Okay, only doing one update a day now because I ran out of chapters I've written in advance! :O It's like 10:30 as I'm saving this doc and I am SO tired- but I would love some reviews! A d finally, please excuse any typos- I'm typing this on my ipod since my tablet got taken by my parents... Curse my colorful vocabulary! And curse you, too, tiny ipod keyboard!
Daryl waited until she was asleep before pulling them out. The two raccoon skins he'd been tanning. It was what he'd been doing all those nights he was late coming to the fire, back at the farm.
He'd already fleshed the hides, then brain-tanned them so they were soft. He'd had them stretching on stick racks he'd made, hidden in the saddle bags of Merle's motorcycle, so he hadn't lost them when he left the farm.
On those nights when Jamie had been asleep in the tree, he'd sometimes stolen off, hoping to stumble on a raccoon... He had, finally, snared one so it hung high above the reach of walkers and managed to track and tree one himself. And there was a reason for it- Jamie.
He worked the hides in his rough, work-worn hands. Softening them. Soon he'd have to let them smoke, but for now, the more he worked them, the softer they became.
He'd come across more than a few walkers on these night ventures, but he'd carried on anyways.
And there was a reason why. Raccoons only came out at night- like walkers. They had to be cunning to survive- but so did the hunter. The hunter had to not only out think a coon, which in itself was a daunting task, since he had no dog to chase it down and tree it, but also had to be on the lookout for walkers. A raccoon pelt was more than a pelt- it was the symbol of the ultimate hunter.
He looked over at where Jamie was huddled against the basement wall, curled up on herself, slightly. She shivered. It was damp down here, and Daryl sighed. That was what the raccoon hides were for. But they weren't ready- not yet.
He still had to smoke them, and he worked them in the dark, listening to the night sounds, making sure everything was safe, before, after a few hours of working the hides between his hands, he hid them inside his vest and curled up beside Jamie, drifting off to sleep.
It was two months later when it was finally done. Two grueling months. He'd managed to start a fire while Jamie slept, and, unnoticed, smoke the hides to deter months from eating them.
Then he'd spent countless nights cutting them into just the right shape, stitching crude stitches, since hell, he had no idea how to sew.
He'd found the spool of black thread in a house they'd stayed at, as well as the needle, which he kept in his pocket.
And it was that night, as the flames lept and flickered all around them. They stayed in the remains of the stone structure, around a blazing fire, with walkers no doubt closing in on them, that he managed to sew the final stitches.
"This is not a democracy anymore!" Rick yelled. "Now if anyone wants to go out and take their chances, go ahead! But I-I'm staying here. I got you this far- and I am NOT about to give up!"
Jamie was so busy watching as she sat, covered in walker blood and grime, that no one noticed when Daryl finally finished the last stitch and bit off the thread, fumbling to tie a knot.
"No takers? Good! T-Dog, Daryl, take the perimeter." Rick ordered.
Daryl nodded. "Jamie- come on." He said, looking over at her. She looked shocked- he hardly EVER let her come with him since she'd left the farm. It was growing constantly more dangerous.
But she wasn't about to argue, and she hurried over, scooping up her bow and arrows...
"Be careful." Carol said, blue eyes dull from exhaustion and showing her concern. Jamie nodded quickly before scampering out of camp after Daryl.
"I want to go too." Carl said, standing. He'd begun to feel more like a man as things had progressed, felt more responsible for what happened to the group.
"Your father isn't as dumb as Daryl." Lori said simply. She was round, very pregnant, the baby was do any day now- and they were all worried.
Lori felt the baby kick and sighed- this wasn't going to be easy.
"I wanted to give you something. When's your birthday?" Daryl asked, looking at her incredulously.
"May 21." Jamie said. It was February, now.
"Meh. Close enough." He pulled the cap from behind his back, gently placing it on her head.
"How... Where did you get the pelts?" Jamie asked, looking shocked.
"Back at the farm, while you were sleeping. Those nights I came late to the fire I was working on tanning them..."
Still, she stared. "But... His the hell did you do it? Snare them? You had no dog to tree them..."
"I went out during the night and would roam around a bit. Found a lot more walkers than I did coons, but I got 'em. Now you listen. That hat there is the symbol of dominance. You not only outsmart a coon, the smartest animal, but you do it while surviving walkers, which are everywhere, at night. The raccoon pelt is the symbol of the ultimate hunter. Someday, you'll go and take your own raccoons... Until then, you wear that hat." He said, feeling sentimental.
Jamie nodded, hugging him. "I love it." She said. And it was the truth. Though her hair had grown over the course of the winter, some places almost reached her shoulders, the raccoon tail on the cap still tickled her neck, but it was warm and smelled like Daryl, and she loved it.
Daryl nodded. They finished checking around the perimeter and both ducked back into the stone walls to see T-Dog had already returned.
"Everything alright out there?" Hershel asked, and Daryl nodded.
Carol smiled, seeing the cap. So that was why Daryl had taken her with him- to give her the gift in private. In truth, it was fitting for Jamie, she looked like Daniel Boone's daughter, and it also looked warm...
"Nice hat." Beth said, smiling in her good-natured way. "It looks pretty on you."
"Thanks." Jamie said, returning Beth's small smile with one of her own. On the farm, she hadn't really gotten to know Hershel or his family well, she'd spent most of her time with Daryl...
It was then she remembered it.
"I just remembered. While I was holed up in the house, during the firefight, I had to jump from the balcony, I was in your room, Maggie. I grabbed the first thing I could to take with me... It was this." She pulled the picture from her jeans pocket.
It was folded and creased, but it was all there.
"The frame broke on the way down, but I managed to get it... I'm real sorry I didn't give it to to y'all earlier, but I just forgot with everything that's been happening lately..."
Beth stared, eyes wide, and took the photo, unfolding it carefully. Maggie and Hershel all peered anxiously over her shoulder, watching the image unfold as the paper did...
Beth started to cry, hand to her mouth. "Maggie... It's mom..." She said, gasping.
And then Maggie was crying too, and Hershel held both girls close to him, looking very misty-eyed himself for a few moments.
Finally, he spoke, voice thick with emotion.
"Thank you, young lady... You gave me my family back..."
"Dad, look, it's Shawn..." Beth said.
Hershel turned, haze darting over, before turning to Jamie again.
"Just... Thank you."
Jamie shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "Ain't nothin. I jest grabbed what I could, needed somethin to cling to when I jumped..."
But everyone could tell it was more than that. That, even as she'd faced death and felt the terror that her life could be slipping through her fingers, she'd been cognizant enough to grab a keepsake for Hershel and his family...
"Jamie. Come on. Give them folks some privacy." Daryl said quietly, acting slightly uncomfortable as well. But he was proud of her quick thinking and bravery, though he didn't say it. There was so much he was proud of about Jamie...
He'd moved some dried leaves into a corner for as warm a bed as possible, and he draped his vest with the angel wings on the back of it over her as she curled up in the nest he'd made. Ryder's jacket wouldn't be enough to keep her warm, yet.
"Aren't you goin to bed, too?" Jamie asked, looking up at him with those tired green eyes.
"Soon. Don't trust this place- the woods has gotta be crawling with walkers. Go to sleep- I'll be along soon enough."
Jamie nodded, blinking sleepily and staring at the flames of the fire behind him. She was half asleep, wouldn't remember anything, and he kissed her forehead quietly before standing to take watch- it was going to be a long, cold night.