Page 43 of The Wolf and the Monarch

“Right,” Benji sighed before he spoke up again. “Is this Cole an alright guy? He like you?”

Sawyer’s brow arched. “Uh…well, yeah. I…I think so. He’s the only person who gives me the time of day and treats me well.”

He just nodded at that.

“Why?”

“Well, do you think he could help us?”

“Cole?” Sawyer asked, more or less rhetorically, then stared off ahead. Could Cole help them in some way? He knew that Cole did have a car. He was usually who Sawyer tagged along with when given the opportunity. He could ask him if he could just…have his car, but that seemed like quite the big ask. “I mean, probably in some way. I could…see if he’d let me use his car.”

“That could work. Do you think he would?”

Sawyer shrugged. “I don’t know. Have you ever asked someone if you could take their car and probably never see them again?”

Benji snorted. “No.”

“Yeah, me either.”

“But does he know about how things are with you and your uncle?”

Sawyer swallowed and sighed. “Yeah, he does…”

“And if you likes you, he’d want you to get out of here, right?”

“Theorectically…”

“Then it can’t hurt to ask.” Benji shrugged. “And if he says no, then we go back to the drawing board.”

Sawyer nodded. “I guess so. I mean, we could always just…hoof it, I suppose. It’s just the weather that’s the problem.”

Benji shivered at that statement. “I hate the cold.”

“I would too if I were in your shoes.”

Benji huffed. “I’ve always hated it is the funny thing. How far from town are we?”

“On foot? Probably about an hour.”

He groaned then said, “That’s not too bad.”

“No, not really. It would just suck.”

“Then let’s hope Cole is in a giving mood, huh?” Benji looked towards Sawyer for the first time since their conversation began and smiled a bit. “The plan sounds easy enough though.”

“It does.”

“Do you still have my boots and thermal?”

Sawyer nodded. “Boots are over there,” he pointed towards the corner of the room, “The thermal is in a pile on the ground. Probably still soaked.”

Benji sighed. “Probably. At least I’ll have the boots.”

“I can probably get you a coat too if we need to walk.”

“I really hope we won’t,” he sighed.

Sawyer nodded while he turned his gaze towards the stairs. “I’ll…take a look at the schedule today and I’ll talk to Cole.”