They walked for a while more yet, with the occasional short stretch of gentle jogging through sections where the undergrowth was less thick. Eventually the light started to drop. They had a few hours left before sunset yet but it would be best to have camp set up and dinner sorted before then. Cat checked her watch, it was half five. She stopped and turned to Kass.

“How far off do you think we are?”

Kass checked down at the map. She shook her head. “Not far off I would think.”

“Worth stopping now or shall we keep moving for a bit.”

“Maybe stop in half an hour.”

Cat nodded and they continued on. They were just about to call it quits when they emerged at the edge of the river.

“How far from the bridge are we?” Cat asked. She’d been trying to keep track of where they were but the scenery looked much the same everywhere she was finding it difficult to orientate herself. Kass was certainly the better navigator and the one with more wilderness experience.

“I’d say it adds at least an hour, probably two if we go around.”

Cat eyed the water. The river was a decent distance across, maybe 10 metres wide. It was hard to tell how deep. Kass estimated it was waist deep at worst. Cat didn’t care. She wasn’t at all interested in crossing it. Thankfully Kass wasn’t so keen anymore either.

“I’d suggest we just wade across but I don’t have a pack liner anymore.” Kass said.

“Well I never had one to begin with anyway,” Cat replied.

“Really? You should always hike with a pack liner.”

“Why? I’m not usually that inclined on taking my pack swimming.”

“Sure, but if it rains or you slip over. What are you going to do if your sleeping bag gets wet?”

“I don’t go hiking in the rain.”

“You don’t always have that choice.”

“No, I definitely have that choice. You see up there.” Cat pointed skyward. “Not a single cloud in the sky. No clouds, no rain. I wouldn’t be out here if there was a chance of rain.”

“You can’t always predict the weather. What if there was an elemental out here who decided to have a fun flash thunderstorm?”

Cat snorted. “A what? Say that again, five times fast.”

“A . . . “ Kass sighed and gave up. She looked back at the river. “We could leave our packs here. It’s only a couple of kilometers from the other side to the car park.”

“And then we’ll be soaked and it’ll be dark by the time we get back.” Cat objected. She was intent on walking around.

Kass looked up at the sky. “We could camp here and cross in the morning.”

“Not exactly the best camp spot.”

Kass pointed downriver. “There’s a bit of beach that looks big enough for a tent.”

Cat looked where she was pointing and considered it.

“We should be fine there as long as it doesn’t rain.” Kass added.

“As long as it doesn’t rain upriver.”

Kass shrugged, “the main catchment’s not too far away, we’ll notice if it starts to pour, not that I expect we have much to worry about.” She glanced at the cloudless sky.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Not even surprise elementals?” Cat teased.

“Okay, I admit, that’s unlikely. There are some places where the weather can turn fast though.”

“But not this park.”

“Not this time of year.” Kass corrected. “So camp on the beach then?”

“Sure I guess that’ll do.” Cat agreed. Maybe she could talk Kass into walking around in the morning, or she could volunteer to pack up camp while Kass crossed the river to get the sunscreen. The murky river moved quickly with little swirls twisting in on themselves. In some places rocks under the water caused little rapids to bubble out on top. Water could be so deceptive though. Cat imagined it pulling her under, not being able to get out, not being able to breathe. She involuntarily shivered and turned her head away from the water to focus on more solid land.

They walked downriver until they reached the beach. Kass pulled out the tent and Cat went off into the forest to get some firewood. They hadn’t taken the cooker in the end since they only had one pot and the dry food weighed less. Instead they ate a mix of dried fruits, salami, biscuits, and cheese. Cat had also snagged the remains of Indi’s bag of marshmallows as well as one of the bags of pineapple lumps. They sat in silence most of the evening, just enjoying the quiet of the bush, making small conversation inter spaced with relaxed silence. Eventually Kass stated that she was going to sleep, and Cat, not wanting to be left alone with only the dark mass of the river for company, decided to retire too.

“If we get up early we can get back sooner tomorrow. It’ll take us longer to get back I expect.” Kass wriggled down into her sleeping bag.

”Rise at 6 am?” Cat proposed as she climbed into her own sleeping bag.

Kass nodded.

No one stayed up to read.

It was the middle of the night when something pulled Cat out of her sleep. She woke up fast ready to fight but then realized it was just Kass whimpering in her sleep. It sounded like it was a bad dream of some sort. She frowned and momentarily wondered if it would be rude to enter the woman’s dreams to see what it was about. She only wondered for a moment though, then curiosity drove her forward. She touched her finger gently to Kass’s shoulder. Physical contact always made dreamwalking easier.

The tent and the world around her faded out and suddenly she was standing in broad daylight in ankle deep snow. She frowned and looked around. It looked like the north, where Kass was from, or had lived for a period of her life. Back during the main thrall of the Northern Vampire Wars. Cat saw a figure running towards her and realized it was Kass. The nice thing about dreamwalking was that one could look in on someone’s dream without that person even knowing, unless you wanted them to that was. Cat decided she’d rather just observe. The other great thing about dreamwalking was that you didn’t actually have to walk.

As Kass ran, with an exhausted and terrified look on her face, Cat simply drifted along. What was she running from? Cat tried to see but there didn’t seem to be anything there. Well there was one way to find out. Cat molded the fabric of the world, just a little, and rock appeared beneath Kass’s feet. She fell forward into the snow.

She tried to scramble to her feet but seemed to be having trouble. This seemed to be more the dream itself, well Kass’s mind, rather than Cat’s doing now.

Kass rolled over onto her back, elbows supporting her so she was propped up. She looked in terror back the way she had run from. She panted hard, either from fear or from the speed at which she’d been running.

Eventually another figure jogged into sight. He was smaller, child sized, and as he got closer Cat thought she recognized him. He had sandy brown hair and light blue eyes, like the inside of an iceberg. Eyes just like Kass’s. When he got closer he stopped running and instead walked forward slowly. He had something in his hands.

Cat watched Kass closely. She seemed frozen and she was pushing her hands uselessly into the snow as if to try and get away. As the boy got closer he uncurled his fingers. Cat leaned forward to see what he was holding. It was a grenade.

Cat jerked back awake.

She pulled her hand back from Kass’s shoulder.

Kass’s eyes were open. She sat up swiftly, one hand absently reaching for her shoulder. “Were you spying? In my head?” she asked breathlessly.

Cat shook her head and did her best to look innocent. “You were talking in your sleep. I was just poking you awake.”

Kass frowned, obviously not believing her.

“What were you dreaming about?” Cat asked, pushing her luck as usual.

“None of your business.” Kass said as she left the tent.

Cat shrugged, lay back down, and attempted to fall asleep again.

A little while later Cat heard Kass return. She watched her get back in her sleeping bag. Kass didn’t immediately lie down instead she sat for a moment. She seemed to be considering something.

“That was your son right?” Cat asked.

Kass froze. She didn’t look at Cat. “You were in my head.”

Cat shrugged. “It was right? Marc, the one who died up in the north? Why’d he have a grenade?”

Kass didn’t answer at first and Cat thought maybe she was just going to ignore the question and tell Cat to go back to sleep but then she responded softly almost wistfully. Like she was lost and unsure. “I don’t know, that’s just my head, mixing different things up?”

“Like kids with grenades?” Cat asked curiously.

Kass didn’t answer the question. Instead she turned to look at Cat and replied quietly and softly with a question of her own. One she knew would get Cat to stop probing.

“You ever dream about your father?”

Now it was Cat’s turn to avoid the question. She rolled over and faced the other side of the tent wall. “No,” she lied.

Kass didn’t push it any further.