Chương 17: Chapter 16: Sheep's Nose

"You're sure we've got everything?" I asked, gently tossing the bag Oliver and I had packed into the back seat of his minivan. Oliver shrugged.

"Food, water, batteries, portable radios, shovels, a pickaxe and a sledgehammer. Not really sure what else we should be packing." He continued to think of possibilities as I reassured him.

"Well, knowing Emily, she's probably taking everything we could ever need. If she's been there before, she'll likely know what we might have to use." I tapped my chin, looking at the bag. It was rather cold that morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, but both of us agreed it was best to meet up with Emily just after sunrise to get the most out of the day. It was four-o'-clock in the morning and it would take over five hours of driving to reach Sheep Nose.

Oliver lifted himself into the driver's seat as I closed the back door of the car. With a practiced movement, Oliver reached over to grab his wheelchair, folding it before he pulled it up and over himself. He placed it between the two front seats of his van. I looked back at Oliver's house. It felt strange, leaving so soon after I'd worked so hard to get there. Even so, the only way to reach my goal was to keep moving ahead. More of my past had to be out there… I just had to push a little harder to find it.

With one last determined breath, I jumped into the passenger seat, closing the door behind me. Oliver started the van, revving the engine to life before it mellowed into a gentle purr. It was much softer than the truck I was used to hearing. Seeing over the dashboard was nearly impossible, thanks to my smaller stature and the several inches lost as I sank into the seat. Thankfully, I had a clear view of the sky, watching the bright stars twinkle above us. I'd come to value them much more during my long trip.

It was nice to look to the heavens and imagine where my home was… somewhere, up there, was the place I belonged. I couldn't help but sneak a few peeks out of the window as we drove through Grand Junction. Of course, I didn't want to be spotted, but there weren't many people outside in the early morning. It seemed like only a few minutes before we were out of the city, driving along a highway surrounded by mountains. A river softly flowed in the same direction as us.

The stars were sadly starting to disappear as the early morning twilight took their place. The two of us had been in the van for over an hour in complete silence. I was lost in thought, and if I had to guess, I'd imagine Oliver was much the same. We both had a lot to think about. Still, there was something I wanted to ask.

"Hey, Oliver?" I broke the silence as quietly as I could, "I hope you don't mind me asking…?"

"What's up?" He responded, keeping his eyes on the road.

"I was, well, just curious about something. How does the gas and brake work on this van?" Quickly glancing over at me for a moment, Oliver lifted his left hand off a small, bulb-shaped level, giving it a gentle tap to indicate it before he placed his hand on the steering wheel.

"This little guy, here. You push down for the gas and forward for the brake. It moves these two bars down here." Oliver leaned down, touching two metal rods were near his feet, then straightened himself again to keep an eye on the road.

"It took a bit of getting used to, but once you're comfortable with it, it's super easy to work with. The only annoying bit is the blinker. Since it's on the left side, I have to either reach across with my right hand or let go of the bulb to hit it. Other than that, it's not too bad." I nodded; it all seemed to make sense.

"Maybe you could teach me how to use it sometime."

"Why would you…" He began to ask, looking at me. I sat as upright in my chair as I could, sticking my legs out. My feet barely reached over the edge of the seat. My tail could reach the ground, but even it wouldn't be able to reach the distance to the pedals. We both laughed. It was nice to be able to talk about our differences without feeling self-conscious. Having someone around who'd had similar experiences definitely made it easier, too.

"Yeah, I can show you sometime." Oliver said.

"Oh yeah, you told me that you have a scooter, right? I remember you talking about it." I nodded.

"Mhm. I used to drive it around our property a lot. And, well…you know about the last time I used it. It's a lot of fun…and it's a little similar to this, I guess." I gestured to the steering wheel.

"The throttle and brake are on the handlebars…yeah, actually, now that I think about it, that's probably why John got it for me." I chuckled, giving a sheepish grin.

"I guess it should have been obvious, having all of these modifications to my things. He knew if he got me something with…uh…normal pedals, I guess?" I shrugged.

"Well, it wouldn't work for me. My legs are too short." All of the talk around modified equipment had me thinking about what other things in my life might have been 'adjusted' to work for me.

"I guess it's something John and Emily thought about a lot. They must have done a pretty good job if you didn't even notice them doing it."

