Abruptly she opened her eyes and glanced around the porch. The light from the doorway bathed the center of the porch in a yellow light, but the rocker sat in darkness. A sharp pain brought her out of the chair with a cry of alarm. She slapped the mosquito off her arm and shook her head.
"Wouldn't Denton be proud if he could see you now," she muttered sarcastically as she hurried into the cabin.
The doors and windows securely closed and locked, she settled down on the bedroll to read a book. Slowly the strength ebbed from her body and reading became a chore. Noting the page number, she snapped the book shut and turned off the light. The sleeping bag was warm and cozy, but sleep didn't come easily. She lay awake for what must have been hours. Each time she dozed off, she thought something was crawling on her bedroll. A soft light was beginning to flood the bedroom when she finally fell into an exhausted sleep.
She woke with a gasp and threw back the covers. Bright sunshine beat down through the bedroom window, heating her bedroll until she was drenched with sweat. She rose and opened the window, but a breeze didn't stand a chance with the forest surrounding the cabin. Snatching some clothes, she dashed off to the bathroom.
After a shower and breakfast, she tidied the cabin and wandered around. What was she was going to do with the rest of the day - and weeks? It would be nice to try some of the camp recipes she had picked up before leaving California, but the kitchen was hot enough without adding cooking heat. Retrieving her book from the bedroom, she leafed through it to the page number she had memorized.
After a restless half-hour, she set the book aside. "You didn't come out here to read." She sighed. "Or talk to yourself, either." Through the window the forest invited, but what about snakes? No doubt the area was crawling with them. She sauntered out to the porch for some more unnecessary rest in the rocker. A steady chirping and whistling came from the forest. An occasional sharp high bark soon revealed the source as a little gray squirrel. It scampered to the edge of the limb and looked down at her, its bushy tail jerking up and down as it scolded her. What did she have that a squirrel would eat?
In the distance a hound bayed - something she had only heard in movies. It was simultaneously frightening and annoying. Was it leading a hunter?
Inside the house, she decided on a piece of corn on the cob. It was frozen, but it would soon thaw in this heat.