"
It is no problem, Miss Winchester. The young woman was acting strangely before the sun got to her. I dread to think where she would be had I not intervened. She might not be among the living." Professor Fauntleroy said to Diana, saying the last sentence with a tone of dread. He was not exaggerating to paint himself as a hero. The heat of the canyon was dreadful and there were precious few places to take refuge from it... even Diana had to dress in appropriate clothing and bring plenty of water to drink. Getting lost in such an inhospitable environment could be a death sentence for the unprepared, but the heat was far from the only danger in the arid canyon.
Diana was not sure how many outlaw gangs called Mysterious Canyon home or used it as their stomping grounds. She was also not sure how many of the Marauders were still out there, which was one reason why she carried Saint Sinner Valentine with her. She doubted that Amanda had worn appropriate clothing, carried water with her, or packed a weapon in case an outlaw gang came calling. Amanda's lack of preparedness, when combined with the possibility that outlaw gangs roamed the canyon, could have easily resulted in the young woman not leaving the canyon alive had Professor Fauntleroy not intervened.
"
Which tent is the young woman in?" Diana asked him. The professor stood up, took a sip of tea, and began walking towards the entrance.
"
I'll show you. Follow me, Miss Winchester." He said to her. Diana obligingly fell in behind him and walked out of the tent to go see the young woman she had been hired to rescue.
-Inside the medical tent-
While Professor Fauntleroy remained outside Diana entered the tent to see ten empty cots in the middle and crates of medical supplies sitting along the left "wall" of the rectangular tent. Sitting On the last cot was a young blonde in a black bikini top and blue shorts reading a map. The young woman lowered the map and saw that Diana was holding her shirt.
"
Oh, there's my shirt! I knew that I left it somewhere but I couldn't remember where!" She said to Diana. The huntress wordlessly walked forward and handed it to the blonde, who set aside the map to put it on. Diana turned her back while the young woman put her shirt on and turned back around once she had finished dressing. Diana was facing a young blonde woman with blue eyes and with her hair done in twintails.
"
Are you Amanda Smith?" Diana asked the young woman.
"
Yeah. How did you know?" Amanda asked Diana.
"
Your older sister Meredith sent me to find you. She said that a few hours ago you had made an iLac call to her saying that you had gotten lost on the way to Clover Town." Diana explained how she had learned the young woman's name. Amanda laughed.
"
Yeah, I called her just before my iLac went dead. I forgot to charge it last night, but I figured that I had enough battery life to make it to Clover Town and have the friend I was visiting call her. As you know, I didn't have enough battery life to make it to Clover Town." Amanda said, pulling out a pale blue iLac from the pocket of her shorts.
"
What would you like to do from here, Amanda? Would you like to go to Clover Town or return to Magnolia Town and try again another day?" Diana asked Amanda. Amanda studied the map a little before looking towards the huntress.
"
I think it'd be best if we just returned to Magnolia Town while the going's good. By the time we get to Clover Town it'd be dark and my friend will probably be asleep. She sleeps like the dead, so short of doing something drastic like breaking down the door she won't hear us no matter how often we press the doorbell." Amanda replied. Diana looked at the blonde and saw that she was telling the truth about her friend.
"
Very well then. We will set out for Magnolia Town whenever you are ready to go." Diana put the ball squarely in Amanda's court. The blonde folded up the map and stuck it in a side pocket, then picked up her iLac and put it in the other pocket. Amanda then adjusted her hairband and looked towards Diana.
"
I'm ready to get going now. I'll let you lead the way back to Magnolia Town. I'd only get us lost again... we'd probably end up somewhere even more off-course like the Cursed Lands, Capital Crocus, or even Desierto." Amanda declared, passing the responsibility for getting them back to Magnolia Town to the huntress. Diana accepted the responsibility.
"
Very well then." Diana said to Amanda. The pair walked out of the tent and took their leave of Professor Fauntleroy before beginning the lengthy hike back to Magnolia Town. It was going to be a long walk, but Diana was used to long trips on foot and so was Amanda. Maybe the huntress should invest in a decent vehicle, but she quickly dismissed the thought for several reasons.
First, buying a vehicle was a big purchase and big purchases tended to attract attention, especially the wrong sort of attention. Second, a vehicle was not something she could easily abandon if it became a liability. Third, vehicles were distinctive and anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention to her could link a vehicle to her even if she did abandon it.
With all of those issues it was best just to walk wherever she needed to go.
-Serene Cliff, six hours later-
Diana and Amanda had made it from the arid Mysterious Canyon region to the much more hospitable Serene Cliff region. The temperature was a lot cooler and both young women could breathe freely. It was starting to get dark, but the pair was making good time and there were no signs of hostile humans or wildlife in the area, so they kept going. Maybe they could make it to Magnolia Town before the next morning. Amanda had pulled out her map and was studying it as she walked just behind Diana, who was diligently making sure that Amanda did not wander off and get lost for a second time in the same day.
"
I can't believe how lost I got. I was on the right track, then I took a wrong turn at Oshibana. didn't even need to turn at Oshibana... I should have just kept going straight." Amanda said to Diana. Diana kept quiet and let Amanda talk. When the map-reading blonde talked Diana learned more about her family.
"
I come from a family of people with a terrible sense of direction. Everyone on my mother's side of the family somehow winds up in weird places. My Uncle Larry once tried to go to a Halloween party in Rose Garden but ended up in Silent Cemetery. He thought that the zombies were just people in costume who were really in character until one grabbed his arm and tried to bite him." Amanda told Diana a bit about her family. Diana winced.
"
Yeah. Uncle Larry managed to avoid being bitten by running away, but he has deep gouges on his left arm where he yanked it away from the zombie and got cut by its fingernails. He also hates anything to do with zombies, even the Malevolent Tenant video games." Amanda finished the story as they kept walking through the area. Diana kept quiet and continued to gently guide Amanda towards Magnolia Town while listening to more anecdotes from the latter about her family and the odd predicaments they ended up in. Apparently her mother and her mother's family had a sense of direction every bit as atrocious as Amanda's.
- Amanda Smith:
[Post Word Count: 1,315]
[Total Word Count: 2,827/2,500]