We left Miranda to rest, even though she tried to persuade us to let her tag along. Not hearing from Frannie all morning, we checked in on the lovebirds before we hopped on snowmobiles heading out of town. They looked to be just getting out of bed.
At least Gary kind of did. I wasn't sure how she did it, but Frannie looked perfect. I was going to have to guess that had something to do with the glamour she mentioned her father using to look young. I imagined she didn't look that much different than I did when I rolled out of bed underneath whatever magic she controlled.
"Hey, sleepy heads, any new developments on the home front?" I asked.
"We finally got out of bed, that's pretty much it for developments," Frannie reported. "Do you think I should submit an op-ed to the local paper to let the whole world know?"
I couldn't think of a time where I'd woken up that late in the day. Other than during my hospital stay a while back, but I didn't really have control over that situation. If I'd been in charge of things then, the doctors wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near me with drugs.
"I'm afraid they'd actually post it, so let's keep your sleeping habits internal for now."
If it was me, I doubted any newspaper would even open the letter, but Frannie had a following in a way and I wanted her to get the idea out of her head immediately. Going out shopping with her was already a painful experience. Adding in fans would only make it worse.
"It's a good thing we've made some progress, because you two like to take a lot of cat naps," Rick added. When Frannie glared at him, he finished by saying, "What? Avery knows now, so I get to use all my kitty cat jokes." It was fun to see him annoying someone else.
"We made a lot of progress, Miranda is practically healed and she knows where the crazy guy is holed up, so we're going to go rescue the others tomorrow," I said, after giving Rick a quick mental slap for continuing his quest to become a comedian.
"That's no fair, Avery. You can't use your telekinesis to just slap me or levitate me whenever you want," he said, rubbing his arm. For some reason he seemed to be suffering memory loss.
"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure I just did, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Feeling mature, I stuck my tongue out. I didn't know why, but I couldn't help but egg him on.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he said as he started running after me.
I let him catch me, yes I said let, and we ended up rolling on the ground, yet again. While we continued to figure out dominance, Nate decided to finish filling in Frannie and Gary. With the berserkers around, he didn't give them the good news of my chunk of memory returning. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, since we already told Joseph. Kyle and Liam seemed just as trustworthy.
"Any information on Elizabeth?" Frannie asked.
"No, Miranda said she wasn't with her where she was locked up, so we're still at square one for that search," Nate replied. He worked to show no emotions, but I knew the lack of news added to the worry of finding Elizabeth not in perfect health.
"Okay, well Gary and I will go get ready for the day. We'll try to make it quick, but as Avery can tell you, I tend to take my time in the bathroom," she said, dragging Gary from the room.
Past experiences told me it might be a day before she was ready to go anywhere. I didn't understand the length of time if she could make herself ready with a mere thought. Having my full memories probably wouldn't help explain what made Frannie tick, but I didn't doubt they'd at least giving me a little insight.
"Hey, we're taking snowmobiles to the city closest by with a store, so dress appropriately," I screamed as Rick thought he had me pinned, but I quickly reversed our positions.
"You're okay with her rolling around with him?" Joseph asked. "It's giving me fits and I barely know her."
"No matter who the male is, it's not fun for me to watch, but Rick's her protector, so he'd rather die than allow her to get hurt. As time has gone on, I'm more worried about him. She has a little bit of a temper sometimes," Nate replied. The unheard "duh" echoed in everyone's head.
"It doesn't take long to get used to it and she's always the first to pull out a knife and draw blood," Vinnie added. Two times in as many days Vinnie was telling my knife secrets. I was going to have to sit the robot down and have a talk.
"You guys are so not helping my delicate flower image," I said as Rick and I stood up, calling a truce for the moment. "You still love me, Freddie?" I asked.
"You know it, baby girl," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the top of my head. "I'm going to go grab a jacket. I don't need it for the heat, but it will help with any wind that might hit us."
"I better do the same," Nate said, following Rick out of the room.
It was the first time I'd been left alone in a room without one of them present. I predicted they were just testing the people new to us to see if anyone decided to pull off some kind of sneak attack. I wished I could come up with a good way to exploit my freedom, but nothing came to mind. Vinnie would probably be all logical about whatever I decided and stop me anyway.
"You have a very interesting group of friends," Liam informed me.
"And you haven't even met my parents yet. What can I say; I'm a magnet for weirdoes. No offense, Vinnie," I said to him, just because he happened to be in the room and often sided with me.
"I know I'm one of the strangest things in your collection, so you don't have to worry about offending me," he replied.
"You're probably the most unique; that's for sure. So how many snowmobiles are we going to be taking?" I asked the berserkers.
"I imagine you and your female friend want to ride behind one of the guys in the group, so I guess seven," Kyle responded.
"Better make it eight. I know Frannie will ride with Gary, but I tend to ride my own. Granted, I haven't ridden a snowmobile, but I can't imagine it's more difficult than my Harley."
