They had organized themselves in the back of the truck, Lucy had started to write the symbols down before she could forget them, and she’d nearly lost her notebook to the fierce wind, before scribbling over the simple symbol and stopping the effect. They’d been encouraged to stick to air for the time being. Four symbols, all triangles, some with lines through them, each with ‘underlines’ to indicate orientation. Now she drew branches off to the side, with curved arms.Įdith had given them the quickest of rundowns before they’d left. She’d drawn a circle on the brim of her hat, and within that circle, she had drawn a triangle with a line through it and a line beneath it. Verona used the light from the truck’s cab, instead. Verona leaned in closer to try to borrow some of the light, and Lucy leaned away. She moved the narrow flashlight to her mouth, shining it on the book she was writing in, and began taking her painstaking notes. “It just feels like she can’t help but keep a lot of cards up her sleeve.” “I mean, she told me during the ritual that she picked me first?” She had a bit of chalk, and began drawing.
Verona rolled her eyes, picked up her own hat, and turned it over. It didn’t leave her a lot of freedom of movement, but riding in the back of a pickup, exposed to the elements, on four sides, no seatbelt or anything, she liked claiming the security she could. Her position, now that she was done fixing the blanket Lucy had disturbed, was skewed sideways, one leg extended to the bulge at one side of the truck bed where it accommodated the wheel beneath, her back was to the bag she’d placed between herself and the truck’s cab for cushioning, one hand on her hat, and one arm around the lip of the truck bed, holding the cool metal. “I don’t want it to blow away,” Avery said. Hey Avery, you realize you don’t need to hold onto your hat?” “You shouldn’t use minor oaths for chocolate bars, Ronnie.” “I’m not going to answer your question until I have a chocolate bar,” Verona said. “Tell me, and maybe I can reach it,” Lucy said. The chocolate bar slid down the length of the pickup’s bed to the tailgate at the end, stopping there.Īvery watched Verona huff, clearly annoyed by the fact the chocolate bar was now a matter of feet away, out of easy reach. Lucy seemed to want to take it hostage, but when Verona got two fingertips on it, pinning it down, Lucy stuck her foot out, kicking it away. Verona reached for one of the chocolate bars they’d got from the last rest stop, and Lucy lunged for it, upsetting the blanket and letting cold air beneath, chilling Avery’s legs. I don’t like leaving things unfinished,” Lucy said. “You do not seem like the type to dream about unicorns,” Avery said. Give me one observation about that unicorn you dreamt of.” Give me one observation about that black bear out in the woods. “Give me one observation about Matthew’s truck. “Then open your mouth one more time, continue that win streak, and tell me one observation about Miss.” “I think I’m one hundred percent so far for truth-telling.” In the dim light of Lucy’s flashlight and the light of the truck’s cabin interior, Avery could see Verona rolling her eyes, her lips moving for a second before she continued, “-can imagine myself hearing you in my dreams, tonight.” We’re going to go to sleep tonight and I-” Verona stopped. She’d had a flashlight about as long and thick as a finger in her lips, and she had to pull it out to speak. There was anxiety, yes, but there was also relief and excitement. The awakening was done and she had her friends with her. It being ‘good’ despite everything said a lot, as far as she was concerned. Excellent would require someone she could cuddle up against, and less of the mind-numbing, stomach-gnawing anxiety that came with being in the back of a relative stranger’s truck as they drove down little-known roads into the Canadian wilderness, the sky black and moonless and the streets unlit by anything but the truck’s headlights. The wind blew past them, not as cold as it should have been.Īvery could finally let herself believe that all of the scary moments had been worth it if things could be this good now. Avery and her friends sat in the back of a beat-up old pickup, Avery with one hand on her hat, her mask in her lap, and a blanket thrown over her and Lucy’s legs, weighed down at the ends by their bags.
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