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Now that he could see, Jake discovered Abby had entangled herself in her bedding, for she had struggled in her half awake consciousness to pull herself free from the mouth of the sleeping bag. The scene was comical, and it was all Jake could muster to refrain from laughing.

"I panicked a little," she confessed, in an embarrassed voice.

Jake cleared his throat and looked the situation over.

"Turn over a few times," he instructed, as Abby slowly unwound the bag from around her body. "Okay, you can stop now," he directed. "How on earth did you manage this? It's stuck fast!" he exclaimed in near-admiration, as he tugged at the zipper.

"It took some doing," Abby replied dryly.

Just then, they both heard a strange soft patter on the roof of the tent. Soon, it was followed by another and then another. Suddenly, a torrent of patters descended on the bay, and gusted into the tent through the open flap.

Abby cried in dismay as Jake quickly scrambled to fasten it shut. With a sigh, he sat down on the cold floor and blinked at her.

"What about my zipper?" she asked.

"I can't get it free without pliers," he replied.

"I don't suppose you have a pair somewhere in those pockets of yours, do you?" she smiled.

"Sorry, I'm fresh out," replied Jake, rubbing his arms to keep warm, for Abby had both the sleeping bags. "I was going to carry you home, but I can't in all this rain. We'd both be soaking wet by the time we got there."

"So," deduced Abby, "you plan on staying here until morning?"

"You're not going to send me out in that rain, are you?" asked Jake.

"Your tent is only a few feet away," she reminded him.

"But," he reasoned, "these are the only clothes I brought, and if I get them wet, I could catch pneumonia and die! You wouldn't want that on your conscience, would you?"

"I think you're being a tad overdramatic," Abby replied, as the sound of rain pounded the tent even harder. "Okay, you can stay," she sighed, seeing that everything was working against her. "I still have the right to throw you out anytime I want, though."

"You don't need to be so concerned," said Jake, seeing the apprehension on her face. "We sleep under the same roof all the time."

"That may be," she countered, "but not in the same room. Here, you're going to want your sleeping bag back," she said, tossing it over to her cold friend.

"But, you need this," resisted Jake.

"I wouldn't want you to catch pneumonia from the cold and die," she replied, dryly.

Jake grinned and climbed into his bedding.

"Now that there's two of us, the tent will warm up a little," he said hopefully.

"If you say so," yawned Abby, lying down and finding a comfortable position. Before long, her eyes were shut.

Jake lay down and gazed at her from his vantage across the small tent. Then he turned off the lantern and listened to the rain as it beat on the roof of their sturdy tent.

"Abby," he whispered, "are you awake?"

"I will be, if you keep talking," she replied, sleepily.

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