Chapter Fourteen – Getting There

They pulled up to a slow stop on the side of a rather quiet-looking road. “Is this it?” Grandpa Boss asked.

He was sitting right in front of Aurora. They’d reshuffled their seating a few times, because of pee breaks and stops by fast food places, and the last time she’d ended up in the seat behind the driver’s. It wasn’t the best spot. She had longer legs than any of her sisters, so the spot was a bit tight and she had to sit at an angle, which meant rubbing up against Teddy.

Teddy who wore sharp little hiking boots. Aurora kept reminding herself that even though she was the youngest of her sisters, she wasn’t the least mature of them, and she managed not to snap at Teddy… yet.

“I think so,” Emily said. She had that paper map up on the dash, almost entirely unfolded. Her finger traced a road. “This is that last bend we took here, I think, which makes that the forest we need to cross.”

“Mhm,” Grandpa Boss said. “I’m just… gonna stay in the area for, let’s say an hour. Just in case? Hmm?”

“No, it’s fine,” Emily assured her dad. “Maple, sweetie? Do you mind staying with my dad for an hour or so?’

“Me?” Maple asked.

“Yup. Once we have a place to lay low, I’ll use Sisterportation and you can join us. Dad, when she, uh, poofs, you’ll know that we’re safe.”

“And if she doesn’t?” he asked.

Emily shrugged. “Then things didn’t go as planned and you should stay here a little longer to give us a ride out?”

He hummed, but nodded his head all the same. “Alright, I guess that’s fair. Anyway, let me help you with your stuff.”

There was an exodus from the car just then. Aurora stretched her back out and felt it pop-pop satisfyingly, then she rushed to the back to help Grandpa Boss with the camping supplies.

According to him they’d packed light, but there were still three backpacks filled with stuff. A pair of tents in small packages, some sleeping bags, lots of clothes, and one backpack was filled with snacks.

Aurora let Emily take that one. It wasn’t the lightest of the bunch, but the Boss was probably the one who had the most reason to keep an eye on the snacks. If they let Teddy or Trinity take care of that one, they’d starve come evening.

With a bag over her shoulder and fresh air filling her lungs, Aurora took a moment to scan the area.

They were on a quiet country-side road. It was a big change from the more urban-y places around Eauclaire that she was still just getting used to. She liked this better. The road was a little winding, with lots of potholes and deep ditches on the sides filled with tall weeds. She could hear a bit of a gurgle from some water nearby too, and lots of birdsong and bugs chirping and buzzing at each other.

“I can’t wait to get walking!” Teddy said.

“I can’t wait to walk away from you,” Athena replied. “It was starting to stink of bear in the car.”

Aurora smiled as she watched Teddy take off after Athena, the two of them chased each other around the car while Emily gave Maple a bye-bye hug. They wouldn’t be seeing her for a few minutes after all, so it was only right.

“Alright, kids,” Grandpa Boss said. He stepped up, and with a big grunt, scooped a running Athena off the ground with one arm, then swept up Teddy with the other. “Come say bye to the old man, eh?”

“Bye-bye hugs!” Trinity cheered before crashing into him from both sides.

Aurora laughed, then joined in too, even Maple joined, even if she was going to be staying for a bit longer.

Aurora suspected that Emily’s idea with Maple was more than just a way to communicate with her dad. It was also a way to keep Maple at the van for a bit. Walking in the forest was going to be a lot of work, and Maple was small. She’d get tired faster than the others, and none of them wanted to see her get exhausted.

Grandpa Boss made a big show of squeezing them all very tight, but he never squeezed hard enough to hurt, then they all got put back down. “You kids stay safe, alright? First sign that things are too tough, you do the brave thing and run right back.”

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“Running away doesn’t sound very brave,” Teddy said.

“That’s what the capitalists want you to think,” he said with a wink.

“Ohhh,” Teddy replied.

Aurora bit her lip not to laugh, then stepped to the side to give Emily a moment to get her own Grandpa Boss hug. There was a quick, reassuring conversation between the two, then the old man mussed Emily’s hair and told her to be safe.

And with that, they were off!

The first order of business was getting across the ditch. The sound of running water came from the bottom, where an ankle-deep rivulet was flowing past. It wasn’t deep, but it was wide, and the ditch’s sides were kind of steep.

“Urgh, we can forget coming out of this looking clean,” the Boss complained as she hopped across the gap and landed in a tumble on the other side. She scraped a knee against the bank, and it came away muddy.

Once they were all on the other side, they started to track through the woods.

It was nice. Aurora found herself breathing in deeply and just taking in the smell of rotting leaves and fresh air. Home was nice, but home smelled a little too much like her sisters and muffler fumes, this, the great outdoors? Yeah, this was way better.

The forest was thicker than Aurora expected.

The trees weren’t particularly tall, but they were packed in close together, all skinny birches and broad-leafed maples whose bare limbs tangled above like old hands. The sunlight filtering through was patchy and golden, and the ground was all mushy leaves and old twigs that snapped underfoot no matter how careful she tried to be.

Her sister’s weren’t trying to be careful at all. It was actually kind of surprising how noisy and un-stealthy they were.

“We need to go that way,” Emily said, pointing in a direction that was, unfortunately, all bramble and undergrowth.

Aurora squinted. “That doesn’t look like a path,” she said.

Emily shrugged. “It’s not. It’s a direction.” She glanced down at her map again, then back up. “If we continue that way, we should reach a river, then we can follow it to the edge of the forest. At least, I hope.”

“Rivers don’t just disappear, right?” Teddy asked.

“Not usually, no. And the ditch had water, so it can’t be all dried up either,” Aurora said.

The walk quickly turned into a hike. They had to duck under low-hanging branches, step over tree roots as thick as Teddy’s skull, and cross over several downed logs slick with moss.

Aurora found herself grinning as they untangled themselves. It was annoying, sure, but it was also kind of fun. They were out of the van, out of town, out of all the mess, just for a moment.

Eventually, after climbing a hill that left even Trinity winded, they crested the ridge and paused.

“Hold up,” Emily said. She took a deep breath, then spun in place once, looking through the trees like she was triangulating something only she could see.

Athena caught up beside her, brushing leaves from her hair. “You’re not lost, right?”

“No,” Emily said. She glanced at the others, who’d already found their breath and something to distract themselves with. “Just… not as energetic as you girls,” Emily admitted quietly.

Aurora smiled. “Want me to grab your bag too?”

“Nope, it’s fine,” Emily said. She let out a puff, nodded, then pointed out ahead. “The river should be over there.

As it turned out, the ‘river’ was more like a wide stream. At the deepest it was maybe only knee-high, though the banks stretched out for a ways, all rocky and worn smooth.

They walked along the stream’s edge, occasionally splashing into it, often cutting into the forest to avoid muddy patches and still ponds. Eventually they passed under a narrow road that had an old stone bridge that covered the gap over the stream.

“This is it,” Emily said. She pointed up the bank. “Up and over and then we’ll be right on the outer edge of Saint Arie.”

“Then we do the End Game?” Athena asked.

“No, idiot, first we do snack time, then we do the End Game. We’re not gonna fight with empty tummies!” Teddy said.

Aurora shrugged. She had a point.

***

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