Chapter Sixteen
“This should be a good spot to start,” Daniel told Edith as they reached a small clearing. Daniel stopped and turned to face her, his voice low and calm. He swung the bow off his shoulder and handed it to Edith, watching as she hesitated for a moment before taking it.
The morning sun filtered through the trees, casting dappled shadows along the forest floor. The crisp, clean air mingled with the scent of pine and damp earth, making everything feel alive and untamed. Normally, this kind of solitude brought Daniel peace, but today, he was more alert than usual.
He glanced over at Edith as they walked.
Her steps were measured, cautious, but determined.
She’d been quiet since they set out, but he could sense her eagerness to learn.
The lightweight bow slung over her shoulder looked almost too large for her slender frame, but Daniel had thought it would be light enough for her to handle but strong enough to teach her the basics.
“Let me show you how to string the bow and hold it properly,” he told her, taking his own bow from his back. Edith didn’t say a word as she watched him show her. “Now, you try.”
Her fingers wrapped around the bow, and Daniel noticed the slight tremble in her hands. He wasn’t sure if it was from nerves or excitement—maybe both.
He reached for her hand, intending to guide her through the basic motions, but the moment his fingers touched her skin, she flinched ever so slightly.
Her reaction wasn’t extreme, but it was enough to make Daniel pause.
He saw the flicker of fear in her eyes before she quickly looked away, as if embarrassed by her reflex.
“Sorry,” she murmured, her voice barely audible.
“It’s okay,” Daniel said softly, keeping his voice gentle. He didn’t pull his hand away, but he made sure his touch was light, giving her time to adjust. “We’ll go slow. Just take your time.”
He placed her hand on the bowstring, his rough fingers brushing against her smooth skin as he guided her through the motion.
His heart thudded in his chest, a sensation he hadn’t expected.
There was something about the way their hands connected, something that made him acutely aware of her presence beside him.
He hadn’t allowed himself to feel anything like this in a long time, but standing here, so close to her, it was impossible to ignore.
Her skin was soft, delicate in a way that seemed almost foreign to him. His own hands were calloused and worn from years of hard labor, but hers… they were different. Even after all she had been through, all the hardship and fear, there was still a softness to her that made his pulse quicken.
“Now, draw the string back slowly,” he instructed, his voice steady despite the flutter in his chest.
Edith followed his lead, pulling the string back with a focused expression.
Her brow furrowed in concentration, her lips pressed together as she tried to master the technique.
Daniel couldn’t help but admire her determination.
She was more than willing to learn, to push through her fear and uncertainty.
“Good,” he said quietly, stepping behind her to adjust her stance. He placed a hand on her shoulder, gently guiding her posture. Again, she tensed slightly at the touch, but she didn’t flinch this time.
As he stood so close to her, Daniel felt the familiar calm of the woods begin to fade, replaced by a new kind of tension.
His heart raced faster than it should have, and he couldn’t help but notice how his body reacted to her nearness.
He tried to push the feeling aside, focusing on the task at hand.
“You’re doing well,” he murmured, his voice rougher than he intended. He stepped back, giving her space to practice the motion on her own.
Edith released the string, letting the arrow fly into the distance. It didn’t hit its target, falling short by several feet, but Daniel smiled nonetheless. “Not bad for your first shot,” he said, his eyes softening as he looked at her.
She smiled faintly, clearly unsatisfied with her attempt but willing to accept his encouragement. “I’ll get better,” she said, her tone determined.
“You will,” Daniel agreed. “It just takes practice.”
They spent the next hour going over the basics—how to hold the bow, how to aim, how to draw the string with precision.
Each time Daniel stepped closer to adjust her grip or correct her stance, he was aware of the way his pulse quickened, of the warmth that seemed to grow between them.
He tried to ignore it, to remind himself that this wasn’t the time to be thinking about anything other than teaching her how to survive.
But the more time he spent with her, the harder it became to keep his feelings in check.
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, Daniel handed Edith the small knife, demonstrating how to use it for gathering and survival. He showed her how to cut through rope-like plants and how to strip bark from certain trees for kindling.
“This knife isn’t just for hunting,” he explained. “You’ll need it for gathering too. Learning what the land can provide is just as important as catching game.”
Once they had practiced enough with the bow and knife, Daniel moved on to teaching her about setting traps for small game. He pulled a length of wire from his pack and crouched down, gesturing for Edith to join him.
“Traps are essential if you can’t catch anything with a bow,” he explained. “They work even when you’re not here, which can be useful if you need to gather food while doing other things.”
Edith knelt beside him, watching closely as he demonstrated how to set up a simple snare trap. His hands moved skillfully, tying the wire around a small stick and positioning it near a rabbit trail he had spotted earlier.
“You’ll want to place it near where the animals naturally go,” he said. “Like here, where you can see the rabbit tracks.”
He pointed to the faint indentations in the dirt—tiny, almost imperceptible signs of rabbit tracks. Edith leaned in closer, squinting as she examined the ground.
“See that?” he asked, nodding toward the marks. “That’s how you can tell where they’ve been.”
Edith nodded, her brow furrowed in concentration as she watched him finish setting the trap. Then, without hesitation, she asked, “Can I try?”
Daniel sat back, watching her with interest. “Go ahead.”
She took the wire from him and mimicked his movements, her fingers fumbling slightly at first but quickly finding their rhythm. Within minutes, she had set up the trap almost as neatly as Daniel had shown her.
