Disclaimer—See Chapter One
A/N: Thank you so much to those that took the time to review, I know this story is long and everyone is busy, so I appreciate it so much!! Only four more chapters to go after this one, so we're nearing the end!!
Of Wind and Wood—Chapter Twelve
The noisy din of the campsite disturbed the silent crunching of a single set of footsteps approaching the clearing. Late afternoon sun filtered through the trees, creating crossing patches of light and shadow. Wind blew lightly from above, and branches swayed slightly in response. Shalimar lifted her head from Brennan's shoulder, indicating for him to let her down. Reluctantly, he paused in his step and bent his knees, carefully setting her feet on the ground. She flashed him an appreciative smile just as Ana gave a shout of alarm and rushed up to them.
"What happened?" She breathlessly demanded, fingers tightening on the torn jacket still clutched in her hands.
Shalimar gave an embarrassed laugh, good hand waving in a dismissive gesture, "I'm fine, I just had a small problem checking out the riverbank."
Beside her, Brennan's eyebrows shot up. A small problem? He stayed silent as Shalimar's spine stiffened with pride and her eyes flashed defiantly. Ferals.
Ana's eyes darted between them before nodding her head. "And Gary?" Her voice trembled, giving away fear.
"No sign." Brennan regretfully shook his head. "I'm sorry."
Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I don't know what to do," she whispered, eyes staring blankly past them into the forest.
"We keep going." Shalimar's voice was strong and decisive.
"I have to tell the others," Ana helplessly murmured, not moving from her position.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Brennan shook his head, "I don't want to start a panic."
Ana numbly turned and walked away without further acknowledgement. Brennan took a step after her before turning hesitantly back towards Shalimar.
"Go after her," she encouraged, waiting until his back was again turned before shuddering and blowing out a painful breath. She smiled wryly as she examined her hands, dirty and torn in the rock slide. I don't even want to know what the rest of me looks like. She shook her head and slowly trailed after Brennan and Ana, carefully bracing her arm against her side in the haphazard sling Brennan had made from his shirt. She cringed as voices already rose up from their group. Her eyes swept across the people huddled around Ana and Brennan. Is someone here a killer?
Brennan sensed Shalimar's approach before he actually saw her. He turned around and clasped her fingers, pulling her to rest against his side. Shalimar could feel the nervous energy high in the air. She squeezed Brennan's fingers in return, and he shot her a reassuring smile.
"What happened to you?" Denise, the woman Brennan had rescued from drowning, stared at Shalimar's wrapped shoulder.
"She's fine," Ana frowned at the interruption to her speech. "Now as I was saying," Her arms gestured into the air around her, "It will be dark in a few more hours, and we are all exhausted, so I want us to camp here for the night. We will continue to search for Gary, and then turn in early so we can get a good start in the morning. We've still got several miles to go before reaching Meadow Creek."
Heads nodded in agreement as Ana handed out the evening's assignments.
"Brennan," she turned towards him, "I'd appreciate it if you could continue looking for Gary." He nodded. "And Shalimar," She continued, "I think it would be best if you rested for the remainder of the night."
"Why?" Denise's shrilly voice broke in again, "I thought she was fine."
"Denise," Her friend Amy gently reprimanded her.
"No!" she shrugged off her friend's hand, "I want to know what's going on around here. First Ben gets killed," Her eyes darted widly about the group, "And then Gary disappears and all we can find is that--that bloody jacket, and now Shalimar is hurt?! What next?!" She shoved a shaking fist into her mouth, stifling a half-strangled sob.
"Denise, please," Amy pleaded, "You need to calm down. We're all scared right now." She circled an arm around her friend's shaking shoulders and led her away from the group.
Brennan blew out a heavy breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I was afraid of this," he murmured to Shalimar, "People are starting to panic."
"It'll be alright," Shalimar encouraged. "We just need to maintain a sense of normalcy," her lips tightened, "And we've got to find out what's going on around here." She cocked her head to the side, absorbing the sounds of uneasy shuffling around them and Denise's faint sobs.
