BIG BEAR CHAPTER 3-1
630 Words
BIG BEAR CHAPTER 3
Emma Jane looked out the window with trepidation. The plane ride had almost killed her. She hadn't expected to be so anxious, but she'd been unable to stop thinking about being helpless if the plane went down. She wasn't used to being out of control. She'd always been independent and done her own thing, but planes weren't on her good list for travel anymore. Oh sure, everyone had been wonderful to her, but that didn't help when she felt like a trapped rat.
The only thing that would have made it better was to have Vanessa sitting beside her, to hold and reassure her, but they'd deliberately picked their seats across the aisle from each other so that they wouldn't be able to touch. All Vanessa had been able to do was promise that the flight was going well and would be over soon, but it hadn't helped in the slightest. When they'd landed on solid ground, Emma Jane had almost thrown up from relief. A nice shuttle bus, where she could at least feel the ground beneath them and watch some of the scenery go by, was a huge improvement.
Her nerves somewhat more settled, she was left with thoughts and worries about their quest. If she'd understood Evelyn correctly, her dream had shown them hiking up the side of a snow-covered mountain to a small pool of water that didn't freeze, or at least wasn't frozen. She hadn’t been clear on that, so Vanessa had researched all the known lakes in the Rockies located at the middle or end of a trail. They knew for sure the trail they needed was in the Rocky Mountains, but looking around as the shuttle bus continued along the highway, Emma Jane knew that wasn't helpful at all.
The range ran more than 3000 miles across North America, which was a lot of potential ground to search. Evelyn had been adamant it was on the Canadian side of the border, which cut down on at least half of the search area. Vanessa planned to start in Banff, as she wanted to check out the hot springs and there were several decent hiking areas accessible nearby. The only concern was that many of the paths might be closed to hikers due to the time of year.
Emma Jane sighed. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but at that moment it seemed almost impossible- like looking for a needle in a haystack. Yet she wasn't as worried about herself as she was about Vanessa. Emma Jane looked over, seeing the enchantment on Vanessa's face as she witnessed the Rockies for the first time. Being close for more than a few days, even if they didn't touch, was dangerous for Vanessa. The worst part was that Emma Jane didn't even know how dangerous it would be; she'd never been in anyone's company for more than a few hours at a time since coming into her powers in her teens.
Vanessa looked up at the sound of her sigh. "Is everything okay?"
Emma Jane smiled, deflecting Vanessa from her troubled thoughts.
"Just thinking about tomorrow. You've got Johnstone Canyon on the list first, don't you?"
Vanessa nodded as she looked back out the window. "Mmm-hmm. It's super popular, which you'd think would rule it out as the location for our quest, but it also has pools of water that apparently never freeze. And it's an easier hike than most of the other trails at this time of year. I feel like we could get our feet wet there when it comes to our search, so to speak."
Emma Jane nodded. It made sense. She knew the most challenging part of the quest would be their internal struggles, so she wasn't sure that the physical part necessarily had to be difficult. At least that's what she hoped. Although, if the powers-that-be had seen her terror on the flight over, she'd already earned her reward.
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