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A Fable of Fidelities and Fresh Starts (featuring Facebook)
Chapter Three: Road Trip
~#~
Anna strode out of Oaken's cabin with a confidence she didn't necessarily feel and straight towards the grey pickup parked next to the furthest gas pump.
The music could be heard as soon as she exited the shop, a light strumming on an acoustic guitar, but as she neared she could make out soft singing. The man was sat in the back of his truck singing to his dog and... Was he doing the "dog's part" of the duet himself, but in a gruffer voice? She bit back a smile.
"Nice duet," she said when she was close enough to be heard.
The man jumped, clutched a fist to his chest, dropping his guitar in the process. The dog stood up to see who it was over the side.
"Oh, it's just you," the man said immediately relaxing. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Again. Just like he done in the cabin. He sure was the suspicious type. "What do you want?"
"I..." Her voice felt unsure and wavery in her throat. "I want you to take me up the North Mountain."
His eyes narrowed further and then he threw himself backwards onto a pile of blankets, dropping his hat forward to cover his eyes. "I don't take people places," he said with finality.
Anna frowned. She gripped the bottle of engine oil tightly in her fingers. That's not the right answer. Was he ignoring her? Was he just going to go to sleep?! Without further thought she threw the bottle of oil at him.
"Let me rephrase."
The bottle landed heavily on his stomach and he sat up with an "Oof!".
"Oo, sorry! Sorry!" she automatically flustered an apology but quickly regained her authoritative stance, folding her arms over her chest. "Take me up the North Mountain."
The man picked up the bottle gingerly and looked at it as if it was a deadly snake. Then he looked back at her. He was intrigued now and Anna felt a rush of victory.
"I don't have enough gas to get us there," he said.
"No, it's OK!" she chirped brightly. "I've got that too!"
She bounced round to the side of his truck and found the fuel cap. She fingered it, trying to prise it open, to twist it.
"How does this thing work?" she muttered.
"You need a key," she heard the man say. Looking up she saw his arm outstretched towards her, keys dangling from his fingers. He was looking at her weirdly. Anna grabbed the keys with a snap of her fist and immediately got to work undoing the fuel cap and filling the truck with gas.
He watched her for a moment, before laying back against the blankets, picking up the fallen hat and placing it back over his eyes. "We leave at dawn," he said. "You can sleep in the car. And you forgot Sven's jerky by the way."
Oh, right.
Anna dug her free hand, that wasn't holding the gas nozzle, into the pocket of her new parka jacket and found the packs of meat. She flung them at the man. This time they hit him in the face.
"Oof!" he exclaimed, sitting up again, his hat slipping off. He rubbed his face and shot a glare at her.
"Sorry! Sorry!" she quickly apologised, before hardening again. She lowered her brow, all serious and businesslike. "We leave now. Right now."
The dog, Sven she guessed, had perked up enormously at the sight of the packed treats and he was bouncing around, jumping on his owner, licking his face. The man didn't take his curious eyes from her, even as he scratched the fur behind the ears of his mutt.
~#~
Two hours later and the weather was turning for the worse. It had been cold at the service station but it was steadily getting towards freezing, snow had started to fall, drifting lazily and sporadically through the night sky after just an hour, but it was nearing blizzard like conditions now.
It was nice to not be driving, Anna thought happily. She snuggled back into the musty fabric covered chair and looked out the window to the swirling white storm outside. She was starting to feel sleepy. Kristoff, as she had learned the man's name to be, was not much of a talker so the majority of the conversation had been pretty one-sided thus far.
"So your dog's name is Sven?"
"Yes."
"How old is he?"
"Ten."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-one."
"Are you in college?"
"Yes."
"In Arendelle?"
"Yes."
"Me too! Are you a senior?"
"Junior."
"I'm a freshman. I haven't chosen my major yet. But it will probably be something business related so I can help with my dad's company. What's your major?"
"Agriculture."
"Oo that sounds interesting! Is it?"
"Yes."
After a good while of putting up with his perfunctory answers, Anna got bored.
"Do you want to play a game?"
"Not really." But she saw a hint of a smile so she grinned and pushed.
"Come on! We can play Eye Spy. Or Who Am I?"
"What's that?"
"I have to think of a person and you can ask me questions where the answers can only be yes or no until you guess who I am thinking of."
…
"OK."
Anna squealed in delight, but after twenty frustrating minutes he wasn't anywhere near guessing so she just blurted out. "I'm Jennifer Lawrence of course!"
"Who's that?"
"Jennifer Lawrence?! You're kidding me. She won an oscar! She was in The Hunger Games?"
"The what?"
"The Hunger Games! It's – Oh forget it." She huffed and threw herself back into the seat, arms folded, bottom lip stuck out in a pout.
