Reborn

Chapter Eight

It was hard to do, but Renee used the stone knife to descale the fish and remove the viscera before she stabbed a stick through it.

She leaned the stick against a rock, and looking at her hands, made a face before she went to wash them. Fishing was not something she had done often in her lifetime. Mark and Terry had taken her a few times, but they had always handled the scales and guts. It was never a job she was responsible for before.

After her hands were clean, she went back and focused on starting the fire. While she worked on that, she gave Alec a new job.

"Alec please find a flat rock that's long."

Alec, who was looking at a nearby flower, paused and then nodded. He quickly scampered off to do as she asked.

Renee sat back once the fire was large enough that she could ignore it. She pulled the fish over and placed the stick close enough that the fish would begin to cook. She had to be careful, she didn't want the fish to burn so it couldn't get too close, and she had a bit of a hard time trying to figure out how to get it to lean close enough but not too close. After a few readjustments, she was finally satisfied.

She began to sort through the sticks they had gathered for firewood until she found a few satisfactory ones and set them aside.

By that time, Alec had found a suitable rock and was trying his best to carry it over. Seeing him struggle, she stood up and went to help him. She nodded as soon as she took it from him and smiled at him.

"You've worked hard, this is perfect. Go play for now, okay? If you find anything interesting, you can bring it back to me."

Alec, happy to be released, nodded, and began to look around and pick up pretty stones, or other things that caught his attention.

Renee took the rock to the river and gave it a wash as best she could, using the hem of her own fur to scrub it clean. It wasn't perfect, but there was a lot that they were making do with right now.

Man, she missed soap. And hot showers. And food that she could just pop into the microwave for five minutes!

She gave a deep, heartfelt sigh, before she took the rock back to their little campsite. She set it down close enough to the fire that it would grow hot and left it alone to warm up.

Then she took the sticks she had set aside and began to strip the bark from them. She used the stone knife to smooth out any knots and slowly straightened the sticks.

Without her realizing it, she began to hum under her breath as she worked. It was a soft, slow song Genny had sung to her often when she had been a child.

"Nae, that's a pretty song." Alec's soft voice grabbed her attention from her current project. Renee looked up at him and smiled a bit.

"Isn't it? Want me to sing it properly?"

Alec gave a nod and sat down close to her just watching what she was doing.

Renee turned her attention back to the stick in her hand and began to sing out loud, a small smile raising the corners of her lips.

Besides her singing, the only other sound was the popping of the wood from the fire, and the faint breeze that rustled through the leaves. It was such a peaceful moment that Renee could almost forget that they were in the middle of a dangerous forest and being chased.

Once done, Renee gave a second smile to Alec and finished the stick she was working on. She picked up another that she had already finished and vigorously rubbed them against each other to remove any splinters she might have missed. Then, she tilted her head as she gripped them together in one hand.