Shadowed Eden (2 page)

Avery stared at him, still working to control her emotions at being near him again.

Luca watched her curiously, probably trying to give her time to comprehend what he was saying. “He needed my seat, which is why I'm here.”

Finally, Avery talked her brain into responding. “Oh.” Brilliant. He probably thought she'd lost her mind in the three months since she'd spoken to him.

Their driver climbed back in, shaking sand from his clothes. It sounded like rain as it hit the hard, plastic floor of the van.

Avery scooted as far away from Luca as she possibly could—which was way too far and still not nearly far enough. She watched through the swirling sand as Daddy's van pulled into the storm. A moment later, their vehicle jerked into gear, and they were off again.

“Does this thing have a GPS?” Benny asked. He leaned up from the back seat, his arm brushing against Avery's shoulder. Avery let the touch go—Benny had no sense of personal boundaries. She'd learned that long ago, since they'd started going to youth group together in seventh grade.

“I don't know, Benny. Maybe you could ask the driver.” She caught Luca's scowl pointed at Benny's arm, and she almost laughed. She scooted away from Benny's wayward arm, which unfortunately put her closer to Luca.

A violent gust of wind smacked into the van, rocking it back and forth. Some of the girls screamed, and Avery gasped as she crashed into Luca.

“Sorry,” she muttered, untangling her long, brown hair from his seatbelt.

He helped her up silently, his face serious.

The van continued to rock so hard it felt as if they were back on the plane and flying through rough turbulence.

“Maybe we should pull over,” Erin, the youth leader's wife, said. She had to raise her voice above the sound of sand hitting the side panels outside. “We could wait it out and then catch up.”

The driver glanced at Erin in the rearview mirror. He took a deep breath, which sounded more like a sigh of frustration to Avery, then pushed the radio button. “Driver one, come in.”

Static filled the air.

“Driver one, do you copy?”

Crackle.

Avery frowned, her stomach dropping. She glanced out the window, but now she couldn't see anything of the road. The billowing sand was so thick it was like driving straight through a sand dune.

The van took another violent hit, and Avery tightened her seatbelt. Where was Daddy? Why wasn't the other van answering?

Vibrations rocked them again, starting as a slow rumble but growing into what felt like an earthquake.

Awkward or not, she reached out and took Luca's warm, strong hand. He didn't protest, just held on tight, his eyes wide with confusion and maybe even fear.

Some of the girls began crying, and others put their heads between their knees.

Avery was on the verge of tears herself when suddenly the rocking stopped.

Even the sand had stopped blowing. Everything was still.

Luca leaned forward and squinted toward the window. A frown turned his full lips down. “Do you see that?”

Avery turned to the window, and her jaw fell open. Before them sat a massive green jungle.

Everyone stared out the window, taking in the foliage in front of the van. Avery gaped at the swaying trees, draping vines, and deep green backdrop of leaves.

Her gaze swung to the driver. “Where are we?”

The driver's eyes were still glued to the jungle. He shook his head, muttering an answer in his native language. Obviously, this place was as new to him as it was to everyone in their group.

Avery scanned her memories of Daddy's maps, trying to remember a large jungle anywhere near the airport, but she couldn't think of any. She watched the jungle for a few moments, but she'd had enough sitting. She pushed past Luca, climbing over his legs and making her way to the door.

“You're going out there?” someone asked. “Are you crazy?”

Avery winced, but she let the comment go.

“What are you doing?” Benny climbed out of his seat, stepping on a blonde girl in the process.

“Watch it!”

“Sorry,” Benny muttered, still working his way to the doors.

Avery pushed through the door, and waning sunlight greeted her. Benny climbed out, followed by everyone else in the van.

The jungle stretched in front of them for as far as Avery could see. Trees rose toward the sky, nearly blocking what was left of the sun. The tree line bulged and dipped in places, rolling like the waves of the ocean. Jungle sounds drifted on the small breeze that blew—a jungle clatter that grew louder with each passing second.