I didn't care about the inevitable fit Nate would throw. He knew the person I was, even if it didn't mesh with the image of who I used to be.
"You're a motorcycle mama?" Liam asked.
"You better believe it. There's no way you'll see me trying to navigate the New York City streets in a car. I don't have to battle it much anymore now that we've moved up north, but I still wouldn't trade Winnie in." We had a full garage that was really only missing a tank. Technically, we had one of those, but only because Nate named his motorcycle Tank.
The three men not acquainted with my life gave questioning looks, so Vinnie supplied more details, "Winifred, or Winnie, is her motorcycle and almost like a child to her, so I'd be respectful."
"Oh no, they have her talking about the bike. We'll never get out of here," Rick said as he entered the room.
I gave him a look and pointed my finger at him. He instantly raised his arms in defeat.
"You know, a mute button would come in handy on his mouth," Liam said, drawing my attention from my annoying friend.
"I've been saying that for months, but no one ever listens to me. Liam, I think you and I are going to be best friends." Nate hadn't returned, so I gave the berserker a quick wink.
"No fair. I wanted to be your best friend," Kyle said, with a pout on his face that would give Frannie a run for her money. "I saw you first, so it's only fair. I promise I can agree with everything you say, too."
"Are you guys brothers?" I asked. "You remind me so much of each other, but I'm not clear whether that's a berserker trait or genetics."
"Guilty," they said in unison.
"What's this about replacing me? I'm out of the room for five minutes and you're already looking for someone else," Frannie said with a little huff.
I had to do a double take to make sure Rick or Vinnie weren't throwing their voices. My idea about her using the glamouring thing and throwing on warmer clothes seemed highly plausible.
"Sorry, you know when someone sides with me on an issue that always puts them at the top of the list," I said, shrugging. "Usually you're right there agreeing, but you left the door open for s
omeone else."
"Fair weather friend," she said, buttoning up a huge baby blue parka. I was fairly certain the parka had one of her eight suitcases all to itself.
"I don't think so, maybe fair weather best friend, but we'll always be friends," I said with a grin.
"You're impossible sometimes, Avery. There was a time that wasn't the case and I'm starting to think Vinnie has something to do with it."
She couldn't very well say Nate, since she didn't know how much anyone had been informed about our personal situation, but I had a feeling he was who she really meant.
"I know. I do it on purpose to see if I can drive any of the testosterone away. So far nothing has worked. That must mean I have to try harder."
"So is everyone ready? I'd like to make it back before dark," Nate said, coming over and grabbing my hand, ending the conversation.
"As fun as this has been, you're right. The trip is about two hours each way. With time in the middle for the girls to look around the town, we're looking to be gone at least six hours. We should head over to the shed that holds our transportation. We're going to have to hook up a sled to a couple of them to be able to transport the supplies back, so that will add even more time," Kyle said.
With no objections, we headed towards their airport, where a large shed housed their snowmobiles. They were all bright red, so there wasn't really an option on color. If I stayed there longer, I would've tried to get a custom paint job done.
"Just to double check, because I know it will make you giggle, Avery, are you sure you don't want to ride on the back of someone else's?" Liam asked. "I'm not saying it has to be someone with your group. Being your new best friend, I'd love for you to share a snowmobile with me."
I laughed for the heck of it. "You know very well a statement like that isn't going to make me giggle, Liam. Thank you ever so much for double checking, but I think I'll stick to my own. And if you think Nate is really as laid back as he seems as far as guys messing with me goes, I can dig up a dead body to show you what he does to people with an unhealthy interest in me."
Liam's smiled didn't disappear as they rode the eight snowmobiles out of the shed and grabbed two sleds to attach to the backs of the berserkers'. Once they were attached, they retrieved a ton of gas cans and loaded them up on one.
"It's always a good idea to have extra fuel. You don't want to get stuck out here. We'll also fill up some empties while we're in the big city," Joseph explained. It made perfect sense to me. Of course, over half of the party was able to change shape and probably travel just as fast as the snowmobiles, so I didn't think anyone was going to be stuck.
Everyone mounted their designated snowmobile and we started heading northeast. I was extremely glad I dressed in layers, because the roughly two hour ride was bitterly cold. I loved feeling the wind in my face, as long as it was above sixty degrees. The wind chills running into me felt like they were in the negative teens.
It took forever for the barren land to provide glimpses of buildings, and I couldn't wait to get into the warm indoors for a while before I had to turn around and head right back. When we found Elizabeth, I was going to have to sit her down and explain we just weren't made for cold weather climates. I remembered that she could regulate her heat differently than me, so I guessed that wasn't exactly true. Oh well, I'd still have the sit down with her to hopefully ensure any future visits were to somewhere a little warmer.
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CHAPTER 11
Ready, set, wait for it