"I think it's more that I never had to think about it. It was just…normal for me." Oliver nodded. I looked out at the sky. The sun was starting to shine onto the mountaintops. The stars had completely disappeared.

"Do you mind if I put some music on?" I asked, reaching into my bag to pull out one of my music players.

"Go for it."

After several hours had passed, I'd eventually decided to stand in the seat to admire the view. I had to duck whenever a car was nearby, but it was worth it. The mountains were nothing short of beautiful, with patches of snow and huge layers of rock shining on steep inclines. Bushes were scattered all over the place, particularly near the river flowing alongside the highway. It was much less wooded than the trip I'd taken to get to Grand Junction.

I could see tons of trees farther in the distance, but the area immediately around the highway seemed to slice right through it, with only the river intertwined with the rock and dirt. The change in progress made the landscape itself almost feel compressed. For every hour of travel in the van, I could imagine the days it would have taken me on foot. My music continued playing over the speakers as I watched the world pass. Oliver seemed to be enjoying the music… but for some reason, I couldn't quite feel it today.

I was too lost in thought, too curious–maybe even a bit nervous–about what we'd find at Sheep Nose. Though I was excited to be going there, I was worried we wouldn't find anything. Emily mentioned her and John searching there, a few times, even, and now it was years later. Regardless, it was the only possibility of finding something. We had to at least try. Emily was on my mind, too. I still felt awful for everything I'd done, especially leaving her behind.

We'd patched up some of our issues over the phone, but it was much easier for me to talk over a call than it was in person. Emily just had this… intensity about her, in a way which made me feel as if I were barely able to move, much less get away when my instincts were telling me to run. I used to think it was just how I felt when talking to others, but now I was starting to believe it was only when talking to Emily. It didn't help I'd only ever spoken to two people in person until a few days ago.

"Hey, Oliver?" I asked, a few hours of silence after our first chat in the van.

"What's up?"

"I guess I never asked…how do you feel about all of this?" I asked, locking my fingers together as I stared out the window. I was nervous to bring it up, but it would be on my mind until I said something.

"Well, I think it's a good plan. When we get there, it'll be just you and Emily searching, for obvious reasons. I'll stay back at the cars, but we'll be able to talk over the radio, so that–""No, no, not that…" I cut him off, "I mean, all of this…"

"Oh…right, I mean…" He gave a slight shrug.

"... I wasn't expecting to find out that one of my best friends was some alien otter thing from outer space. That was pretty crazy. But, life has been pretty dull lately. Honestly, I'm excited to be doing something aside from the day-to-day stuff. I called into work, told them I had some family stuff come up, and I'd have to take off for a few days. They said it was fine, so I'm all in on this adventure. I don't usually get to be a part of something like this, you know?

I wanna help you find what you're looking for."

"And…what if we don't find what we're looking for?" Oliver paused for a moment, considering.

"I think we'll take it one step at a time. We could get lost in hypotheticals or we could focus on what we're doing now. I'm more of a 'do now, figure it out later' kind of person." I nodded.

"Yeah, that's probably the best way to go." I leaned into the armrest, laying my chin on the bevel of the window, watching the world continue to change around us. We drove through several towns, landscape morphing bit by bit. Rocky terrain became a forest of dense pine trees. Eventually, we left the main highway, turning onto a dirt road. It was well maintained, but with all of the snow and other weather recently, there was still an occasional bump or pothole. Oliver did his best to avoid them.

This scenery was much more akin to the world I knew. We couldn't have been too far from my house, probably only an hour north of it. Ahead of us, we sometimes got a glance of Pikes Peak: a mountain I'd often seen, but usually from the south. Despite the foreign angle, it was unmistakably the same mountain near where I'd lived most of my life. Taking another turn, the van shifted onto a smaller dirt road, one far more weathered.

Luckily, Oliver's van was able to get through it fine, but we had to drive much more slowly. Half past nine, we finally saw it: a large, rocky outcropping, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Two large peaks loomed right next to each other, standing out from everything else around them. Oliver and I shared a quick glance at each other. It was unmistakable. While we were planning the trip, we'd seen photos looking exactly like the scene in front of us. We'd made it to Sheep Nose.

