It made him jump.
“Jesus. You scared me, Mate.”
Gamble moved closer.
“Can I have my flannel back?” he asked. “I’m beginning to get cold,” he said, his teeth chattering.
Poe was horrified that he’d not thought about giving it to him when they stopped walking.
“Oh, God! Yes,” he said, taking it off, and helping Gamble into it.
It was second nature. He’d helped him get dressed so many times while rehabbing him that he longed for that one simple act.
“Thanks, Poe.”
As soon as he was in the shirt, the chill abated, and he checked out what the man found.
“Why does this look all wrong?” Poe asked. “It’s way too close to the rocks, and it’s moving,” he said, touching the bark to show him.
That was curious.
Getting closer, Gamble fooled around with it, and that’s when he figured it out.
“That’s a manmade, hand-dug hidey-hole,” he said. “Some Native on this land likely hunts here. He dug it out to lay low for one reason or another. I bet it goes down into where the rocks are.”
Poe didn’t look impressed.
Why?
Oh, for one reason, and one reason alone.
“Where the spiders are?”
Gamble actually laughed.
That amused him to no end.
“Yes, where the spiders are,” he said, looking inside. “Are you not a fan of spiders?” he asked.
Poe shuddered.
“Absolutely not. I’d prefer to avoid them at all costs, if possible.”
He didn’t mention that the woods were full of spiders, and that the man’s barn had more than a few too.
“It’s the ones you don’t see that are the ones you need to worry about,” he teased.
Oh.
Hell.
No.
“It’s nothing some petrol and a match can’t handle,” he stated.
He shook his head in amusement.
“Well, let’s keep going,” he offered. “There are definitely spiders in that tree and under it.”
