“You do remember how to get to Uncle Steve’s, right?” Jake asked through a large yawn.
“Yeah, I got it. North of Denver,” Paige replied. After she answered Jake leaned his head against the side of the jeep and was asleep within minutes.
Paige waited a little while before she peeked in the rearview mirror. She watched her brother before another grin crossed her face.
“Okay, I’m sure he’s out now,” she said. “So spill, what really happened on the plane? Was it a dream or what?”
Sara could not help but glance at Jake before she scooted forward in her seat, until her face was even with Paige. When she did not start talking right away Paige started tapping her thumbs on the steering wheel.
“Come on spill!” Her voice raised, and Sara frowned.
“Shhh,” Sara hissed. “You don’t want to wake him up.”
Paige laughed, “He’ll be out for hours so don’t worry about it. This always happens when he’s been up too long. He will usually sleep for almost a day.”
Sara looked over at Jake again just to be sure before she bit her lip. She was not sure she really wanted to tell Paige everything, but she needed to talk to someone.
“It was a dream,” she began in a hesitant voice. “But, I think I am seeing someone’s memories. That and I keep hearing a voice in my head. It has happened a couple times since the festival.”
“What?” Paige gasped, in surprise. “Tell me everything!”
Sara hesitated again before she told Paige about the dream and the times she had heard the voice speak to her. She even told her about the rest of the events that took place on the plane. When she was finished Paige kept glancing between the road and her. Her eyes burned with curiosity, but Sara could also see a hint of fear. It was the same look she got from all the people who thought she was so weird.
When Paige did not say anything right away Sara just shrugged and slid back in her seat. She started to fidget with the coat that was draped across her lap. It took a little while before Paige seemed to sort through everything Sara told her, and her full curiosity returned.
“I wonder who it could be,” she mused aloud as she looked in the rearview mirror again and made eye contact with Sara.
“I don’t know,” Sara said.
Paige frowned before she glanced out the front of the jeep, “Whoa!” She yelped as she jerked the wheel hard to the right to miss the slower moving car in front of them. The force of the sudden swerve caused Jake to slide over in his sleep and his head landed on Sara’s leg.
“Guess I should pay more attention,” Paige said with a sheepish grin. “He would kill me if he saw how close I just came t--.”
“Your brother fell over,” Sara exclaimed, her voice filled with panic.
Paige glanced back over her shoulder. “He’s still asleep,” she said with a giggle. “He really can sleep through anything.”
Sara was bright red and refused to look down at Jake, “He can’t stay here.” Her voice was filled with nerves and she was holding her right arm up to keep from touching him more than necessary.
“Why not? I mean you like him, right?” Paige asked with a grin.
“I don’t even know where to put my arm!” Sara squeaked. Her face was so red Paige could not help but start laughing.
“Just rest it on his shoulder or something. He won’t care.”
“How could he not care?” Sara asked and could not bring herself to put her arm down. Paige was laughing so hard at this point she had tears in her eyes.
“Oh, come on, Sara. He likes you,” she said between gasps for breath. “I swear the two of you are so clueless.”
Sara just stared at her in disbelief, “There’s no way th--.”
“He does,” Paige interrupted. “I don’t think he wants to admit it to himself yet, but he definitely does. He acts so different around you it's pretty funny to watch.”
“No way,” she said, almost like she was trying to convince herself. “No way.”
Paige shook her head as she continued taking deep breaths to try to stop laughing but was not succeeding.
“Believe what you want,” she said with a giggle. “But you’ll see, just wait.”
Sara, at a loss for what else to do, wrapped her arms around herself and leaned as far away from Jake as she could get. She knew she could not move him on her own and Paige was going to be no help. Once she was leaning against the side of the jeep she could not keep from looking back down at Jake. She shook her head. There was no way he would like her. A fleeting look of sadness crossed her face before she tilted her head. He looked so peaceful in his sleep.
A couple hours later, Sara wished that she could fall asleep too. The pain reliever she took on the plane was wearing off and her head and hand were both throbbing. She closed her eyes again and tried to go to sleep, but Paige’s singing kept that from being an option. With a heavy sigh, she turned her attention to the scenery streaking by the car and allowed her mind to wander. She managed to deal with the pain until well after sunset but once it became dark, she had nothing else to focus on. The pain in her head was now so bad that the rocking of the car was starting to make her car sick. She fidgeted trying to get comfortable, but her head and the leg Jake was laying on ached.
“Paige, we need to stop soon, please,” she whispered.
“Can you hold on just a little longer? We’ll be there soon, and we really need to make it before Jake wakes up.”
Normally Sara would have wondered what she meant by that, but right now she did not care. She rolled down her window, to get some fresh air on her face, hoping that would help.
“Yikes, Sara, that’s cold!” Paige yelped when the sudden inrush of cold air caused her to shiver. Sara laid her head on the door by the open window.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I just feel very sick.”
Paige reached back and handed her a bottle of water, “Will this help?” Sara shrugged and took a small sip of the water. It seemed to help for a moment but a second later she knew she was going to be sick. She did not have time to say anything and she put her head out the window.