As we approached the closest spot between the road and Sheep Nose itself, I saw a familiar car. Emily. She was waiting for us. My hearts suddenly leapt. I hadn't even thought about what I would say to her. Once we stopped next to her, the driver door opened and someone stepped out of the car. They were wearing a large brim hat, a brightly colored jacket and matching pants, and a big set of boots.

"I take it that's Emily?" Oliver asked.

"I, uh…think so?" I said, not entirely convinced, myself. Rolling down the window slightly, I spoke loud enough for them to hear.

"Hey, there."

"Tess! You made it!" It was definitely Emily, sounding more excited than I'd ever heard her.

"That's her." I confirmed to Oliver, opening the door and sliding out of the car. Seconds after I was on solid ground, Emily had wrapped her arms around me, nearly knocking me over as she got down on her knees. She pressed me tightly to herself as she gave a relieved sigh.

"Oh, Tess, I'm so glad to see you! I was so worried! I'm so happy you're okay. Oh, is this your friend?" Emily asked, pulling back from the hug, motioning toward the van. Oliver lowered the passenger window.

"Emily? Hi there, I'm Oliver."

"Oliver!" She repeated.

"So great to meet you! I've heard literally nothing about you!"

"He's one of my friends from the chat group I told you about…" I said quietly.

"Oh! Right, I didn't know you still did that! So…" Emily said to Oliver, leaning into the window, "just so I understand, did you know about all this–" She motioned to me, "–before she got to your place?" I couldn't see over the door, but I assumed he shook his head 'no'. Emily nodded.

"Good. That's good. You didn't tell anyone, right?" Again, he must have shaken his head 'no', and she nodded once more.

"Okay, that's good. It's best if we keep this whole thing a secret. So!" Emily turned back to me.

"How did you get to his house again? You said you walked? I mean, that's a pretty big walk! And what happened to your clothes?! Oh gosh, I just noticed that… hey! I brought some with me! I figured you'd need them and I promise they'll fit a lot better! Oh yeah, I actually made some more for you, here, let me…" On and on she went, asking me questions with no opportunity to answer. That feeling welled inside me again–the feeling of being unable to move or escape as I was overstimulated with questions.

Her words started to sound like white noise, walls closing around me as she continued to bombard me.

"Emily!" After what felt like ages, I managed to scream over her chatter. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. To my relief, she stopped, taking a step back at my sudden outburst. I took a deep breath. Noticing the large rock next to me, I hopped on top of it, now eye level with Emily and able to see Oliver through the open window.

"Emily, I was…I was so…" My words were escaping me. My throat felt dry, my thoughts broken. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. When my eyes opened, I looked at Oliver, relaxing slightly before I turned back to Emily. Having Oliver around made me feel more confident.

"Emily, I was feeling so silly for being this nervous to meet up with you here. I felt completely irrational, like I was afraid for no reason. But you know what? I remember now. I remember why I was so nervous to come here. Every time you talk to me, you steamroll over me, and you ask all these questions and never give me a chance to answer–" She interrupted, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–" I interrupted right back, speaking louder, talking over her in the same way she'd always do to me.

"–never giving me the chance to answer. We never have conversations, Emily! We never do! Because you don't let me talk and you don't let me get a word in. You don't talk to me, you talk at me. I thought I didn't know how to talk to people, but no, I just don't know how to talk to you. It's been weeks, months since we last saw each other, and I'd honestly started to forget why I left you in the first place, but now it's so obvious." I gestured to Oliver.

"You know, I was terrified of meeting Oliver because I thought I wouldn't be able to talk to him. I was so scared that I'd get to his house and I'd be like some shy, scared little child. But no! We got along great! We talked like normal! We had conversations! He would listen to me! Something you–" I said, pointing one finger group at her, "–never do! Can you please, please for once just let me talk? Talk to me the same way you'd talk to John? You never did this to him!

Just talk to me the same way you speak to everyone else!" I was shaking, fingers still pointing at her. The intensity emanated through me, my eyes locked with hers in a bout of confidence I'd never felt in my entire life. Emily stood there in shock. I'd never spoken to anyone in that way before now, but I had to make my point. When I didn't get in my own head too much, I could actually be a lot more confident. I spoke from my hearts rather than thinking about what I would say over and over.

