Mara Wrench's Arc

Chapter 5 of 8

Mara set the new drone case on the bench and only then felt the cold bite through her coat. Her sleeves were soaked. Her pants clung wet to her knees. The shelter was dry, but she was not. If she stepped back into the wind like this, she would not make it far. She scanned the small room and found an old stone fireplace built into the back wall. Soot blackened its mouth. A weathered mantel sagged above it. Beside it sat a small stack of split wood and a tin of dry tinder. Mara worked fast. She stripped off her wet outer layers and hung them on a peg near the hearth. She laid the tinder, stacked the wood tight, and struck a spark. Flame caught. The fire climbed quick and bright, throwing heat into the small space. She crouched close, palms open to the blaze. Steam lifted from her coat. Feeling crawled back into her fingers. She thought of the warden's rest house far down the ridge, its lit windows, its full pantry. This was no such place. But the heat was real, and it was enough. When her clothes were dry and her hands steady, Mara pulled them on, shouldered the drone case, and pushed the door open. Cold hit her face, but her body held its warmth now. The search was still on. She stepped out into the snow.