Beneath a Winter Moon (41 page)

Thomas turned as he heard a groan from behind him.

“Don’t believe the bastard.”

Thomas smiled and jumped up from the table. Jack’s tail was wagging furiously as the dog licked Delmar’s face. Delmar pushed Jack away. “Get away, you furry oaf.”

Thomas stood over Delmar and held out his hands to restrain him. “Don’t get up. Take it easy for a few more minutes.”

“I’m fine,” Delmar said as he propped himself against the edge of the couch.

Jenny sat up, then moved her legs out of Delmar’s way, so that she sat cross-legged on the couch. “You must be feeling better,” she said to Delmar, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah….I guess so. What about you?”

“I’ve gotten some sleep…I guess I’m better, too.”

Delmar groaned. “That’s good.”

Thomas knelt down so that his face was level with his friend’s. “Jenny knows about the cancer, Delmar. Was that what caused your fever? You were out for a while…we couldn’t wake you.”

“I don’t know,” he said, frowning. “It’s never happened before. The docs said that it would be weeks before any of the real symptoms started showing.” He coughed and cleared his throat. “Did the bastard have the plug? Is the radio working?”

Thomas shook his head.

“Jesus,” Delmar groaned.

“You don’t have to call me that,” Thomas said, grinning. “You can call me Thomas.”

“Ha...ha
,
” He mocked. “I need aspirin, Hero. I’ve got a massive headache. Will you get some from my pack?” Delmar asked.

“I’ll get them,” Jenny said, and hopped off the couch.

Delmar watched her. “She’s feeling better,” he whispered.

“I can hear you, Delmar,” Jenny called as she knelt down and retrieved the first aide pack. “I suppose I do feel a little better…now that we know help is on the way.” She came back and ripped open two packets of aspirin. “Here. I’ll get some water…”

“Wait, Jen. I’ll do it,” Thomas quickly interjected. He didn’t want her near Alastair. She nodded and sat back down on the couch. He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water from the
blivet
, then soaked a cloth and tossed it on the table in front of Alastair. “Here,” he said.

Alastair frowned, but took the cloth and wiped the dried blood from his nose and face, and then from the table.

“I could use some food, too. Have you guys eaten anything?” Delmar asked Jenny.

She shook her head.

“I didn’t get to eat much of that bowl of noodles…and if you haven’t eaten, either...wow. You must be starved.”

Jenny raised her eyebrows. “I guess I could eat something.”

Thomas came back with a glass of water. Delmar swallowed the pills, throwing his head back as he gulped the water down. “Oh yeah,” he said. “I need more water…and I have to have some food. How about you, Thomas? Jenny’s hungry, too…and who knows when the helicopter will get here.” He patted Thomas’s arm. “I just remembered…how is the weather? Any change?”

Thomas shook his head. “If anything it’s worse out there now than it was before.”

“Shit.”

“Yup.”

Delmar slowly got to his feet. “Uh oh,” he moaned.

“What is it?”

“I’ve got to go to the head,” Delmar said, dryly. “I don’t suppose you would go for me?” He chuckled, then looked down at his feet. “You took my damned boots off. Knucklehead.”

“Didn’t want you to go into shock. You know the drill.”

“Bah.” He looked around until he found them, then plopped down beside Jenny. “See these boots?” He pointed.

Jenny nodded.

“These boots are nine years old. NINE. Can you believe that?”

Thomas frowned. Delmar hadn’t acted this nonchalant since before they left Hope.

“I traded a set of specially-made jungle boots for them. It wasn’t even a fair trade. What was the guy’s name…Frederickson. Yeah. Anyway, I traded a set of thirty-dollar hot weather boots for these babies. These are top of the line, waterproof mountain boots.” Delmar grunted as he finished tying the second boot.

Jenny looked at Thomas and shrugged.

“You sure you are okay, Hero? You sound…I don’t know…giddy…maybe even a little drunk.” Though Delmar hadn’t slurred any of the words, his tone suggested that he was not in the least bit stressed or worried.

Delmar grimaced, then looked up at Thomas. “I think so. In fact, other than this headache, I feel great. Better than ever.”

That wasn’t the right answer so far as Thomas was concerned. “Maybe you shouldn’t go all the way to the outhouse.”

Delmar scoffed. “The outhouse?
Pffft
. I’m going right outside. I’ll be back in a second. When I am back, we need to fix up some chow and ask that bastard over there some questions.” He gestured toward Alastair. “Old Jeremiah there has some explaining to do.”

Thomas sighed. “His real name is Alastair.”

Delmar jumped up from the couch. “See,” he shouted. “I told you his name wasn’t really Jeremiah Johnson.” He laughed. “I see you’ve tied him up…the lying bastard.”

