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CHAPTER TWO

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Lynx awoke early the next morning and felt for Caliko beside him. It took him a minute to open his eyes and realize he wasn't in bed and a few more seconds to remember why. "Oh, damn." He said sitting up and rubbing his face. He had fallen asleep last night in the small lean-to kept for hay. He knew he had better get up and pack the rest of his belongings and meet the others before they left without him, but he was almost afraid to return home, afraid to hear if Caliko had come to a decision. He pulled some hay from his hair and stood up. He thought since he was already in the lean-to he would toss the animals some hay, so he grabbed the pitchfork left leaning against the wall and set to it.

After he fed the animals, Lynx reluctantly left the secruity of the lean-to and headed for the house, hoping no one would see him sneaking, from the hay shed, home.

Caliko was already awake and had a fire going when Lynx approached their home. She stood up from where she crouched by the fire and grabbed a bucket and headed for the river to get some water, not wanting to speak to Lynx. "Oriel is still asleep." She said as she walked past him.

Lynx looked at her as headed away. He wanted to grab her and shake her. Make her realize how stupid she was being. But he let her go, he knew he could never really hurt her, no matter how tempted he sometimes was. He walked up the steps and into the house, he crossed the room to Oriel's crib. Lynx looked in at the brown-haired minituare of his wife and smiled, putting a hand down to run a finger delicatley across her cheek. She stirred and rolled over, still not quite ready to wake up. He left her alone and went in to the bedroom. There Lynx grabbed his knapsack and tossed in a few things that would he need for the trip then returned back outside.

Caliko still hadn't yet returned with the water, so Lynx sat down on the steps and waited. They may be arguing, but he wanted a proper farewell before he left.

It was more than a few minutes before she finally returned, lugging the full bucket beside her. She set it down beside the fire and busied herself with making breakfast, still ignoring Lynx completely.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Lynx finally broke the silence.

"I was waiting for you." Caliko said, dropping potatoes and onions into a skillet.

"Well?"

Caliko stopped and looked at him. "What is there to say?" She started cracking eggs into a bowl.

Lynx stood up and walked to Caliko, he grabbed the bowl and set it down and looked at her in the face. "What is there to say? I slept outside in the hay shed last night. You tried to seduce me even though you hated it. You won't tell me what's going on in that head of yours and in a few minutes I'm going to be gone for a week and all you can say 'What is there to say?'!"

Caliko turned herself away from him and walked to the house. "I need to get Oriel up."

"So you aren't going to talk to me before I go?"

"I have nothing to say now. Be careful and I'll see you in a week." Caliko walked up the stairs and into the house.

"ARGH!" Lynx yelled, furious. He kicked Caliko's bucket and the water splashed everywhere. "DAMMIT!" He yelled as he picked up the bucket and headed down to the river to fill it up. "She's driving me fucking crazy!" He said to himself. "I just want to shake the shit out of her!" He walked down the slope to the river and dropped the bucket in and pulled it out filled. He plopped himself down on the rocks and put his head in his hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Fox stood behind him, canteens in his hand.

Lynx looked up. "Do you ever think marrying Dove was a mistake?"

Fox filled a canteen and slowly put the lid on. "No, but Dove isn't Caliko." He looked at Lynx. "I lived with her, I know how she is...and I wasn't married to her. Couldn't imagine trying to get any closer to her than she allows...and that's not arm's length." He filled his other canteen. "Dove saw you coming from the shed this morning, how long have you been sleeping there?"

Lynx rubbed his face. "Just last night. We--uh--we had a fight."

"Well, I have never had to sleep outside, but there have been nights I've slept on the floor." Fox smiled and sat down beside his friend. "Fights are what happen. You live with a person, know everything about them, and eventually you just get annoyed and you fight, don't worry, it'll blow over. She'll miss you so much by the time you get back, she'll be begging you to sleep in the house."

"Sure." Lynx smiled, unconvinced. He stood up. "Well, they can't miss us if we never go. We should go tell the girls 'bye' and meet up with the others."

The guys walked back to their homes. Lynx looked around for Caliko, but didn't see her. He guessed she was still in the house, so he set the bucket on the ground beside the fire. He noticed the potatoes were burning in the skillet, so he pulled the skillet off the flames and placed it on the large stump Caliko used as a table. "Caliko?" He called.

Caliko came to the door holding Oriel.

"I'm leaving." Lynx walked over to the steps and grabbed his pack. "Can I kiss Oriel goodbye?"

Caliko nodded and Lynx climbed the steps towards them. She held Oriel out to Lynx who took her in his arms. "I'm going Little Bird." He kissed her on the cheek and pressed her against him. "I'll miss you." He handed her back to Caliko and stood there. He wanted to hug Caliko goodbye and kiss her, but he knew he wasn't going to get what he wanted. So he reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll be back in a few days."

Caliko nodded her head and turned to go back into the house as Lynx walked down the steps and away.