The Link 3 - The Huntress

Chapter 31 - Betty

The fire exploded as the match hit the gasoline. I leaned back to distance myself from the initial heat. Boys! Every one of them was a middle-aged boy. They cheered as if they were the first to discover fire. I looked at Tracy and laughed. She was still in shock at what she agreed to and was staring at me like I might be able to stop this party.

"It's only once a year," I said to Tracy. I handed her a beer, the only cold liquid that was ever brought along.

"I'm going to need about ten more," Tracy said, looking at the men jumping around the campfire like they were savages. They were actually congratulating themselves for their fireball. Real outdoorsmen, these bikers. Who needs two sticks when you have gasoline and a match.

"You married into this mess," I said, and now Tracy laughed.

"I suppose it's good for them to let loose," Tracy said. "Just not sure about the tent thing, or the bears and snakes."

"We make too much noise for bears," I said. The guys proved me right by breaking into an awful rendition of Born to be Wild. "And it's a little too cold for snakes, at least the poisonous ones."

"No showers," Tracy added to her list of grievances. I looked at her frizzed out hair and realized it was the first time I had ever seen it out of place. Probably the first time she had spent half a day on the back of a Harley.

"They get a little caveman out here," I said, leaning in close so no one else could hear. "It's worth it when the fire dies down." I bounced my eyebrows so she understood my meaning. I smiled when I thought about last year. Nothing like physically refreshing my vows with Monty and, for once, me obeying. Sometimes a man needs to be a man, and sometimes a woman needs that man. Monty reached out to me as if he could hear my thoughts. I joined him with my best smile, the one I reserved only for him, my husband.

"Come on, Tracy," I said, dragging her up as well. She rolled her eyes and reluctantly came to her feet. Harry came from behind and wrapped his arms around his new wife. Her face changed instantly. I could tell by the look in Harry's eyes that he meant to play doctor tonight. The way that Tracy leaned into him proved that he'd probably get his way.

"Lifers!" Todd yelled, holding up his beer over the fire. Everyone, but Tracy echoed his cry, toasting their beers as well. Todd dropped his eyes and stared at Tracy.

"Lifers," Tracy said uncomfortably and raised her beer. "I didn't know I was included," she added when everyone looked at her.

"Damn right you're included," Todd announced. "Your brains are a necessary offset to your husband's stupidity."

"I can't be that stupid," Harry joked back, "I married her."

"Hear, hear!" Todd agreed. "Lifers!" he yelled again. This time, Tracy joined the chorus. I don't think it was any less silly for her. She was just beginning to understand that silly was the order of the day for these reunions. We all drank.

Todd spit out his beer. Monty started coughing, and I nearly dropped to my knees. Devlin and Harry were looking at their beer bottles as if there was something wrong with them.

"What the fuck?" Todd asked no one and everyone. Some of the guys, Tracy included, were looking at us like we were nuts. All I knew was that a flash migraine almost knocked me to ground. My beer almost didn't want to finish its trip down my throat.

"You felt that?" I asked Monty.

"Like a hot needle," Monty said. He lifted his finger and jabbed his temple exactly where the pain hit me as well.

"That was just gasoline, wasn't it?" Todd asked Devlin. Devlin nodded and took a hesitant taste of his beer. "Who else felt that?" Monty, Devlin, Harry, Thomas and I signaled our shared suffering. It was fading now, as the others looked at us like we were insane.

"It's her," I said. Nothing else made sense. There was nothing else in common between us that wouldn't have affected the others. It had been years since I had thought about Teegan.

"That didn't feel the same," Monty said. "It was wrong, and it...hurt."

"Who is she?" Tracy asked Harry.

"Teegan," Harry said, "I told you about her."

"She's real?" Tracy asked us, "I thought it was just a story."

"I assure you she's real," I said, supporting Harry. "She saved me a long time ago..."

The world shifted, and the fire danced in slow motion. Each flicker was a thing of beauty, igniting the air, then receding. Coming and going, the nature of all things. I looked at Monty and knew my trust had been given well. The way he thought of me was singularly incredible. I marveled at the times he let me have my way, even when I was wrong. He understood that I could never again think I was out of control. I reached behind his head and pulled his lips to mine. Only a lovely man could take on a work-in-progress like me and let me shine. His arms wrapped around me and I let go. He could own me since I owned him.

"Help us," Teegan thought. I raised my head and looked at the others.

"Something's wrong. Do you feel it?" Todd asked. I felt it. Something dark wrapping around Teegan's bond. It was as if she had broken through an oily mess and the link was coated with it.

"She needs us again," Harry said.

"What do mean?" Tracy said, looking at us like we were loony toons. Harry took her hand, and I watched a smile grow on her face. "Oh," she sighed, then something flickered in her eyes. She shifted closer to her husband and lust I fully understood took over her features.

"Hands," I said, holding out my free one. Monty had the other. Todd joined with me, and we began forming a circle. When it closed, we gave back everything Teegan gave to us.

"She's an angel," Tracy said, her love the strongest of us all.