“Okay, okay…do your thing outside and we’ll get something to eat.”

Delmar walked into the foyer, staring the whole time at Alastair. He stopped. “Alastair is a girl’s name.” Alastair made no reply. Delmar chuckled and went outside.

“I hope you can control your friend,” Alastair said.

Thomas walked over and started rummaging through a large cupboard. “He’s fine.”

“Was he bitten last night?”

Thomas froze.
Why would he ask me that?

“If he was bitten last night, he might have an infection. It might affect his judgment.”

“An infection?” Thomas asked.

Alastair nodded. “The…animal is sort of like a big cat in that way…you know, like a cougar or a lion. It carries…bacteria in its mouth that can cause serious infections.”

Thomas looked toward the door. “Assuming you aren’t completely full of shit, tell me how serious?”

“The infection can be quick, and takes a few days for the body to fight off…and it can cause high fever, and impair motor function and critical thinking.” Alastair was enjoying the lies. He comforted himself in that there was always at least a
grain
of truth in them.

“Unconsciousness?”

“Almost always.”

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Would you have listened? Besides, I didn’t know. It didn’t cross my mind.”

Thomas chose to ignore Alastair for now, but he
would
force Delmar to take the rest of the antibiotics from the aircraft’s first aide kit. He removed some cans of peaches and some vacuum–packed crackers, and found some candied yams. He saw plenty of canned vegetables, fruits, and there was a lazy-
susan
filled with spices, but there was no meat of any kind. No icebox of any kind, either. He assumed that Alastair must be a vegetarian. That lifestyle certainly did not suit a man who hunted for sport and hung his conquest’s heads on the wall. He sighed and placed several of the cans of fruit and vegetables on the table. He saw Alastair looking down at the cans.

“We’re going to eat some of your food, Alastair.”

“I see that. May I have some as well?”

“Give me your word that you won’t cause any trouble? You asked if I could control Delmar…well, you don’t want to find out. If you piss him off, my actions are going to seem like powder and fluff.”

“Interesting analogy,” Alastair replied. “I’ll do my best. I give my word.”

The cabin door opened, and Thomas could see that the sun was beginning to settle. “Can opener?” he asked Alastair.

“Left hand drawer…left side of the sink.”

Delmar brushed the snow off of his shoulders and sat down across from Alastair. He smiled at him, and began to ask him questions. Thomas had already asked them all, so he called Delmar into the bedroom, where he told him everything. He emphasized that there was a real possibility that, no matter how nefarious Alastair’s association with the creature was, he might have actually tried to protect them. That was what Alastair had been saying when Delmar woke up.

Delmar refused to believe any of it, but he agreed to be somewhat civil to the man…stopping short of making a promise. Thomas also talked his friend into taking a huge dose of the few remaining antibiotics. Afterwards, Delmar glared at Thomas. “Don’t believe this guy. I’m telling you, he’s lying.”

Thomas just smiled.
There is the Delmar that I’m so used to.

A few minutes later, Thomas opened up several of the cans of food. He gave Alastair a spoon. Jack, who hadn’t recently been commanded to “stay,” sauntered up to the table and placed his front paws up on the bench opposite Alastair. The Husky smelled food and wanted in on the action. Jack stiffened when he saw Alastair, but he did not growl. Delmar carried a spoon and a can of peaches to Jenny, who thanked him and sat down on the floor in front of the fire.

Thomas gave Jack some peaches as well, and the dog gobbled them up. When he finished, he jumped up on the bench and stared across at Alastair. Each time Alastair looked up, Jack let out a throaty, but
barely
audible growl. Thomas was amused by the behavior. After all,
his
Jack loved
everyone
…and it was testimony to the intelligence of animals that Jack
could obviously tell this man was not to be trusted. Alastair didn’t ask that Jack be moved, so Thomas let him stay there.

Delmar decided that he would try to continue the questioning where Thomas had left off, and so he shooed Jack away and sat down in his place. “So, you say that you tried to stop the thing…the monster from hell that is NOT a balding Chinese bear, by the way…by chaining him up, right?”

Alastair couldn’t help but chuckle. “Aye.”

Delmar scoffed and shook his head, “I’ll tell you what I think…I think that you bought this thing on some black market…some weird biological mixed-breed animal-thing. You thought it was interesting or maybe funny…so you bought it. You are undoubtedly a rich man...and rich men tend to find ways to satisfy their appetites, no matter how strange…or sick.”

Alastair chuckled again, then straightened his face. “You have no idea of my appetites…I promise you.”

“So, you bought this thing, tried to train it, and failed. All the time knowing how dangerous it is and what it is capable of doing.”