Shredder 40
The tension between the two women crossed the barrier between physical and spiritual. Words boiled between them and an eruption was imminent.
Gerard’s contented whistling brought both women up short. They turned and watched the ranger performing his routine camp ritual, adding fuel to the fire and shaving a few root vegetables he had procured along the way into a small pot. His smile as he went about his work was laced with a simple purity that diffused the arrogant spike of conflict hanging between them.
Both women saw it and felt it.
“He’s a pretty sharp cookie,” Merinde said.
“That he is,” Anibel replied, “It’s one of the reasons I’m still here.”
Merinde nodded, then said, “Where is that exactly?”
Anibel measured her thoughts in heartbeats before replying. “That is not an easy question to answer. Shall we say on a different plane of existence?”
“Almost like you’re on a whole different world,” Merinde said, probing.
Anibel chuckled, her own perceptions acute. “Oh, I’m not one of those close minded zealots who believes in the arrogance of a single world.”
“Well,” Merinde said with relief, “That might make this a hell of a lot easier.” She finished her thought and nodded toward Gerard.
The whistling had continued unchanged, but his smile had grown a little more smug than either of the women cared for.