Walden Watterson shook off a four hour drive with clicking joints followed by an adroit adjustment of his collar. A phone call probably would have done it, but he had to be sure. He had to see the state of things with his own two eyes. He gripped the handle of the door before him and drew a couple deep breaths.
"Good morning, my darling daughter," said Walden Watterson, sauntering into the Phoenix co-operative site office in Bunnyburrow.
Lilith stood with a start, mouth agape, "Da- Mr Watterson, what are you doing here?"
"I'm fine thanks, how are you? Can't we just do the family thing once in a while?"
Lilith immediately went on the defense, barking "It's never without a pretext with you."
Walden sighed, saying with the most comforting tone his hoarse throat could manage "Sweetie, please. I was in the neighborhood."
Walden realized far too late from the immediate, silent, and icy glare that he had said the wrong thing - more than once.
"Are you deaf and stupid? In what world is the far end of a city two hundred miles away 'in the neighborhood?' You think you can just waltz in on a whim!"
Walden said nothing.
"The committee put you up to this, didn't they? Those old fools have no faith at all."
"Come now, that's not what this is," said Walden vainly.
"I took on this challenge with every intention of not only seeing it through, but doing it my way and showing those sour twats what I am capable of."
Walden stood to regard his daughter for a moment. In her eyes he saw a look of driven determination he'd missed sorely, for a very long time.
"You're just like her, you know," he said, subdued, "She saw right through me too."
"Funny that," remarked Lilith.
"That's why I came to tell you you're doing fine. They think I chose you out of some sort of spiteful favoritism," explained Walden, telling the truth and spinning a yarn in equal measures.
Lilith visibly gritted her teeth.
"I know, I know. Let them live their little fantasy. You don't have to prove yourself to them," he said, stepping closer and resting a comforting paw on her shoulder.
"But the facility, it's their capital behind it, they own it," said Lilith
Walden stifled his reaction, "Just get focus on the recovery. Remember, possession is nine tenths of the law."
Lilith stood straighter and smiled at her father, "You're right, Dad. This is her discovery - now our discovery."
"Do not be afraid to do what must be done."
"Of course. With that in mind, I have somewhere to be, catch up later?" asked Lilith.
"I would love to, but I'm expecting a call any moment to report on the situation - again. I've seen enough to sing your praises."
Lilith gave him a sharp nod and marched away, clipboard under one arm and pen behind one ear.
Walden stood and contemplated. The same vixen worked for her mother at the age of six to earn enough cash for her favorite toy after being denied it. Lilith fought for everything and earned it the hard way. This trait bore with it the desire to be the very best, for better or for worse.
That's why Walden never told her what happened to her mother. His wife. Eve Clawthorne-Watterson. He feared the lengths she'd go to for closure.
The terrain took on a sudden and distinct declination after cresting a craggy outcropping. The path had devolved from stony dirt to rough terraces hewn into the rocky slope. Though much flatter than the surrounding cliffs, the terraces made for a bumpy ride.
The windshield wipers swung full tilt, in the torrential downpour they swished wave after wave of water off in a bid to keep visibility up.
They didn't know it, but everyone thought the same thing. Despite the daunting conditions, they knew they had come too far to turn back now.
The car slid over a sharp bump, Judy had to grip the door panel to steady herself. "Road's getting pretty tight," she commented.
No reply came.
Isaac squinted at the path ahead. Sure enough, worse case scenario. He checked his speed and knew what'd come next.
"Everybody grab onto something!" yelled Isaac, straining to get his voice heard over the weather's din.
"What's the matter?" demanded the Major.
Judy sat up and peered through the windshield. She caught a glimpse of sheer cliff as the vehicle's wheels caught onto muddy gravel and lost traction.
"It's a slip! Don't fight it, cat. Guide us down the cliff!" ordered Pearce.
"I know, I know!" cried Isaac.
The car rocked and crunched as it bounced down the slope, knocking it's passengers around like stones in a bucket.
After a nightmarish slalom between trees and boulders, the slope levelled out and the car skidded across a washboard of slick rocks. With some strategic use of the brakes, Isaac managed to bring the vehicle to an awkward stop. The trailer followed, swinging on the towing linkage, delivering one last jolt to the occupants.
"Sound off," groaned Pearce.
"I'm okay," commented Judy.
Between shallow breaths Nick said "I'm feeling some serious regret, but I'm alive."
"And that's thanks to our driver, I suppose," remarked Pearce, gripping Isaac's shoulder.
Isaac stared forward, paws still wrapped tight around the wheel.
The Major grimaced and equipped his rifle, peering out the windscreen to check the horizon. As though it felt remorse, nature had eased it's meteorological assault on the recovery team, "No use sitting here twiddling our claws, get us back on the trail, Isaac."
Isaac blinked away his dazed expression and nodded sharply. The car ineffectually revved when he tried to get it moving again. Isaac tried again, and a third time, to no avail.
Pearce gave the clearing another scan and made ready to disembark saying "I'm checking the perimeter. Try your best to figure out what's wrong."
"Okay. I'll try my best," replied Isaac quietly.
The Major turned to the others, "Fox, I want you to keep an eye out. I won't be far so call out if you get spooked. Rabbit, I need you onpaw to assist our field mechanic if he needs it."
