Page 22 of The Artist
“I just don’t understand how you can kill another living being,” Freya said in a flat tone.
“That’s because your mother is a Motlander and she filled your head with nonsense about animals having feelings.”
“She did but that’s not the reason I’m a vegan and don’t hunt. When I was younger my father tried to convince me that being a carnivore was natural for human beings and for a while, I bought into it, but then I started not liking meat. It was as if my soul was telling me that killing was wrong.”
Aubri pushed a finger to Freya’s temple. “Told you; it’s your mom’s programming from when you were little that’s messing you up. Animals eat animals. There’s no need to be sentimental about it. We were designed to feed on each other in a circle of life.”
Freya yawned. “Right, so if those wolves attacked and ate Mason you wouldn’t grieve?”
Aubri scoffed. “Don’t be stupid, he wouldn’t let that happen.”
“But what if he was alone and out of ammunition?”
“Of course I would grieve if my twin died.”
“Why? It’s just the circle of life and you said it yourself; there’s no need to get sentimental about it.”
“Oh, come on, Freya. I don’t want to hear that animals grieve too.”
“They do! Wolves mate for life, Aubri. You know that dogs dream and have nightmares like we do. They get scared, excited, sad, and feel shame just like us. What makes you think that we humans are the only ones who can grieve? And what gives you the right to go out and randomly kill some other living being’s brother, mate, parent, or child?”
Thor groaned. “If I hear another word about vegan versus carnivore from you two, I’m banning you from attending any of the fun parts of this trip.”
“Will we see bears?” Celeste, who sat beside me, asked.
“Not this time of year, I’m afraid. They’re hibernating during the winter.” Thor steered us over the tall treetops, as I returned to admiring the breathtaking nature. In the distance I spotted the other two drones. Indiana flew one with Victor and three of the Motlanders, while Mason was in a third drone with Simon, Isaac, and the last two Motlanders.
“How often do you come up here?” Celeste asked.
“Every winter. The cabin that we’re staying at belongs to Indiana’s parents. His family owns logging and mining companies among other things. Because they have businesses across the country, they also have a number of places to stay.”
“So does our family,” Thor added. “We were supposed to stay in our cabin but when one of the staff went to prepare everything a few days ago he found that some idiot had forgotten to turn off the water before leaving the last time they were there, and now some of the water pipes have burst.”
“Don’t call me an idiot,” Aubri objected. “It’s an easy mistake to make.”
“Anyway, we’re lucky that Indiana’s family has a cabin close to ours that’s large enough to host all of us, even though we’ll have to sleep in shared rooms.”
“That’s fine. It’ll be like when we sleep in tents.”
“Can I be in a girl’s room this time?” Celeste asked Freya and Aubri. “I know it’s usually Belle who joins you, but with my pregnancy, I don’t get much sleep to begin with and the last thing I need is one of the men to keep me up with their snoring.”
“Women snore too,” Thor pointed out. “I’ve learned that from sleeping in the same tent as quite a few.”
Freya dipped her head. “That’s fine, Celeste. The rooms are double rooms, but you can sleep with either Aubri or me. You know the Motlanders won’t like it if Belle sleeps with us again. They think we’re playing favorites and that our always sleeping together contradicts the idea of bonding with everyone in the group.”
“There’s the cabin.” Thor pointed ahead to a clearing in the millions of pine trees. By the edge of an ice-covered lake was a cute log cabin with smoke rising from a chimney.
“Finally!” Celeste held a hand to her stomach. “My bladder is about to explode.”
When we landed, Thor jumped out and held up a hand to support Celeste out of the drone. Two small steps folded out from underneath the drone and as she walked down, the wind lifted her short blond hair.
“Come on, I’ll show you to the bathroom.” Aubri didn’t use the steps but jumped and took Celeste’s hand to lead her.
Once out of the drone, I opened the luggage area to pick up my bag. We were staying here for three days and I’d brought all the warm clothes I had.
“Here, let me.” My right hand was on my bag when I heard Mason behind me.
Ever since our talk last night, I had avoided him, but now I turned to meet his gaze. Mason had a bag strapped over his shoulder and two in one of his hands while he was holding out his other hand toward me.
