Outnumbered

“It was an accident.” Her voice is quiet and small. She clears her throat before looking up at me. “A car accident. She was crossing against the light and got hit by a delivery truck.”

“Oh.” Again, I don’t have the social graces to know what I’m supposed to say. “That sucks.”

“Yeah.” Seri goes quiet while I finish washing and drying the dishes.

Noticing movement by the door, I look over to see Solo checking out my snow boots. At first, he’s just pawing at the laces, then flipping over to grab them and attack the strings with his back feet. A moment later, he claws his way up the front of the boot, gets to the opening, and falls right in.

He howls with his head shoved into the bottom of the boot and his butt still sticking out the top. His tiny feet claw at the air, but he can’t get himself turned around. With a chuckle, I bend down to grab his hindquarters and get him out of the boot. Solo shakes himself out, howls at me, and then prances away like nothing happened.

“You are quite the knight in shining armor, aren’t you?”

“What? Me?” I look at her, deciding she must be crazy if that’s what she is thinking.

“Always finding someone to rescue.” Seri smiles broadly. “Is that how you met your girlfriend? Did you rescue her, too?”

“Hardly. More like the other way around.”

“Really? How did you meet?”

“Kinda like you and I.” I put the dishes away before moving to sit by the fire. Seri moves next to me, holding her hands out toward the warmth. “We met in Yellowknife. I was out of money, and she offered me a job.”

“Doing what?”

“Cleaning fish. Margot works at the lodge, fishing for pike and trout. She sells them or trades them for other stuff she needs. She taught me how to catch and clean the fish and also how to hunt caribou.”

“Is that where all the meat comes from?” Seri asks. “Caribou?”

“Mostly,” I say with a nod. “Some of it is beaver or bear, but mostly caribou. In season, there are more of them around than anything else.”

“Do you still work with her?”

“No. I only do seasonal work now, showing tourists where to find caribou herds for hunting. I take them fishing sometimes if there isn’t anyone else available. I don’t own a boat though, so I have to borrow one of Margot’s if I do that.”

“You still talk to her, then?”

“Sometimes. Not a lot.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“Beginning of the summer, I guess.” I take in a deep breath. I thought Margot was a safe topic, but now I’m not so sure. “We’re friendly, but that’s about it.”

“Do you have other friends in Whatì?”

“Not really. The people I know there are Margot’s friends.”

“You really do keep yourself isolated, don’t you?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your concern.” The muscles in my thighs clench and my stomach tightens up.

“Sorry,” she mutters. She pauses for about thirty seconds before she finds another question to ask. “Do you eat caribou for every meal?”

“Most of them. One caribou will last me most of the winter if I ration it right, and I have two out in the barn.”

“Well, what else do you have? I thought I’d try cooking something different for dinner.”

“You really don’t have to do all this cooking,” I tell her. “I’m perfectly capable of making meals.”

“I know that.” Seri tilts her head to one side and raises the opposite shoulder. “I just don’t want to be a burden. You didn’t expect to have two people to take care of, so I want to do my part, at the very least. Earn my keep, you know?”