Evelyn Ford opened the courtyard gate, and Ronan Kendrick galloped up to her on his horse. Blackie tossed his head and snorted, nearly flinging saliva and snot onto Evelyn’s face.

"So much for being on time. It’s 5:40."

Ronan Kendrick swung his leg over and dismounted. "Mr. Vance and Mr. Lowell took a fall. We were delayed for a bit."

"Are they okay?"

"They’re fine."

It was only then that Evelyn noticed two brown, long-snouted wild boars slung across Blackie’s back.

The boars’ tusks jutted out, their heads covered in fresh blood.

"We got lucky today. We took out a whole sounder of wild boars—more than twenty of them. Then we ran into a few Musk Oxen. That’s a year’s worth of food right there."

Evelyn gave him a thumbs-up. "Impressive. Come on, let’s get you inside for a bowl of ginger soup."

Just then, Wyatt Vaughn and Wendy reached the gate. The rest of the party was still over two hundred meters away. Worried about Quincy and Miles Vaughn, Wyatt quickly asked Ronan if they were okay.

"Those two are fine."

Wendy was anxious. "What about my dad?"

"Mr. Graham is fine, too. He’s very skilled. He shot and killed a Musk Ox."

Wendy’s eyes went wide. "My dad is amazing!"

Back in the kitchen, Evelyn quickly handed Ronan a bowl of ginger soup. Though he disliked the stuff, he frowned and downed it in one go.

He unloaded the boars and left them on the veranda, then led Blackie back to the stables. Evelyn brought over a bucket of water. Blackie was parched. The water was still a bit hot, but the horse eagerly drank it all.

"Where’s Little Jujube?"

"I think the horse Quincy was riding today was Little Jujube." Ronan gave Blackie another bundle of branches, then pulled Evelyn out of the stables. By then, the others had returned as well.

All the spoils of the hunt were placed on the courtyard veranda. The horses and the Mammoth were led back to the stables and immediately given water and feed.

"With this much game, can we even finish it all?" Wyatt Vaughn was stunned by the day’s haul.

The veranda was already full. The Musk Oxen had to be placed on the snowdrifts in the courtyard.

"Of course we can finish it. When it’s this cold, people’s appetites get bigger." Miles Vaughn was ecstatic today because he had taken down one Musk Ox and three wild boars.

"Everyone, go inside and change your clothes. Warm yourselves by the fire. Dinner will be ready soon."

Evelyn went into the kitchen and quickly added more firewood to the fire pit. She took out a large piece of ox tongue and scalp meat, sliced it thinly, and served it with a chili-infused water for dipping.

Wyatt Vaughn helped her out. By the time everyone had changed and came over, the food was already on the table.

Evelyn also fetched three "Big Green Bottles." Everyone had worked hard today; they deserved a drink.

"My god, those Musk Oxen today were brutal. One of them almost gored me with its horns. It was terrifying."

Quincy sat down and immediately started complaining. "I also fell a few times and almost got trampled to death by a boar."

Peter Owens also looked shaken. "A boar almost bit me today. Its tusks are so sharp, they tore right through my clothes."

"Everyone except Ronan got hurt today, but the haul was huge, so it was totally worth it. Ronan was the one who found the sounder of boars and the Musk Oxen. Ronan, I toast to you. Without you, we’d all be starving."

Miles Vaughn stood up, glass in hand. Ronan Kendrick watched him without moving, then picked up his own glass, clinked it against Miles’s, and drained it.

Miles Vaughn roared with laughter. "A man of action!"

"Still, this is the first time I’ve ever seen these long-snouted boars. They come in several colors, and their tusks are so long. They’re especially ferocious," Quincy said.

Wyatt Vaughn glanced at Quincy. "Maybe they’re a mutated species."

Evelyn’s brow twitched. ’That’s not impossible.’

After the meal, Evelyn and Wyatt Vaughn began to melt snow for water while the others processed the game. The meat had to be dealt with while it was still warm before being stored in the cellar.

This haul was a good one. They wouldn’t need to go into the mountains again for a while.

The wild boar meat had a strong, gamy taste, and the hides had a foul smell. There wasn’t much fat on them, either. From more than twenty boars, they only managed to render eight buckets of lard. They collected five buckets of blood, which they processed and put in a pot. It would have to be eaten quickly, as blood doesn’t keep for long.

They worked until four in the morning the next day to finish processing all the game, and by the end, everyone was shivering from the cold.

The cellar was now full. A patch of snow outside the small courtyard was stained red, but the blizzard, falling relentlessly, quickly covered the traces of blood.

The small compound only had two rooms. The others could squeeze together in one, but on Evelyn’s side, with men, women, and a child, it was ultimately inconvenient.

The next day, Quincy brought this up with the others, and they decided to partition the room with wooden planks. Fortunately, the heated brick bed was very long, so even when divided into three small sections, everyone could still lie on it.

Evelyn and Ronan Kendrick took the innermost room. Wendy was timid, so she took the middle one, while Wyatt Vaughn and Quincy stayed in the outermost section.

Although it was more convenient, the room’s space became much more cramped.

For the next few days, since there was no need to go into the mountains to hunt or chop wood, everyone started sleeping in. However, the chores around the courtyard still needed to be assigned.

Cooking, splitting firewood, feeding and watering the animals, shoveling snow in the courtyard, clearing snow from the roof...

The courtyard was small, but there was still a lot to do. They began taking turns on duty, which was fairer and left no room for complaints.

Evelyn’s period finally ended. Last night, she had taken a shower in the RV and finally felt comfortable again.

Today it was her and Ronan’s turn to clear the snow off the roof. Ronan had already finished the job before Evelyn even woke up. When she did, she found him staring at her without blinking.

Since they had partitioned the room, Ronan would occasionally take off his colored contacts. The small room was very dim, and only his heterochromatic eyes shone, bright and dangerous. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"It’s still sleeting today. You can sleep in a little longer. It’s cold outside."

"Why didn’t you wake me up to clear the snow?"

"You were having a sweet dream, probably about food. You were drooling, so I didn’t wake you."

Evelyn was speechless.

She quickly felt her pillow. It was clean, and there was no drool around her mouth. Only then did she realize Ronan was deliberately teasing her.

"I was clearly dreaming I was flying. How could I have been drooling?"

Ronan’s lips curved slightly. "Your dreams are peculiar."

"I’ve also dreamed of being chased by snakes."

Ronan lowered his head and chuckled softly.

"Oh, right. I’ve dreamed about you, too."

He immediately looked up at Evelyn. "You dreamed about me? When? What did I do in your dream?"

"You were chasing me, demanding food. You ate basin after basin until all my food was gone. Finally, you said you were still hungry and were going to eat me too, so I got scared and ran away."

The smile on Ronan’s face froze. "It seems I really have been eating too much."

"No, no, it was just a dream. Don’t you think it’s funny?"

Ronan stared at Evelyn. "So, did I catch you in the end?"

"You run so fast, of course you caught me. You even said you were going to lock me in a dark room and make me cook for you every day. Every meal had to have six dishes, and if one was missing, you’d eat me instead."

Ronan raised an eyebrow. "Don’t be afraid. I wouldn’t make you cook."

Ronan silently added in his head, ’At most, I’d just lock you up.’