Free Heart of the Wild by Rita Hestand

stare her down.  His eyes moved slowly over her tight jeans and she she was swallowed in."It means you don't belong out there."
    "Now look, I was raised in this kind of country. Don't be such a male chauvinist, Amory. And don't judge me so quickly. I was a Girl Scout, remember? You practically trained me yourself. You know as well as I do that I'm as capable as any man. Besides, I've still got a little of that tomboy in me."
    Humoring her for a second, he smiled again, as though her words warmed him. "Look, I'm proud you were a Girl Scout, and I'm even glad you still remember the tomboy, because the way things look around here, you just might need that experience. But you're not coming with me, and that's all there is to that, honey."
    The way he called her honey, so naturally, as though it were commonplace, as though it just tumbled out of his mouth before he realized it, both confused and pleased her. At least he no longer considered her a brat. Still, he hadn't that right any longer. She needed to establish that fact. And she wasn't about to let him leave her.
    "Of course I am," she blurted out, as the jeans slipped another inch off her hips and she hiked them up with a quick jerk on the belt.
    "Oh, no, you're not!"
    "You can't just leave me here alone."
    "Can't I?" He bent his head a little closer. "You just said you were a Girl Scout, didn't you?" His finger dotted her nose, and an electric current a half-mile wide raced up her spine. When would she learn not to react to this man?
    "Besides, it looks as though you're going to have enough problems just keeping your clothes on."
    "That's all right, I'll manage," she protested, pulling the shirt up and tying it under her breast.
    "I've got a neighbor with a kid about your size, I'll check with him when I get back."
    Him! Yes, she was built more like a gangly young boy than a woman. Just once, she wished she could fill out clothes like a curvaceous woman, just to show him a thing or two. He probably still saw her as a tomboy.
    "Great!" she said, not able to harness all her anger.
    "Look, I'd take you with me, but I'm not sure what I might run into. You're safer here than out there. I don't want to have to worry about you, too."
    Worry? About her? Since when did he ever worry about her?
    About to refute his statement, she noticed that he had turned and left without another word.
    Suddenly determined, she grabbed his gun from the corner of the kitchen where he had left it, the parka he had mentioned, and stalked out the door. She didn't intend sitting in a cabin all day, waiting on her father. If she had to be stuck here, she at least wanted to enjoy it.
    Although he was out of sight, she tracked him. He left big clear prints too, and Kasie had no trouble picking them up. The fresh snow made it easy.
    Kasie felt exhilarated, chasing Amory like a child playing hide and seek games. She'd show him a thing or two about women. Where did he ever get the idea that women were helpless little creatures?
    It had been much too long since she had had fun; since she'd lived with her father, actually. A computer programmer didn't get an excursion like this very often, she reasoned. For the past three years she had felt like a "Walter Mitty", dreaming of outdoor adventures that she wanted so badly to experience again. She wanted adventures she could some day tell her children about. If she had any children. If she ever married. If, if, if.
    Little did she know what Amory was up to. He had baited a trap, and was waiting for her to walk into it.
    Without warning, Kasie was flung high into the air, dangling from a low branch of hemlock. She screeched at the top of her lungs.
    "Amory, you get me down from here, this instant!"
    Coming from behind a clump of heavy brush, he roared with laughter. "Some scout you are! You walked right into it. Now, are you going to be a good little girl, and go back to the cabin where you belong?"
    "I will not. Are you going to cut me down?"
    "Nope," he drawled, his