I didn't know I needed to tell Emily those feelings until they spilled out of me. She didn't know what to say, how to respond. I stopped pointing at her, letting my arm rest at my side as I gathered myself.

"You said you had clothes for me?" I asked, in a much calmer tone.

Only a few patches of snow remained on the ground, most of it having melted. The sun continued rising into the sky as Emily and I hiked toward the mountain. Our bags were packed with tools and food we'd need for the day. I could hear Emily behind me, out of breath. We'd been hiking for about twenty five minutes. Aside from coordinating what each of us would carry, we hadn't spoken a word to each other since I'd yelled at her. Still, I felt lighter, and now I was wearing clothing which fit me well.

My pants actually fit around my tail, my shirt wasn't draping around my back, and I didn't feel like I would step on the end of my pants every time I moved. Surprisingly, I didn't even feel a small twinge of guilt about what I'd said. My point was made and I'd said it in exactly the way I intended. Emily needed to hear it… and so did I. All of the feelings inside me had just been bottled up while I had tried to find some sort of way to put them into words.

Once I had, in that moment, the weight in my chest had been lifted. I knew Emily was staying silent for now; she wouldn't break the silence until I did. For the moment, I was enjoying the quiet, being with my own thoughts. Once we reached the base of the rock face, Emily motioned to the side. We started following along the structure, but Emily was having a hard time keeping my pace. Each step seemed to be a struggle and she was completely winded.

"Do you need to take a break?" I asked, turning around to look at her.

"Oh my god, yes, please, can we take a break…" She responded, wheezing as she took a breath between each word. Emily sat down on a large, flat rock, pulling her bag free before she rested on her back. I sat across from her, getting a good look at her. Her entire face was red and covered in sweat. Only when we'd stopped did I notice how tired she was.

"Sorry, I would have stopped earlier if I saw how, uh…" I motioned in her general direction. She didn't answer immediately, just staring up at the sky, chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. After a minute or two, she moved to a sitting position.

"I don't know how you guys do this…" She mused.

"You guys?" I asked, unsure of what she meant.

"Your…species…" With a deep breath, Emily continued, "... you never seem to run out of stamina. It's incredible. You just seem to…actually, I'm going to take this moment to not bring it up." I appreciated Emily taking my words seriously, but this time, I actually did want to know more.

"It's okay, I'd rather know what you're thinking about." It was one thing when Emily just started talking about me and rolling off facts like I was a test and she'd been studying for years. Having the opportunity to ask for the information made it feel far more natural to me.

"You sure?" She asked. Once I nodded, Emily gave her answer.

"Okay, so: stamina. You've always fascinated me with the way you can just keep going and never run out of energy. John and I never really found your limits… you just never seemed to have any. The only animal I've seen like that is a Siberian husky. They can run all day long and never get tired. It's in the way they process the byproducts from their muscles. You probably have a similar trait where you're able to replace those chemicals–whatever they are–at the same rate they're used up.

At least, that's how a Siberian husky works, physically. I always wondered what the exact process is for you. I'd imagine it's vastly different."

"You think about this sort of stuff a lot, don't you?" I asked.

"All the time." Emily responded, her breathing back to normal, and she was looking much better, too. Knowing my pace may be a bit too quick for her, I figured I'd give her the option, "do you want to lead this time?" We continued, now at a much slower speed. After getting around one side of the mountain, we found ourselves on a small ridge between two peaks. Emily stopped, removing her backpack as I took a moment to look at the scenery.

Only a few trees were scattered around the immediate area, with far more rocks and bushes in sight. From the ridge, we could see pretty far in every direction, aside from being able to look past the towering peaks.

"Is this it?" I asked Emily, pulling out one of the sandwiches Oliver and I had packed earlier today. Emily was covered in sweat. Before she answered, she took out her water bottle, nearly gulping down half of the water in a matter of seconds.

"Doing okay?" I raised an eyebrow, curious and concerned.

"I'm fine, I'm fine…just…need a moment. …don't do this stuff all that much." She responded, catching her breath. A minute later, she looked at me, a more serious expression across her face.

"This is the spot." As I blinked, she tapped her hand against the rock where she'd been resting.

"Eighteen years ago, early March, John was sitting here. There was a large snowstorm…"

"March?" I interjected, "I thought I was found in February…isn't that where my 'birthday' comes from?" Emily shook her head.

