A/N - SHE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, yes, I know. It's been too damn long since I updated, but I have a very good excuse. If you really want to know, email me and I'll tell you (some of you already know. :)) Anyway, I start my new job this week (YAY!! No more Worker's Comp!!!) but I'll try to keep this and Bolero going (yes, I am still working on that one too.)
And without further babbling…
Chapter 6
"Jonathan, you're coming with me."
"For what now?" he demanded, sitting up straight.
"We need firewood, or we're going to freeze to death. Think you can manage that?" Jonathan huffed for a moment, scrambling to his feet.
"I'm coming too," Evelyn stated, clambering to her feet.
"Like hell you are," I stated. She balled her little fists, clinching her teeth.
"I'm staying," Hassan stated, but no one gave a damn what he had to say.
"Last thing I need is to have to go trudging through the desert in the middle of the night, wondering where the hell you got off to."
"Why, Mister O'Connell, I didn't know you cared." Her voiced dripped with sarcasm enough to rival my own.
For once, I had nothing to say.
I turned, grabbing Jonathan by the sleeve, dragging him through the tall reeds. I could hear Evelyn thrashing through behind us, trying her damnedest to keep up.
"I say, ol' boy," Jonathan said, my hand still tightly clinched around his arm, "why don't you, uh, let Evy have a stab at it, and I'll, uh, head back and guard camp?"
"Hassan's there."
"Yes, but can we really trust him with our things?"
"What things?" I said, coming to a halt, releasing his arm. "They're all at the bottom of the Nile!"
"Point taken," he said, tugging at the bottom of his coat. Evelyn then came crashing through the reeds, knocking into Jonathan.
"Steady there, ol' mum," Jonathan said, grabbing his baby sister before she went face-first into the mud. I just shook my head, turning away from them. They were going to be the death of me.
****
"Mister O'Connell, please, I think we've very well stripped the area of whatever bits of driftwood we can possibly find." My eyes fell on Evelyn, standing barefoot in the mud, her damp nightgown still clinging to her body, hair frazzled, arms wrapped around a small bundle of driftwood. My stomach tightened for a second, and I had to blink hard to clear my senses. What the hell was that?
"Fine," I said, pulling together my small bundle. "Where's Jonathan?"
"He had gone off that way," she said, motioning with her tired head. I stood up straight, my back protesting for a moment, but I ignored it as usual, heading through the reeds in the direction Evelyn motioned. She trudged through behind, and I found myself stopping to hold the reeds aside for her. She smiled lightly at me, her front teeth peeking out between her lips. Again, my stomach tightening and I couldn't help but wonder what the hell was wrong with me? She's not exactly the type of girl I'm used to. Sure as hell I'm not the type of guy she's looking for, still...What the hell is wrong with me??
An eerie, grating sound caught my attention, and instinctively, my hand when to the revolver at my side. "What was that?" my arm shot out, stopped Evelyn as she continued stumbling forward. I strained to hear it again, glancing down at Evelyn who was half asleep where she stood.
"Oh, it's only Jonathan," she said through a yawn. "He grinds his teeth in his sleep."
"He what?" I said, rolling my eyes as I followed the sound of the grinding. Keeping the pistol in hand, I crashed through the reeds to see Carnahan leaning against a tree, a piece of driftwood dangling from each hand, sound asleep with his mouth gaping open. Sure enough, he turned his head, his teeth grinding together before muttering something in his sleep. Slamming the pistol into the holster, I walked causally up to the Brit, kicking his legs out from underneath him. He slid to the ground with a thud, his eyes jarring open.
"I say, now what was that for?" Jonathan said, glancing up at me with startled eyes.
"Have a nice nap?"
"That was completely uncalled for."
"Not around here it ain't."
"You know, O'Connell, you're not in the Legion anymore. You can be a little nicer when you wake people up."
"Yeah, but what's the fun of that." It took a minute to register exactly what he had said to me. "Wait a minute. How the hell did you know I was in the Legion?"
"You have a big mouth when you're drunk." He grinned at me, gathering up the wood before bouncing toward Evelyn. My mind flashed back to the Kasbah – the drinks, the box-thing, Jonathan picking my pocket... The whole damned ordeal flooded back to me as though I had just had my ass thrown in jail for it all over again.
"Hey," I said, stopping the Brit in his tracks. "You're not going to tell her about all of that, are you?"
"I wouldn't dream of it, O'Connell ol' boy." He flashed that grin again, before reaching Evelyn, guiding her back to camp. I followed a few steps behind, lost in my own upside-down thoughts.
