I can't help but smile back.
An hour later Dad is throwing Lukas the keys to the jeep.
“How is this gonna get us there? It's nothing but bush?” Lukas asks confused.
Dad gives me a pointed look.
“Krista will take care of that. This is a relaxing spa break. Take a load off and enjoy a drive for once!” He chuckles as he puts his arm around my mum. “Besides it'll be nice to have clearer tracks around this place. Might even get some quads!”
We wave and get in the car.
“So which way we headed?” I ask.
Lukas points to the woods that run up behind the house along the West side of the mountain.
I rub my hands together and get to work with tree shuffling.
I see Lukas' eyes widen before he starts the jeep forward. After about 15 minutes we are making good progress and I don't even feel the slightest bit tired. The forest moves at my slightest thought and I give out a constant wave of gratitude.
“How long will it take us to get there?” I ask.
“A couple hours. It's not all that far to be honest. I'll still be in howling distance.” He smirks.
“That's good to know.” I reply as I take a deep breath and try and push away my worries.
“I gave Caleb the phone last night and he said he was pretty close to cracking it after a few hours so with any luck when we go back tomorrow he'll have some insider intel for us.”
“We can only hope. Any advantage is better than nothing.” I sigh, trying not to think back to how I got Alistair's phone in the first place.
“Youare our advantage Kris.” Lukas states reassuringly. He reaches over and places his hand on my thigh. His thumb brushing softly back and forth. “You are the most caring, beautiful and resourceful person I know.”
I place my hand over his and smile. “Thanks. You're not so bad yourself.”
“It's all down to incredible genetics.” He says with a playful smirk.
I can't help but laugh and Lukas chuckles with me.
We drive for a little while longer when I sense terror and pain coming from an animal to our left. My back goes straight as I scan the forest out of the window.
“Krista what is it?” Lukas voice is deep and calm but I feel him go on high alert.
“There's an animal in trouble. A deer. She's in pain and terrified.” I say as I unclip my seat belt.
“She's probably about to be dinner. You can't interfere with the natural food chain.” He's stopped the car and holds onto my hand as I go to get out of the car.
“I know that. I can't feel a predator nearby. She needs my help.” I say sternly.
He lets go and gets out the car to follow me but I've already started leaping through the trees to her.
My forest traversing skills are now perfected and even Izzy struggles to keep up with me now. I position the trees perfectly to push me up and forward with ease as soon as my foot lands on a branch. I can move the air around me to change direction as I jump. It feels like I'm flying through the forest. My movements are light and graceful and the distances between my strides go over several meters.
I find the deer in seconds lying on the ground in the middle of labour. There are two small hooves jutting out of the birth canal. I touch her mind and realise that she has been inlabour for far too long and she is totally exhausted. Her eyes are wide and she is gulping air. I place my hand over her head and transfer some of my own energy to her along with reassurance that I'm going to help her. Her head drops back to the ground as I watch her go through a contraction but the baby doesn't move.
“Hang in there Mama I'll get you through this.” I whisper to her.
Lukas finds us mere moments later and assess the situation.
His tone is steady as he says, “This baby is far too big. It's stuck and we're going to need to pull it out.”
