Chapter Text
“Tell me why we had to come 5000 miles to ‘get away’ from the cabin?” Maisie says, walking about three metres behind Claire and Owen. The trail is empty except for the blackbirds. The hotel employees advised them against attempting the hike now, with night time not too far away. It’s only 4pm in the afternoon, Claire thought they were being overly cautious. As did Owen, muttering under his breath about how they’ve fought off dinosaurs so one Munro should be a piece of cake.
“Because there are no journalists in the middle of the Scottish Highlands, waiting to pounce on us. On you.” Claire says back, pausing to fall in step with Maisie. “Besides you’d never been out of the country before and what better place to come.” She holds her arms out, as if showing off the scenery to Maisie. The wide open spaces calm her mind. No trees for things to lurk in or boulders for creatures to hide behind. Just rolling hills and the sound of pigeons. She inhales deeply, wrapping an arm around Maisie’s shoulders.
“That’s not true.” Maisie says. Claire turns to give her a look of confusion, eyebrows raised. “I’ve been to the Dolomites. It was a lovely trip.” She gives Claire a self-satisfied smirk.
Claire scoffs. “You know that doesn’t count.” Just thinking of that place sends a shiver down Claire’s spine. She pulls her coat more tightly around her, folding her arms across her chest. Apparently, summer in Scotland is cold. She’s thankful to have the temperature to blame for the sudden chill travelling through her. She dreams of those mountains every night, with the fire enveloping them and the roar pounding in their ears. That’s why they needed to get away. They needed to regroup as a family, spending some time away from the spotlight. Once they had got home from Italy, they had finally been able to legally adopt Maisie. Which was wonderful and amazing, but also burst the bubble they were living in before, where no one knew where they were and they could keep Maisie within eyesight at all times. Now though, everyone knew who Maisie was and everyone wanted a picture or an interview. Owen and Claire just wanted some time to remind Maisie that she was safe and that they would never abandon her.
The trail they’re following is one Claire found on some website called WalkHighlands.com. It was rated highly, well-liked and intermediate difficulty. Owen had wanted to find the hardest Munro and go for it, but Claire had managed to tone down his expectations. He had just been so excited to hike together, as a family, and Claire couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so animated. They’re both wearing old utility vests from Jurassic World. Owen had kept his, telling her enthusiastically about how much they would be able to carry in them. Claire had thanked him and is wearing hers packed to the brim, but whenever she sees them, she can’t help but think back to the last time she had seen him wearing one. Back at the park, surrounded by his raptors. She can’t remember if he was wearing one when all hell had broken loose and they had gone off to find Zach and Gray, but that didn’t matter. The two had become linked in her mind, and now, feeling it sitting against her hips makes her heart beat a little faster.
Maisie is carrying a small backpack, preferring to keep her own supplies on her. Claire had tried to convince her to give her stuff to one of them, there was still room in their vests, but she had been adamant. Claire had shrugged, telling her it’s fine, but inside she had been secretly proud. Maisie has always been independent, growing up an only child, kept hidden from the public world, would do that to a kid. But it’s also made her not afraid to speak out about what she wants and what she thinks is right. That’s all a mother can ask for in a child, even if she’s only known the child for 5 years.
“Alright, map check.” Owen says, coming to a halt in front of them. He pulls an OS map out of one of the pockets on his vest, already open to the right page. Maisie skips ahead to look at the map with him. Owen hands her the map and the compass hung around his neck. “Go on then, where are we going?”
Maisie groans. “Errr, I’m guessing we’re following the path.” She points to the trail they’re on. Claire chuckles. The trail goes into the woods about 200 feet ahead of them. There’s no other paths around and so far they’ve passed three signposts pointing them towards the Munro. They can’t exactly get lost.
“How will we know if you don’t check the map?” Owen urges. “Besides, what if you find yourself in the middle of nowhere with only a map and a compass? Everyone else will be scrambling around lost and you’ll be on your merry way.” He smirks at her as she giggles.
Claire watches them fondly. They’ve always had a special relationship, one she doesn’t really understand. She knows Maisie feels connected to Owen in a way she doesn’t with anyone else. Although, the image of Maisie wandering around somewhere lost without them sends a chill up her spine. She doesn’t know how she’s going to cope when Maisie goes off to college or moves out.
They make it to the treeline. Claire inhales deeply, the scents of pine and fresh air filling her. She was worried being surrounded by trees and bushes would remind her of the park, but it couldn’t be more different. The air is light with a cool breeze instead of hot and sticking to her skin like jam on bread. Instead of every creak and crack making her hair stand on end, the dread of a creature wanting her dead behind the noises, the leaves bristle calmly and the only bugs out to get her are the midges. Her heart swells with gratitude.
Owen must be feeling the same because he walks in step with her and drapes an arm over her shoulders. Maisie bends down on the path to look at a ladybird. Suddenly, a bird calls out overhead. Not a small bird with a cheerful song, but a bigger bird with a cry. Claire flinches, pulling her eyebrows into a grimace. She knows it’s not a dinosaur, she knows they’re safe, but she can’t help it. Owen tightens his grip on her shoulder.
Maisie notices and stands. She looks at them quietly for a moment before asking, “How did you stay so brave?”
