Chapter 38
Gunnar wasn’t quite ready to get back in the water. He looked at Mattie. “You okay?”
She nodded and picked her way across the rocks to get a little closer. She slipped once but caught herself immediately. “I’m fine. How are you? Are you okay?”
He was getting tired, and being back in his human form meant he could feel the cold. He gave her an easy shrug. “I’m good. I could do this all night.”
“I would prefer you didn’t.”
He smiled. “Same here. Guess I should get back to it. If that wish worked, it should be a lot easier now.”
“You want a few more glow sticks? There’s a handful left.”
“Yeah, okay. More light is only going to help.”
She made her way across the rocks to the duffel bag, grabbed a handful of chem lights, unwrapped them, and brought them back. “Here you go.”
He took the five she’d offered him, hooked them to the carabiner on the lanyard and snapped them all. Might as well. Easier to do it now with thumbs. “Hopefully, I’ll be back up here in no time with the amulet in hand. Or I’ll pop it in the basket and let you pull it up. Either way.”
“I’ll be here. Be safe.” She shook her head. “Sorry, I feel like I keep saying that.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad for the reminder.” He kissed her quickly, then stepped away, shifted into his bear form and dove.
Once again, the push of the falls helped him descend. He swam toward the bottom with long, hard strokes to get down there as quickly as possible.
He started at the end of the basin where he was at, using the additional chem lights like a lantern. His plan was to swim a quick loop around the edges of the basin, looking for any sign of the amulet, then go straight through the center to cover as much remaining ground as he could.
If that didn’t reveal anything, he would start a more methodical, inch-by-inch search.
The cold wasn’t so bad now that he was back in his fur. He crept along the basin floor, sweeping his gaze across small sections.
All the coins that had been there before were gone. He couldn’t believe the imp had really done it. There were still chunks of wood and pieces of logs to move. He had to imagine those had arrived after the amulet, so it was logical to think the amulet could be under one.
He lifted them as carefully as he could, trying not to further stir the silt. Even so, the water clouded up slightly. It wasn’t a hindrance to the search so much as a nuisance. He had enough light now that he should still be able to see the amulet.
As he searched, his mind wandered. He thought about Mattie, mostly. How willing she was to stay here and wait. She could have easily gone home.
He’d made the wish. This was his doing. And yet, here she was, assisting him in whatever way she could.
He appreciated her effort and her help so much. And that surprised him.
He’d never needed that kind of support in his life. At least, that was what he’d always thought. Bears were loners. They didn’t need anyone else.
And yet, here he was, wondering if he’d gotten that wrong this whole time.
Life with Mattie in it was better. There was no maybe about it. Did he need her in the truest sense of the word? No. He could go on being a loner.
Did he want her in his life? Absolutely yes.
A gleam of metal caught his gaze, something round and shiny. He put one paw out to stop himself while using the claws on the other to dig gently in the small rocks. He unearthed the object. An old bottle top.
With a sigh, he kept going. He only made it another foot or two before he needed air again. He scratched a mark in the rock wall to mark his place, then went back up for air. He waved at Mattie.
She waved back and gave him a thumbs-up. “You’ve got this!”
He gulped air and descended once again. He’d lost track of how many times he’d made the trip. Enough that parts of the basin had become familiar.
He found the scratch he’d made and continued on. His mind returned to its previous half-and-half state. Half focused on the search, half focused on Mattie and what having her around would mean to his life.
Were they boyfriend and girlfriend? It felt too early for that. Sure, they’d kissed a few times, but that didn’t qualify them as being in a relationship, did it?
He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t think so.
He’d mentioned going out after this was over. That had to be relationship territory. He frowned into the cold water. Did she even want to be in a relationship with him? Should he ask her?
Sure, it seemed like she liked him. But women weren’t easy to understand. In fact, they were downright confusing at times.
His mother and sister liked the flowers he sent. Maybe he should send Mattie some flowers to say thank you for putting up with him and helping him with this amulet search.
Except she had a whole garden of them right outside her door. But she did like flowers. She had vases of them in her house.
Would storebought flowers be underwhelming? He pondered that as he lifted another log. Nothing under it. The flowers would have to be something special. Something she didn’t have growing in her garden.
Like orchids? Orchids were special. So were roses but maybe not if you grew them. And he was pretty sure he’d seen roses bushes out there.
Again, he surfaced, and again, he dove. Inch by inch, foot by foot, he swam the perimeter of the basin and found nothing but debris. The bottle cap, a flattened soda can, a couple of shards of glass that sparkled too much to be metal.
When he’d made it all the way around, he hauled himself out and lay on the rocks to take a quick rest.
He heard Mattie’s footsteps before he saw her.
A few moments later, she was staring down at him, Blueberry on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
He nodded, the faint scent of lavender reaching his nose. The moonlight created a halo around her. If he’d been human, he would have smiled at how beautiful she looked.
“Are you resting?”
He nodded again.
Blueberry hovered over his face. “Were the coins gone? All the non-magical ones?”
Again, Gunnar moved his head to indicate they had been.
“See?” Chest out, Blueberry flew higher to look at Mattie. “I did it. I removed all the coins.”
“Yes, you did,” she said. “That was a very good job. Now let’s give Gunnar a few moments of peace.” She glanced at him. “We’ll be on the rock if you need us.”
He wished he could have told her that he did need her. That he wanted her in his life. But shifting into his human form would expose him to the cold again, and if he was going to keep at this, he needed to preserve his body temperature as much as possible.
Soon, he and Mattie would be able to talk. He’d tell her then.
He allowed himself another minute, then got back on his feet and returned to the water.