While I was angry with Johnathan, I wasn’t afraid of him.
Once I calmed down, I didn’t even blame him for reacting like he had. I figured that after everything he did, for me to accuse him of something like that wasn’t fair. I decided that when Johnathan returned, I would apologize for being so mean.
Intermittently, Jake and I would play, which was hilarious, watching him get over-excited when I would toss his stick as far as I could in the small area.
It was like watching a bear tearing through the cabin. Yet, he was careful not to lose control. No matter what I did, he was able to return the stick without hurting himself or anything in the cabin.
Eventually, though, I would get tired, as I guessed I was still healing quite a bit. When I did, the dog would climb up on the bed with me and lay down.
We may have napped for a little wh
ile, but for the most part, he just stayed by my side, comforting me.
When Johnathan returned, I could tell right away that he was much calmer.
As he entered, Jake pulled his head up off my lap to stare at him, as though he disapproved of him being gone for so long. Although, after the initial scowl, he placed his head back on my lap.
“Well, somebody found a friend,” Johnathan grinned, now trying to be more hospitable.
“Yes, he’s been very comforting,” I replied, affectionately stroking his large ear.
“Yeah, for the most part, he’s a big mush. He’s a good protector, but you’d never know it unless you’ve seen him in action.”
“Oh, I believe it. I grew up around dogs. I get it,” I answered.
“Sorry I was gone so long. I was doing a perimeter check…” His voice trailed off there, though I wasn’t quite sure why until I noticed that the pack he was carrying looked extremely familiar.
“Is that mine?” I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer.
“Yeah, I think so,” he replied, dropping it next to the bed. When I looked up at him, his grin returned as he added, “At least you have a change of clothes now.”
“Thank you,” I replied, not quite sure what to think. Of course, I was happy to have my belongings back, but I couldn’t understand why he was at the campsite. “This included a pretty big perimeter,” I retorted.
“Yeah, I like to be thorough,” he replied in a cool tone, not even bothering to take the bait, though I was sure he recognized it.
“So, did you find anything else? In your perimeter check?”
“No,” he insisted, though his jaw tightened angrily, and I got the sense he was lying. Yet, from the darkness that swirled in his eyes, I wasn’t about to question him.
At this point, if he had killed the man who attacked me, I couldn’t say I would be particularly upset about it.
If he had, I supposed I wouldn’t have to worry about him coming after me again, but then again, that would also mean I was still trapped in the mountains with a murderer.
So, between the two, I knew when I felt better, I would prefer not to be trapped with a murderer, even if the other psycho was still running free.
“Well, thank you,” I offered, “For bringing my stuff back to me. I really appreciate it.”
He shook his head curtly, “I thought you might want it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save your tent…”
Flashbacks of feeling trapped as I tried to go through it, attempting get away from the guide tore through my brain. I shook my head, to get the image out of my mind, but quickly covered my strange reaction with a comment, “No, I know. It’s fine. The bag is much more important.”
Jonathan stared at me, as though he was about to comment on my strange reaction but decided against it at the last moment. Instead, he didn’t respond. He just went about his business, so I started to go through my things, seeing exactly what was there.
In a way, looking at the clothes and the things that I had packed before my whole world was flipped upside down was odd.
It almost felt as though I wasn’t even looking at my belongings. It felt as though this belonged to someone else, who simply had the same style and size as I did.
For the first time since this whole ordeal happened, I finally realized the enormity of it. I thought about what happened and what could’ve happened, if Johnathan wasn’t there to help me.