It was late in the evening before Remy came back with the fish. Em had already began to believe she had been tricked and abandoned in this shack when Remy finally came back. Em had entered a very intense staring contest with the moose head and the sound of the door opening made her jump a bit. She had already gotten used to the cuckoo clock on the wall, after it had scared her at least three times. The door opening was a sound she thought she wouldn't hear at all anymore.

“I'm so late, sorry,” Remy said. He had five fish in his hands, all gutted and ready to be cooked. His trousers were wet up to his knees, his shirt was wet as well, and he seemed to have few fish scales stuck on his cheek. “The fish were harder to catch than I thought,” he continued heading towards the kitchen. “They had moved pretty far downstream, so I had to walk for a good while. Did you clean the room? It looks much better. Thanks.” Remy kept on talking while throwing the fish in the sink. There was already some wood on the stove, so he just lit a fire and smacked a frying pan on the stove. Em sat quietly watching, the moose had won the contest.

“I thought it'd be nicer to sleep on the floor if it was clean,” Em said looking at Remy's cooking preparations. “Where did you get cooking oil?”

“From the city. It's a pretty long walk but I go there from time to time, to get some stuff.”

“So, do you like work or something too?” Em asked.

“Umm, yeah... Kind of. Occasionally, if someone happens to need a helping hand,” Remy said laughing nervously and focusing quickly on the fish that he threw on the pan and they started instantly sizzling. A delicious smell spread on the room. Em's stomach growled immediately. She had only eaten few dry biscuits and few berries that she had found outside when she had walked around the cottage several hours earlier, trying to see if Remy was coming back.

The fact that the city was somewhat near, a walkable distance away, interested Em a lot. It was pretty relieving too because she believed that if she saw the river, she could figure out where they were.

“How far away the river is?” Em asked hoping her stomach would stay quiet. It growled so loudly she was sure Remy would hear it, how embarrassing that would be.

“It's not too far away, maybe a kilometre or so,” Remy answered, “I can show it to you tomorrow. It's really nice place. The river is deep enough for swimming and the current isn't too strong here either so it's safe.”

“Oh, that's great.” Em had already wondered how she would wash herself here in the forest but she could swim in the river and solve that problem pretty easily. No fear of lice or gross greasy hair.

“How about the city?” she asked then. Remy was quiet for a good while.

“It's pretty far away, several hours on foot, and it's easy to get lost in the way,” he said then.

“Can't you just follow the river?”

“The river branches,” Remy said quickly.

“Okay...”

After that it was silent for a while before Remy took two plates from a cupboard and put the fish on them.

Em looked hungrily at the plate of fish. It looked so good. Her stomach growled again.

“It's not much but hopefully it at least helps a little bit,” Remy muttered while picking the bones from a piece of fish.

“This is good, thanks.” Em said. “What do you usually eat here? Fish every day?”

“Well yeah, usually. And then some stuff that I find. Berries, mushrooms, plants, roots, whatever there is. But I try to get stuff from the city whenever I go there, like rice and pasta and flour. I've run out now though since I can't carry too much with me. I guess I gotta go get more soon. I can't have you living on just roots and grass, right?” he said and smiled a bit.

“Well, with the two of us we can carry twice as much.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

Dinner was finished in silence. The clock tick-tocked on the wall sounding almost unnaturally loud. Then Em stood up and washed the plates in a bucket full of river water. After the plates where back in the cupboard she sat back on the bench.

It was already getting darker outside and the room was getting dim too.

“So... I was thinking that you could sleep on the bed tonight,” Remy said. “You probably ache from last night. It's nicer to sleep on something soft after that.”

“Thanks. I'm not feeling too bad, just some muscles hurting a bit. But I appreciate it. Are you gonna sleep on the floor then?”

“Probably, or in the armchair or something. I removed the rat nest from there, so it should be fine.”

“Rat...nest? Should be?” Em repeated, losing some colour from her face.

“Yeah, there was one, but I took care of it when I came here. No more rats, you can sleep peacefully,” Remy said smiling a bit.

“Thank goodness. I hate rats.” Rats were so gross when they scurried around, and their scaly tails and small eyes that had that scarily smart look in them. Em may or may not have seen one too many horror movies about rats.

“I kind of hope there were more. Some change for the fish diet,” Remy said, grinning.

“Ew, you're disgusting!” Em exclaimed, shivering from the thought of eating rat. “I'm not gonna eat any meat you offer me unless I see you cooking it,” she said then. Remy laughed.

“Don't worry, I'm not gonna make you eat rat,” he said, “but maybe a squirrel if I catch one.”

“Nooo! Squirrels are cute. You can't eat them.”

“Well I definitely can...”

“You know what I mean!”

“Wow, you're hard to please. How about rabbits? Could you eat a rabbit?”

“Yeah, I guess. And it has more meat too. Would make much more sense to eat that than a poor little squirrel, don't you think?”

“Oh, so you can eat a cute little bunny but not a cute little squirrel?” Remy teased.

“Oh, shut up. How would you catch a rabbit anyway?”

“With luck. And traps. I know how to make them but I'm a bit low on materials, surprise surprise. If only I had some wire...”

They continued to talk about food and hunting it for a good while. Em promised to help with finding some more plants to eat. She didn't really know much about edible plants, but she'd do her best. She just hoped that she wouldn't cause any poisonings. Remy better had some knowledge in these things, so they wouldn't die right away because of her.

Soon it was too dark to even see properly so they decided to go to bed. Remy pulled some dusty blankets from the wardrobe.

“Are you sure you gonna fit in that armchair?” Em asked.

“Are you saying I'm fat?” Remy replied, smirking.

“Yes, that's exactly what I meant,” Em replied, smiling and rolling her eyes. Remy was the opposite of fat. He was basically a twig, long and skinny. He had some muscles too, Em had noticed that while they were walking to the shack, but he didn’t look particularly strong or muscular. Em's worry was the he'd have to sleep in a very awkward position, unless he didn't mind arm, leg or head hanging outside the armchair.

“I knew it. We've known for a day and you're already saying bad things about me. My feelings are hurt,” he said very dramatically.

“Psshh, you're such a drama queen,” Em smiled and threw a pillow towards Remy. Unfortunately, it missed.

“Hah, this is my pillow now.”

“No, give it back. It's mine!”

“Sorry, finders keepers.”

“You're so mean.”

“You threw a pillow at me.”

“Yes, and I regret that deeply.”

“Well, if you regret it, maybe I can give you this pillow back.”

“Oh yes, I regret it so much. I can barely forgive myself.”

“Okay, I forgive you. This one time,” Remy said and threw the pillow back at Em. Somehow it hit her perfectly in the face.

“Ouch.”

“You're welcome.”

Em went to bed and Remy curled in the armchair.

“I'm gonna walk like an old man tomorrow,” he mumbled trying to find the most comfortable position. Judging from the all the creaking and quiet mumbling it wasn't very easy.

Finally, he settled down and said: “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Em stared at the ceiling. The cuckoo clock ticked very loudly. Em didn't feel tired at all. She felt hot and uncomfortable having to sleep in the same clothes (no way she would sleep naked). The pillow was so flat it basically made no difference in whether she had it or not. The mattress was hard too, and she felt some of the springs pressing against her back.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she would fall asleep by accident.