Forever Young

Chapter 35

Koda moved his shoulder a little. "Better," He mumbled. I winced at the memory of Carlisle having to pop it back into socket, the sound of Koda's screams still fresh in my mind. It had been even worse when Carlisle had needed to re-break his ankle to get it set back in place. Over Koda's shoulder, I saw Mato grimacing, too. He must be thinking of the same things as me.

Takoda seemed done with sleep now, and sat up, leaning towards me. He had his stuffed dinosaur in his arms, and I realized they must have given him Nugget sometimes while I was asleep. "When are we going home?" He asked.

My eyes flew to Carlisle's, eager for an answer.

"Well..." Carlisle considered, glancing between me, Koda and Mato. "Edward arrived with the Jeep a few hours ago. Any time you kids feel up for traveling, we can make our way to a hotel. The drive from there will be about a day and a half"

I nodded eagerly, and Mato piped in, "Where are we anyway? I got sort of lost after the sun disappeared. It was so cloudy..."

So that was why we were off-track. Mato was an excellent navigator- as long as he could see the sun and stars. He must have been all turned-around by the endless clouds in the Alaskan blizzard, which had resulted in us needing to find shelter instead of actually making it back to Washington.

"The nearest town is Northway," Seth said. "But there probably won't be any open hotels there, if there are any at all. It's a tiny place."

Edward entered the tent, and I had to stop myself from pulling the blanket over my chest. The oil. I had to remember to let the oil dry.

Edward hardly glanced at me, though his lips quirked up slightly. Oh, yeah. He thought it was ridiculous that I was so modest when I hadn't even hit puberty. Well maybe he should try to be alone his entire life, with complete privacy, and then come talk to me.

A chuckle actually escaped him then, and I clenched my fists. Luckily, he didn't feel the need to address my thoughts, and instead turned to Carlisle. "There are no hotels," He confirmed. "But there was a lodge just outside of town. I have it on hold for us, whenever you feel it's alright for the children to travel."

'On hold' probably meant he was paying for it already. But the Cullens were so well off, they didn't care if they paid for a lodge they weren't even staying at. It was just another technicality to them.

"I want to go!" Koda insisted, getting on to his knees. He wobbled slightly and both Carlisle and Edward put out an arm to steady him. "I'm sick of being out here," He muttered, embarrassed by his lack of stability.

Mato also said he wanted to leave, but I stayed quiet. The idea of exiting the tent was scary to me. The last thing I wanted was to be back in that wind again, back in the cold.

But then eyes were on me, waiting to see what I would say. And after the hope I saw in Mato and Koda's eyes, there was nothing I could say except for 'yes'. Edward came to kneel beside me.

"The Jeep will be right outside the tent," He promised. "We'll have it heated up when you get in, and you'll be all bundled up. You won't feel a thing."

I nodded, glancing away from him as I wished he hadn't brought up my worry in front of everyone. Why did I always have to be the weak link, the baby? Maybe Elody had been right on some of her points- nobody would ever take me seriously.

Edward had a disapproving look on his face as he heard my thoughts. He just shook his head at me, though, and turned to leave the tent, announcing that he was going to turn on the heater in the car. Esme leaned over and pulled a long-sleeved dress out of a bag, and I realized it was for me- as soon as the oil on my chest dried. Mato was already dressed, and Carlisle and Seth both moved to help Takoda into his new pants and shirt.