Chapter Six

He found her standing beside his father's grave. Her waist length brunette waves were caked with dirt, but still blew as the wind swept by. She had on a beige diego that was stained with dust and dirt. The gray spandex shirt she wore was muddy and had rips in the knees where she had fallen numerous times. Then her black hiking boots looked like they were trashed from all the damage they had been through in the past twenty-four hours.

When she heard his footsteps draw closer she faced him and even with all the dirt, torn clothing, and matted hair Sean thought she was the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on.

"Hey," Emmie whispered delicately as he stopped a short distance away from her. She held out her hand and he looked at her unsurely. But she raised it higher and he hesitantly let his callused fingers wrap around her own mud stained hands.

They were silent for a few moments just staring out at the ocean. The heat had definitely picked up in the last few hours. Sweat was dripping down Sean's neck and he suddenly felt very self-conscious. He eyed the petite girl beside him carefully.

"I don't know you well," she broke the silence boldly. She met her gray eyes with his. "But your dad would be proud of you."

His lips twitched into a small grin, "Thanks."

"How old are you Sean?"

"Fifteen..." Sean realized that what Emmie said was true. After all they had been through they hardly knew one another. He didn't know her age. Her favorite color. What kind of music she listened to. If she had a boyfriend. "What about you?"

Emmie smirked over at him, "Guess."

"Fifteen?" he asked hopefully. She shook her head. There was no way she was younger than him she was too mature and, well, endowed. Although, they did say girls matured faster than boys. "Sixteen?"

"Seventeen," she interjected with a wink. "I've got two years on you buddy."

"Really?" Maybe she likes younger guys... well he hoped she did. After all, he was cougar meat. That's what he told himself anyway.

"Yep!"

"So... do you have a boyfriend?"

She barked a laugh, "You are really bad at this kind of thing aren't you?"

"What thing?" a scowl made it's way over his face.

"So, Hannah, come here often?" she jeered referring to earlier that morning while they were climbing down the giant hole. "And no, I don't have a boyfriend."

A blush tinted his cheeks, "That's... cool."

"Yeah, good job at beating around the bush," Emmie gave him a dimpled smile. "But, it's kind of adorable. Not to mention you are cute in general so it works for you."

"You think I'm cute?" Sean asked trying to keep the hopeful sound out of his voice.

She rocked on the heels of her feet, "Uh-huh."

"Oh," Sean turned beat red as he stuttered out, "You are really cute too."

Giggling, she stood on the tips of her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek, "Thanks."

If possible he turned even more red. Emmie chuckled as she turned away from him and started heading back up the beach, "How about we head back to the tree house and catch some shut eye, stud?"

Entering the tree house, they found Trevor and Hannah munching on some of the protein bars. A portion of each was on the table for the two teens who ate them hungrily without even a thanks.

"You should take the hammock," Sean scratched the back of his head as he eyed the comfortable hanging fabric. He had been lying on it before he had went to find Emmie and knew how nice it felt.

"No," Emmie shook her head forcibly. "It's yours."

"I think you should have it..."

The girl stepped closer to Sean and looked up at him carefully, "It was your dads hammock. I think you should sleep in it. It's not my place."

His eyes widened at her statement. That's when he noted how much he really wanted to lay there. To feel that his dad was there with him. Even if it was just something silly like a hammock... he felt a tiny bit closer to the man he wish he had met.

Smiling, she turned away from him and started to situate some leaves they had gathered on the floor. It was better than sleeping on the hard wood of the tree by itself...

Something was touching her. She swatted a hand out to smack it away, but it seemed to tickle her even more. Slowly, Emmie opened her gray eyes and before she knew it she was producing a very loud shriek.

She rolled onto her butt and started to back away from the bug-like creature by her head. It was crawling all over the floor looking for something. Apparently her.

"Someone kill it! Kill it!"

Her shouts stirred everyone awake. Trevor was the first to react and picked up some sort of club and smashed it onto the poor bugs head. It splattered it's guts all over the floor and Emmie gagged at the gooey substance.

"Ewe," Emmie dragged out with a strangled cry of disgust. "It was crawling all over me!"

