Page 18 of Goddess of Storms

“The fucking problem is that this asswipe didn’t wake us when there was a visitor last night! Some lady came into the camp with a video of you grabbing Harper from the burning tent and her standing there with her clothes covered in flames!” Nile spits out.

Phoenix pipes in, “I deleted the video from her phone but she sent it to her sister, who put it on the internet. I was able to get a signal and find it online. A satellite phone would have been handy.”

“Fuck,” is all I can think of to say,

Harper

Igot the best rest of my life, or at least that I can remember. Sadness overwhelms me when I pat behind me and the coldness of the spot greets me.I will not cry, he can’t be far.Why am I getting worked up that he isn’t here?

Slipping out of the tent, I spot all three of them in deep discussion. I pause to stretch before heading over to join them. I am rested but my back didn’t enjoy a second night of camping. I wish I had all the powers of father, summoning a big cushy bed would be nice right about now.

“What’s going on? Big meeting and I'm not invited?” I tease.

Stone’s face is solemn when he turns to face me. “Well, there was a visitor last night, she got a video of when the lightning hit your tent. She’s loaded it on the internet. You are no longer safe here. We need to find you a place to lay low until we can get this off as a hoax.”

“Frack, I guess we need to break down camp and get headed back. We can put out any fires we see and still save the park if we can. Stone, radio in and tell the boss I’m sick and we are coming back early. There is no way we can’t check in, we have to keep up appearances until we have figured out our next move.”

Nile pipes up, “My father has a fishing cabin about four or five hours from here.You remember the one Harper?”

I nod in reply as he continues.

“We can stay there for a while and see if any of the cult crazies show,” he concludes.

I hold up a hand, “Let’s get out of the park and back to civilization and see how much this has gotten around. It may be nothing. There might be nothing to worry about.”

“You could be right, but I’m going to radio in and you guys start breaking down camp. I think the sick story will work for a bit, but we need to plan what’s next carefully,” Stone states with concern written on his face and in his tone.

“On it,” is my reply as I head to the tent we share and duck inside to wrap up the sleeping bag and whatever loose items are inside. Stone kept his tent orderly, so there isn’t much for me to pick up.

I tuck the shirt he wore yesterday into the top of his bag and felt a picture in here. I pull it out and it’s an old photo of Stone and me, at a beach. The worn corners tell me that he has carried it for some time, and that warms my heart. But I stuff it carefully back in and continue on, once I’m done I start with the tent.

“Let me do that, you want to bury the fire and by that time, we will be ready to move out?” Stone asks, holding out his shovel.

I stand and face him, take a few steps forward, and take it from him. “I may have lost my memories for a while, but I didn’t forget who wears the pants.”

A smile tips his lips as he sets to work on the tent, I head the few paces to the fire and start covering it with the loose sand around. Most of the branches are all almost nothing but embers, so it doesn’t take much time or effort.

All three men are staring at me as I finish this easy task.

“Why are you all looking at me? We have over half a day's hike to the Jeep, lets move those asses.” I laugh.

Stone hands me my pack and I gaze into his eyes, “You know one of the best things about getting my memories back?”

He smirks, “What?”

“I can zap your ass from across the room, and on this hike I can create a breeze.” I laugh.

“Knowing you, you’ll do it, too.”

I return his smirk. “That I will do.”

He doesn’t say anymore, just takes my hand and we start our hike.

Stone

The hike has been different this time. We made it to the same spot we stopped at last time at the lake to take a breather. Nile and Phoenix seem to be in worse shape this hike than the day before.

“What’s wrong with you two? We have a couple hours left before we hit the spot where the Jeep is.”

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