Race to Refuge by Liz Craig Read Free Book Online Page A

also very good at pitching a campsite,” he continued. He opened the car door and stepped outside. He seemed to be listening very hard. Then he stuck his head back inside. “I think the coast is clear.”
    He thoughtfully studied the things in the back of my car. Then he took the small backpack he’d brought into the car with him and took out a plastic tarp that had been carefully folded up. Using sticks and the tarp, Joshua carefully constructed a makeshift tent in no time at all.
    I smiled at him, giving muted applause when he was done and he smiled at me. “You know, Joshua, that’s a very useful skill to have. Unlike being a government aide. I have a feeling my skills aren’t going to translate very well to this situation.”
    “Like my skills wouldn’t translate to yours,” he said, spreading his hands out.
    “So, maybe I need to be thinking about more camping-related equipment,” I said. “Tarps appear to be very useful.”
    “They could at least help you on the way to your safe house,” he agreed.
    I studied him again. He always spoke so deliberately. He never included himself when talking about Annie’s house. Was he wondering if my friends would share my hospitality? Maybe it was something I should wonder about, too. Although I think Annie and Jim trusted me.
    Joshua interrupted my thoughts. “It might also be a good idea for you to learn how to hunt. And maybe to grow a garden.”
    I hadn’t quite wrapped my head around the fact that this could potentially be a long-term crisis, despite the fact that I’d put most of my possessions in my car. I was still dressed in work clothes, for heaven’s sake, although I’d traded out my heels for flats in the car. Squaring my black pencil skirt, crisp white blouse, and sensible jewelry with hunting and farming was hard for me to do.
    Plus there was the squeamish side of me that never really liked to acknowledge where my food actually came from. It wasn’t that I was a vegetarian . I wasn’t. Except for sometimes … sometimes I’d hear a news story about food processing or something and it would mess me up for weeks. Then I would be a vegetarian.
    “I’m not sure if I’d make a great hunter. And I’d have to do a lot of research to figure out how to grow crops,” I said. I caught myself. “I’m not sure about how I’d get that research done, either. No internet, right? And I probably can’t exactly pop over to the library.”
    “I’ll show you how to do some easy hunting,” Joshua said. His voice was urgent.
    I gave a sort of startled laugh. “Right now? But we have a car full of food, Joshua. I don’t think I’m hungry enough to even eat whatever it is that we might kill.” The word kill sat uncomfortably in my mouth and I hoped another vegetarian streak wasn’t coming over me. “Besides, I don’t even have any weapons.”
    Earlier today, confiding in a homeless traveling companion that I wasn’t armed against would never have happened. It was funny how quickly he’d had earned my trust.
    But Joshua was oddly insistent. “This type of hunting won’t rely on weapons. It’s a snare used to trap small animals. I think it’s important for you to learn. There won’t always be a car full of food. You should save that food for a more needy time where maybe there isn’t food we can quickly capture.”
    He seemed almost distressed in his concern that I learn this technique, so I quickly said, “All right, Joshua. I’m sure you’re right. Show me how it works.”
    His shoulders relaxed a bit and he delved into his small backpack again. He pulled out some thin wire that looked like picture hanging wire. “You could also use this,” he said, pointing to a pair of headphones next to me.
    I grinned at him. “I guess it’s good they can be put to some use at some point. I have a feeling my iPod isn’t going to stay charged forever.”
    Joshua smiled back as he reached again in his backpack. Next he pulled out what looked like two