I take out the big dry logs one at a time. Pinamen puts my secret right at the bottom of the box. I cover it with wood chips and bark and pile the logs back on top.

I feel better already. I’ll read everything once I’m settled, when I feel safe. In the forest there’s no hurry — no hours, days, months.

Just the rising and setting of the sun, the changing of the seasons and the present moment to be lived to the fullest.

6

WE SLEEP IN the big bed at the back of the cabin, buried under the blankets like foxes in their den.

Finally, we are completely alone. The cabin creaks, but we know the house is solid. Over the years it has stood up under windstorms, cold waves, snow blizzards…

Still, our ears listen for the slightest noise.

“Pinamen?” I murmur her name.

“Yes, Nipishish.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, Nipi. Very, very okay.”

The sound of our voices is reassuring. Pinamen moves closer. I take her in my arms. We know that we are the only ones for miles around, yet we are strangely comfortable. We murmur to each other about what we’re going to do before the lake is covered with ice and the intense cold makes the bark of the frozen trees crack. We forget the blackness. There is nothing but Pinamen and me.

“Tomorrow I’ll put out Tom’s big net. I’ll catch a lot of fish for us and to feed the dogs. Sam says they eat like gluttons.”

“We’ll need lots of wood.”

“Yes…I’m going to clear the path on the trap line. Sam explained it to me. It runs around the lake. He crosses the river and goes deep into the mountain, then comes back to the cabin along the other shore.”

“I’m going to have a trap line, too. I’m going to set snares in the fir grove. I used to do this with my mother when I was little. I’m sure there are lots of hares around here.”

Her last words come out slowly, her words heavy. She is asleep in my arms. I feel a delicious sleep come over me, too, and I sink into it gently.

Suddenly we are jolted awake.

How long have we been sleeping? We listen hard, rigid.

What is it? The dogs are snarling, and then they start to bark angrily. The sound of their barking echoes in the cabin. We can hear them clawing at the porch.

Mush runs to the door, yapping.

What could be going on out there to provoke them this way?

I sit on the edge of the bed. My heart is beating more normally, but I am still worried. The wind has fallen. Through the little window in the door I can see that the sky is clear, deep, brilliant. A soft light floods the room, and a huge moon splits the sky right above the dark line of the mountains. It traces a wide silver ribbon over the middle of the lake. The trees cast tangled shadows on the shore.