Brennan's eyes met hers in a warm embrace as he cupped her cheeks with both hands. "Thank you," he whispered.
"For what?"
He leaned in and kissed her gently. "For being here," He bent down and kissed her again. "For wanting to help these people." He dropped another kiss on her upturned lips. "For being you."
She smiled into his mouth as she met him for another lingering kiss, lending strength and comfort until she felt him relax against her. "We'll make it," She whispered back, resting her head on his chest and listening to his steady heartbeat, "We always do."
His arms rose up and circled her, stroking her back in gentle patterns. "Shal," he prompted after a long moment.
"Hmm?"
"Would you do me a favor please?" He pulled back slightly to meet her gaze, "Would you rest now while I look around some more?" His finger rose to press against her protesting lips, "Please."
She sighed, "Ok. But I feel fine." She felt the need to reiterate again
He smiled slightly. "Shal, you're tired. And in pain, I can see it in your eyes."
She gave a dismissive shrug, but smiled in appreciation as he turned around to retrieve both their packs so they could clean up.
Ana approached her with a fresh splint, following Shalimar's gaze and watching as Brennan pulled a towel out of his pack and wiped some of the dust off his chest before bending down. She sighed as Brennan's chiseled chest disappeared behind a clean shirt, turning back towards Shalimar and helping her unwrap her arm.
"Honey," she raised her eyebrows, "You are one lucky woman. He may be a walking disaster out here, but he more than makes up for it with other, ah, assets."
Shalimar laughed outloud. You have no idea.
The daylight was fast disappearing as Brennan led Shalimar toward the riverbank to help her clean up. She winced in chagrin as she attempted to run her fingers through her tangled hair, chuckling as she pulled out small branches from her earlier adventure with the cliff. She turned her face towards the darkening sky, breathing deep as the wind rustled and cedar fragrantly drifted on the breeze.
"How about I warm up some water," Brennan pressed a kiss against a scrape on her forehead, "And help you wash your hair."
Her eyes lit up, "I'd say I'd owe you big time," she smirked, giving him a knowing smile.
"Ok, now you're distracting me," he grinned against her hair, pulling back and waggling his eyebrows as he turned to head back up to the clearing where they had left their packs. Two steps later, he froze as a high-pitched scream broke the quiet air, followed by the all too familiar sound of sliding rock. Shalimar brushed by him in a blur as he shook himself back to attention and raced after her towards the sound. Brian, Ben's friend, lay shaking and pale on the ground, half buried under a massive rock.
"He's dead!" Denise streaked past them, shrieking at the top of her lungs. "We're all dying, one-by-one!"
"Denise!" Amy ran desperately after her hysterical friend, catching her as she tripped on an exposed root and fell to the ground. "Denise!"
Ignoring her, Shalimar bent down and was relieved to see Brian's eyelids fluttering open.
"He's dead!" Denise sobbed into the dirt, banging both fists into the ground.
"No!" Shalimar's voice rose sharply above hers. "He's not dead! Stop it!"
Amy tugged helplessly on her friend's heaving shoulder. "Denise, please!"
Brennan glanced towards them as he strained against the rock, groaning as he rolled it off Brian's leg. Brian screamed in pain, panting as the great pressure was suddenly alleviated.
Ana rushed up to them, stilling his thrashing with shaking hands. "Stay still, Brian," she commanded, "Let me check you out."
He nodded and bit his lip in agony, screaming against his will as Ana prodded his leg.
Denise suddenly jumped to her feet with a strangled cry and dashed toward the river. "I've got to get out of here!"
"Denise, no!" Amy scrambled after her friend, sobbing her name.
Brennan's head rose up as cries of protest rang out from others in the group. Denise was in a dead run for the river. He sprinted towards her without a thought, easily bypassing her erratic trail as she stumbled down the bank. He slid into the thick mud of the riverbank and whirled around, planting himself in front of her. Denise reached Brennan and like a madwoman, barreled straight into him. He stood like a rock, unmoving, his hands down at his sides. Denise bounced backward, her feet actually leaving the ground. It would have been comical under other circumstances.
