I smiled back and nodded. “Of course! But only if you help me build a garden.”
“Are you sure that’s what you wanna do? It’s even easier for animals to get to the garden than to us.”
That’s true, but I shrugged. “At least I’ll have something to do when I get bored.”
He nodded at me and continued to eat his fish while I did the same.
“How many foxes have you killed while I was away?” I asked. It was a trick question, but I needed to know if they kept their secret.
I hadn’t found any foxtails laying around the camp, but that didn’t mean they didn’t kill any.
“None. Haven’t seen any around either, to be honest. It’s been a while,” Papa said with a frown.
“Have you seen any?” I asked Fennec, but he shook his head.
“None.”
“Strange. Do you think they moved away? Two years ago, there was a family around here, wasn’t there?”
“There was. And normally they don’t move away out of the blue. Unless they had a change of mind. Never know with wild animals,” Papa said with a shrug.
“I hope they’re okay. I’m sure I’ll see them again. I always do when I’m here. Even if it’s just one of them.”
I was optimistic.
They were my spirit animal, although I was nowhere near as smart as they were.
Well, maybe not in school, but out here, I definitely knew more than any other student at Fairbanks High.
9
There was tension in the air, and I could even feel it from up here with Fennec next to me and Papa in the tent.
Something must’ve happened because it couldn’t have been Fennec’s hormones making him act like this.
I understood that you oftentimes got annoyed by the person you’re around a lot, but Papa and Fen had always gotten along, no matter how long they’ve been alone.
I stared up at the wooden ceiling where branches of trees outside created relaxing sounds, making it incredibly easy to fall asleep, but Fennec’s silence bothered me.
Turning my head, I looked at his face as he stared up, his eyes open and his lips slightly parted.
He was breathing through his nose though, and his chest rose and fell slowly, not showing any signs of unsettlement.
As calm as Fennec was, it made me wonder if he felt any type of regret for talking to Papa the way he did at dinner.
“What are you thinking about?” I whispered.
“The foxes. Strange how they disappeared. I never really thought about them until you mentioned them.”
He turned his head to look at me with a gentle smile. “Maybe they’re a symbol for your presence.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that ever since you’re gone, ever since the foxes are gone…things haven’t been the same out here.”
I studied his face closely, letting my eyes wander over every inch of it. “But I’m here now.”
“Yeah, but the foxes aren’t.”
His words made me think.
“Just because they’re still gone, but I’m back, doesn’t mean things can’t go back to normal, does it?” I asked, my voice filled with hope.
“No, Vespyr. That’s exactly what it means.”
I frowned at him and watched as he pushed himself up on his left elbow, looking down at me with his hair falling over his eyes.
“Until they’re back, things will not go back to normal. No matter if you’re here. You can’t fix everything.”
“I don’t wanna fix everything. I don’t like the way you two treat each other though,” I said, trying to keep my voice low.
“We’re men, Ves. Hell, I don’t even remember how all this started but I don’t want you to get in the middle of it. Stay out of it, all right? I can deal with it myself and so can he.”
I kept my eyes on him while he spoke, but as much as I tried to understand what he was trying to say, I didn’t.
“Aren’t you being a bit superstitious about this? I mean…they’re foxes. They roam the wild because it’s their playground. But that doesn’t mean they’re the reason why you can’t act normal around Papa.”
He watched me for a while, but instead of saying words I was able to understand, he muttered something under his breath and pushed his blanket away.
“Believe whatever you want, Vespyr,” he then said.
“Where are you going?” I asked, confused as to why he was now leaving. “It’s late, Fen.”
“I’ll be back. Don’t worry about me.”
He climbed down the ladder without saying another word, and when I heard his footsteps move further away, I jumped up to follow him.
Papa was asleep, and waking him would only cause more problems, so I grabbed the flashlight from the table and turned it on to shine it in the direction Fennec disappeared in.
“Fen!” I hissed, but he wouldn’t stop walking. “Fen, it’s dangerous out here in the middle of the night!”
No response.
“Fennec, please don’t run away from me.”
A thick lump formed in my throat, and while I kept the light on his back, I tried to ignore the darkness surrounding me.
I felt unease creeping up on me, but I would’ve felt the same way staying all by myself up there in the treehouse.
Fennec never left my side, so why would he now?
“I’m sorry I upset you. I didn’t mean to. Please stop walking. We’re gonna get lost,” I cried, feeling my heart beat faster with every step I took.
“Fennec, please stop. I’m sorry and I’ll make it better. I won’t talk about you and Papa anymore. It’s none of my business.”
I turned my head quickly to shine back to where we came from, but camp was nowhere to be seen, and when I turned back around, Fennec was gone too.
I stopped, my heart now being the loudest thing I heard.
My breath caught in my throat and my feet were glued to the ground.
“Fennec?” I asked, my voice low and small. “This isn’t funny. I want to go back to camp.”
How could he have disappeared so quickly? Unless…he was close and just messing with me.
“Please take me back to camp, Fennec. I said I’m sorry.”
I kept the light shining through the thickness of the forest in front of me, scared to turn around.
I’ve heard horror stories of people getting lost in the wild before and getting eaten by animals or killed by hunters who thought they were an animal, and no matter how experienced I was to survive in the wild, this could get dangerous quickly.
“Please come back, Fennec. I promise I won’t say a word to Papa. Let’s go back to bed.”
Too scared to move, I felt my feet getting heavier, almost burying themselves into the ground.
“Fen…”
At this point, I didn’t think he could even hear me.
I had to move.
I had to walk back to camp where I knew I’d be safe.
“I’m going back. I can’t stay here any longer,” I told him.
Taking one step back, I stared straight ahead for a few more seconds before turning and quickly walking back from where I came from, hoping my orientation skills wouldn’t deceive me.