I Wish I Had a Story to Tell You

Part V

We sat in the car, watching the sun creep above the horizon as Arelle pored over the map we acquired at the restaurant. We had been scouting out routes to Denver for hours, but finally we found a plausible one. I didn't know how far our little Ford had gone before, and if this journey was going to take its toll on our automobile (and only source of transportation) to the point where we would have to figure something else out for travel. At that movement, however, I decided that we'd deal with that later. We had more pressing matters at hand.
"We're going to have to cross the Rockies," Arelle muttered.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," I replied.
"You mean we'll cross that mountain range when we get to it?"
I shrugged. "Well, yes."
"Are you not concerned by that at all?"
    So long as we're being chased, I'm not. "Of course I am. I just think we should focus on getting to the mountain range first, because if you've forgotten, we're still in Northern California at the moment."
"Right, so we're going to have to take the main road north a little bit, and then take the highway southeast down to Colorado," Arelle said. "It's the most direct route."
"Well, we should get going. If Mom and Aunt Pearl are there, we don't know how long they'll be there. And then there's the matter of finding the right address."
"We should be able to ask whoever operates the phone lines to put us through to them," Arelle said.
I nodded. "An address book might also prove handy." I ran my fingers along the steering wheel. "Well," I said, "shall we?"
Arelle swallowed. "Hit the gas," she replied. "Just not as much as you did in the forest," she added under her breath.

The drive north wasn't at all exciting. There were cars here and there, but the weather didn't prove to make a nice day for a road trip. I just hoped we wouldn't have to deal with ice on the roads, especially when we arrived at the Rockies.
We heard a few radio stations playing Billie Holiday and Fred Astaire, but other than that the only sounds were distant car engines and the wind whipping against the windshield. Arelle offered to take over driving once or twice, but I said I was fine. We sat in silence mostly, only ever speaking when we heard a song we liked in the distance or when some thing flew at our car in the wind.
The ride was somewhat soothing. Until Arelle asked about Ms. Hattie.
"Do you think we can go to her?" Arelle asked. "If all else fails?"
"I don't think she could support the both of us," I replied in spite of the voice in my head screaming for me to tell her the truth.
"We wouldn't be safe on the streets alone," Arelle fretted. "I can't imagine it."
"Nor can I," I lied. "But we aren't going to have to do that. We're going to find Aunt Pearl, or Mom, or Dad, or whoever in Denver sent the hat and dress to Aunt Pearl." I felt a surge of confidence saying that. There was no way I was going to let Arelle have to deal with what I had to when I was young. I was certain of that.
"What do we do if we start going hungry?"
I'll steal food. "That's not going to happen. We need to focus on now, because that's how our future is going to be safer."
Arelle sat in silence after that, and I suddenly became conscious of the scar on my shoulder. If anything, I was not going to tell Arelle about that. She'd lose her mind. Especially when I explained where I got it.
"Is this our spot?" Arelle suddenly asked.
"Hm?" I leaned over to look at the map, then I turned to the street sign. "Yeah, this is where we turn. How long have we been driving?"
"Most of the day. We're back in Oregon." Arelle paused for a second. "This is our chance, you know."
"We're not turning back," I said. "We're already losing time." With that, I took a turn southeast, directly towards Colorado.

