Chapter Seventeen: Surprising Jerry

Things flowed smoothly and quickly after the initial argument between Emily and her mother. Brockton had – surprisingly – taken her side and agreed that she should go to Antarctica, and eventually Mrs. Hawkins reconciled herself to the fact that Emily was leaving no matter what. Both helped Emily pack and Brockton even volunteered to drive her to the airport so that she wouldn't have to leave her car there. She spent the night in the motel across from the airport and woke up early to enjoy a light breakfast and to arrange her luggage how she wanted it. When she entered the terminal at ten thirty, she found Katie, Cooper, and Dr. McLaren waiting for her. They exchanged hugs all around and hurried to get on the plane.

Now, as she stepped out of the Christchurch airport into the brisk New Zealand air, Emily paused to take a deep, refreshing breath, feeling the cold air clear her lungs and tasting the tang of seawater on her tongue. Katie came up behind her. "I always miss New Zealand when I go home," Emily murmured so only her friend could hear. "I wish I could live here forever."

"Mm-hmm," Katie murmured agreeably. She slipped her arm through Emily's and glanced at Dr. McLaren and Cooper. "C'mon guys, let's find Jerry."

They wandered around Christchurch for an hour, poking into various bars and hotels, asking anyone if they'd met an American looking for passage to Antarctica. They met with little success, hearing once from a fisherman who had been approached by Jerry but the old man didn't know where Jerry went after he'd refused his request. There were similar stories from the other local fishermen, but none of them knew what had happened to Jerry after they'd turned him away. Emily felt a pang of sympathy for her longtime friend, knowing it must have been very hard for him to be turned away so many times. She could imagine his discouragement and the feeling intensified her determination to find him and give him the surprise of his life.

They approached a little bar near a shabby wharf, where countless beat-up fishing boats were shored for the winter season. The place looked so uninviting that Katie wrinkled her nose and made a move to go on. "I think we should check in here," Emily said, halting her friend's retreat with a hand on her arm. "We've looked everywhere else and I don't think Jerry has the kind of money to be hanging out in the ritzier places we've scoped out."

"Whoop-dee-do," Charlie muttered under his breath. "Just our luck, he'll be in there, too."

Emily took a steadying breath – she never drank and hated bars of any kind – and pulled open the door. Warm air billowed out to greet them, carrying with it the sickly sweet smell of liquor and cigarette smoke. The place was cheerier than she'd anticipated, and attractively decorated, despite its forbidding outward appearance. A barmaid waved a welcome and wordlessly indicated four empty stools at the bar.

"Fan out," Dr. McLaren instructed, "and keep an eye out for Jerry."

"No need," Cooper responded immediately, "He's right there." Katie, Emily and Davis followed the direction of his finger as he pointed to a blonde-haired man in a blue fleece windbreaker talking intently to a weathered old fisherman. "Looks like he hasn't given up yet," he remarked with admiration.

"Of course not," Katie said quietly, her dark eyes fastened on the back of Jerry's head, "He loves those dogs more than anything and he'll never give up on them."

Emily watched her friend out of the corner of her eye, easily reading the pain behind Katie's words. A movement near Jerry caught her attention, however and she glanced over at Jerry's table in order to see the last person she ever expected to see. Bryan Rice carried a couple of drinks over from the bar and set them down in front of Jerry and the fisherman before seating himself beside Jerry.

"Come on, Em," Katie murmured in her ear, breaking through Emily's astonishment and pulling her gently toward the bar. Dr. McLaren faded back into another area of the room, while Cooper took up a seat several people away from where they sat.

"What now?" Emily asked.

She received only a cryptic smile in return. Katie turned to address the barmaid. "Could I get a lemon-lime Fresca, please?"

The barmaid gave her a puzzled glance, but nodded and went into a back room. She returned a moment later with an ice-cold bottle of Katie's requested drink. "That'll be two American dollars," she said, setting the bottle in front of them.

Katie passed the amount over the counter. "Thank you," she said graciously, "Would you mind taking this to that man in the blue coat over there? Tell him I bought him a drink."

The barmaid again gave them a puzzled glance, while Emily regarded her friend with a mixture of amusement and consternation. As the girl walked over to Jerry's table with the Fresca, Emily leaned in and asked, "How on earth is that going to get his attention?"

Katie grinned. "For one thing, Jerry's bound to look for the woman who bought him a drink, and for another, we have a little inside joke about the Fresca. He'll know, but he won't believe until he sees us."

Behind them, they heard the barmaid approach Jerry. "Excuse me sir, the lady at the bar bought you a drink."

"Turn around," Katie whispered quickly and spun the barstool to face the rest of the room, where Jerry could see her. Emily followed suit and saw him gaping, dumbfounded, at them. He jumped up and crossed the room, pulling Katie into a fierce hug and pulling out the stool beside her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in amazement.

She cast a casual glance around the room. "There're plenty of people looking for a cheap ride out of here. And you know me, I'm always cheap on the off-season."

"Yeah?" he asked, ineffectively masking his pleasure. He leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek. He then cast his eye over Emily. "And you!" he kissed her cheek as well and pointed to Katie. "Are you with her? Did you two come alone?"

"Not alone," a Cooper's voice replied as he leaned back to grin like a Cheshire Cat.

"What the…?" Jerry asked, trailing off as his voice expressed his disbelief. He took a defiant stance, hands on his waist. "All right, what's going on? What kind of mission is this?"

"Uh, that'd be NSF," Davis McLaren supplied, leaning around the column against which he'd been leaning. Jerry's eyes widened in surprise, prompting a broad smile from the scientist. He adopted an innocent, teasing tone. "You know, I had a trip that was cut short. Had a couple of weeks of grant money left and figured I'd use it."

Jerry scoffed. "I don't believe this." His grin lit his entire face, belying his disbelief and Emily thought she could see the barest mistiness in his eyes.

During this exchange, Bryan Rice had also come up, standing silently behind Jerry and watching the proceedings with a small smile. Emily sent him a questioning glance, but he shrugged and shook his head, indicating that he didn't wish to talk.

Jerry drew her attention back to him again as he threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he whispered in her ear. She laughed and hugged him back, thrilled to see him so happy.

"Well?" Davis asked. "Are you packed and ready to go?"

"You know me, I'm always packed," Jerry replied.

Davis shrugged his shoulders. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Jerry laughed, pulling Katie against his side and kissing the top of her head and extending his other arm for Emily to take, while Cooper and Bryan took up the rear as they filed outside.

Author's Note: There you go! It's kind of true to the canon, but I did this purely from memory so it's not perfect. Don't forget to review!