Chapter Four:
Tundra
More time past fairly uneventful, as Vince watched Salem converse with several of the animals. Thinking how for the longest time, he was the only one able to communicate with them on such a level of understanding. Howard watched Mrs. Giddion work with her reptiles, stealing the occasional glance at Salem from a distance.
Salem was in the middle of a conversation with Jack, the fox, when Fossil came across the intercom calling for everyone to gather at the gates for an important meeting.
Fossil went on and on, picking on several of the others about grooming or shoes, and about the owner of the zoo Mr. Bainbridge. Salem rolled her eyes, the meeting was a total waste of time, until Bainbridge walked through the gates of the zoo, kneeing Fossil in the balls before telling everyone to get back to work, and letting his eyes roll over Salems figure.
Salem went on feeding the animals and cleaning some cages, afterwords working in the reptile house, documenting all the feedings, which snakes ate, any changes in behaviors, ect. Until night time came, and yet another meeting was called.
Bainbridge went on bragging about his travels and things he did while gone. Vinces' phone went off with the 8 bit tone of "Cars" by Gary Numan, Salem repressed her giggle as he silenced the call. Then Howard started going on about how he could do all the things Bainbridge did. Salem had to agree with him, the adventures were nothing compared to what the trio had been through.
"Then why don't you do it Howard?" She said, glancing back at the man. He looked deep in thought when they were called out by Fossil and Bainbridge, comments about Howards mustache came up at some point, but Salem didn't care about the petty insults between the men.
The next morning Salem found a note from her friends taped to her door. Reading the note several times over, Salem felt left behind as the men had gone to the tundra to find some really big sapphire. She hung her head and decided to go out shopping on her day off.
Her friends had been gone for days, she couldn't understand why they would leave her behind. Searching for answers in her mind, she went to Naboo to help pass her time.
"Hey Naboo." She greeted the shaman with respect. Naboo smiled and motioned for her to come in and visit for a while.
"What is it Salem? You seem troubled." Naboo asked, taking a puff from his hookah pipe. She sighed.
"Howard and Vince have been gone a while now, and I just don't understand why they would leave me behind." She confessed as Naboo blew out a streak of smoke.
"They might have thought it was too dangerous for you." Naboo said, knowing that it was exactly why they had left her behind.
"Dangerous? I've always been able to get myself out of situations when they got dangerous! Hell, I could have even managed to save those two twits if they weren't so lucky." She said, starting to rant on about her escaping Fossil, Bainbridge and the Monkey king. Naboo sat in silence and nodded at her rant, thinking about how cute it was to see her temper flare like the sun, and he started to see why the men had left her behind. She was adorable and a treasure to them.
Naboo thought back to when they had found out about her magic abilities, Howard had calmed and respected her space while Vince had freaked out and broken his normally cool fascade. The men treasured their new friend deeply and anyone with eyes could tell that she felt the same way at the moment.
Salem calmed herself down, and curled up in the cushions of Naboos couch. Naboo smiled at her, and knew the men wouldn't survive the trip without her.
"Salem, why don't you just go up there yourself? You know, using some of the magic you dabble in?" Naboo suggested. Salem perked up at the idea and scolded herself for not thinking of it first.
"Thank you Naboo. I think I will." She said, bidding him a good day and sprinting to her personal library to begin her search for a way to the tundra.
Howard searched for Vince in the icy winds of the tundra, documenting every few hours about his journey. Hugging a chunk of ice he was confronted by a man in a parka. Though Howard tried to resist the man and keep on his search for Vince, he eventually gave in and was taken to the tribes gathering place.
Vince sat with a polar bear, staring at the stars and the moon.
"I've only known this girl for a few weeks, and I just can't get a vibe off of her you know? It's like I can't read her at all." Vince confessed to the bear. The bear nodded in understanding.
"I just have no clue what to do, should I just go for it, should I play it cool, should I try and make her jealous?" Vince went on. The polar bear grunted in amusement.
"Why not just go with the flow? And if it happens, it happens, If not they it wasn't meant to be." The bear said, staring out into the night sky. Vince nodded and stared out, before excusing himself to go look for Howard.
Salem had the spell at hand, and items needed gathered. She read the ritual one more time to make sure she didn't mess anything up. She drew a small circle at her feet with chalk containing sea salts, lit an Ice berry scented candle, put on her new tight white snow suit jumper with Bright purple, knee high boots and a neon green, shimmery and soft winter coat. She took a deep breath as she stood in the middle of the circle and began muttering the incantation she had written on a piece of paper.
Vince and Howard sat, tied to a pole in the icy cave of the Black frost. Knowing it was their final moments they began looking back on their memories with each other. Bainbridge walked in and took the giant sapphire from on top of the pole, and being the corrupt man he was, left them there to die.
