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.It annoyed her when he kept bringing raw materials in to the cabin; he created a draft twice.His latest project puzzled her until she realized just what he had been up too.He had used cleaned down feathers and tanned hides to make comforters, pillows and cushions.She was amused by the project but not when she found out he hadn't planned on giving her one.She found out from Carlene later that he had made them for Pat, the kids and people who didn't have heavy bedding first.That surprised her.So did his generosity.She wasn't sure what his game was.Those kept turning over in her head for several days until she irritably forced her bored mind to think of something else.She berated him when he came in muddy and covered in snow.They had a brief warm spell, and instead of the usual snow, they'd had a nasty bit of rain.The rain was going to freeze overnight she realized mucking up a lot of things.He'd been out there with the others doing his best to prepare for the freeze.She hadn't been happy that he'd tracked it all in after she swept with the broom.He was chagrined and apologized immediately, looking down at his boots.He went out to the porch to clean up.Mollified, she'd left it at that.~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~Over the winter she was surly, grudging towards him.She rarely spoke, nor did he.“Like an old married couple,” Carlene teased them when she came over to visit.“You two are a cute couple if you'd get over the stick in your asses,” she said.That earned a sniff of disdain from Loni, and a snort of amusement from John.Loni turned a glower his way, but he ignored it.The constant togetherness and the enforced inactivity was hard on her.She'd handled hard winters in Montana, but this was worse, much worse.He on the other hand was constantly busy.Over time, if only to keep busy she started to pick up on additional small chores leaving him the heavy tasks like bringing in firewood, shoveling snow, feeding the animals, or fetching water.She resented the way he cleaned dishes so did it herself with her usual ire and elbow grease.John was amused but was careful not to show it.He slept on the floor in a sleeping bag near the fire.He never complained, and she didn't ask for him to join her even when it seemed brutal out.She did miss companionship sometimes but cursed her traitorous body into silence.She asked about his dogs one evening when she noticed it was snowing again.She'd lost all track of time; she had no idea how long she'd been in the cabin.“They were bred for this; all are arctic breeds,” he said.She just looked at him.“I've trained and conditioned all of them, even the pups,” he said, not mentioning that he'd lost two pups to the freeze.“Besides, Hanuk and a few of the others are part wolf.” She frowned.“That means they are not house trained and never will be.You can't train a wolf, not an adult one, they are stubborn as.” he indicated her.She scowled.“They would soil everything, marking their territory, then they'd chew and get into anything they could.You'd be screaming bloody murder and ready to shoot them and me after the first day,” he said.She blinked.“Oh.”“I found them after a storm like this,” he said, looking to the window.The shutters were closed, the room lit by a flashlight and the fire.“Buried.They dug themselves out, shook off the snow and were rip raring and ready to go, hungry as could be,” he said.She snorted.“Don't worry about them; they’re fine, even the pups.I've built them shelters, and I'm checking on them twice a day,” John said.She nodded and walked off ending that conversation.He sanded the floor when he got a splinter in his sock and ripped it.He darned a patch by the light of the fire.She hated the fishy smell from the skins he'd used but liked the sheen that came from the natural oil he applied afterward.A month after moving in she couldn't stand the itching and smell anymore.She went and got more snow to melt, he watched amused as she poured it into the small cast iron bathtub he had set up in one corner but not hooked up.It took her hours to fill the tub.Then she kicked him out to take a bath.“It's my cabin,” he muttered as he threw on his coat, bundled up, then pulled out the pail of meat he'd put by the fire to thaw.He went out and fed the dogs, petting them and checking over each.Then he checked on the chickens and other animals.He did a circuit around the base, then went and brought loads of firewood onto the porch.He stamped his feet at the door, shaking off the snow.“You decent?” he called when he cracked the door.“No!” she screeched.“Stay OUT!” she yelled.He sighed and went back for more wood.They couldn't have enough wood, he thought.“This is going to be a looong winter,” he sighed to himself.~~~~~~(@)~~~~~~During the long winter he still hunted and gathered additional wood.The dinosaurs had left but apparently other animals had moved in.He recognized the mammoths and rhinos, but some of the others were just weird
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