Between Worlds

Chapter 27

Finch was starting to get used to being woken just before dawn to start his driving shift. He'd always been more of a night owl than an early bird, but Adin made him coffee and Shadow came and sat with him as he started his drive, and it really wasn't such a bad way to begin his day.

With no job lined up or specific destination in mind, Finch took turns on a whim, not too worried about where they ended up. They'd need to be more purposeful soon to meet Malyn on time, but their near-constant driving covered so much ground that it was hard to stray too far without leaving the country altogether.

As the smell of breakfast cooking wafted through the bus, Finch pulled into the next rest stop. Sometimes he ate while he was driving, but he was beginning to realise that they all needed a bit of time off the bus to stretch their legs and get some fresh air. He would advise Luther to do the same during his night driving shifts, since Shadow was asleep for most of the day. He wasn't sure if that was something Luther cared about for himself or not. Luther seemed unbothered by a lot of things.

They got back on the bus again and drove around some more until lunch time. Adin had made them something that looked like way too many vegetables, but he'd tossed in some feta cheese cubes after taking his own serving. When Finch snuck a spoonful, he was pleasantly surprised by the taste. They took their bowls outside to a picnic table at the national park where they'd stopped.

Ryan tightened the straps on his backpack instead of joining them at the table. "I'm going for a jog."

Adin frowned. "You don't want lunch? I can make you something else if you like."

"It'll keep. I can eat on the bus. Can't jog there, though," Ryan replied.

"We could hang around longer," Finch offered. "We need to keep moving, but there's no huge rush."

Ryan shook his head. "Don't know why everyone's trying to fix a plan that works fine. I'm going now. Don't let Kimber follow me."

Kimber did look ready to follow Ryan as he headed for the walking path, but a quick word from Adin brought him back to his food. With Shadow already in bed, it was just the three of them left at the picnic table.

Finch glanced at Adin, shaking his head as he served himself. "They been a handful?"

Adin's deep sigh said 'yes,' but he replied, "No. I think they both have enough trauma to be a handful, but neither trusts me enough to be anything but reserved. Which is understandable. We just met and we're not planning to be in their lives long."

"Got any plans around that yet?" Finch asked around a mouthful of food.

"Kimber and I agree the coastal town where we're meeting Malyn would be a good place for him. The services are well-funded there and it's a nice location."

"Makes sense. What about Ryan?"

"Ryan... I don't know," Adin admitted. "He constantly seems like he wants to leave, but so far he hasn't. I'm trying to figure out what's keeping him here so that perhaps I can give it to him. He's a mystery in more than one way. He knows a lot more than I can make any sense of."

"He might have kind of dropped the answer to that one on me when he almost died, but I figure our rules should extend to him as well, so I'm not telling."

"No, of course. I wouldn't ask you to."

"It's nothing to worry about," Finch assured him. "When people come from different worlds, they bring different knowledge, right? I'm sure if you ended up somewhere else, they'd be surprised by how much you know too."

"Clearly there's more to it than that, or there would be no secret to keep." Adin waved a hand, dismissing the thought. "But you're right, of course. Knowledge is hardly the strangest thing we've seen. I suppose it just catches my attention because I value learning so much."