Chapter Four

Dana didn't know how long she'd been staring in utter hatred at the wooden front door of the small house she and Cody had run to. The locked wooden door.
A few inches of firm dark wood were the only thing separating her from warmth and dry clothes and… from everything she needed right now.

She kicked the door with her foot one more time in frustration before she started looking around for Cody. He'd said he would go look for an open back door; not that Dana thought there was any, because… come on! This was kind of a summer house or cabin to spend the weekends away from the city and surely not regularly occupied. So if nobody was there right now the owners wouldn't leave it unlocked, right?

Cody had been gone for nearly five minutes and Dana was just about to walk towards the back of the house, when a sudden noise startled her. A noise from the inside!

Seconds later the front door got opened and revealed Cody smiling slightly at her. Dana couldn't believe it, the cheese head had been right?

It didn't really matter, did it? All she wanted right now was to get inside, find some towels and dry clothes and maybe a phone to call her mom. So she rushed past Cody without asking how he got in or uttering a 'Thank you' or anything. She just dashed inside and took a good look around. Cody followed without saying a word.

The house turned out to be nothing more than a cabin with one big room. Sort of a living-room with a cozy fireplace, now of cause dark and cold, a small couch in front of it, huge bookshelves on every wall and plush rugs on the ground. There was an open kitchenette to the very right and next to it a small stairway and a single door which led to a small bathroom.

A bathroom with towels on a shelf!

Dana ran inside and grabbed two large fluffy towels, nearly crying in joy. Throwing one in Cody's general direction she wrapped the other one around her shivering body and started rubbing herself dry. A content sigh escaped her lips while the feeling of warmth slowly returned to her body.

Only after what seemed to the frozen girl as a lifetime she felt comfortable enough to spare a glance at her quiet companion.

Cody still stood near the entrance, frozen in spot, the towel awkwardly clasped in his right hand.

Dana frowned.

"Cody?" she asked and added after a slight pause: "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but… you are entirely too quiet. What's wrong?"

Cody shook his head as if to clear his mind and tried to wrap the towel around his shoulders. It was then that Dana noticed he was using just his right hand. The left, the one he normally used for everything he did because he was left-handed if Dana remembered correctly, he was holding away from his body in an awkward angle.

He still hadn't said a word.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Dana asked and walked over to where he was standing in the shadows.

A loud gasp escaped her lips at the sight of Cody's left fist. Although the room was only dimly lit by a single oil lamp placed on the kitchen counter ("How did Cody manage to light a candle in the five minutes he was gone before?" Dana wondered briefly) Dana could clearly see blood running down his left forearm.

Cautiously she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the candle.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"Ugh, well…" Cody replied, "the back door was locked."

"So you what," Dana inquired sternly, "You unlocked it with your hand?"

"Well, I only smashed a window so that I could reach through and open the door," he explained and then his face lit up suddenly and he added: "Hey, dude, now I can put that down on my 'trying-new-things' list.

Dana frowned but couldn't help a small smile to come forth when she shook her head and answered: "Yeah, but put that on the 'trying-new-things-I-never-intend-to-do-again-because-they-are-dumb-and-they-hurt' list, okay?"

"Okay," Cody agreed, "it gets a place just between 'trying-to-eat-nails' and 'put-out-a-fire-with-bare-feet'!"

Dana could only shake her head. She pulled Cody further into the room and said:

"Come on, let's try to light the fireplace and find something to bandage your hand, cheese head."

TBC

Sorry this chapter turned out rather short, but I had the feeling this was a good place to stop for now. I'll try to update soon, promise! Meanwhile... feel free to leave your opinion.