"Please," Brennan tried to calmly reason with her, "We all need to just stay calm."
"You?! You?! As if you could be of any use getting us out of here!" She screeched. Her hair was filthy and wild, hands twisted into ugly claws. Her face was so distorted with fear that she barely looked human. "Get out of my way!"
Brennan grimly folded his arms and looked down at her with pity. "You don't have to be so scared. We'll get out of here."
Enraged and maddened, Denise couldn't speak. She tried, but only a hissing sound came from her mouth. Her friend came up and silently slipped behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and started to say something.
Denise jerked spasmodically, her eyes bulging, and lashed out. She half turned and struck out with her right hand, hitting Amy across the neck. She staggered, stumbled, and fell against Denise. Denise insanely shoved at her. The two seemed to grapple for a moment, arms still entwined, then toppled into the mud, screaming. Before anyone else could move, Brennan sprang down between them, pushing them apart. Denise clawed at him madly, blindly striking out in fear, mud flying in great clumps. Her friend went down again as flailing arms struck her. Brennan again stepped between them, trying to calm the woman, but she screamed, stumbling against her friend and stepping over her as she floundered in the mud. In two steps, Brennan reached the women. Drawing back his fist, he hit Denise squarely across the jaw, abruptly cutting off her hysterical screams. She lay limp in his arms. He trudged out of the clingy mud and dropped to his knees, carefully putting her down as Shalimar and Ana knelt over her. Brennan hovered anxiously behind them.
"I just hit a helpless woman," he murmured under his breath, hand raking through his hair.
"She'll be alright, Brennan," Shalimar comforted, sensing his anxiety.
His head was down, and he fiddled with his ring, "Couldn't tell how hard I hit her. I didn't think I'd knock her out--" His voice trailed away.
"She's fine," Shalimar repeated firmly, "She might have a bruised jaw, but she's all right."
"Her jaw's not broken, is it?" he asked, still not looking up.
"No, Brennan," She jumped up and stood in front of him. "She's fine." Gently she placed her hand on his cheek and tilted his head up so he'd meet her eyes. "You did the right thing."
Finally he sighed and nodded, eyes drifting back to Denise's still form and to Amy, who blankly wiped mud out of her eyes as she stared at her friend in shock and disbelief.
Shalimar shook her head, drawing Brennan's attention back to her face. His forehead furrowed in confusion at the hidden mirth he saw dancing in her eyes.
"Shal?"
She couldn't help it, she started to laugh.
Ana turned and glared, convinced everyone had lost their mind.
"Shal?"
"I'm sorry, Brennan, it must be the stress getting to me," Shalimar shook her head, reaching up and tenderly wiping away a chunk of mud drying on Brennan's cheek. His hair stood straight up on end and his clothing hung heavy, weighed down with black mud. Her eyes sparkled up at him, a bright light in the chaos around them. "Only you."
He shook his head in bewilderment.
She grinned, hand rising to cover her quivering lips. "Only you would find a way to get into a mud-wrestling fight with two women in the middle of a crisis."
He stared back in disbelief, spitting out mud as it dripped into his mouth as her shoulders continued to shake with restrained laughter. His mouth twisted into a wry grin as he shook his head at her. "You know, Shal," he casually began, flicking thick black mud off his hands and into the air, "I can easily make that three women." He took a step towards her.
Her eyes widened as she stepped back, hand firmly on her hip, "Oh no, don't you dare touch---" She sputtered to a stop as he smashed her face into his chest. "Brennan!" Her indignant scream was muffled by mud.
He raised his hands and threaded them through her hair, streaking more of the muck into the tangled mass of curls.
Her eyes sparked up at him as she blinked through mud-caked eyelashes. "You are so going to regret that."
Brennan gave an ironic snort. "After everything that's already happened to me, how much worse could it possibly get?"
"Don't answer that," he hastily amended as heads whipped around and stared at him. A glob of mud dribbled off his nose and hit his shoe with a dull splat. Brennan groaned as Shalimar's giggles again rose up into the afternoon air and mingled with the groans of the woman knocked out cold on the ground. Don't answer that.
