Jacinda Cross

[Jacinda]

2021
Southern Colorado

The air had a freezing bite to it despite the bright streaming sun. Course it was March. And the fact they had just left Pagosa Springs heading east toward Wolf Creek Pass on 160 meant they were climbing from 7100 feet to over 10,000. Old snow still bordered the highway, refrozen ice, sludge, gravel and dirt packed so tight it wouldn't disappear until late May at least.

Regan had his music on. She absent mindedly listened. She'd heard it like a million times before. He always listened to the same. It had gotten boring even if it was sort of comforting, too. "So Into You" by the Atlanta Rhythm Section clipped along in time to feel of the seams of the road against the tires.

Still, it had been a nice trip. The hunt around Durango had been good and on whim, Regan decided to head to the hot springs another 50 miles up the road in Pagosa. A good night. Mostly. Regan was different.

He had been.....'subdued' was the best word, if she had to think about it. She tried not to show her disappointment. The usual  sex after the hunt had been....well, it wasn't the raw animal passion she was used to.

Which was odd. She had just turned 20. She was starting to really learn herself, now that she was a woman, finally understand her body. She'd grown taller and taller until now she was about his height. Last night, playing and wrestling around, she'd actually pinned him, felt his soft belly against her tight one. She expected him to be mad and show it to her, the animal she remembered. But he'd stopped and looked at her strangely. And then....well. Just not a whole lot of fire was all.

"Hot Child in the City" by Nick Gilder came on next. Absently, she looked at him, studying. She noticed more grey than she'd remembered. And he seemed smaller. Well, she had been twelve when he'd taken her. Guess at twelve, any man looked big.

He sensed her look and turned to give her a weak smile. Odd. He was just being odd.

Well, the hunt hadn't been too hard. A couple rougs had taken a summer mansion up on one Durango's many hills. You know, one of those places all lavishly decorated and with a nice wall and wrought iron gate with initials in metal work. Isolated. Empty. Perfect place to hide most of the year. Periodically skiers or the occasional Fort Lewis student went missing. Easy prey for the rougs. But the rougs were older and they had barely broken a sweat taking them down.

So...that was probably it. She let the worry go and let the music wash over her. The air got cold in the shadowed parts of the road and Regan downshifted regularly to keep their upward momentum going. 300,000 miles on this old 2014 Toyota Forerunner and it was still not bad.

Benny Mardones sang "She's just 16 years old, leave her alone, they say..." just as they hit the top of the continental divide and started their way down, this time with Regan's foot on the brakes so keep them from going too fast. The smell of burned breakpads from semis was noticeable.

She always liked this part, the feel of the momentum. It reminded her of when she'd been a kid and her parents took her to some amusement part. She couldnt remember which now. But it was awesome, slamming from one side to the other, up and down, her stomach in her throat one moment, in her feet the next, as the car went this way and that. She couldn't help but smile at Regan.

And the sun was stronger here, or at least it seemed so. She closed her eyes and could feel the temperature changes on her skin as they sped along next to the river, trees and canyon walls flickering to block and then allow sunlight through.

They arrived in South Fork only 30 minutes later, the smell of the trees and mountains and of stove fires heavy just as "Eyes without a face" came on. She was home.

They stopped at the main restaurant that had changed names so many times she just thought of it as the Grizzly place, because of the massive chainsaw carved Bear that stood out front.

Still, being home, having her usual- though no beer here. Not in public Regan said. She called him Uncle too. People wouldn't understand anyway. Anyway, being here, eating her usual comfort food, things still seemed off.

Finally, she couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Come on! You've hardly said two words to me today. Did I do something wrong? Why are you mad at me?"


He looked at her and suddenly his faced changed. It was like the old Regan was back. "Ah sweetie. Nah. I'm not mad at ya. Just thinkin is all. The future. Our plans.....You think you might like moving somewhere else? East maybe?"


She frowned. East? They'd been all over the west, up as far north as southern Canada and as far south as Mexico. East was....different. This was....home. They always came back here. "This is my home. Always has been. My parents are buried here."
That last was said weakly. It always made her sad to think of her mom and dad.

He laughed and she saw that twinkle that had won her heart all those years ago. "Darlin, I don't mean New York or Washington. I'm thinkin like the Appalachians. Or the Ozarks. Catskills. All mountains. Good hunting up there. And....uh."
He seemed to get quiet and look around. "Look sweetie. We been huntin these parts for 8 years. Lot's of unsolved stuff. This last...well we can't hope to avoid detection forever."


She still hated the idea...but it still made a kind of sense. Kinda. Still, they didn't do THAT much hunting around here. At least not together. Occasionally, he'd head off, maybe once a year and spend a few weeks out. Always came home with fresh meat too. Elk. Deer. Maybe he'd caught the ranger's attention.

He reached out, about to take her hand and then hesitated for a moment. Hers were still smaller than his but a lot less now. That hurt, cut her to the heart, the way he'd stopped. He seemed to see her look because he reached out and took them, gave her a look she'd never seen before. "Just think about it, ok sweetie? I can't leave without my girl."


She smiled. His girl. That's all she wanted to hear. The fear and hurt faded. She nodded. She'd think about it at least. For him.


[[Ooc yes, 2 of those songs are messed up. The fact they received heavy airplay says things about the 70s and early 80s Id rather not think about.]]