The lock squeaked more than he remembered, and the key took some turning. He'd have to look under the stairs, see if he still had that oil bottle. It took a moment for the door to start moving, but when it did, it opened into an entryway with hooks, dust and a dead rat.
For a brief moment, Kylo felt his blood run cold, but a second look at the hapless animal revealed that it was desiccated and disintegrating onto the old matting. Miss Jackson barely glanced at it as she followed him through, a lack of reaction which cheered Kylo just a little. Perhaps she was willing to be reasonable. After all, it must be a disappointment to be dragged into the middle of nowhere with no notice. He opened the right hand door, and led the way through, navigating by the bright moonlight coming through the windows.
"I thought you had electricity at least."
"I do. I just have to turn on the main switch. No point leaving the whole house live when I'm not here."
She grinned the bright smile of someone who has worked out a puzzle. "So this is your place. Not Poppy's, not rented – actually yours."
"Yeah, I bought it years ago. Had ideas of coming up here for holidays, but I don't seem to get a lot of those." Kylo put the bags he was carrying down in what was obviously the dining area, and opened the kitchen door. Behind it lay the switchboard, and it was the work of a moment to flick the main switch. As he did, the refrigerator started humming. A good sign.
"No lights?"
"I turned them all off before I left. It was daylight after all." He reached behind her shoulder and turned on the kitchen light. The lightbulb, an old incandescent, sent out a glow that completely belied its lack of warming ability. "Spare bulbs in the box on top of the cupboard if any have blown. They're all old ones, but I can't see the point in throwing them out while they still work."
"You realise they use so much power that you'd be saving by buying the new sort?" Miss Jackson put the grocery bags on the table and started unpacking them, piling the cold stuff on the edge nearest the fridge. "You have reusable shopping bags, a recycling bin and a compost tub, but you use the inefficient bulbs."
"Yeah, well, I'm inconsistent." Kylo turned to head out, then back again. "I'll start a fire once we've got everything in from the car. The bedrooms are upstairs." At this, he went to get the rest of the bags – his duffel and the last of her suitcases. The weight of the bag was still surprising – surely makeup and shampoo couldn't be that heavy? There was no point locking the car. They were miles from Corellia, and there were no other houses anywhere near. In fact, this was part of a National Park, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He liked his solitude, and it was frustrating to have to share it with someone else who would probably play loud music and complain about the lack of fast food. If he couldn't keep the existence of the cabin a secret, he could at least keep its location quiet.
Heading back into the dining room, he noticed her other heavy bag was already gone from where he had left it a few minutes before. Footsteps overhead told him she had discovered the bedrooms, but they were coming from the wrong side. Not directly overhead, where the smaller bedroom lay with its single bed and galaxy-themed braided rug. No, the footsteps were on the other side of the upper floor, where the main bedroom was.
He took the stairs two at a time, aware of what he would see. As expected, the light was on in the main bedroom, and his houseguest was carefully removing the dust cover from the large bed, making sure the accumulated detritus of the last four years of disuse were kept inside the rough fabric. She didn't turn as he stood in the doorway.
"This is my room."
"But it's the nicest one." She placed the folded cover on the floor beside the bed, and surveyed the mattress. "Queen sized? Where are the sheets?"
"My bedsheets are next to yours, in the cupboard under the stairs. You can't sleep here."
"Why not?" Finally she turned around, her hands on her hips and her jaw set. "The other one's a child's room. I'm not a child."
"Neither am I."
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't sleep here." She sat on the mattress, her hands braced on either side of her as if she expected the bed to tip her off.
"Because I'll be sleeping there."
For a moment it looked as if she was going to return with something either sassy or flirtatious, but then she blushed and looked away. "Actually, now that you mention it, I don't think you'd fit in the other bed."
"Not … not likely." Kylo realised he'd tensed up, and deliberately took a deep breath to relax. He'd almost said something dangerous, and he would have to be so careful. She needed to be protected, and not just from whoever was trying to kill her. "Look, I can make the beds, or I can make us some supper. We've had nothing since those tacos at Daltry. What would you prefer?"
"Something hot, please. Yes. You cook dinner. Sheets under the stairs?" She picked up her suitcase, heaved it over to the other room, and dumped it on the floor. Kylo was thankful the carpentry was sound – he could swear the whole house shuddered. But she slammed the door shut on the room and almost galloped down the stairs. He dropped her second suitcase beside the door, and threw his duffel bag into his room. There might still be a few clothes left in the wardrobe, but they would be rough wear, suitable for chopping wood or digging in the mud. He didn't need to wear them now.
