30961 / 35000 — too stupid to cope
Galen opened his eyes to find John stooped over him. “Think you can walk?”
The young man nodded, then managed a wan smile. “…With all due respect, Mr. Cook, how else am I gonna get out of here?”
“Could always carry you,” he replied, without a hint of facetiousness. “Cane goes in the right hand, right?” When he nodded, John dropped to one knee next to him, patting his left shoulder. “Left arm, up here.” Galen reached up and John grasped his wrist, standing up and lifting them both from the ground. The man’s strength surprised him so much that he almost forgot to support himself.
John turned dark eyes on him. “You still okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, adjusting his grip on the back of John’s shirt a little. He wasn’t quite his son’s height, but close enough for Galen’s arm not to reach around completely and still keep both his feet fully on the ground. Even though his left leg was longer. “I just…didn’t expect that to work so well.”
“The barest hint of a smile showed on his face. “Come on, I ain’t that old yet. Jesus.”
“I-I didn’t mean it like that!” he stammered through the foot in his mouth.
“Young lady!” he called, and Astrid raised her head. She’d gone back to looking through the limestone farther away. “If you could please come with me!” John turned to his small hairy burden, lowering his voice. “She got a name?”
“It’s Astrid. She says she’s…a princess,” he added, after hesitating.
John pursed his lips and blew out air in a lazy whistle. “…That’s almost a relief. If she’d been an amnesiac, this woulda been too stupid to cope with.”
