"Then answer properly."
He looked at her for a moment.
Then nodded.
"There's a stove near the front wall. I'll sleep beside it. The bed is yours. The door locks from the inside. You can keep the key."
Clara hesitated.
That answer was not what she expected.
Elias turned toward the damaged door.
"Now, if we're finished discussing whether I'm going to behave like a decent human being, we ought to move before the weather gets worse."
He reached for his coat.
Then stopped.
"How bad are your feet?"
Clara stiffened.
"My feet?"
"Your boots are too big."
"They're perfectly adequate."
"You're standing like you've got nails in your heels."
She looked down.
The boots she purchased in Blackwood had rubbed her feet raw during the climb.
Every step felt like walking across broken glass.
But she would rather have swallowed a hot coal than admitted weakness to another strange man.
"I can manage."
Elias studied her.
Then held out his hand.
"Sit."
Clara's eyes flashed.
"Don't order me about."
He lowered his hand.
"Would you please sit down so I can see whether those boots have frozen to your stockings?"
She hesitated.
The request was reasonable.
That made it harder to refuse.
She sat on a wooden bench.
Elias knelt in front of her.
The sight was so unexpected that Clara stared.
A man of his size seemed almost absurd kneeling at her feet.
He removed one glove.
Then paused.
"May I?"
Clara looked at his hand.
His fingers were large, rough, and marked with old cuts.
She nodded.
"Yes."
He carefully loosened the boot.
Clara winced.
Elias looked up.
"That hurt?"
"A little."
He gave her a skeptical look.
"Try again."
She exhaled.
"A great deal."
"Thought so."
He worked slowly, easing the leather away from her swollen heel.
When he finally removed the boot, Clara gasped.
The back of her stocking was stained dark red.
Elias's expression changed.
Not dramatically.
But his jaw tightened.
"How far did you walk?"
"Four miles."
"On these?"
She nodded.
He looked at the ruined boot.
Then at her.
"Why didn't you turn back?"
Clara swallowed.
"Because there was nowhere to turn back to."
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he gently lowered her foot onto a folded blanket.
"All right."
His voice had softened.
"We'll get you warm first."
He fetched clean cloth, a small tin of salve, and a pair of thick wool stockings from his pack.