CHAPTER
23
STELLA DIDN’T SLOW until the forest gave way to land that was a lot browner and flatter than the slopes of Mt. Hood. The snow changed with the topography, and the relentless white shifted to beads of stinging ice. The highway widened to a consistent four lanes, though the number of stalled vehicles and clusters of accidents drastically decreased.
The children had devoured several sandwiches from the mountain of them Stella had premade, and were curled together between Imani and Gemma, sleeping so soundly that they didn’t so much as twitch when Stella slowed and stopped.
“I’m gonna go to the cab and talk to Stella.” Mercury spoke softly so she didn’t wake the children.
“I’m coming with you,” Imani said.
“I’ll stay here in case the kids wake up,” whispered Gemma as she opened the lid of the prepacked cooler that was strapped to the side of the truck bed. She pulled out three sandwiches and handed them to Mercury. “You and Stella and Karen didn’t get to eat. We still have sandwiches left. Stella made a ton of them.”
“Thanks.” Mercury took the sandwiches, but before she followed Imani out of the camper shell, she hesitated and turned back to Gemma. “Have you ever shot a rifle?”
“Nope. That’s something I need to learn.”
Mercury nodded. “Yeah, unfortunately it is. I’m going to leave the rifle here. The safety is on, but don’t mess with it.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“If you hear or see anything weird, knock on the window. I’ll leave the camper shell open back here so you have a good view of anything coming up behind us.”
“Okay, cool,” Gemma said. “But you know Stella wouldn’t have stopped if the coast wasn’t clear.”
“Things change,” Mercury said.
“Got it,” Gemma said. “I’ll knock.”
Mercury climbed out of the bed of the truck, closed the tailgate but left the camper shell propped open, and jogged through the sleet to the cab. Karen was scrunched against Stella, with Imani smashed against her to make room for Mercury, who closed the door quickly. She shivered while she handed sandwiches to Karen and Stella.
Stella took hers and lifted it in salute to Mercury. “Girlfriend, you did great!”
“It was Alvin fucking Rutland.” Mercury almost spit the words.
“Oh lord!” Karen gasped and clutched her imaginary pearls.
“Holy shit! That had to be who Mack was talking about when he said ‘boss man.’” Stella shook her head. “It’s what one of his men called him, remember?”
“I do,” said Karen. “I’ll never forget that whole encounter.”
“Who the hell is Alvin Rutland?” Imani asked.
“The misogynist douchebag who tried to take our truck from us before we made it back to Timberline,” said Mercury.
“Is he the guy who flew off the snowmobile or the other one?” asked Stella.
“The other one. He wasn’t hurt at all,” said Mercury.
“That’s too bad, but at least Jenny and the rest of them have been warned,” said Stella. “And, Acorn, that was some damn fine shooting.”
“Actually, it was freakishly fine shooting,” Mercury said around a mouthful of sandwich. She swallowed and explained. “I’m a good shot, and I’ve had a lot of practice hunting with my dad and entering marksmen competitions with him, but the truck was not a stable place to shoot from. I shouldn’t have made those shots.”
“What exactly are you saying?” Imani asked.
“That there could be more about me that’s changed than just the fact that my blood can grow things.” She gestured at Stella. “Her blood can grow things, but she also knows stuff.”
“Didn’t you say that before the green fog Stella was in touch with her intuition?” Karen asked.