"That would be a trilobite," Trevor poked the bug on the floor. "We should probably cook the insides. It is a good source of protein."

"You expect me to eat that?" she scoffed.

Trevor nodded, "If you want to live, yes."

"I'd rather die."

Hannah laughed, "You sounded like you were dying."

"It was going to eat me!" she shrieked. With a moan she ran her hand over her face. "I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I need to use the bathroom, and I smell like crap with no toothbrush."

"I'm sorry princess," her mother chuckled with an amused expression. "How about you and I head down to the ocean and attempt to clean ourselves up a bit while Trevor here cooks this.. bug."

"I'm not eating that..." Emmie grumbled shooting Trevor a glare.

"Emmie is not a morning person," Hannah said in an apologetic tone. "Once she wakes up she will be back to her normal self."

The teen rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Can we go? I feel disgusting."

Sean watched as the two women exited the tree. He looked down at the dead squished bug still half asleep. He honestly had no idea what was going on at the moment he was so physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

"You alright there kiddo?"

He looked at his uncle, "What?"

"When the girls get back we are going to clean ourselves up and start on that raft, alright?" Trevor informed with a small grin. Sean didn't even look like he understood anything that was happening.

"Yeah sure..."

As Hannah and Emmie returned Sean noted that both of them had cut their spandex pants into shorts. Emmie's significantly shorter than her mothers. A plate of trilobite was on the table for both of them.

Emmie glanced at Sean who had a grimace on his face as he slowly ate his own bug. She stared at the meal for a good minute debating chucking it at the back of Trevor's head for actually thinking she would eat this, or just eating it.

"Sweetie," Hannah said gently patting her daughters hand. "I know it sounds terrible, but you should eat it."

She gulped. Unhappily she stuck a small bit in her mouth and tried not to spit it out. When she finished swallowing the first bite the idea of chucking the seashell that held the bug meat became even more prominent.

"Did you eat any Trevor?" Emmie asked angrily.

He tried to smile at the irritable female, "Yes."

"Huh," she scoffed pushing the plate away from her. "I think I will take my chances with poisonous fruit. Or catch a fish."

Hannah bit back her laughter. This was the American bratty daughter she was used to. It was quite amusing that she was returning to her normal habits.

"I'd like to see you catch a fish," Sean muttered giving her a small glare. She was being quite annoying this morning.

"Don't worry!" standing up she gave them her chin. "I will!"

Sean watched her leave with raised brows, "I didn't think she would really go."

"She's a stubborn one," Hannah shook her head trying not to gag on the bug herself.

"I noticed..." Sean muttered. Although, last nights events came across his brain and he grinned to himself. The way she had leant up on the tips of her toes and kissed his rosy cheeks... the taste of trilobite was enough to replace his happiness with a scowl.

Emmie was found awhile later holding a fish in her hands. An extremely large fish. A grin was stretched across her face and she looked so proud Sean really wanted to roll his eyes, but discovered he was more amused by her cockiness.

She dropped it at Trevor's feet, who was tying some long grass together with some of Hannah's rope, "Fish!"

Trevor looked up at her, "I see."

"I'm hungry," she placed her hands on her hips staring at him sternly.

"Well," Trevor averted his gaze and started at the task at hand. "Cook it."

She scoffed, "I don't know how to cook a fish!"

"You just gut it-"

"Ewe!" she shook her head. "No way. That's a mans job."

Sean sniggered at the look of pure irritation crossed his uncle's features, "I'll do it for you..."

Emmie clapped, "Yay!"

Uselessly, at least in Trevor's eyes, Emmie sat on the beach munching on her fish. He sure hopped it wasn't poisonous because he didn't want to deal with a sick teenager on top of all this other stuff he had to deal with at the moment.

After she finished she became slightly more helpful. She helped gather long grass and tied them together. Sean smiled as she kept muttering quiet curses to herself and little "ouches" every time something poked her. It seemed to happen frequently too.

The temperatures were rising extremely quickly. After a few hours of working on the raft the heat had reached one hundred degrees. However, they had finished the base of the raft and were now working on all the other pieces that were needed.