Night fell soon after that. It was clear that we didn't have the money to stay at a motel, so our car was going to have to do.
"We should stay in a forest area," I said, looking at our surroundings. "It's a good place to hide the car."
"Good plan," Arelle agreed. I turned off the highway and into a dark, snowy forest, where we found a tree to park the car by. The second I put the car in park, a pile of snow fell on the hood.
"Poor car," I sighed.
"We should name it," Arelle said. "We should name it, like a hotel or something."
"Alright, what are you thinking?" I said, leaning back, glad to be talking about anything besides my past.
Arelle considered for a moment. "The Manse Sisters' Inn."
I grinned. "How boring. I was thinking something more like The Enchanting Andromeda Hotel."
"You mean like, Andromeda the constellation?" Arelle asked with a smile.
"Exactly. You can see Andromeda in autumn. Speaking of constellations, we should be able to see Orion tonight. It's winter, after all." I got out of the car and Arelle followed.
"I think we have some spare blankets in the trunk," Arelle said. Sure enough, she soon removed two tattered, wool blankets from the back. "Here, we can lay them out on the ground." I took one from her, and soon it was as if we had two makeshift picnic blankets set out in the midst of winter. Arelle lay down on hers, smiling. "I can see Orion's belt, just though the trees," she said.
I lay down on my back and looked up through the canopy of a pine tree. Just as I caught sight of the row of three stars, a blob of snow fell right on my face.
"Cold!" I squeaked, brushing off the snow. Arelle laughed. "I don't think this tree likes you very much."
"What are you talking about?" I said, spitting out a bit of snow. "Trees love me."
"Well this one clearly doesn't."
Then the two of us just laughed. We laughed at the utter ridiculousness of it all. We laughed because that was better than screaming in frustration or fretting about the what ifs. What if Mom wasn't there? What if Aunt Pearl wasn't there? What if something had happened to Dad? What if something had happened to all of them? That wasn't important. We were (relatively) safe, and we were together, looking at the constellations through the snowy treetops.
"Do you miss home?" Arelle asked.
    My heart jumped a little at the question. "What do you define as home?" I replied.    
Arelle shrugged. "I think that's your choice."
    I thought for a moment. "Yes, I miss home." It was a lie. I didn't feel like I had a physical home, and if I did have one I just didn't realize it yet.
    "What did it smell like?"
    I gather my scarce memories of Ms. Hattie's. "Old books. Old furniture. Old newspapers. Old everything, basically." I managed to crack a smile thinking about it. "How about you?" I asked.
    "I miss it. I miss it a lot. It's just..." my sister took a deep breath, "I felt like I could never be torn apart from home again. I thought it was all over, especially when I saw you again. And now I just want to have that feeling back."
    I felt a pang of sympathy for Arelle for still longing for home, for still holding out hope. I had given up long ago. I was simply numb now.
    "You have a home, you just have to get there," I told my sister. "And we will." I took her hand and squeezed it.
    "How far do you think we'll have to go to get there?"
    I didn't know. I knew that I had been searching for home for the last six years to no avail. I knew what I had to do to keep myself standing, to keep myself searching for some way to get home.
    I knew that Aunt Pearl and Arelle were close, but they had barely enough to keep them both fed. I knew that I couldn't take from them. So I took from others. I stole from shops and food stands. I stole what I could, when I could. I felt horrible, selfish, and with every passing day the thought began to haunt me:
I don't think they would want me.
    And after all those years, I still didn't think so.
    "As far as we have to," I replied. We talked about the forest for a while, discussing the trees and the owls and the snow. Arelle finally rose and went to the car. "Do you think it's safe to sleep in the car?"
"We should be fine," I replied. "You can take the backseat. I'm fine with the passenger seat."
"Sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. Get some rest." After Arelle fell asleep, I took my blanket and curled up outside of the car. I stayed up and watched through the night, making sure nothing in the woods was prowling around too close to us. I welcomed the bitter winter breeze that flowed through the landscape. The cold felt like an old friend to me, numbing and bitter and oddly beautiful. I watched the snow float to the ground gracefully, and I gazed as the moon rose and fell. The night soon passed, and the morning birds began to call.
    "How long have you been awake?" Arelle asked me, rising from her sleep and opening the car door.
    "Not long," I said, and smiled. "Ready to go?"
    Arelle yawned. "Yeah, I think so."
    "Great, I'll warm up the car." Arelle left to fold up the blankets as I unlocked the car. I started the engine, and soon our ride was ready to go. I looked out at the trees and took in the view of the winter morning.
    Then something caught my eye.
    A figure was walking in the woods. I couldn't tell how tall he was, and I couldn't place where the jab in my gut came from. Before long, however, the puzzle pieces began to click into place.    
Con.
    It was a ridiculous thought, but the silhouette shared uncanny similarities to him. The way it walked. The height. The hair. It was remarkable, and unsettling.
No, this is stupid. You're paranoid for no reason at all.
    But something made me get out of the car. Something made me go up to Arelle and say, "We need to get going."
    I told my sister that we couldn't waste time finding Aunt Pearl. She agreed in the car. When we got in and were ready to set off on the day's journey, something made me step on the gas like never before.