“Gotta pee!”she shouted through the muffling glass.
Stella nodded and made the “okay” sign with her right hand. She pulled beside the broken “Timberline Lodge” sign that used to point up the highway and put the truck in neutral.
“Sorry, guys,” said Imani as she and Gemma crawled out of the bed of the truck with a roll of toilet paper.
“Too much coffee,” Gemma said around a yawn.
“Hey, no problem,” Mercury told them, remembering the big deal Mr. Hale had made about Amelia needing to stop for a pee—which had probably saved their lives.
Mercury stretched and walked a little way into the middle of what was left of the highway. From there she had a decent view of the bottom slope of the mountain. The sky had become light enough that it allowed her to see the broken trees and torn land that was dotted by the orange glow of uncountable fires. She wanted to look away. It made her sad and angry and frightened to see evidence of how much her world—the entire world—had shifted in just a couple days, but it also pulled her attention, like passing a bad wreck. She had to look.
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Stella said from beside her.
Mercury jumped. “Goddess! Make some noise, would ya? You move like a cat.”
“Thanks. That reminds me of how much I miss my house panther.” She hooked her arm through Mercury’s.
“Cash Money was an awesome house panther,” agreed Mercury.
“I’m glad I’m as between cats as you are between dogs. I’d hate to think about what woulda happened to them.” She lowered her voice. “It sounds strange, and unintentionally callous, but you know my parents and my older sister have been gone for years, so my fur babies are my family. Glad I got to say goodbye to Cash Money and didn’t lose him in this mess.” When Mercury didn’t say anything, Stella added. “Hey, I didn’t mean to make it seem like I’m comparing my cat to your mom and dad and brothers.”
“Oh no. I get it. I know you’re not making light of anyone’s loss. And I’m glad Kong went to frolic with the Goddess last year. I’d hate to think about him scared and dying without me.” She paused and then continued in a soft voice. “It’s not real yet. I–I still feel like as soon as we’re in cell range, I could call my parents, my brothers, or their wives, and they’d answer and want to know when the hell I was coming home.”
“Glenn would grumble at you and tell you that you should be a better sister and keep in touch with your brother,” Stella said with a smile.
“Oh, for sure. He’s been overly sensitive since he was a kid, and Lionas and I lured him into drinking pee by saying it was lemonade.” Mercury laughed.
“Right? He’s still weirdly touchy about that.” Stella echoed her laughter.
“Probably because Glenn’s the baby of the family,” said Mercury.
Stella nodded. “Oh, for sure. And Lionas is the more reasonable one.”
“Yep. He’d say, ‘No problem, little sis—you’re busy.’” Mercury shook her head. “I don’t know when it’s going to feel real, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want it to. Right now it’s like going away to summer camp when I was a kid. I used to miss my parents so, so much. I mean, I ended up having fun, but I missed them the entire time and was so damn glad to see Dad drive up in his truck to take me home.” Her breath caught on a sob.
Stella squeezed her arm. “Be kind to yourself. Everyone grieves differently.”
“Like Imani said yesterday—I hope it was fast. It was Sunday morning. Dad and Mom were probably having breakfast out front.”
“Using that big rock as a table,” said Stella.
“Yeah. Dad was probably spiking his coffee.”
Stella grinned. “Right? I’d forgotten he’s where you got your love of Kahlúa coffee.”
“And my love of mimosas—the tree and the drink.” She laughed a little and her gaze lifted, as if she might see her father reflected in the dove-colored clouds above them, and through the grayness she caught the silver outline of an almost full moon low in the sky. “Wait! What’s today’s date?”
Karen joined them, rubbing her arms vigorously. “Well, let’s see—Sunday was the last day of spring break, which means it was March nineteenth. It’s dawn on Tuesday, so it’s the twenty-first.”
“Tomorrow’s the spring equinox, which means Ostara.” Still staring up at the sky Mercury spoke wistfully. “This year it also falls on a full moon.”
“That’s right,” said Stella. “You have a big Gathering planned for Ritual.”
“Had,” Mercury corrected with a sad sigh.
“Hey, we’re done peeing!” Imani and Gemma joined them.
Gemma held out the roll of toilet paper like a prize. “Anyone need this?”
“Nah, I think we’re good for now,” said Stella.
At that moment fat snowflakes began falling from the sky.
“Shit! It’s starting. We need to get to a lower elevation before we get stranded up here,” said Stella, and the women scrambled for the truck.