Two Alone by Sandra Brown Page A

edgy, but wisely decided that now wasn't an opportune time for an argument.
    She did, however, show her irri t ation by angrily snatching her hairbrush back and repacking it in her precious bag of toiletries. T hey were her only reminders that somewhere in the world hot water , cream rinse, perfume, bubble bath and hand lotion were s till realities.
    A t last, they all settled down for the night. She slept with Co oper a s she had the past two nights. Lying curled on her side, her injured leg the uppermost, she faced t he fire. Beneath her was the pallet Cooper had made using the pelts they'd carried wi t h them. He had tactfully declined to use the bedding Quinn had offered them.
    Cooper didn't curve his body around hers as he had been do ing. He lay on his back tensely, never completely relaxed, and ever watchful.
    "Stop twitching," she whispered after abou t half an hour. "What's your problem?"
    "Shut up and go to sleep."
    "Why don't you?"
    " I can ’ t.
    "Why?"
    "When we get out of here I'll explain it to you."
    "Explain it to me now." "I shouldn 't have to. Read the signs."
    "Does it have anything to do with why you t old them we w ere married?" "It has everything to do with that."
    She pondered that for a moment, "I'll admit that they're k i n da spooky, the way they keep staring at us. But I'm sure they're only curious. Besides, they're sound asleep now." The chorus of loud snores should have been his assurance that the Gawrylows were harmlessly asleep.
    "Right," he said dryly, "and so should you be. Nighty-night."
    Exasperated with him, she rolled back onto her side. Eventually she sank into a deep sleep. It was mercilessly short-lived. It seemed only minutes after her eyes closed that Cooper was nudging her awake. She groaned in protest, but remembering that today was the day her ordeal would come to an end, she sat up.
    The cabin was still in total darkness, although she could se e the shadowy ou tl ines of Cooper and the Gawrylows moving about. Quinn was at the stove brewing coffee and stirring the pot of stew. It must never run out but he continually added to , she thought, hoping that she didn't return home with a case o f ptomaine poisoning.
    Cooper knelt beside her. "How do you feel?"
    "Cold," she replied, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Even though she hadn't slept in his embrace, his body hear had kept her warm throughout the night. He was better than any electric blanket she'd ever slept with.
    "I meant health-wise. How do e s your leg feel?"
    "Stiff, but not as sore as yesterday."
    "You sure?"
    "Positive."
    "Get up and move around on it. Let's give it a test run."
    He helped her to her feet. Once she had slipped her coat on and propped herself on her crutches, they went outside so she could have some privacy; the Gawrylows cabin didn't have indoor plumbing.
    When she emerged from the outhouse, the rising sun had turned the overcast sky a watery gray. That light only emphasi z ed her wa ri ness. Cooper could tell that the effort of leaving the cabin to go to the bathroom had taxed her. Her hard breathing created clouds of vapor around her head.
    He cursed beneath his breath. "What?" she asked him anxiously.
    "You'll never make it, Rusty. Not in days." Hands on hips, he expelled his frustration in a gust of ghostly white breath and s aid, "What the hell am I going to do with you?"
    He didn't soften the question with any degree of tenderness or compassion. His inflection intimated that he'd far rather no t be b othered with her at all.
    "Well, I'm sorry to inconvenience you further, Mr. Landry. Why don't you bait a bear trap with me? Then you can jog all the way to that damn river."
    He stepped forward and put his face close to hers. "Look, Pol lya nna, you're apparently too naive to see it, but there's a lot more at stake here than just getting to the river."
    "Not as far as I'm concerned," she shot back. "If you s prouted wings and flew there, it couldn't be fast enough for me . I want to get out of