“We aren’t, but it’s sweet of you to say,” I told her. Martina gave up a satisfied burp and Medow placed her on the bed with a soft rattle to occupy her with. I tickled her tummy before getting up to get back to packing. “One dress should be enough, right?” I asked.
“No. You need at least three. One never knows,” Medow told me. I scrunched my nose.
“Then I would need another bag,” I told her. Medow giggled.
“Amie, you will be gone for four weeks. I think it’s okay if you can’t fit it all into one bag,” she told me.
“How many is Sam bringing?” I asked as I took out another bag.
“I have no clue. By the amount of ‘may be useful to have’ things he keeps piling up. I would guess closer to twenty.” I laughed.
“Okay. So two should be okay,” I agreed.
Later in the afternoon we all gathered in the dining room. It was the day before leaving and everyone who would be going was sitting together. There were conversations about what the next four weeks would bring going on all around me.
“Are you ready to leave in the morning?” Finlay asked me.
“Yes. Medow helped me pack earlier. How about you?”
“All done.”
“Good. I talked to Matilda and she has made us some amazing food to eat during the drive. We still need to decide who rides with who. We need to make sure we have room for the luggage as well as all the people. But we want to use as few cars as we can,” I told him.
“It’s easy. I will take my truck, you will ride with me and we will take as much luggage as possible. Sam, Jake, Ramses and Aunt Matilda will go in Sam’s car and they will have the food we need. Then our two healers, elder Jona and Mandy will go in one car with their personal belongings and the healing equipment. The rest will go in Robert’s SUV,” he told me.
“You and me in your truck? What about Beula?” I asked.
“Red, no one will voluntarily get into that car. And I’m not letting you drive there on your own. Besides, we can’t bring that monstrosity and let the other packs see it,” he told me.
“Hey! She is a workhorse. She has been good to me for ten years. She is amazing,” I objected.
“Sure, sure. And you can drive her around here at home. But not to go and meet the other packs,” he insisted.
“Fine.”
The next morning we loaded into the cars. Matilda had given each car a snack pack for the first day. We would spend the better part of two days driving to a remote part of Canada. We had planned out rest stops and food stops, but since we could switch drivers, we wouldn’t need to stop for sleep. Finlay took the first pass at driving and it was nice being just the two of us.
“How do you really feel about seeing your brother?” I asked once we had got out on the highway and relaxed. Finlay had taken my hand and I knew this was the best time to have this conversation. He tried to shrug it off.
“I have met him once a year in the joint pack meetings,” he said.
“And it has never gone well. Each year he has tried something new to force us into his pack,” I reminded him.
“Yeah. I don’t see that changing,” Finlay admitted.
“Have you figured out why?”
“Pride, probably. He doesn’t want to look weak in front of the other packs. And I think they have realised that a pack made up mostly of warriors and top tiers is no fun as they now need to do everything.” I hummed. If the pack’s warriors were led to believe they were bigger and better than everyone else, there would be trouble when you asked that warrior to start cleaning toilets or cook for the pack. Which is why that kind of mindset always makes the pack fragile.
“I guess they would have a hard time recruiting new members that aren’t warriors if word got out how they are being treated,” I thought out loud.
“That is my guess as well,” Finlay agreed.
“So? You haven’t answered my first question,” I insisted.
“I don’t like it. I hate that he tries to manipulate me using our mother and I hate the constant need to prove our pack is not an extension of his,” he told me. I placed my other hand on top of his, sandwiching it between both of mine.
“This time you won’t be alone. We will deal with it,” I told him. He glanced over at me and smiled.
A couple of hours later we stopped at a rest stop and stretched our legs, used the bathroom, ate and switched drivers.
“Are you sure you can handle it?” Finlay asked for the third time as he got into the passenger seat.
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