of their leftovers. A rather bare kitchen, really, and not something she was surprised to find if this cabin was really uninhabited as long as he'd said but still a little depressing. It would probably be a good idea actually to head into town and pick up some essentials. She was not a great cook but she had her favorite recipes, and even so, one could live off bread and water and some dried meat but what kind of eating was that really? Shaking her head at not having thought of that before or on their way in, she moved to the porch. The cool morning was making way for early afternoon, the sun climbing into the sky behind some wispy scraps of clouds. It was looking to be a cooler day, but still hanging on to the last of late summer sunshine. Out across the meadow before the cabin, the birds were flitting back to their shady perches, the sun starting to flood the meadow. Hadn't Mason said he'd be back by now? She could not imagine him being late for much. She understood that sharing that unpleasant bit of her life may not be for everyone, but she still was not happy with his reaction. It was not an easy thing for her to share and surely he would have wanted an explanation too? It was a lot to take in and she could not expect everyone to be alright with it, but thanks for sharing had been quickly followed by dipping out. Whatever. She shouldn't get so worked up over someone she did not know very well. Maybe it was better to give him the benefit of the doubt about just not being cool with emotionally heavy things.
Sliding her shoes on and a pocket knife into her pack she headed off the porch. She chose the direction she had last seen him head off in and hoped she would come across him. If anything she could say she just wanted to explore the area, which was true enough. Slipping into the shade of the trees she found her feet following a thin trail meandering around roots and large outcrops of rocks. The breeze was still cool and it brought welcome relief across the sweat trickling down her neck. It was a nice property. It would be a very good one for development, which she knew he would hate to hear but if he ever wanted to sell he would likely get a very good price for it with its proximity to a water source and good distance from main parts of town. Her thoughts went down paths of where to expand and how best to go about it, her ideas for the future of her company...as her feet carried her down the natural path among the trees. After this, there would be a lot to do back home and within the company. It was a good thing Kay was good at her job. But she missed being there, being hands-on with the processes and knowing the shit was getting done, and how she wanted it done.
It was the whine that brought her out of her thoughts, feet coming to a dusty halt. Where, or more importantly, what, was that? Surely it was too late in the day now for much of any predators around to be out? But fall was approaching right? Didn't that mean bears and shit would be feasting to prepare for winter? The pocket knife made its way to her hand and she felt a little better about continuing on closer towards the sound. It did not sound very large or menacing... In fact it increased as she approached some low brush, and pulling it aside, she made an audible gasp, followed by "Oh, shit." Rushing the brush she ignored the quick stings as it caught at her clothes and skin. Setting her pack on the ground as she kneeled beside the injured canine, she tried to figure out how best to go about getting him out of this situation. Cautiously, she ran a finger along the closed jaws, ignored the frenzy of whines that released. "Shh and let me look at this thing, Mason."If she were to get him out she had to figure out how this thing worked. It was all metal and gears and a chain driven well into the ground but two bars on the side looked to holding the jaws together. There was some blood spattered across the thing and taking a quick look at the leg he'd stepped in with, she winced. It had snapped tightly enough, just over connection paw to leg, but even without medical training she could see that it had been snapped. "Alright, don't you fucking bite me." She said firmly, keeping herself calm as she crouched closer over the trap, aware that the dog's eyes had not left her for a second and felt like they were boring into her. Gently as she could, she tentatively pressed a little on the bars with her hands but they were not strong enough to pull the jaws apart more than enough to make any other animal panic and make it worse. Rising to her feet, she gave a look that once again warned him not to bite her, as painful as it was, she'd probably shift right there and bite him back. The feline was already not ecstatic about being in such close proximity to a canine shifter in such a heightened state of emotions. Steadying herself she positioned her feet over the bars and pressed hard. The white leg slipped through and as soon as she could tell all parts of him were free, she let the metal slam back together, jumping away from it as she did.
"Are these even legal here?" She asked aloud, more to herself than the shepherd as it backed away and inspected its injuries. Hmm. Retrieving her pocket knife she followed the short chain to it stake and dug it out. "It doesn't look like you expected this so I imagine this is actually on your property line otherwise you'dve been more cautious. Glad you weren't using your nose." She muttered, "Let's just take this and see." Searching within the confines of her pack, her hand reappeared with some paracord and wound it around the trap's jaws and pulled the knot tight. She approached the dog cautiously, not sure how he would react but she wanted to see if something could be done for his leg. At the very least to give him some comfort while they traveled back. There was no way she would be strong enough to carry him that far back on her own. She had also found an old scarf at the bottom, holes and ripped edges but it was still long and strong enough to be wrapped around this. "If you let me I can wrap that and it might feel a little better." She moved to take up his leg and when he did not object more than some growling she took that as her opportunity and worked as quickly as she could to make a sort of makeshift polo wrap around the injured leg. Jumping back and away from his teeth, she said no more and took to moving back the way she had come along the trail, glancing back to make sure he was keeping up.
Company problems disappeared as she thought of what this meant for her "training". A broken limb. She could only see it making it worse, things already move around and did some weird shit to make a morph happen, there was no way it wouldn't just make it worse. Also, she had never cared for anyone in this sort of predicament. Her goldfish, being goldfish, did not do much and she had always been different from most younger children in not wanting dogs or big animals as pets. She was worried about how to get the bone set or...whatever it needed...to heal correctly. Cost was no objection but that would still take time, more time away from her desire to return to her company, her friends in the city and yes, even her family. Sighing softly, she told herself that this was just another obstacle to overcome and deal with. She could do this...but the thoughts of learning about this part of her being delayed gnawed at her as they slowly closed the distance to the cabin.
Bookmarks