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Climbing the trail to Mount Washburn was slow going. The effort for doing it, however, was rewarded by one of the most amazing views in the park. From even halfway up, the Caldera stretched out before them like a beautiful sleeping beast.
The lava below the surface brought life to the multitude of thermal features and here, near the top, Gracie could see steam from a least a dozen mud pots, fumerals, hot springs and geysers.
The valleys below were a riot of yellows, pinks, and purples as the park reached peak season. The fact that she was out and about, exploring while millions of tourists poured through Yellowstone National Park, still stunned her. It was second only to her amazement that she had actually come back after that devastating summer two years ago.
“What's your hurry?” she called out.
Kari, enjoying the freedom the cane offered over the wheelchair she had been in for so long, was practically dancing up the narrow, rocky path. “Their holding the food hostage until we get there.”
“I know I fed you this morning.” Gracie laughed. “You're not going to starve to death.”
“Are you sure? Because it feels like my belly button is chewing its way to my back bone.”
“Though I can't be a hundred percent sure, I'm fairly certain. I think there's a certain blue eyed, blond-haired heartbreaker you're more interested in than food.”
Kari stopped and turned back to her, grinning from ear to ear. “I'm in love, Gracie. Never thought that would happen.”
“You're glowing. I'm just glad you came back so I could see how beautiful it's made you.”
Kari's smile faltered. “Hardest thing I've ever done is driving back through that gate.”
The others waited just around the bend, at the top of Mt. Washburn. Gracie stepped to the edge of the trail to let a family of five pass. Patting the rock next to her, she said, “Pull up a rock.”
A tear slid down Kari's pale cheek. She wiped it away and met Gracie's gaze. “Why did she do it?”
They had talked often over the past two years. They talked of healing, rehab, doctors and family, but neither had been strong enough to talk about Julie. Until now. “I think being here during the summers, with us, was a coping mechanism for her. Just like me, only her bad wiring was a little more twisted. When Lester threatened to scatter us to the four winds, she snapped. After the first kill, she couldn't stop. No matter what we did or didn't do, she was going to fixate on us. Kill us. Seeing you that night with Corny… was hard. Even for me. But it was just an excuse for her. If it hadn't been that, it would have been something else.”
“I didn't sleep with Corny,” Kari blurted out. “I just needed someone to talk to. I tried to talk to you guys, but I couldn't make myself do it. Corny was not one of us. Even after he married Kristi. I could talk to him and he wouldn't judge me.”
“We wouldn't have judged you, Kari.”
The smile Kari offered was so bittersweet, Gracie had to swallow against tears. “Your opinions, more than anyone else on the planet, mattered to me.”
“Well, you see how harshly I judge you,” Gracie glared at Kari, trying hard for the Get-Down-On-Your-Knees-And-Cry-For-Me look of an old schoolmarm. “And at your age, you'd better not do it again.”
She couldn't hold it. Kari's laughter, full and free, caught her off guard. With that shared moment, the tension broke. Though it wouldn't stay gone—they still had a lot of healing to do. But it was a start. “Come on. There's a certain cutie I want to wrap my arms around, too.”
They took a couple of steps and Kari grabbed her arm, “Wait.” After a young couple, eyes for no one else but each other had passed, she asked, “How about you? Has that doctor you've been seeing gotten rid of the Other?”
Gracie took a deep breath, fragrant with the blooms of summer, and tried to decide how much to tell her. They had shared a hospital while they had been recovering. Once Kari got out of the Intensive Care Unit, Gracie spent most days by her bedside. She'd told her everything then, why stop now?
“She's not gone.” Gracie toyed with the scars around her wrists before meeting Kari's gaze. She'd thought about covering them with tattoos, but decided against it. They were a part of her now. Part of her story. Just like the Other. “He helped me understand her, though. When I was six, my stepfather killed my twin sister. My mother manipulated me into forgetting about her, but I couldn't let her go. She became a part of me. She became the Other, the one strong enough to do what I couldn't.”
“What was her name?”
“Hope.”
Kari hugged her, suddenly, fiercely. There was a time when Gracie would have pulled away. Hell, she would have run screaming from such intimate contact.
“We've come a long way, baby.” She quoted the old song and looped her arm through Kari's while they made their way down the last quarter mile of trail.
On seeing them turn the corner, a small blond toddler, still shaky with his newly discovered talent for walking, ran, tumbled and rolled towards Kari. Dropping her cane, she scooped him up in her arms and nuzzled his neck.
While they squealed with delight, a protective David Matthews standing close enough to catch them if they overbalanced, Gracie went to Hudson.
Fred and Ginger ran to meet her. Like Kari, Ginger had healed beautifully, with more than a little help from skilled hands. Dancing at her feet for a minute, they demanded her attention for only a moment before bouncing back to their newest charge.
The small bundle Hudson held close was cooing and pulling at his cap. It had taken time, but Gracie had finally stopped worrying over the future—whether or not their little girl would develop the illness that had ruled so much of Gracie's life.
Hudson was right. They wouldn't keep secrets from her, wouldn't hide anything. They would talk to her, teach her, and watch for the signs. After all, her childhood would be vastly different than Gracie's had been. Where Gracie's was dark and terrible, their daughter would have light and love. It would be filled with her namesake.
Hope.
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