Project #134

CHAPTER 16

The group quickly recovered from the incident on the Yellowstone River. In fact, due to the fast recovery, high morale of the trio, and excellent physical shape of the three; Aron, Victoria, and Fox had traveled an additional total of nearly 230 miles in only six days' time. They had to cross two rivers since the Yellowstone, that of being the Missouri and Milk rivers, of which were no issue to them. The three of them now knew each other so well that from an outside perspective, they could've been siblings.

They were now walking in a snow covered field about 8 miles north of the small community of Dodson, Montana.

"Hey Fox?" Aron asked.

"Yes?"

"Have you had any nightmares lately... about your past and stuff? I haven't noticed you leaving in the middle of the night lately."the curious wolf asked.

"Yeah,I haven't either as a matter of fact." Victoria added.

"To tell you the honest truth, I haven't. It feels amazing. It's like since I told you guys that stuff, I have been sleeping a lot better." Fox said with a smile.

"That's great to hear!" Victoria commented.

"Thanks for understanding my past history guys. I know it wasn't easy to listen to it. It really wasn't easy to share it, either."

"Anytime!"Aron started. "That's what friends are for."

"I just had so much guilt and shame built up for what happened. Sharing it really helped."

"We understand, Fox. It will take time, like a lot of things in life, for you to completely heal from it." Victoria told him.

"I suppose so. I guess this trip has been an experience for us all, huh?"

"You got that right." Aron pitched in.

Victoria changed the subject as a question popped into her head. "So are we going to cross into Canada north of here, or was the plan to go west then north?"

"West and then north." Fox said. "There are fewer cities and obstacles in our path compared to north and then west."

The three came to a fence followed by a road. All three crossed over the terrain with no problem.

"I figure maybe about 10 minutes more and we could break for lunch?"Fox suggested.

The other two were in agreement with the plan. The ten minutes went by very quickly walking along the flat land. Fox opened up his rations, of which were still in good supply thanks to the three of them trapping a family of snowshoe hares. He shared the remains with his two comrades.

"Does it seem warmer than usual out here?" Aron asked while eating his lunch.

"Yeah,"Victoria started. "Look that way, there isn't even snow on the ground over there!"

"You're right." Fox said after he turned his head. He captured the scent of the air as well. "There's a weird smell in the air too."

"I agree." Aron said. "Something doesn't smell right."

"What do you think it is? Is someone following us again?" Victoria asked.

"I really can't tell, to be honest." Aron interpreted.

"No... I don't think someone is following is. This is a different kind of smell. It's familiar but I cannot quite put my paw on it." Fox explained.

"I guess that we should proceed with caution." Aron suggested.

After finishing their lunches and packing up, the trio continued to head west. As Victoria hinted at during their, the snow started to disappear from beneath their feat. Northern Montana was in the middle of an unseasonable heat-wave, and they were in the middle of it. Their paws made a crunching sound over the dead grass below. The sky was also starting to turn a hazy orange.