Judy and Nick each gave a curt nod, which Pearce promptly returned before slipping outside and vanishing into the undergrowth.
"We'd better get to work, folks," said Nick clambering out and adding, "at least it's not raining quite so hard."
"That's little consolation," remarked Isaac as he pulled the hood release and wandered to the front of the vehicle with Judy close behind.
Isaac clambered up and balanced on the front bumper to open the bonnet, Judy followed and put up the prop rod while the cat held it.
"Thank you, Ms Hopps," said Isaac as he lent in and tinkered with caps and seals.
"No problem, and just call me Judy, formality isn't much of a priority right now."
Isaac nodded, "Okay, Judy. Engine is fine, the mountings held up."
The two let the bonnet down and Isaac crouched beside the driver's door, "Can you get me a torch? Er, a flashlight, I mean," he asked.
Judy unstrapped the flashlight from her shoulder and passed it to the cat, who nodded gratefully and pulled himself under the vehicle. She quietly watched him, a look of hope glimmered until he shone the light at the vehicle's undercarriage, inciting him to grimace and wriggle out from under the car.
"Clutch is screwed. Frankly I'm surprised it's even still attached," explained Isaac, flatly.
"You don't exactly sound surprised," remarked Judy
"Truth is, I had it figured before we even got out. I just hoped I'd be wrong."
Nick approached and commented, "We better call roadside assistance assistance."
"Not an option," commanded Pearce, emerging from a crop of ferns with a determined expression. He asked Isaac about the condition of the vehicle.
"The part responsible for actually delivering torque to the wheels is not functioning. Unless one of you just happened to bring an entire clutch with you, we aren't going anywhere." reported Isaac.
"Okay private pessimist, If I could get you another clutch, could you fix it?" asked Pearce.
Regarding the three faces all expectantly waiting for his answer, Isaac gulped nervously. He delivered a more confident gaze to each one before affirming: "Yes, but it's got to be virtually identical."
"That's it then," said Pearce, explaining "Found a vantage point up a tree. Spotted our destination around a klick due West, the expedition car is there and from my view, looks intact."
"While we can't leave the valley until our vehicle is fixed, we ourselves are still in good shape. Even if we're going there on foot, we must find the expedition team first," said Judy.
"Correct. Recovery is still priority one, strap on your packs and we're oboe mike."
With packs on, Major Pearce took point and the others followed with Isaac taking up the rear, trudging tepidly. Before long, the group pushed into a clearing at a cliff edge overlooking a deeper region of the valley.
With a furtive glance this way and that, Pearce pointed, saying "Right there," and finding a path down the slope.
Isaac squinted to make out the shape of a vehicle through the dense mist. Catching a glimpse, he drew up his binoculars for a closer look.
Judy stopped to ask "What do you see?"
With a grin of renewed enthusiasm, Isaac described a gray car matching their own. The group started their descent with Pearce in front and Isaac taking up the rear with a bold gait.
Judy followed right behind the timberwolf with Nick behind her. She couldn't help being troubled by the look in Pearce's eyes. If she didn't know any better, she'd call it fear. She dropped back a couple paces and gave Nick a look.
"What is it, Carrots?" asked Nick, quieter than a mouse.
Nick had long ago figured out Judy could pick up his speech even at its lowest volume. In tandem with his own mastery of lip reading, the two could engage in almost undetectable conversations.
"He knows something we don't," mouthed Judy.
"He's a military officer, he knows a lot of things," replied Nick.
"Not what I meant. Something is bothering him, maybe even scaring him," she stressed.
Nick's brow furrowed as he gazed up at the timberwolf ahead. Instead of marching, Pearce edged forward, rifle drawn.
"You know what they say about fear," Nick started, before he heard Isaac plod up to join the interchange.
"Why are you talking so quietly? I could barely make out what you were saying!" Isaac chuckled.
Briefly clearing his throat, Nick explained "Judy just asked if I thought Liam knew how to stitch by paw and we thought he might be embarrassed if he heard us."
"Is something broken? Not to pat myself on the back, but I can hand sew so well I haven't had to buy a new pair of pants for two years," said Isaac, proudly.
"Quiet!" barked Pearce, glaring back at them while adding "eyes peeled and ears open, on your toes!"
The Major's stunned associates exchanged silent glances before following him again, wary of his latent temper.
"Yikes, I thought you were kidding," Isaac whispered.
As though he heard that last remark, Pearce snarled "Not one more word until we reach the site, I need complete focus."
Though prickly, Judy got the message loud and clear. Nick's half-finished sentence cleared up too. The same troublesome feelings felt before leaving the city now plagued the Major; fear of the unknown. All that considered, the agoraphobic state presented looked pretty bad coming from a military escort.
This only cemented her theory: He must know something she and Nick did not. So absorbed was she by her musings that she almost walked into the Major, who had stopped at the entrance to a clearing. Not quite tall enough, the thick underbrush concealed everything but a hundred foot cliff face cropped with scraggly trees and shrubs.
Pearce gave no clues to what lay before them, flatly saying "This is it. Let's get to work."
End Notes
So good to get back into this! I'm loving having two different things going on here, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off like in the last book. Did you know there was a previous book? Just saying. It exists.
I'd like to thank all you readers, please tell me if my standards slip even by the littlest margin. This may be a hobby, but I still want to put my best foot forward.