“Look,” someone said.

Avery turned to the blonde girl from earlier. Her permed hair hung just below her chin, and she had a full, round face. Those features were almost invisible compared to her sparkling green eyes. Avery followed the direction of the girl's pointing finger. Several inches of sand buried the van's tires.

“Were we blown here?” Avery asked. That was impossible. Wasn't it?

Erin pushed through the group with the driver close behind her. “How did this happen?” she demanded.

The driver's face still showed disbelief. Finally, he said, “I don't know.”

Erin sighed and looked around. Avery followed her gaze. A jungle rose before them, but miles and miles of desert stretched out behind them. If there was or had ever been a road, it was gone now.

“Wait,” Avery said. “Where's the other van?” It was the first she'd realized they were alone. Daddy was nowhere to be seen, and Chad, Erin's husband, wasn't at her side.

Everyone in the group looked around, searching for the missing van.

“It is possible they were able to stay on the road,” the driver said. His accent was much thicker in his nervous state, and it took Avery a second to understand what he was saying.

“You mean they could have made it to the village?”

He glanced around, taking in the emptiness surrounding them. “It is possible.”

He wasn't convincing.

Avery scanned the wide span of desert. No sign of a sandstorm stirred in the distance.

How had they ended up here?

The blonde girl started crying. “I'm sorry,” she blubbered. “It's just that I've never been away from home before, and now this.”

Poor thing.

Avery looked to Erin for help, but the youth leader's wife still stared absently at the desert. Avery took in their group.

Thirteen teens and two adults—it should have been three adults except Daddy had switched seats with Luca.

Erin was useless, and the driver wouldn't be any help in comforting anyone. That left Avery. Daddy was in charge of this trip. It only made sense that Avery would step up. It wasn't like she wasn't used to fending for herself, and when they found the other van, Daddy would see she wasn't as useless as he treated her.

She moved quickly to the girl and wrapped her in a hug. “It's OK to cry. We'll be fine. When the other group reaches the village, they'll see we're not there. They'll come find us.”

The others in the group nodded, comforted by her explanation. It was better than the cold shoulder she usually got from them, even if she didn't know what she was talking about. What if no one came to find them?

She shook off the thoughts. “We're probably going to have to sleep in the van.”

Luca stepped forward and hopped onto the van's bumper. It wasn't a far jump considering the van's sunken state. “We need to get out sweaters to keep warm, and if you brought any snacks you can eat them for supper. The other group will probably be here at first light.”

Everyone snapped to action, moving to get what they needed from the luggage as Luca pulled pieces down. He stood like a born leader with his head held high, and his shoulders pulled back. He was poised and ready to make things happen. He caught her looking and smiled.

Avery smiled back her thanks. She could put their past behind her—at least for now. It was good he'd been the one to switch with Daddy. Of course, if Daddy hadn't switched then Avery wouldn't have had to step up at all.

“What's your name?” Avery asked, turning to the blonde.

“June,” she said, blubbering. “June Sanderson. I was named after my grandmother.”

Avery smiled and squeezed June's shoulder. “It's nice to meet you, June. I'm Avery.”

June sniffled and wiped her tears with her palms. “Are we going to be OK?”

Avery looked at Luca. Some of the others had begun helping him get the luggage. Even Erin seemed to have snapped out of her funk. They could do this. Maybe.

Avery glanced back at June and smiled. “Yes. We're going to be fine. You'll see.”

2

Luca

Luca tightened the last rope in place, re-securing the luggage to the top of the van.

The driver smacked the bags and gave the ropes a solid tug. “This is good. Strong.”

Luca nodded and climbed down. Everyone had what they needed to get through the night—sweaters, snacks, magazines. He'd even hauled down Erin's thirty-two pack of bottled water.

He had nothing, since his bags were on the other van. A cold, desert wind hit him, and he rubbed his arms to keep warm.

