As is was, she hadn’t been sitting there long when the door crashed open and a large man walked through. Natalie jumped up, startled, and blurted out “Where were you?” Immediately she blushed, embarrassed that that was the first thing she’d said to the person who had most likely saved her life.
The man looked almost as startled by her outburst as she had been at his sudden appearance in the doorway. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have left you alone except I honestly didn’t think you’d wake up until this afternoon sometime. I went to get your things.” It was only then Natalie noticed he was wearing humongous snowshoes and had her duffle bag slung over one shoulder, her cooler in the other hand. Depositing them on the ground next to the fireplace he bent to un-strap the snowshoes. Propping them up against the wall he turned back to the open cabin door and let out a piercing whistle. Less than ten seconds later a large black Labrador came streaming through the door. From his shoulders downwards he was covered in bits of snow, which he commenced to vigorously shake off.
Natalie was edging away from him, partly because he was so big, partly because he had doused the quilt with a fair bit of the wet powder. The man saw this and said scoldingly, “Cujo, be a gentleman!”
Natalie took another healthy step backwards. “You named your dog Cujo?”
The man grinned at her. “Well he’s got some white markings on his muzzle that sort of make it look like he’s foaming at the mouth. And besides, he’s big enough to be a “Cujo” anyways. Don’t worry though, he’s harmless. Are you afraid of dogs?”
Natalie looked again at the Lab, who was now happily settled by the fire, tail thumping crazily on the floor. “Not exactly,” she muttered. She looked at the man, who was studying her as if she was some wild thing he had taken in and didn’t know quite what to do with. Finally she managed to ask “Um, would you mind if I took a shower and changed into some clothes?” She gestured to the quilt, “as you can see I’m not exactly decent.”
The man blushed. “I’m really sorry about that… when I got you back here you were pretty wet, and I had to remove your clothes and get you dressed in something dry so you wouldn’t get hypothermia…anyway, of course you can use the shower, help yourself.” He picked up her duffle bag and handed it to her.
Taking it from him she said “Thank you…?”
“Jeff,” he finished for her.
“Thank you, Jeff. And I’m Natalie.” He nodded and she headed to the bathroom as quickly as she could, which considering she was holding the quilt protectively around her while being thrown off balance by the large duffle bag, was admittedly not very fast.
The hot shower had a wonderful recuperative effect, though Natalie had to be careful not to touch the swelling on her forehead, which still hurt badly. When she’d dried off she quickly pulled on her favorite pair of jeans and her college sweatshirt, then steeled herself to look in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy, but the nasty bruise on her forehead took precedence, and after a few minutes she found a way to brush her hair so that it hid a fair bit of the bump. Feeling more presentable and less like a homeless stray, she exited the bathroom and made her way back to the front of the cabin.