Following his gesture, I turn and see the large pile of neatly stacked cut logs. An axe lying carelessly beside them that’s dark and aged and rusty from disuse. Some matches, too.
I make myself useful while too dumbfounded to know what to say, and carry as many as I can lift over to the clearing where the pit is. It's positioned right in the center of the space so that the smoke will travel up and probably linger near the top of the huge cavern above us. A cracklike opening leading into the further rock face. It goes so high that my light can’t reach it.
“Smoke doesn’t make it out…but stays in the cliffs. I stayed here a lot, and they never found it. A fire is safe, I'll do it in a minute if you spread these out to sleep on.” He reassures me, pulling out what seem to be blankets and a pi