Claire blinks at her. “What do you mean?” She struggles to recall a single moment in the last ten years when she felt brave.
“At that first park. When things went to shit. How did you stay brave enough to survive?”
Claire and Owen look at each other almost incredulously, both of them thinking the same thing.
“Kid, we were not brave.” Owen says. “You should have seen Claire when things started to go wrong.”
Claire laughs. “He’s right. I was a mess.” She thinks back to the moment when she thought the Indominus Rex had first escaped. It felt as though those huge claw marks were being carved in her back. “I was frantically driving around and shouting at people on the phone. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.” She’s able to laugh at her old self now. Thinking back to that cold corporate workaholic, it feels like a different person, a different lifetime. She had more false confidence, more suits, but less of a life. And definitely less survival skills.
“Hell, she followed me into the jungle wearing heels and a skirt with a rip up the middle.” Owen laughs. She just knows he’s picturing the moment she said she was going with him to find her nephews, stubbornly tying her shirt around her waist. She nudges him lightly in the side.
Maisie still looks serious. “But you ran into the jungle, where the dinosaurs were. I’m not sure I could run towards the dinosaurs.” Claire hated that she was even thinking about having to run towards something as terrifying as that. Although, considering the last few years, it was understandably on her mind. No matter how many times they tell her that she’ll never have to be near dinosaurs again, Claire knows she doesn’t really believe them. And who’s to blame her? They said the same thing after they first left Lockwood Manor and look how that turned out.
Claire sighs, moving out of Owen’s grip to wrap her arm around Maisie, kissing the top of her head. “Being brave isn’t about running towards the danger. It’s about being able to do what’s right.”
Owen steps up to Maisie’s other side. “We ran into the jungle because that’s where Zach and Gray were. It wasn’t really something we thought about, we just did it.” Hearing Owen say that made Claire remember when she’d sought him out in the lobby to ask for his help. Before that, they’d had one terrible date followed by an awkward morning after, and yet when she’d come to him panicked about her nephews, he didn’t hesitate to help her. What had she done to deserve him?
“And we already know you’re capable of that too.” Claire adds. Maisie looks up at her, although they’re almost the same height now, with those concerned, glistening eyes. “You let Dr. Wu use your DNA. You didn’t have to think about that, did you? Even though we didn’t want you to.”
“Exactly. That was definitely brave.” Owen finishes. Maisie blushes, ducking her head. Owen nudges her until she looks up. Claire thinks she hears Maisie mutter a “Thanks, guys” before shrugging out of their arms and walking ahead.
They start to notice the incline after about two hours. Claire knows the summit is not far away now. It looms over them like a dark cloud and yet, she would still rather face a thousand Munros than a single dinosaur again. Up until about half a kilometre from the top, the climb is steep but steady. They take a couple of snack breaks but on the whole they manage well. Living out in the middle of nowhere has given them all plenty of time to keep fit. But that last half kilometre is when things start to go wrong.
It starts with a question.
“How are we supposed to get up there?” Maisie asks, pointing to the almost upright rock face ahead of them.
“There must be another way round, right?” Claire says, moving to look at the map over Owen’s shoulder. He traces the route up to the summit with his finger.
“Not according to this.” He says. “Plus, the hotel receptionist says there was a bit of a scramble to the top.”
“A scramble must mean something different in Scotland because this is just a climb.” Maisie says. “Don’t tell me you guys have ropes in those vests.” She smirks at them.
Owen puts the map away and claps his hands. “Up we go, then.”
“You’re joking, right?” Claire says, eyeing the rock in front of them. It’s not literally upright and it’s only short, but it still looks daunting and not entirely safe for their first Scottish hike.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go first.” Owen smiles at her. “The Scots do this all the time, this is probably some poor kid’s way to school.” Claire rolls her eyes at him, but Maisie is on his side.
“We’ve been stranded in a jungle surrounded by fire and dozens of creatures that wanted to eat us. I think we can handle a short climb to the top of a mountain.”
Claire sees she’s out-numbered. Besides, the receptionist didn’t tell them not to do the climb, just to be careful, so how bad can it really be? There’s still a couple of hours of daylight left, they’ll be up and down the rocks well before nightfall. So she relents. “Okay, fine, but Owen, you go first to find the best route.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He says, tugging on her arms to draw her close. He presses his lips to hers, tenderly, and worry practically melts away from Claire.
“Ew, guys, can you just climb please?” Maisie says, ducking and laughing as Owen reaches over to mock-slap her.
Owen then turns his attention to the rocks. He starts climbing, slowly, checking every foothold before moving to the next. Always have at least three points of contact on the rock before moving one. He makes it look easy. Claire finds herself staring at his arms. The muscles in them clenching, veins popping out. They are what first drew him to her, all those years ago. She’s startled out of her reverie by small rocks tumbling down towards them.
“You okay? Be careful.” Claire asks.
Owen twists around slightly so he can see them. He gives a grin. “Don’t worry, I’m–”
His voice cuts out as the rock underneath his right hand gives way. The incline isn’t vertical, but it’s steep enough that Owen swings upon losing the grip. He scrambles to get both feet on sturdy holds, but his right foot doesn’t find one, just kicks more rocks off the face. All of a sudden, Claire hears him grunt, sees him adjust his left hand, then watches him fall.