Salem appeared from behind the pole, knife in hand as she began to cut the ropes that restrained her friends.
" Salem? What on earth are you doing here?" Howard asked, eying the girl with the knife in her hand. Salem smiled while still working on the many ropes. Vince didn't say a word to her as she worked on the ropes at a faster pace.
The Black frost entered the cavern, eying his pray. He turned to Bainbridge and flash froze him with a spout protruding from his crotch piece. Bainbridge stood there frozen solid as the Black frost turned and was making his way towards the trio.
"I don't mean to rush you Salem, but is there any way you could cut these ropes just a bit faster?" Howard asked, in a panic. Salem cut through the last rope as a polar bear entered the cave and started to attack the Black frost.
The trio stood up and watched in awe as the bear beat the Black frost into dust. Salem gawked at the sight, not believing the luck the pair of men had. She hung her head.
"These two should play the lottery." She thought, staring blankly at the ground, while Howard and Vince grabbed their treasure.
The plane ride home was awkward to say the least. Vince refused to acknowledge Salem at all, Howard kept rambling on about how famous he was going to be. Salem didn't know what to do, or what she had even done to deserve the silent treatment she was receiving.
"Vince?" She said softly, taking the seat next to him. He held up his magazine closer to his face, blocking out the girl. She sighed and swallowed her pride.
"Vince, listen. I'm sorry. Alright?" She said, catching his attention, but his pride stopping him from acknowledging her yet. Sighing she stood from the seat and walked back into the bathroom portion of the plane, sitting down on the floor as tears escaped her eyes out of frustration.
"All I did was care about them and this is what I get in return?" She thought as more tears escaped her eyes.
Howard and Vince heard the quiet sobbing of the girl through the walls. Howard looked around nervously, trying to figure out how to make it better. Vince dug his face deeper into the magazine to try and hide his breaking fascade. Howard walked back and knocked on the door, hearing the sniffling girl.
"Salem? Are you alright?" He asked, leaning his ear against the door to hear her.
"I'll bee alright Howard, just give me a moment." She said, blowing her nose and washing her hands. She wiped her tears away and walked into Howards arms. He hugged her tightly.
"Thank you for coming after us." He said, truly grateful for her brave act. Even if luck was on their side in the situation. She nodded and gave a weak smile up to him. Releasing his hold on her, they walked back to the common room and sat down with cups of hot earl grey tea.
"Why did you come after us?" Vince asked from across the room. Salem took the acknowledgment as a good sign and sighed.
"You two had been gone for weeks, I was getting worried about you." She said point blankly. The men hung their heads. She was their friend and all they did was leave her a note. Guilt started to sink into their beings as the small silence continued.
"You could have been killed, or flash frozen." Vince blurted out. The build up of emotions he had felt when he noticed her arrival began to show. The panic in his heart, the relief, and the anger of her endangering herself for their lives.
"At least I would have died or been frozen with my two best friends." Salem muttered, taking a sip of her tea.
"That's not the point Salem! The fact is we left you at the zoo so you would be safe from the dangers of the tundra. Not so you could come and rescue us!" Vince shouted, feeling his temper boiling his blood. Salem sat in silence, waiting for more outbursts from Vince. Howard sat there awkwardly, listening to the conversation taking place between his two friends.
"But I did, you had me worried sick you know! No word from you, and all for that freaking sapphire and fame! You have friends that care about you, you know that? And if my head hadn't cleared when it did, you two could have died!" Salem said after the long pause between them.
Vince shrunk back into his seat, thoughts racing through his head as her words sank into his brain. Salem drank her tea calmly as she stared out the window. Howard gave Vince a look of 'Well, say something.' Vince looked back dumbfounded and sighed.
"Thank you for coming. You're right. If it wasn't for dumb luck, we would be frozen solid right now." Vince said, swallowing his pride. Salem nodded and gave a radiant smile to him. Vince felt his heart stop then start again, and gave a smile back. She turned her attention back to the window, as Vince checked out her outfit.
"Bright colors and soft fabrics..." He thought smiling to himself, and went back to reading his magazine.
When they arrived back, the paparazzi went crazy, taking pictures as they unloaded from the plane. Vince and Howard trying to shield Salem from the flashing lights of the cameras. The papers and tabloids having a field day with the 'Mysterious Woman' they were trying to shield. Later on, with the gem being discovered to be a fake one, and Bainbridge finding the real one.
"Don't be too disappointed guys. At least you tried to do something you wanted to do." Salem said with a smile.
"Oh, stuff a sock in it Salem." They said in unison as they crashed down on the couch.