Posted As Missing

Chapter Twenty-Four

"You should get dressed," David said as he finished sharing his thoughts. He was sitting on the bedrolls, leaning against the gabbro, Maria sat between his legs, leaning her back up along his chest, her head on the front of his shoulder. "You're making a pair of points showing you're starting to chill."

She lifted her head slightly and looked down at her breasts. "And behind my back, you're making a much bigger point that you're interested." She finished with a quiet giggle.

"You're still quite troubled in here," he said rubbing her head gently. "That was not your usual joyful and carefree giggle."

He turned his head and kissed her, moved his hands from her head down to cup and lightly juggle her breasts. "The fire in here will last. Come, let's build a different fire. Come, get dressed and we'll put together a warm bonfire for tonight."

"But what about your lump?"

"The fire there will also last. Regardless, with tinder like you, it's so easy to reignite. While you girls dress, I'll head across and start bringing in more wood to add to that short piece of shattered trunk."

"We'll gather the twigs and branches in the nook," Maria said, "and find the best place to build the fire... Thank you so much for your stability. I'm amazed how your gentle calmness — your reassuring manner — adds to my comfort, my confidence. I'm sure it also adds to Mama's."

They sidled together into a group hug. A long tender hug before David moved toward the entrance and checked the mirror as he prepared to stoop out through the triangle. "All clear," he said as he continued out. "Perfectly reinstalled, Maria."

He was just around the entrance corner when he heard a gunshot rather close above. He stopped, turned and took three quick steps back to the corner, then carefully looked around it and upwards, toward the sound of the shot.

There was a cracking sound faintly above the noise of the cascading water, then the clatter of rocks bouncing on the slab across the stream from him and continuing on downward into the trees over the brink until their noise was drowned by the waterfall below.

He continued to look up at the source of the falling rocks; watched the fall change to twigs, soil and clumps of moss. Then a large rock followed by the hooves, legs and rump of a large deer. It stopped sliding and hung there. A few rocks continued to clatter as the deer struggled.

A buck, he recognised as it twisted. Likely the mate.

A runnel of red came over the rock lip and slowly expanded. It grew in pulses with the struggle of the buck.

A voice came from above: "Da ist es. Geweihen in einem Baum die Klippe an verfangen."

Another voice: "Wir sollten nicht hier sein. Denken Sie daran, Leutnant Herzog."

A third voice, yelling from farther away: "Ihr habt gehört den Major. Das ist aus Grenzen dort. Komm, zurück zum Feldlager."

David was relieved by what he had learned from the short conversation. He continued watching the fading struggles of the buck, watched as it seemed to have given up.

Maybe building strength for a big effort.

He looked across to the gabbro block and saw the girls also watching. There was a loud crack, he quickly looked back and caught the end of the buck's fall to the slab followed by a big tree branch.

He waited for more voices from above, but there was none. The only voice he heard was his own. "Convenient meat delivery."

He sidled back along the ledge, past the bulge, sprung across the stream and went over to the dead buck, arriving just after the two girls. "Which one of you ordered the venison?" he asked as he neared with a big smile.