"It was in March. He was sitting here when the meteor flashed across the sky…well, well all thought it was a meteor, anyway. It was all over the news, but nobody saw it because of the storm. All we saw was a light and a loud booming sound shortly after." I looked around the area, trying to picture this scene in the same conditions as then.

"Why was he out here during a snowstorm like that? And at night, by himself?" Emily frowned.

"Yeah, I didn't understand that part either. I asked him about it, but he didn't want to tell me. Now that I know more about him, I think I've figured it out." She looked out over the horizon.

"He wasn't planning on going home. He wanted to get lost out here and never be found."

"Why? What happened?" I asked, not sure what to feel…not sure if I wanted to think about John feeling that way. Before Emily could answer, the radio in my bag made a chirping noise, followed by Oliver's voice.

"I'm going to head into town for a bit. Are you guys good to go? I should be back in a few hours." I yanked the radio out, responding as quickly as I could.

"Uh, yeah, that's fine. We're gonna start searching soon."

"Got it, see you in a bit! Good luck!" After placing the radio into my bag once more, my gaze went back to Emily.

"So…"

"So you came from over in this direction–" Emily started, before I stopped her.

"Emily, what happened with John?" She sighed, taking a deep breath as her gaze bore into the ground. Whatever she was about to tell me, I had a bad feeling it was going to sting.

"There's…a lot John never told us, Tess. He kept quite a few secrets." Emily looked at me.

"Tess Evans, born on February 18th, 2024 in UCHealth Memorial Hospital. Blood type A positive, seven pounds, five ounces, daughter of Johnathan Evans and Catherine Evans. You even have a social security number, a bank account, and as far as official records go, you were homeschooled." I sat on the rock, opposite of Emily, confused about everything I'd just heard.

"But that…doesn't make any sense. How does any of that make sense?"

"That's what I thought, too. I didn't know anything about this until…well, until he was gone. When I started to fill out all the paperwork, then I saw the records. Catherine died about a month later. Some sort of random accident on the property…she fell down the stairs and it was over pretty quick." Emily reached out and gently grabbed my hand.

"It was a month after their daughter was born. As far as the records go, Catherine passed, but you were fine. But…" She gave a soft gulp.

"... I don't think that was truly the case. On the same day of the accident, John came out here." I looked around for a moment as Emily motioned to the area around us.

"I don't think he wanted to be found. I think he planned on dying out here. He'd just lost his wife and daughter, so he just…gave up. He didn't want to continue going."

"Tess…was his daughter…" I said, feeling as if it had come out like an echo while I tried wrapping my head around all the information. Emily nodded.

"He came out here and… well, that's when you arrived. From what I can piece together, he ended up raising you as his daughter. I think he saw it as some kind of sign. He never really talked about any religious beliefs, so I can't be sure. When he reported the accident, though, he only reported Catherine, not Tess. That's how he was able to give you the house and everything else in his will." I felt my hand clench slightly. What was I even supposed to say right now?""

As far as all the legal stuff goes, you're a person with records, you're an American citizen and everything. It's been tricky to navigate everything since I doubt any of it would hold up in court… but as long as we keep… this–" She motioned up and down at me, "–a secret, we should be able to get everything done. That's what I mentioned over the phone: he left everything to you. At some point, I'm going to need a lot of signatures."

"This is a lot to take in…" I mumbled, looking at my free hand.

"Oh, shoot! That's right! I left the paperwork in my office! I meant to take all of it with me!" Emily had a tendency to switch topics and focus on things unimportant in the moment. Moments like those gave me a bit of mood whiplash. I'd always thought it was a normal thing, but the more I talked with others, the more I realized it was an Emily thing. Even if she could switch topics easily, I couldn't quite manage to shift my thoughts as quickly.

"Can you give me a moment?" Emily nodded, letting go of my hands. I left my supplies with her, stepping away from everything before I began to try processing all of this information about John. I didn't know what exactly I'd expected to hear, but this story wasn't even close to my expectations. Right now, I didn't even know what I should be feeling. John had a wife, a newborn child, and somehow all of this happened in a way to have me enter his life and replace them. No wonder John was always so protective of me.