“Whoa! Are you okay?” Paige called back to her. Sara could not respond as she continued vomiting out the window. She was startled when she felt a gentle hand pull her hair back from her face.
Jake woke up the moment she started being sick and he was watching her with a look of concern, but he did not say anything until she was finished and sat back in her seat.
“Are you okay?” She shook her head no.
“My head and the rocking,” she managed to whisper.
Jake nodded in understanding and motioned for her to lay down on the seat, “Laying down might help until we can stop.”
At this point, Sara felt so bad that she did not even feel embarrassed when she laid down on the backseat. Jake reached behind them and grabbed his jacket. He folded it and had her lay her head on it before he reached across her and rolled up the window.
“If you feel sick again tell me,” he said. She barely nodded and her eyes were closed while she tried to relax. Jake watched her for a moment before he took a moment to glance around them. His brows furrowed, “Where are we? Where are the mountains?”
“Well,” Paige began in an innocent voice. “It is kind of a road trip. We needed to go somewhere cool.”
“Where are we?” Jake demanded as he glared at her.
Paige grimaced and began tapping the steering wheel but did not answer. Jake was about to ask again when he caught sight of a road sign. Fifty miles to San Francisco.
“San Francisco,” he gasped as his mouth dropped open. “Why are we almost in San Francisco?”
“It’s Sara’s birthday tomorrow and we have to do something to celebrate,” Paige stumbled over her words as she talked very fast. “Plus, this is our first real road trip, so we had to do something awesome.”
Jake pinched the bridge of his nose as he took a deep breath, “Paige, what is wrong with you? You know that I have to
report to the new base soon. We can’t be on some extended vacation!”
“Oh, you have plenty of time. You always plan too much time, and besides I only planned for a couple of days anyway,” she snapped, raising her voice.
“That’s not the point,” he said, trying to keep his voice level. “This is completely irresponsible and s--.”
“Oh right, I want to have fun once in a while, so of course, that makes it irresponsible,” she yelled at him.
“Yes, it does.” He frowned when he had to raise his voice to be heard over her.
Sara flinched at the noise from the raised voices and covered her ears with her hands. The yelling was making her head throb worse. Jake noticed her movement out of the corner of his eye, and he glanced down at her.
“Paige,” he said, his voice much quieter.
“You’re always like this! Why can’t we ever…,” she continued to rant.
“Paige,” he tried again but she continued to ignore him. Jake clenched his jaw in frustration before he reached down and placed his hand over Sara’s.
“Paige,” he yelled. The suddenness of his shout caused Paige to jump, but she stopped talking. “You need to stop yelling and we’ll finish this later.” Jake continued in a quieter voice. Paige glanced back and saw Jake’s hand covering Sara’s hand and ear.
“Oh, Sara I’m sorry,” she said. “I forgot you weren’t feeling good.” Sara only nodded and did not open her eyes.
“How much farther?”
“I think another forty-five minutes,” Paige replied but she did not appear like she was sure.
“Stop at the next exit.”
Paige crossed all the lanes of traffic to get off the interstate. She headed to the first small convenience store she saw and pulled into the parking lot.
“See if you can get some liquid pain reliever and some instant ice packs,” Jake said as he handed her his wallet. “And nothing else.” He added when Paige started to walk away from the jeep. She rolled her eyes before she walked into the store. A couple minutes later Paige returned with a small bag. She pulled open the backseat door and was surprised to see Jake still in the back.
“Aren’t you driving now that you are awake?”
“No,” he said, his voice unpleased. “I have to take care of your friend. Plus, I have no idea where we are going.” His face clouded with disapproval as he held out his hand for the bag and his wallet. Paige narrowed her eyes in annoyance but managed to bite her tongue as she handed him the stuff she was holding. After he took them, she climbed back into the driver’s seat. Once they were back on the interstate Jake gave Sara some of the pain reliever, and she remained laying on the seat.
“Here this might help too,” he said as he handed her an ice pack. She took it and laid it on her forehead. The cold was a welcomed relief to her throbbing head. It was not long before the medicine started to relieve the pain and she began to doze off. She was vaguely aware of Jake picking up the ice pack when she dropped it and putting it back on her forehead. She drifted deeper into sleep.
The cool hand felt good on her forehead. An elven man looked down at his daughter in bed before looking at his wife.
“Will she be all right?” He asked, his voice filled with worry.
His wife smiled and nodded, “She will be fine. It is just a little fever. You worry too much.”
The little girl looked up at her father.
“Qinaros, “she said in a whisper. “Please stay.”
“Of course, child,” he said with a smile. He placed his hand back on her forehead and brushed silver curls out of her face.
“Sara… Sara,” Jake called while he shook her by the shoulder to wake her up.
“Qinaros,” she mumbled before she woke up all the way. She rubbed her eyes and sat up to find Jake watching her with a raised eyebrow.
“What?” She asked in confusion when she noticed that Paige was also giving her a funny look.
“What does qinaros mean?” Jake asked.
Sara stared at him for a moment, “I have no idea.”
Paige and Jake exchanged glances, but Jake decided not to press for any more information.
“Well, we’re here at the hotel Paige apparently booked for us,” he said giving his sister an unhappy stare. “And since it’s midnight already we may as well stay the night.”
