“But I’ve already got a knife,” Alex said. It was early morning, two days later. The sky was still very dark, almost cobalt blue to the north where the snow must be falling. They were in the front room, their gear and provisions already packed onto the Ford’s flatbed. Alex looked down at the top of Tom’s head as he fiddled with her boot. “I’ll never remember it.”
“The beauty of a boot knife is that no one thinks to look for it unless you blouse your pants or tuck the cuffs into your boots, which you don’t.” Tom gave the right leg of her hiking pants a stiff tug. “How’s it feel?”
“Like I’ve got something clipped onto my boot. Tom, I’ve got the Mossberg, and there’s the Beretta from the safe. You’ve got your Winchester and a Sig, and there’s the Browning, and we’ve got the bow.”
“Which you did very well with, by the way.”
“Like Uryū,” said Ellie, appearing at the door. Her arms were full of green wool: blankets for the dog.
“What?” asked Tom.
“Who,” said Alex. “It’s a Quincy. Anime?”
“And manga,” Ellie added.
“Oh. Well, I know Hellsing,” said Tom.
“You would,” said Ellie. “They all use guns. Except for Alucard. He likes guns and rips people’s heads off.”
“What can I say? My kind of guy.”
“Great.” Alex rolled her eyes. “Tom, I don’t know how to fight with a knife.”
“And with any luck, you won’t have to. In fact, you’ll probably just end up getting yourself killed, so I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“So what good is it?”
“Ask the bad guy you stab when he least expects it.”
“You just said I’ll get myself killed.”
“Not if the first stab’s so good you don’t have to do it again.” He pushed to his feet. “Come on, relax. I was joking.”
“She’s not laughing,” said Ellie.
“This is for just in case,” said Tom.
“You say that a lot,” Alex said.
“Because I mean it.” He ran a critical eye over her body and then shook his head. “There’s still something missing,” he said, patting around his pockets. “Just give me a sec … ah …” He pulled out a holstered handgun. “I knew I had this on me for a reason.”
She knew what it was before her shaking fingers pulled the Glock free. The magazine was missing, but there was no mistake. “My dad’s … Tom, where … how …?”
“Hey, cool, you fixed it!” said Ellie. “Tom made me promise not to say anything. We went back for it the morning after … you know. Tom said you wouldn’t wake up and Mina would protect you, so I showed him where I dropped it.”
“You went into the water?” Alex asked, incredulous.
“Not me,” said Ellie. “It was way deep and really cold. Tom got it, though. It only took him four tries.”
“I didn’t want to say anything until I had a chance to take it apart, clean it, get it back in working order. Ellie told me it was your dad’s. I figured you would want to have it, and it’s a perfectly fine weapon. Here.” He held up the Glock’s magazine. “The extra’s still in your fanny pack, and I tossed a couple bricks into our gear, too.”
“Thank you.” She carefully butted the magazine into place. “I mean that, Tom.”
“I know.” He held her gaze for a long moment, then said, “Best jack a round into the chamber before you safety that thing.”
“Just in case,” she said.
“So do I get a knife?” Ellie asked.
Tom and Alex looked at each other, and then Alex said, “You started this.”
“Okay, okay,” Tom said. “You can have a knife, Ellie, only yours is going to be a regular old knife-knife.”
“What?” Ellie cried. “That’s not fair. How come she gets a boot knife and I don’t?”
“And I want it on your belt, in the sheath, thumb guard on, at all times.”
“I can’t even use it?” Ellie looked unhappy. “Then what good is it?”
“If you need to skin a rabbit or whittle a fishhook, I’ll show you. It’s like when I showed you how to work the gun. It’s just in case.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ellie grumbled. “If it’s for just in case, how come you guys look like you’re going to war?”
No one had a good answer for that.
They piled into the truck, with Ellie between Alex and Tom. Tom slotted the ignition key and paused. “Not too late to change our minds.”
“No, let’s go.” Ellie twisted around to peer out the cab’s rear window. “You sure Mina will be okay? Even with the crate, it’s awfully cold.”
“With all those blankets and a fur coat to boot? She’ll be fine.”
“Okay. Should we maybe lock the front door?”
“Let’s leave it,” Alex said, her eyes rising to brush over Tom’s. “Someone else might find their way up here and need a place to stay.”
“Or maybe the rangers will come back,” Ellie said.
“Maybe.”
“Let’s do this,” Tom said, and cranked the ignition. The truck’s engine caught with a throaty bellow, and then he dropped the truck into first. “Say good-bye, house.”
“Good-bye, house,” Ellie said. She waited a beat, then added, “Soooo … are we there yet?”
Alex and Tom both looked at Ellie and then at each other, and burst into laughter.
That was the last good time.