"No sign of them. I think you totaled their
bikes," she said with a smile.
"Just keep-going," Raven gasped. "Don't slow
down too much," she begged.
I didn't. We drove on, no one speaking, only the
sounds of Butterfly's sobs and our heavy breathing
filling the air.
"Butterfly, it's okay, we're fine," Crystal said as
she put her arm around Butterfly and started to
comfort her.
"You better watch the map and the road,
Crystal. We can't afford mistakes now," I said. "This exit," she said. "It's about twenty-five
miles to 1-287. Watch for that."
When it came up, I made the right turns and we
were heading southwest. Crystal directed us to
another highway and then we were going west toward
Pennsylvania. There was no sign of the bikers. I was
confident enough to sit back and relax, but Crystal
was worried about Butterfly. I could see it in her face
when I looked in the rearview mirror. Instinctively, I
pulled off the road at the next rest stop and we all took
a deep breath. Butterfly looked like she could go
catatonic on us at any moment.
"We need it," Crystal said. I looked at Raven
and she nodded. The two of us got into the back seat
alongside them and we put our heads together. "We're sisters. We'll always be sisters . ." We
chanted and held each other and after a few moments,
it was as if the tension rose out of our bodies and
floated away.
Then we sat back.