7. Born to Be Wild
It is already mid-afternoon by the time they actually make it to State Road 101, headed north out of Forks and east towards Port Angeles. That wasn't entirely accidental, according to Leah. She knew it would be difficult for them to travel by day. "We can sleep in truck stops when the sun's out," she tells Jasper and Edward. "I'm afraid it's gonna be sunny more often than not where we're going."
"Where are we going?" Jasper asks.
She makes a tut-tut noise. "That'd be telling, Old Man. Oh, and I noticed somebody packed tents in the trunk. And a guitar. So I guess we can camp if we need to."
Jasper shakes his head. "That would be Alice. She might not be able to see everything with you and Seth involved, but she could see enough around the edges."
"Must be handy, having a precog."
"Or just annoying," Edward says, eying her as if he didn't expect her to know the word "precog." Jasper has learned not to underestimate Leah Clearwater. Her mind reflects her family name -- clear and pure, however much she might like to pretend to bitter black cynicism. He knows she's been hurt, but he's seen so many driven to much greater ruin that he finds it hard not to smile at her youthful ennui. He must remind himself that it still hurts.
Edward has pulled out his car-tuner and is busy finding a channel for his iPod. This old Mustang has no jack for Twenty-First Century technology, unlike Edward's Volvo. Jasper likes that; it's old and outdated, like him. Edward gets his iPod connected and strains of Chopin fill the vehicle.
"Man, we are not listening to that shit all the way to --" Leah slaps a hand over Seth's mouth.
Edward is glowering over his shoulder into the back seat, but there is something light in it. He's in a good mood these days -- mostly -- and since he and Seth fought together to overcome Victoria, Edward has developed a fondness for the boy. Seth gets an automatic 'get out of jail free' card with Edward. "That is Chopin. The Nocturnes," he says. "Not 'shit.'"
"Who's Chopin?"
Edward buries his face in his hand; Jasper resists laughing.
Something comes sailing past Jasper's shoulder to land on the dashboard. It looks like a circle of . . . weeds? " -- the hell?" Edward mutters, too soft for Seth to hear. For whatever reason, he watches his language around the boy, although Seth doesn't watch his around Edward. "What is that?"
"Sweetgrass," Leah says.
"Never heard of it."
"It's for protection. It carries our prayers so the Spirits ride with us."
Edward resists a scoff. Jasper doesn't think he has any business scoffing. After all, he is the one who believes that vampires lack souls and are bound for eternal damnation. The sweetgrass braid has landed awkwardly and Jasper reaches up to move it to a more secure position. He doesn't mind riding with the spirits.
They also ride with Chopin for a while until Seth's huffing in the backseat gets to be a bit much. "Look," Jasper says finally, "why don't we make a rule -- whoever's driving gets to choose the music?"
"But I'm not old enough to drive!" Seth protests.
"We'll let you choose sometimes."
"Please don't," Leah says, but she's laughing. "We'll be stuck with Chris Brown."
"Who's Chris Brown?" Edward asks, and now it's Seth who puts his face in his hand.
"This is going to be an interesting trip," Leah says.
Jasper pulls out his own iPod and snatches Edward's from between their seats, unplugging it to hook up his own, eyes darting back and forth between the highway and the equipment. When it's attached, he calls up his playlist. It probably won't please any of them, but if he has to listen to Chopin or hip-hop (unlike Edward, he does know who Chris Brown is), then they can listen to Bob Seeger or Lynyrd Skynyrd or CCR. At least he's not inflicting Hank Williams or Hank Snow on them, even if they are "Movin' On."
An electric guitar line grinds out, chug-chug-chug-chug . . .
Get your motor runnin', head out on the highway,
Lookin' for adventure and whatever comes our way,
Yeah darlin' go make it happen, take the world in a love embrace,
Fire all of your guns at once and . . . explode into space . . .
"Hey!" Seth says from the backseat, sitting up from where he's been sulking. "I know this!"
"I should hope so," Leah said. "Dad played it enough."
Seth starts to beat a rhythm on the back of Edward's seat. "I like smoke and lightning . . . heavy metal thunder," he sings in a warbling baritone.
"Racin' with the wind, and the feelin' that I'm under," Jasper picks up the bass line -- which is probably unfortunate. He's a good guitar player but he's not the best singer, vampire voice or not. Having a good voice isn't the same thing as having a good ear. Leah comes in with a surprisingly pure soprano and Edward -- perhaps desperate to get them all back somewhere close to the pitch -- tries to take up the lead tenor.
Like a true nature's child,
We were born, born to be wild.
We can climb so high . . . I never wanna diiiie . . .
Born to be wiiiild . . . born to be wiiiild.
They are riding with the spirits.