Crissa's Mate

Chapter Two

Saying good-bye at the Vancouver airport was harder on Crissa's mother than for either her father or herself. By that early morning she had totally committed to her decision and did not want to break her resolve by silly sentiments of departure. Crissa had a strong character when it came to her decision-making. This had been exhibited by her stellar academic record and the fact that she had stuck-out all her extra-curricular activities at every age, from being a Girls Scout to her track and field awards and student council responsibilities in high school. But now, there was a different level of fortitude involved. Being the youngest member of the wolf-study expedition to Germany would have its challenges for her. She knew it would be no time to display any of her younger, girlish ways when everyone else on the journey was technically and legally an adult. Getting into the plane alone and fastening her seatbelt marked a departure from her homeland temporarily, and childhood permanently, she quietly told herself.

The plan was for her to fly direct from Canada to Heathrow Airport outside of London—a long and grueling flight. There she would meet up with a pair of members of the team, and take a connecting flight on to Berlin with them, where they would all convene with Professor Dekker at a hotel in the city. Once the group had all collected there for the journey, they would have a day and night of rest to get over jetlag, and "get acquainted." The six-member student team was scheduled to be debriefed during that time by Dr. Dekker, and while staying over in Berlin the main objectives of the ten-day study would be presented to them, as well as some of the potential "hazards," as the PDF she was emailed, stated.

When Crissa arrived exhausted at Heathrow, some ten hours later, and went to the departure gate for her connecting flight to Germany, she was located and greeted by a couple who awkwardly established that they were her contact, and on the same expedition. Mary Thompson and Josh Werner introduced themselves formally, after carefully confirming they would be traveling together. Both explained they were graduate students from the University Illinois, Urbana, and animal behaviorists. She could tell by their close and affectionate mannerisms that they were also romantically involved. Both were obviously outdoor types—physically conditioned, sun-tanned, and while Josh had shoulder-length, flax-colored hair, Mary wore her dark hair short, in the style of a female athlete.

"So. You're the baby we've read about on this trip," Josh said teasingly.

Crissa smiled self-consciously, and was saved further embarrassment by Mary who verbally came to her rescue.

"Don't let him tease you, Crissa. I think it's fantastic that you're taking this on right out of high school."

Mary had obviously read the bios carefully which Professor Dekker had sent out to all of them, outlining the details of each member of the study, including his own distinguished CV.

"Yeah. It's a big step," Crissa answered, forcing herself to make eye-contact with each of them to appear more mature. "But I guess I'm up to it."

"Cool," Josh said, more cordially. "And great that you've been so involved in Canada with conservation. That racoon habitat thing you were a part of sounded pretty interesting."

"Oh that." Crissa rolled her eyes dismissively. "Well it was just through school, actually. British Columbia gets everyone involved with those kind of efforts."

"Still, pretty nice," Mary added. "See Josh, we Americans have a lot to learn from the Canadians."

"Yeah. Especially about conservation."

At that point, an announcement was made from a nearby loud-speaker that everyone in the gate should prepare for boarding their flight to Berlin. The three of them wearing summer shorts and carrying their hand-luggage, went over and entered the boarding queue.