Even so, it felt wrong, taking someone else's name. John wasn't the type to talk much, but to think he'd never told me anything about the family he had… I slowly sank to the ground, holding my hands to my face as I tried to think of any time he may have mentioned the topic, but I couldn't think of anything. Like Emily had said: he had kept it all a secret. Should I be angry? Frustrated and confused? Forgiving and understanding? Shaking my head back and forth, I gave a small sigh.

It didn't matter now, not at this point. It was almost two decades ago, and John is gone. Whatever reasons he had… they're lost to time, now. When I rejoined Emily, I found her looking at the bag full of sandwiches.

"Tess, did you and Oliver separate these?" She asked me, rifling through the bag.

"No, we just put them all in there." I replied as I sat next to her.

"Okay, but they kind of need to be separated…unless," Emily looked up at me, "you didn't put any mercury in them yet? You know I'm not able to eat it."

"Oh! I, uh, forgot to bring that, actually…it's been a few days since I've had any, now that I think about it…so yeah, they should all be okay for you."

"A few days?" Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Are you, uh…feeling okay? Are things good? I didn't bring any with me…"

"It's…it's fine. Now that you mention it, I could probably use some, but yeah, I'll be okay for now."

"If you say so." She nodded, pulling out a sandwich and taking a bite.

"So, you were saying? John was here during the storm?"

"Ah, yeah," She said, swallowing her mouthful of sandwich, "so, he was here. He told me it was about an hour after the meteor, you came walking up to him from this direction." Emily pointed toward one of the peaks.

"You were wearing a white jumpsuit with a patch on the shoulder."

"Oh! He gave me that patch! Yeah, I have it, but…a jumpsuit? He didn't show me that."

"Yeah, it was odd. The material of the jumpsuit disintegrated a few weeks after you arrived on Earth. The patch was made of a different material than the rest of the suit, but some sort of bacteria seemed to love whatever the suit itself was made of. There was barely any of it after a couple of weeks, but the patch stayed." She sighed.

"I never did figure out what material it was. Anyway, you came from over there, he picked you up…" Emily paused, leaning down and speaking quietly for a moment.

"... and I'll say you were definitely a lot more than seven pounds, but anyway…" Going to her original sitting position, she continued.

"So, a few weeks later, when the snow had melted, John and I came up here to search for the ship that brought you here. You already know this, but we couldn't find anything. We came back a few times, but our searches never got us anywhere closer. It was like the ship just…disappeared."

"Were you living with John at the time?" I asked. Seeing Emily shake her head, I blinked.

"So, how did you find out about me?"

"John knew me from a long time ago. He reached out to me because he knew I was a veterinarian. You seemed to be degrading in health pretty quickly. Since he didn't have any other options, he turned to me."

"... I was dying?" I asked, figuring it must have been what she meant by 'degrading'. She nodded.

"Yeah… you got into a thermometer and that's how we found out about the mercury. Good thing too, because you were looking pretty bad by then. I started visiting the two of you regularly, keeping tabs on everything like your diet, your behaviors. You adapted to us pretty quickly. It wasn't easy to keep it all a secret, but John was terrified that if you were found out, you'd be experimented on, or worse. It was a risk he wasn't willing to take."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, each of us eating a sandwich, knowing where the story went from there. I didn't want to think about John's wife or his poor child. I couldn't imagine what he'd gone through to start his life over again with me. If anything, I just wished I could give him a hug… thank him for taking care of me… for protecting me. Emily cleared her throat after finishing her sandwich.

"The main thing that confused us, was, even after all these years, the ship still hasn't been found by anyone. We started coming out here almost daily, searching the area, spreading out our area further and further. It was an hour between the ship landing and you showing up here, so it couldn't be too far away." I finished my own sandwich, motioning for her to continue.

"We searched everywhere we could think of, so many times. After a few months, we finally gave up. John would come back once in a while, but I think it was mostly just to visit. We figured some random hiker would find it, but it never happened. It really was like it just disappeared the moment you arrived." I stood, looking around us.

"Is there anywhere you couldn't search, like…some place you couldn't reach?" Emily nodded.

"A few spots. We did our best to search the steeper cliffs, but there was only so much we could do. We didn't see any signs of anything, but our search ability was limited."

"Good." I replied.

"We'll start there."