“Not bad,” he said, clearly impressed. “You catch on fast.”
Edith smiled, though it was small and shy. “I just watch closely. It’s not so hard when you show me.”
Next, Daniel moved on to teaching her how to track animals. They followed the faint trail left by a small deer, Daniel pointing out broken twigs and disturbed leaves as they went. He was surprised once again at how quickly Edith picked up the skill, noticing details that many would have missed.
“See how the ground’s disturbed here?” Daniel asked, pointing to a patch of dirt. “The deer passed through not too long ago. You can tell by how fresh the marks are.”
Edith crouched down beside him, studying the ground intently. “It’s like a puzzle,” she murmured. “You just have to know what to look for.”
“That’s right,” Daniel agreed, a sense of pride swelling in his chest. “And with time, it becomes second nature.”
As the afternoon stretched on, Daniel and Edith worked side by side, the quiet rhythm of the woods surrounding them.
While they set more traps and Daniel explained how to identify different animal tracks, the silence between them was comfortable, no longer thick with tension.
Edith seemed more relaxed now, her initial nerves melting away as she became more comfortable in her surroundings—and with him.
Eventually, as they walked deeper into the woods, Edith broke the silence, her voice soft but steady. “You know,” she began, her eyes scanning the treetops above, “being out here… it reminds me of the only times I’ve ever felt free.”
Daniel glanced at her, waiting for her to continue. He had sensed there was more to her story, and now it seemed she was ready to share it.
“When I was living with my father, nature was the only place I could escape to,” she said, “He barely let me leave the house, but when he did, I’d sneak off into the woods.
” Her eyes softened as she spoke, and there was a hint of longing in her voice.
“There was something about being out here, surrounded by trees and the sounds of the birds.”
Daniel kept quiet, listening intently as she spoke. He had never heard her talk about her past so openly before, and it struck him how much she had been through—how much she had kept hidden.
“When I was in the woods,” Edith continued, “I could pretend I wasn’t trapped. I could forget about the cabin, about him, just for a little while. I could breathe.”
Her words resonated deeply with Daniel, stirring memories he had long buried. He understood what she was saying all too well—the way nature could offer a refuge, a place to escape when everything else felt unbearable.
“I know what you mean,” Daniel said after a moment, his voice low.
He bent down to adjust one of the traps they had set, his fingers moving skillfully over the wire.
“I’ve felt the same way. Being out here…
it’s the only thing that’s ever made sense to me.
When things get too heavy, too loud in my head, this is where I go.
The woods, the mountains—they help me clear my mind. ”
Edith looked at him then, her gaze steady. “Is that why you live so far out? To escape?”
Daniel paused, considering her question.
“Part of it,” he admitted. “There’s something about the silence, the way the world falls away out here.
It’s like... like the prison of your own mind can’t hold you when you’re surrounded by this.
” He gestured to the trees around them, the sunlight filtering through the branches in gentle rays. “Out here, I don’t feel so trapped.”
Edith nodded, her expression thoughtful. “I get that,” she said softly. “For so long, I felt like I was locked in a cage, even when I wasn’t in the cabin. But when I was outside, in the woods, I didn’t feel so small. It’s like the world out here is bigger than the problems we carry.”
Daniel felt a pang of understanding as she spoke. He had never put it into words like that, but she was right. The vastness of nature had a way of making his worries feel insignificant, like they were just another part of the landscape, blending into the trees and the sky.
“I think that’s why I love it so much,” Edith continued, her voice taking on a wistful tone. “I may not know how to hunt or gather like you, but just being out here makes me feel alive. It’s the only place I’ve ever felt like I could breathe.”
Daniel’s chest tightened at her words. He could see it now—the connection she had to the land, to the freedom it represented.
And he realized, in that moment, that they weren’t so different after all.
Both of them had been running from something, seeking refuge in the wilderness.
Both of them had found healing in the simplicity of the natural world.
“You’ll learn,” Daniel said quietly, his voice reassuring. “Hunting, tracking, living out here—it’ll come to you. But the important part… the part that makes you want to stay… you already have that. You understand this place in a way that most people never will.”
Edith smiled softly at his words, and their eyes met. Daniel smiled back.
As the day wore on, they continued working together, moving from one part of the woods to another, setting traps, and tracking small game.
As they finished setting the last trap, Daniel stood up, stretching his arms. “You’ve done great today,” he said, looking at her with a small smile.
“Reminds me of the verse, ‘She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.’” He looked down at the ground, then back up at Edith.
“That’s from Proverbs. A reminder that strength isn’t just physical.
It’s in how you approach life, how you keep going, even when it’s hard. ”
Edith paused, her brow furrowed in curiosity. “Where’s that from?”
Daniel chuckled, a light teasing note in his voice. “The Bible, of course. Surely you know that?”
To his surprise, Edith’s face flushed, and she looked down, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve. “Oh,” she said quietly, her voice tinged with embarrassment.
Daniel furrowed his brow, confused by her reaction. He waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn’t, he asked, “How about we get back home?”
She gave him a tentative nod and followed him back through the forest, but Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling.
The way she looked at him, the way he’d felt around her all day—it stirred something inside him.
Something he knew he shouldn’t entertain.
He clenched his jaw, trying to push the thoughts aside, but as they walked in silence, the temptation to pull back, to keep his distance, grew stronger.
He couldn’t—shouldn’t—let himself feel this way.
But the harder he tried to ignore it, the more it gnawed at him.