The four were drenched in sweat from head to toe and their breaths becoming raspy from all their hard work. Trevor sat back on his feet and sighed, "Alright. I'm going to get a drink and take a rest. We still have over twenty hours to get this done."

Hannah wiped her brow, "Yeah, me too."

"I'm just going to finish this up," Emmie said as she tightened the rope around a stack of the thick grass. "I'll be to the three house in a bit."

"I'll help," offered Sean. He sat next to her and started to help tie the opposite end.

Trevor shrugged at Hannah and they both started back for the tree house. There was a short awkward silence where the two teenagers focused on their work.

"So..."

Emmie gave him a dimpled grin, "So..."

"Where do you live in the states exactly?" he asked after he thought about what he wanted to talk to her about. Honestly, he didn't care much about the conversation as long as she was saying something to him.

"My grandparents like to 'state bounce,' as I like to call it. But right now we are living in Kentucky. I don't like it there though."

"You should move to Canada," Sean looked at her with a grin.

"I thought you lived in New York?"

He frowned, "Mom wants to move to Canada."

"Canada is nice," she encouraged at his sour face. "I've been there a few times with my dad. We love it there."

"Really?"

She nodded her head for affect, "And you can have all the special brownies you want!"

"I don't want special brownies..." he scrunched his nose and she laughed at his expression. "Your dad travels right?"

"Yeah, he's a German explorer. Not a scientist like your uncle."

"Oh."

"He met my mom because he wanted to hike up the mountains. They were gone for a week I believe, just exploring together. That was when I was conceived," Emmie cocked her head to the side looking at Sean thoughtfully. Maybe she was just like her mom. Always falling for the adventurous boys. "She always tells me how handsome he was and how stupid she had been."

"Well, she had you so it wasn't a stupid decision," he looked at her with a grin.

"I guess," she sighed leaning back on the palms of her hands after they finished tying everything down.

"Your mother is as Icelandic mountain guide, your father a German explorer," Sean listed off. "And your grandparents are state bouncers in America."

"Not to mention my Gramps was a Volcanic scientist whom thought Journey to the Center of the Earth was real..." Emmie looked at her surroundings. "And he was right."

"I can't believe we are here right now," Sean let himself lay down so he starting up at the large gas combustion in the bright sky. "Just a few days ago I was complaining to my mom how I didn't want to see Trevor. I was really rude to him."

"Why?"

"I haven't seen him since I was seven..." he shrugged. "When my dad disappeared he was kind of like my father figure. Then he stopped showing up."

Emmie rolled onto her side so that she was somewhat hovering over him, "Maybe he is just really bad with kids."

"Maybe?" Sean laughed. "Definitely."

"Do you still resent him?"

"No..." he locked eyes with her. "I understand him more now. He just... missed his brother and didn't know how to be not miserable with his life."

"Trevor is a great guy. And cute."

Sean scowled, "Cute?"

"Yeah," Emmie giggled at the jealous expression. "You both look alike."

"You think my old uncle is cute?"

"He's not old. He's mature, handsome, and muscular," she winked a gray eye.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position, "Seriously?"

"I like older men."

There went Sean's theory. He swore she must have liked him because he was cougar meat.

"Well, your mom is hot," Sean snipped.

Emmie bit her lip to hold back the laughter she felt bubbling in her chest, "I know."

"Well..." he looked frustrated as he tried to find something to say to her.

"How about we go get something to drink, you look flushed."

The younger boy rolled his eyes, "Fine."

Trudging back towards the tree house, Emmie had a cocky grin on her lips while Sean looked like he had just downed a gallon of sour milk.

Hannah looked at Sean questionably as he entered, "Are you alright Sean?"

"Peachy," Sean shot Emmie a glare.

Rolling her eyes she laughed, "He's just jealous."

"Am not!" he retorted.

"Don't listen to him, he is."

"What am I jealous of?"

"Me," she flipped her hair. "And other things."

He stomped over to the hammock and flopped upon it. Hannah gave her daughter a disappointed expression why Trevor just read that little journal not even paying attention to the argument going around him.