This guy was hopeless. How did he not even know what the Hunger Games was? Still he was driving her where she needed to go, and he was kind of cute. His hair was lovely under that beanie, thick and blonde. His nose was broad and prominent which suited his face well, offset by a strong jaw and nice, warm eyes that had this perpetual glint of amusement in them like everything she did was somewhat funny to him. Somewhat attractive, she'd admit.
She sat up, undid her seatbelt, and turned to reach into the back for her bag. It was next to Sven, who was lying across the back seat. The dog raised his head slightly in interest, and one eyebrow with it. Anna smiled and patted him on the head before unzipping her bag and rooting out her fleece blanket.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kristoff asked.
"Just getting snuggly," Anna said, righting herself and belting up again.
She pulled the blanket tight around her and nestled into the chair. She fidgeted. She couldn't get quite comfy enough. She fidgeted again. Her legs were cramped. She lifted her feet and placed them on the dashboard. There, much better.
"Woah, woah woah!" Kristoff exclaimed, pushing her legs back down hastily. "Get your feet down. I've just had it cleaned."
Anna rolled her eyes. The truck was hardly pristine. And there was a dog getting it's fur all over the back seat. But whatever.
After a moment of silence, not uncomfortable because silence seemed to be the norm for him at least, he spoke up.
"So, why did your sister disappear anyway?" he asked. The unexpectedness of him actually starting a conversation threw her for a second.
"Oh. Well, see, she left a note. She said she wanted to find happiness. That, get this, if Anna thinks she's found happiness," she put on a snarky, high-pitched, unflattering interpretation of her sister's voice for that. "Then why couldn't she, or something."
"Isn't she happy?"
"I don't know. I guess not. She's in her room working, like, all the time. But that's her choice. She could have come out at any time. I wasn't the one to shut her in there. I wanted her out. I wanted to hang out and be friends but she..." Anna drifted off. "I guess she didn't want me."
There was silence again. It was more loaded this time, Anna with her thoughts, Kristoff focused so hard on the road he looked almost angry at it.
"Are you sure it's a good idea following her? Most times when people run away it's because they want to be alone," he said, not unkindly.
Anna sighed, shifting the blanket around her. "I don't know. But I want to be there for her. I want to help. If what I did is the reason she's up and left I need to be the one to go and find her. Talk to her."
"What did you do?" Kristoff asked in monotone, shifting his eyes from the road to her questioningly. He made it sound like she had done something stupid, for Christ's sake. He didn't even know her!
"I met this guy, and he's amazing by the way, and he, well, he moved in with me."
"She doesn't like him?"
"No, she's never even met him! I've only really known him a week."
Kristoff blinked. His mouth opened to say something but he shook his head and snapped it shut. He blinked again.
"You moved in with a guy you've only known a week?" he eventually asked warily.
"Yeah," Anna confirmed with a nod. "So I guess that's what it is. I think she's jealous because, you know, we've got this unbelievable relationship and she's-"
"Hang on!" he interrupted. "You mean to tell me you moved in with some random guy you've only known a week?!" he exploded.
"Yes, pay attention. And Hans is anything but random." Anna rolled her eyes. "But see, Elsa's never even had a friend as far as I know, except me, oh and Olaf, but that was when we were kids-"
"Didn't your parents ever warn you about strangers?" Kristoff asked incredulously.
Anna glanced at him. The man whose car she was riding in in the dead of night, in the middle nowhere. She edged slightly away from him, her side hitting the door handle.
"Yes," she muttered doubtfully. "Yes, they did."
Kristoff noted her movement and gave her a dry look before giving the road his full attention once more.
"But Hans is not a stranger," she added defensively.
"Oh yeah?" Kristoff drawled drolly. "Do you even know his last name?"
"Sutherland," she answered immediately. See!
"What's his favourite food?"
"Sandwiches," she said, not quite as confidently. She'd made him sandwiches, he seemed to like them.
"Best friend's name?"
"John...I think," she partly guessed. There was a John right?
"Eye colour?"
Green? She wanted to say green but now she was doubting herself. Were they blue? Whatever they were they were definitely "Dreamy," she said, her recollection of them making her voice go all mushy.
Kristoff smirked, as if that had proven his point.
"We have a lot in common!" Anna snapped, not exactly sure why she had to prove anything to him but she did.
"Like what?"
"Well, we both like karaoke for one. That was how we first met, at a party, and we just clicked. You know how they say some people can just click? And then there was karaoke and we did this duet. He has a lovely voice. And it was just...true love." She grinned sappily. It had been like a fairy-tale.
"And...?" Kristoff's question snapped her out of her nostalgia and she realised that neither had spoken for at least a minute.