He wondered if she would have any trouble finding the bed linen, but she closed the understairs cupboard door and brushed past him with arms full of bedclothes.
"Blankets?" she yelled over her shoulder as she passed him.
"Quilts. In the shelves on the top of the wardrobes, in cotton bags."
"Got it." She stomped back up the stairs, and he heard her moving around where the beds lay. Then she stopped, and he was not surprised when she yelled down. "Have you got the fire going yet? It's freezing up here!"
"Give me a minute!" He set the tinned soup on the stove, then grabbed the basket and gloves from beside the fireplace and headed out to the woodpile. Outside, the moonlight was strong enough to read by, and the frost twinkled on the grass and leaves around the back door. The back of the house was nestled into the hillside, and the woodpile just up the slope was years-seasoned and half-covered in leaves and loose branches. He grabbed a handful of that as well to use as tinder, then paused. Was that just the twigs catching on the bark, or something more slithery? After all these years, it would be no surprise to find a local snake had set up camp in the woodpile. He'd have to check tomorrow.
Five minutes later the larger logs in the fireplace in the lounge room were starting to catch, along with the dead rat. He set the fire guard against the hearth, and made sure the stone floor was clear. Already he could hear the pipes sighing with hot air. The door beside him opened, and Miss Jackson appeared. She'd taken the time to pull a pair of track pants, and looked a great deal warmer than she had when they first arrived.
"What's the heating system? I'm assuming you don't have a furnace."
"This is my furnace." He patted the mantelpiece, where the pipes curled around before heading through the house.
"You made this?"
Kylo was about to explain it, when he realised what that would reveal. "Saves on fuel. Now we need to eat." He couldn't afford to let down his guard. She would be speaking with her grandfather soon enough, and if she said too much, he was screwed. He'd already warned the old man that they would be out of touch for a couple of days, but he daren't extend past Tuesday. The less contact the better.
The soup soon disappeared, as did a plate of toast and some apples.
"I'll cook you my lasagne tomorrow. Now just how bad is the rat problem here?" Miss Jackson gathered up the plates while Kylo heated some washing up water on the stove.
"There's lots of containers in the larder. Make sure you put all the food into them. I don't know how that one at the front door got in, but we'd best be careful."
"Any bears around here?"
"Not for years. No Wookies either."
"Wookies?"
"Bigfoot. Sasquatch."
She laughed. "I believed you for a whole two seconds there. No, seriously. What do I need to be careful of?"
"Well, the woodpile hasn't been touched in a few years, and I thought I heard something moving in it tonight, so always use gloves in case of spiders or snakes. It's probably a snake – if there's rats around, it almost guarantees it. We're not really far enough north for moose, and we're too far from the river for beavers, not that they're dangerous. Coyotes, probably. I've not seen any, but it's the right area for them."
Miss Jackson started washing up the small pile of utensils, and Kylo stood beside her and dried them. "How long have you owned this place?"
"About eight years."
"But you haven't been here for a long time. Does anyone else use it?" She handed him the mug she'd had her soup in, now clean and dripping.
"No, it's just mine."
"So why did you bring me here?"
"Because no-one in your grandfather's people knows about it. It's safe."
"You think someone he works with is the one trying to kill me?"
"It's a possibility. At the moment I don't trust anyone. Better that way." He piled the new-dried cutlery into the mug.
"So is Ben your kid?" She said it innocently, but his heart skipped a beat and he almost dropped the glass she handed him.
"Who?"
"Ben. The space nerd with the rocket models." She was watching him carefully, and it took all of his self-control not to look anything but disinterested.
"I don't have any children. That stuff came with the house. I just never cleaned it out. The quilt fits the bed, and the models … want me to get rid of them?"
"No, it's ok. They're fine in the top of the wardrobe. Whoever Ben was, he must have loved them. He made little books to go with each one. But I thought the starship quilt was sweet too. I've just never slept under one. It looks very warm."
"It … it should be." Kylo took the dry utensils and had them in their places in a moment. "I'm going to just have a quick look around, make sure there's no shingles loose or anything. Then I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted. The water in the bathroom should be warm now, if you want a shower. Towels…"
"Under the stairs. I've already claimed the one with the Moon Landing on it." She bounced out, and Kylo rested against the sink. It is warm. He almost said it. She was starting to get to him, and he needed to stay composed, detached, and above all, cool.
He grabbed a torch and his jacket and headed outside to let the night air do what his own self-control couldn't.