Most of the group huddled around a fire someone had managed to light. Lighters and matches had specifically been on the “Do Not Bring” list. Whoever brought them probably wouldn't admit it. The heat took away the chill as he sat with the others around the fire.

Each face stared at the flames. No one said anything.

Not that Luca could blame them. They were lost in a desert a million miles from home. He slid his thumb across his phone one last time, but no bars still meant no signal. Why did he even keep trying?

He shouldn't be here. Coming on this trip was the last thing his family needed to shell out money for, and now he was stuck in the middle of nowhere. He could be at home fixing their leaky roof or looking for a summer job. Or a permanent job. Movement to his right caught his attention, and he turned.

Avery stumbled her way through the sand and finally found a seat next to the blonde girl. She looked up when she had arranged her legs—Indian style—and her eyes met his. She looked away. Up, down, around. It didn't seem to matter, as long as she wasn't looking at him.

She was avoiding him, just like she'd done the entire trip. If she was surprised he came, Luca didn't know why. They had committed together when Chad and Erin had first brought the idea to the youth group. Of course, that was nine months ago; six months before he and Avery broke up.

Now Erin sat on a box in the sand, eating crackers and staring into the flames like everyone else. Luca had hauled the box from the back of the van for her. There were two of them, one filled with medical supplies for the village, and the other filled with food. At least they'd been stranded with the van that had the food.

His thoughts moved back to Erin. Was she going to step up and take care of the group? So far it seemed like the answer was no. She'd done nothing but stare into space for two hours now.

Avery had told everyone that help was coming first thing in the morning. Sure, that was a great thing to hope for, but they were pretty far out.

He looked again at the huge nothingness around them. Empty sky and land stretched for miles on end, rising and falling in waves of sand. No buildings, villages, or roads.

Help might take more than a night to come. While some of them were used to fending for themselves, others like that blonde girl looked like they needed a chaperone telling them what to do.

Luca cleared his throat and called across the small space. “So Erin, what's the plan?”

The youth leader looked up, her eyes glowing in the firelight. “What?”

“The plan? For the night? What should we do?”

Her confused look cleared, and she sat up straighter. “Oh. Right. I guess we'll have to sleep in the van. Girls in the back and boys in the front.” She threw in the last line with a glance between Avery and Luca.

Luca looked to Avery for her reaction, but Avery only stared at the sand. If Erin's insinuation meant anything to her, she sure didn't show it.

He ground his teeth and kicked at the sand. If it wasn't so cold, he would get as far away from the group—and her—as he could. How were they supposed to survive the next two weeks if she acted like he had some sort of disease?

“Maybe we could sing,” the blonde girl said.

“Nobody feels like singing, June.” Benny rolled his eyes and looked around for support.

Benny was getting on Luca's nerves already. He'd sat beside Luca on the plane, showing him the differences between his old phone and his new smart phone. For fourteen hours. “Actually, I think singing is a good idea.”

The blonde girl—June—smiled at him. “Thanks. We always sing at my church.”

That reminded him he didn't really know her. Wasn't anyone else from her group on their van? There were a few other kids he didn't know, but they didn't flock to June's side like Avery did when June had her breakdown earlier.

June started singing a praise song that he recognized from church, so he joined in. After him, a few others piped up, too, until most of them were singing.

The harmony carried in the clear night air, and Luca started to relax. Singing did that to him, and in the deserted—literally—area, it felt like God himself could hear them.

When the song ended, June launched right into another one. Nobody hesitated this time.

Luca sang along as he scanned the area. Finally, his gaze landed on Avery. She still stared at the sand. Her lips didn't move.

After a second, she stood and stumbled back through the sand, away from the group and toward the van. The faint sound of the van door closing carried through the air.

Luca sighed.

After a few more songs, Erin stood and held up her hands. “Let's get some rest. We'll get out of here in the morning.”

Luca waited until everyone else had wandered away. He stomped on the small fire until it smoldered out, and he made sure no one had left anything behind, then he climbed into the van and took the last remaining seat—the front seat across from the driver.