"And what?"
"You both like humiliating yourselves in public. So you ask him to move in? There must be more to it than that." He was utterly amused and he wasn't even trying to hide it.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," she snapped stubbornly.
~#~
She must have drifted off. Her eyes flew open as the truck jolted suddenly. She cast her eyes around in confusion.
"What time is it?" she asked, her voice thick, a yawn threatening to escape the confines of her throat.
"About 11," Kristoff said shortly. He glanced into his rear view mirror quickly before focusing ahead again. He seemed perturbed. "Are you buckled up?"
Anna scrambled for the seat belt clasp. "Yes," she confirmed.
She frowned. Looking out the window she could see the snow falling so fast it was almost a blanket, but beyond that she could just make out the shadows of trees whipping by.
"Why are we going so fast?"
There was a whine from the back seat, as if Sven wanted an answer to that too.
"Bikers," Kristoff said through gritted teeth. His eyes darted to the rear view mirror again.
Anna looked at her wing mirror and saw the tell-tale headlamps reflected.
"What do they want?" she asked.
"Nothing good," Kristoff said. "I think it's the guys from my school."
"So, why don't we pull over and talk to them?" Anna asked. How was speeding down a mountain road in icy conditions the solution?
"That's not a good idea. I know what they'll do to me. I don't want to imagine what they'd do to you," he said pointedly. His eyes showed his seriousness and Anna shivered and shut up.
With jaw locked Kristoff focused only on the road with determination. Anna felt helpless as they weaved. Minutes passed and still the bikes followed, nipping at their heels. Did they even have enough gas to outrun them? Probably, her brain assured. It's a truck and they're only piddly little bikes. Except they weren't piddly. One managed to pull forward alongside them and the bike was huge. It was a beast, all black and shiny and massive. The rider had a helmet on so she couldn't see his face but she could see how he only held on to the handlebar with one hand while the other one wielded a bat. It thunked down on the side of the truck and the bike immediately fell behind again.
We have to lose them, Anna thought. And then, like a woman possessed, she had an idea.
She unbuckled her seat belt, met with an appalled "What are you doing? Belt up!"which she ignored. She reached into the back seat and dug into her bag, grabbing a few things, before sitting forward again, the pile of items in her lap. She began to wind down her window.
"Belt up!" Kristoff ordered again, more panicked this time, and she obeyed, partly to keep him happy, partly because it was sensible.
She continued to roll down the window. It had been unbelievably chilly inside the car but outside it was freezing, she could feel the sting of it on her cheeks straight away.
She bobbed her head out the window and squinted through the snowfall behind to see five motorbikes just behind them. Two of the riders were wielding bats. She quickly grabbed the first item that came to hand and chucked it. Hit. It landed directly in front of one of the bikes and the rider swerved to avoid it, plowing into a snowbank on the side of the road.
"Oo!" Anna winced. "I hope he's OK."
Kristoff glanced in his rear view mirror. His eyebrows raised and then he smiled. "He's OK. He's getting up already."
Anna threw a few more objects, her hair straightener, a couple of her textbooks. The riders managed to steer around them but after she chucked Ducky Duckling they must have decided it was more trouble than it was worth. Three of them slowed down and changed direction. One determined rider continued on though.
"Good going," Kristoff grinned. Anna beamed at his praise. "Now, hold on, while I lose this jerk."
He couldn't speed up any more, he was already going full throttle, but he swerved a little on the road, as if that would somehow confuse the biker. Suddenly he took a left turn up a gravelly path that wound into the woods. The biker realised a little too late and passed right by it.
"How did you know?" Anna asked.
"I grew up around here," Kristoff explained. And then after a moment, "Is he still following?"
Anna swivelled in her seat to look out the back window. There was nothing but darkness but, wait, a light suddenly swung into view and began chasing them up the hill.
"Yes," she said.
"Hold on." He leaned into it, pushing the truck forward with everything it had. The road was bumpy and they were thrown about inside. But so too, probably, was the biker.
A right turn and they were headed back down the hill toward the main road again. They landed on its smooth surface and picked up speed again. But only for a moment.
All of a sudden the world spun, the truck spun, Anna screamed, there was a large painful jolt and she found her face pressed into a soft but sturdy white pillow.
After a befuddling moment, she tried to raise her head. Her neck ached something fierce.
The loud purring of a motorbike could be heard outside. It hovered for a moment and then it was off, retreating quickly from the car crash.
Notes
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So I know, from researching, that beef jerky is actually quite bad for dogs but up until they realised this a few years back it was quite a common treat, and I needed something easily obtainable for Sven to lust after. So roll with it! ;). Beef jerky it is.
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