He Started It

He looks at me with so much scorn that I physically feel it. ‘I don’t work here, I own this lodge. And you idiots could wake the dead.’

‘Do you have zombies here?’ Portia says. ‘Or are they vampires? Because I’m pretty sure those are the only two dead things that can be woken –’

‘Out,’ he says. ‘Get out now.’

Eddie hears this, and sticks his head out of the car to say, ‘I’m not going anywhere until I find our grandfather.’

The man hesitates. ‘You’ve got five minutes to find him.’

‘I’m going to need our money back,’ I say.

He’s already walking away, waving in the direction of the office. I motion to Felix to get our money, and I tell him to keep his eye out for Krista. No idea where she is.

Portia puts her suitcase back together, a slow process given her condition. I look into the back of our SUV. It’s empty, and the tire cover is pulled up.

Something on the ground shines in the sun, catching my eye. It’s right by the back tire, not far from the suitcases, including Portia’s. And Eddie’s.

I pick it up and put it in my pocket.

‘You find anything?’ I call to Eddie. He’s rummaging around in the front.

‘No.’

I turn to Portia. She shrugs.

‘It’s not like anyone knew what we had,’ I say. ‘And Grandpa’s ashes aren’t worth anything to anyone but us.’

Eddie gets out of the car and leans against the bumper. ‘They’re worth a hell of a lot, though.’

‘Who’s going to know?’ Portia says. ‘Ashes are ashes. They all look the same.’

‘That’s a messed-up thing to say,’ Eddie says.

‘This is a messed-up thing we have to do.’

‘Grandpa was still pissed off,’ I say. ‘Until the day he died, he was pissed off at all of us.’

‘He was pissed?’ Portia says.

She’s right. We all have good reasons to be pissed off about that trip.

‘What if we really are being sabotaged on purpose?’ Portia says.

‘Why?’ Eddie says.

‘Because he was crazy? Because this is exactly the kind of sick game he would play?’

I think about this, though my brain isn’t moving as fast as it should. Someone else comes to mind, but it isn’t Grandpa.

‘You think he’s made this trip impossible for us,’ Eddie says.

‘Why not?’ Portia says. ‘Maybe he’s got people following us. Probably those guys in the truck.’

‘Maybe they’re being paid,’ I say.

Eddie looks up at us, like a light bulb just went off in his head. ‘You know, you might be right. Maybe Grandpa is having us followed to make sure we stay on track.’

‘And to screw with us,’ Portia says, rolling her eyes like it’s obvious.

Eddie thinks about it, nodding his head. ‘It’s possible.’

‘Duh,’ Portia says.

Eddie doesn’t respond to that. He walks off toward the office, leaving Portia and me alone.

It’s dark now, and there’s only one light in the Western Sun Lodge parking lot. The black dye on her hair has faded, lost its shine, and it looks like burnt charcoal. She looks down at the ground as she says, ‘You think Grandpa’s messing with us, don’t you?’

‘Not necessarily,’ I say.

She looks up. ‘No?’

‘There’s someone else it could be.’

Portia looks stunned, like she sees a ghost. Or is thinking about one.

‘No,’ she says. ‘It can’t be Nikki. I mean … no. That’s insane.’

Except it’s not.

Stealing the ashes is exactly the kind of thing Nikki would do. I know this because I know her better than anyone. Always have.

If you could be any animal, what would it be?

Right this second, I’d say a cheetah. That’s the fastest thing ever, and it has to be faster than this van. I swear sometimes it feels like a horse and buggy. Not that I’d really know what that’s like, but still. Slow.

But that’s not the ultimate animal I’d want to be. For that, it has to be a lion. Because who doesn’t want to be king of the jungle? It’d worry me if someone said anything other than a lion. And it has to be the male lion, too, because of the mane. I want the mane and I wish the female lions had it, too.

Everyone gets lions wrong, too. They always said the female lions hunt while the males just kick back and wait for their meal. When people went out to study lions, that’s what they saw – the females hunting while the males stayed back – so it had to be true. It’s not.

Once they got better cameras and better lenses and people started filming them from above, like from helicopters, they saw the male lions hunting, but only in the tall thick grass where they can stay hidden. Mom was the one who told me that, and then she said that nothing is ever what it seems.

After getting kicked out of the first motel, we end up at the Peak Valley Inn. Once again, Eddie pulls apart the car to look for the ashes, and he talks to himself the whole time.

‘… Checked into the motel … Left them in the car when we went back to the watchtower … No one brought them inside for the night …’

Crazy? Yes. But at least he isn’t yelling, and neither is Krista. She’s the first to disappear into a room. Portia starts to say something to Eddie, but I drag her away. She’s staying in our room tonight, and as soon as we get inside, she passes out on the bed. I don’t even get a chance to spray it with disinfectant.

‘Guess she’s not coming to dinner,’ Felix says.

‘I don’t think anyone is.’

It’s just us. We walk across the street, to a fast food–type place called Buffalo Burger, leaving Eddie in the parking lot mumbling to himself.

As Felix and I sit down with our buffalo burgers, twice-fried onion rings, and sodas, I realize this is our first meal alone since the trip began.

Felix chuckles. ‘Not much of a meal.’

‘Are you kidding? Look at this thing.’ I hold up my burger, which has a thick slab of meat and oily, melted cheddar cheese. ‘Now this is a buffalo burger.’

‘Only the best for my wife.’

The best, but not always the truth. It’s important to know the difference. If my family hadn’t played Risk so often, it would have taken me a lot longer to learn that.

Nikki was obsessed with Risk. Even after she discovered boys, she still wanted to play. One of the last times was just a few days before the road trip.

Mom, Dad, Nikki, Eddie, and I all played. Portia watched.

During the first half hour, Nikki took control of an entire continent. Eddie helped her. They had an alliance until they didn’t, because the next continent she went after was the one he needed.

‘You said Australia wasn’t your thing,’ he said.

‘Sue me.’

Nikki said that a lot. Sue me. Especially when we played Risk.

That night, Australia was her thing and she took it over quick – with my help, of course – because her goal was to wipe out Eddie.

Next, she came after me. It didn’t matter that I had helped her.