The three of them gathered their things and headed into the hotel. The girls were in one room with an adjoined room for Jake. Once they were inside, they were so exhausted they all went straight to bed.
The next morning Paige talked to Sara about all the places she had figured out for them to do. She was exuding excitement as she talked. Sara listened while she changed the dressing on her hand.
“So, what do you think?” Sara finished taping the gauze before she looked at her friend.
“I think it sounds like a lot,” she said. “Are you sure Jake is even going to let us stay?”
Paige gave her a come-on look, “It’s your birthday, of course, he will let us stay.” Sara shook her head. She was not sure he would be so generous since he was still very unhappy with his sister.
“What about your uncle,” Sara asked. “Wasn’t he expecting us to arrive today?”
“I already called him and let him know that we wouldn’t be there for a few days, “Paige replied with a smile. “See, I think of everything.”
“And what were you planning to have happen with your brother?” Paige pouted at the sarcasm in Sara’s voice.
“Okay, okay, okay maybe I didn’t think of everything. I always underestimate how mad he gets,” she said with a giggle.
Sara rolled her eyes. She knew Paige never thought about the consequences. She was shaking her head when a soft knock on the adjoining door drew her attention.
“And speak of the devil,” Paige said with a grin as she skipped over and opened the door. “Good morning, big brother.” Her voice dripped with sweetness.
“Morning.”
“Aww, don’t be like that,” she said with a frown. “We’re going to have tons of fun today!”
“We aren’t staying Paige. We have to get to Uncle Steve’s,” Jake replied, his face blank as stone. He appeared like he prepared to have this conversation ahead of time.
“What?” Paige snapped. “We aren’t leaving yet! We have so much to do before we can leave.” She started listing all the things she had told Sara earlier in the morning. Sara watched as Jake lost his patience when he tried several times to interject a comment, but Paige would not let him. He finally stood there regarding her in complete silence. It took Paige several minutes to notice that her brother was no longer talking, and she glanced over at him. He was giving her a look of disapproval.
“Oh, come on Jak--.”
“No, we’re leaving,” he said, his voice hard. Paige gave him a calculating look when he turned to walk back to his room.
“Are you really going to make Sara spend her birthday in a car all day?” she asked. Jake paused, and Paige grinned. “I mean especially since she was so sick yesterday.” She knew she got to him as soon as he paused, and her grin widened.
Sara narrowed her eyes in irritation as she watched the interaction. She did not like being used so Paige could get what she wanted. After a few moments, Jake turned around and looked over at Sara.
“How are you this morning?” he asked. There was genuine concern in his voice and Sara looked down at the ground as she flushed a light pink.
“I still have a headache but I’m fine. I took the pain reliever already,” she said before giving Paige a dirty look. “We don’t have to stay if you need to get to Colorado soon.” Paige only rolled her eyes in response. Jake watched the interaction and appeared to be debating. He did realize his sister had a point about Sara’s headache, but he knew she was just using it as an excuse to get what she wanted. He really hated the idea of letting Paige think she had won.
“It’s okay,” he replied with a sigh. “I think it would probably be best if we stayed
here until tomorrow. It gives you a day to help get over the headache without being stuck in the jeep.”
“Yes!” Paige squealed. “Out Jake!! Sara and I have to get ready to see the city!” She shoved her brother toward the door.
“We will go see a few things, but if Sara needs to come back, we will come back,” he said, his voice firm.
“I know, I know,” she muttered but she was already not really paying attention to him. Jake shook his head.
“Let me know when you two are ready to go,” he said before he pulled the door closed behind him.
Paige skipped over to her bag and started pulling out clothes,” Let’s get ready.”
About forty-five minutes later both girls were ready to go. Paige went and knocked on Jake’s door, “We’re ready.” Jake walked through the door and rolled his eyes when he saw his sister. She was dressed in an all black tank top with a lace up back, camouflage pants that had random zippers up and down the legs, combat boots, and her black leather jacket. Her short brown hair was an asymmetrical bob which she had styled to flip out in multiple directions.
“So freaky as usual,” Jake said in a goading tone. Paige gave him a dirty look.
“And you look boring as usual,” she quipped back with a sweet smile.
Jake opened his mouth to reply with a sarcastic comment but was interrupted when Sara walked back into the room from the bathroom. She was dressed noticeably different than Paige. She wore a navy-blue dress, that was ruched along the sides and ended mid-thigh, with white and navy ruffles along the bottom, white capri length leggings, navy blue flats with small daisies, and a dark green military style jacket. Her shoulder length red hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a side swept bang. Paige did her makeup so the bruises on her face were almost completely hidden.
Jake tilted his head as he watched her cross the room. When Sara noticed his gaze, she flushed a brilliant red.
“All right,” Paige said, raising her voice to get their attention. “Let’s go.”
They left the room and headed out of the hotel. Sara sighed as she followed behind Jake. He looked good in regular clothes too. She was used to always seeing him in his military fatigues, but today he wore a pair of jeans with a button-down navy shirt, brown hiking boots, and his brown leather jacket. His hair was its usual messy look.
Whispers of Time Page 9