The
dogs kept me warm, burying me beneath a soft heap of rich, downy fur. They
snuggled close, watching their master as he went about his work. I couldn’t
bear to watch, so instead I stared aimlessly at the snow and the rocks, as the
huntsman piled the carcasses and lit a fire around them. He instructed me to
tell him at once if the fire got too close to the trees.
I
said that I would, but the sight seared my heart, and I didn’t dare look up
more than twice. Fortunately, the snow damped the flames until they sputtered
out altogether, freeing us from the cloying scent of burning flesh and decay.
Again, I cried, and again I murmured a silent thank you that the man I’d found
was unable to see my tears. They fell in a silent stream across my cheeks.
Ashamed as I was, I couldn’t hold them back.
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