None of them had the desire or stamina to drive back that evening. Simon found rooms available at a lodge nearby, so they decided to spend the night in Milford Sound and figure out their next steps in the morning.
Staying inside the car while Simon took their luggage from the trunk, Shanna slid her hands over the metal box in her lap. The lodge was removed from the hustle and bustle of the harbor, shrouded in the silence of the forest, but Shanna’s mind was full of unpleasant white noise. This would not do. Simon had said to take time and mull over the details, but she couldn’t distance herself from the box if she kept it with her. Trapped between the pull to keep it close to her chest and work at it until her mind and heart were satisfied, and the need to take a break, she finally forced herself toward the latter. She left the box in the glove compartment of the car and followed Simon to the hut they’d rented.
It was a rather fancy suite with a fully glass wall on one side, through which the black barks of the ancient trees, crusted with moss, stood dark against the fog shrouding the valley. The perfect place for a respite, and as Shanna sat on the bed and breathed deeply, she could feel the strands connecting her to the box grow less taut.
Simon came from the bathroom, drying his hair, and sat beside her. He exhaled, and she knew he appreciated the view and the relaxation as much as she did.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
She gave an uncertain nod. “I will be. I have to figure out what it all meant. Why she made this treasure hunt for me. Why those specific places? Was it only for the movie references?”
“For what?”
“She referenced some movies in her letter.Singin’ in the Rain, Splash, I’m not sure what the third one is—there are a lot of westerns I’ve watched—andEmerald Fever. I know all of them. I remember them lovingly from my childhood, even though I don’t remember watching them with her. But we must have.”
“I know the first two, but I’ve never heard ofEmerald Fever,” Simon said.
“Oh, I love it. It’s about a novelist and an adventurer hunting for treasure in the jungle. They fall in love in the process, of course.” She chuckled. “It’s so painfully obvious now.”
“What is?”
“They find the treasure behind the waterfall. They kiss there, too.”
“Your mom had some prophetic visions.”
“She did.” Shanna turned her eyes to the trees, mesmerized by the fog. “The one thing I remember the most, though, is that I always got embarrassed by the love scene. It was very tasteful, but I was a kid and thought it yucky.” She looked at Simon, wiggling her eyebrows. “They did it in a tent while camping in the jungle.”
“Hmm.” He shot a side glance at the forest. “We’re almost in a jungle.”
“Not quite in a tent.”
“It’s a little more comfortable.” He leaned in, touching their foreheads. “If you want a movie experience …”
“Rating yourself high, huh?”
He grinned. “Am I?”
Not undeservingly, though.She giggled and pecked his lips as a tease before she scooted down the bed. Simon followed,tossing away the towel wrapped around his hips, and showed her many things worth a younger Shanna’s embarrassment.
They walked hand in hand out of their hut the next morning, Shanna greeting the new day with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. They finally had everything she needed for the bond-breaking ritual, and she believed she could perform it. But even though Simon had told her he didn’t want her to leave, a sliver of fear still remained; perhaps not about him leaving, but about something else, hidden in the recesses of her mind.
Nonetheless, today would be one big step forward. It would leave them both free. The rest was for the fates to decide.
They met Chris, coming from her hut, halfway to the parking lot.
“I hope you used protection,” she said, then fell into step with them as if no remark had been made at all.
Shanna felt heat rush to her cheeks as Simon whispered, “You know who I won’t miss? Her.”
“Liar,” she teased.
She squinted at the car as they walked closer to it. The antenna in the back was missing—lying on the ground, actually. Shanna had been exhausted yesterday, but she was sure they would have noticed it when they left the car.
Simon let go of her hand and rushed to the car. “What the hell?” He picked up elongated pieces of black rubber from the gravel.
Were those the car’s door seals?
The closer Shanna came, the more the horror built. Their wing mirrors had been taken out too, crushed on the ground. The wipers were bent and, worst of all, the window on her side had fallen in, resting on her seat.
