Chapter 24

Frank looked at him and smiled. “Good. Except…”

The hair was still a mess. Frank picked up the long stick. He swiped the pronged end on his pant leg, and then tried to use it as a really long brush. Liam purred like a giant blond housecat, and Frank’s heart pounded, as if he was doing something far more strenuous. In the end, though, the grooming wasn’t doing much good.

“That’ll do, I guess. Let’s keep going.”

Bare chested, their carry-along items back in hand, they continued on, heading home together for the first time.

They strolled leisurely at first, and quietly. Liam’s eyes darted in every direction whenever some sort of forest creature made a sound. “Just a doe or her fawn,” Frank said, as a twig snapped somewhere close, under the footing of something large. He wondered if Liam was afraid or simply nervous. “It sounds like a person sometimes, but it’s not. I’ve been coming back here all my life and rarely see another human.”

Liam didn’t seem convinced.