Sky Jumpers Series, Book 1 (10 page)

“Looks like we came at just the right time, too,” the man said. “This is quite the celebration.” He walked past me around the clump of trees and looked toward the festivities. “And it looks like you’re about to miss out on some kind of performance.” Both men walked toward the crowd.

“The Showdown,” Brenna said. “We have to see it!”

We rounded the trees as Aaren ran toward us.

“Brenna! You were supposed to stay by me!”

Brenna glanced at the dog in her arms. “But the puppy ran away. Those men helped me catch her.”

Aaren scooped up the puppy in one arm and held
Brenna’s hand with the other. I looked to the crowd that had gathered around the performance platform, and Aaren followed my gaze. “We’ll watch the Showdown. Just don’t let go of my hand.”

The Showdown was a Harvest Festival tradition. The Sixteens & Seventeens always did a difficult dance that got better every year. The teachers usually did a funny skit that made everyone laugh. Then the winning performance was chosen by the crowd.

We found Carina and Holden and gave Holden his puppy back before we all joined the rest of the audience at the performance platform. Just like the Twister line, though, we got there too late. The whole town had already found a place to watch. We walked around the circle, but the backs of all the adults who stood blocked our view.

If we were higher, we could see. The mill was only a dozen feet away from the edge of the crowd, and it had a section of flat roof with angled sides leading to it. “See those crates?” I asked the others. “If we pushed them a bit, we could use them as stairs to climb on that roof to watch.”

Carina and Holden ran straight for them. Aaren paused a moment, then shook his head. “No, I don’t want Brenna up there. You go. We’ll stay down here.”

Brenna huffed. “But I wanna go with Hope!”

“We’ll find a good spot.” Aaren led her through the
crowd, and they wiggled their way in. I ran to the crates and climbed up just behind Carina and Holden. The angled part of the roof was barely over a foot wide, and my right shoulder and hip rubbed against the building wall as I crawled, so it took a little balance. I moved carefully past a sharp metal piece of the roof that stuck up, and before I even got to the flat part, I could see the performance platform. This was a great spot.

It wasn’t long before Ellie and Paige joined us. Nate climbed the other side of the roof and sat down next to Holden. A minute later, Brock climbed up, looking like he was carrying a million worries.

Nate slapped him on the back. “Congrats on winning the Inventions Contest!”

Brock smiled bigger than I’d seen him smile in a long time. “I won?”

“Yes!” I said. “Where were you?”

The smile left his face for a moment. “Busy.” He looked toward the platform. “These are great seats!”

I glanced at the seven of us sitting on the roof and chuckled. Maybe my dad was right—people followed me more than I realized. Or at least they did when it meant great seats for the Showdown.

The kids in Sixteens & Seventeens did flips off each other’s shoulders, spun on the platform, and leapt over
one another, all while two of them stomped rhythmically on the floor of the platform.

I watched in a trance until I heard Aaren’s worried shout from below: “Brenna!”

My eyes found Aaren. He was turning around, searching for Brenna as he worked his way through the crowd. I searched, too. I figured I’d find her first, since I had the better vantage point, but I couldn’t see her at all.

I heard a scraping sound to my left, and I knew even before I saw Aaren look up in alarm that Brenna was climbing onto the roof. Aaren ran to the crates as I climbed over Ellie and Paige to get to Brenna. The roof was too narrow, and she wasn’t good at balancing. I panicked when I saw her. She wasn’t even crawling—she was trying to walk up the incline. I reached the angled part of the roof just as Aaren got both knees up onto it, Brenna teetering between us.

Then she lost her balance. She swung her arms around in circles, trying to stay upright, but she couldn’t. I reached to grab her as Aaren stumbled forward. I somehow managed to catch one of her arms and hold her steady. I let out a huge breath of relief.

Then I looked behind Brenna.

Aaren’s foot slipped as he lurched for Brenna. He fell to the roof on his stomach and tumbled off the edge. I
heard the tear of fabric as he fell, and I knew he’d been cut from the piece of metal roofing that stuck up.

“Aaren!” I screamed as I looked over the edge.

For a moment, I couldn’t move. It felt like a hand reached inside my chest and squeezed the life out of my heart. Aaren had landed on his back, crushing a wooden crate, his shirt covered in blood.

I shouted for help as I lowered Brenna to a crate, then I jumped off the roof and knelt by Aaren. His face was white and scrunched up in pain.

“Please be okay, Aaren.” I held his hand and hovered my other hand over the cut that went all the way across his stomach. I didn’t know if I should press on it with my hand, or if that would make it worse. “Please, Aaren. Please be okay.”

A crowd instantly gathered around us. Dr. Grenwood pushed her way through it.

“Ellie,” Dr. Grenwood said. “Grab my medical bag. It’s by the ovens. Brock, get some tablecloths.” She nodded in the direction of two boys from Sixteens & Seventeens. “I need my stretcher from my office. Take two horses and
ride down. Fast! Cass Williams!” she called loudly. When Cass slid into the front of the crowd, Dr. Grenwood said, “Get a wagon ready.” Cass turned and ran toward the horses as Dr. Grenwood carefully lifted up Aaren’s shirt. “Aaren. Sweetie, look at me.”

His eyes fluttered open, and he squinted toward his mom.

“I know it hurts, but I need you to stay awake and keep your breathing steady. Can you do that for me?”

Aaren nodded. His dad reached us, hunched down across from me, and held Aaren’s other hand tightly in his. When Ellie and Brock returned with the medical bag and tablecloths, I helped Aaren’s dad fold one to put under his legs and another for under his head. My hands shook as we laid one over his legs to keep him warm. Brenna just stared at him, tears rolling down her face.

Dr. Grenwood dabbed disinfectant on Aaren’s stomach, which made Aaren gasp and grind his teeth, then his eyes drifted closed. I wanted to do something to help, but I didn’t have a clue in the world what to do. My hands and my stomach quivered—I wasn’t sure if it was from the guilt or the worry or the helplessness, or all three.

Nothing felt real. Like I watched from a distance, only picking up on things that didn’t matter. Like how Aaren’s mom’s hair was just as wavy as his. Or how her hands never stopped moving. Or how Aaren’s eyelashes were
so light, they were almost invisible. Then Dr. Grenwood spoke, pulling me back to the moment, my emotions crashing inside me.

“Stay with me, Aaren.” Dr. Grenwood rubbed a cream on the wound to numb the pain. “Aaren, look at me. I need your help.”

Aaren sucked in a breath and opened his eyes.

Dr. Grenwood kept glancing at Aaren’s face as she worked. “Son, I have a patient who is injured and going into shock. What do you do to treat shock?”

Aaren’s eyes focused, and his voice came out scratchy and slurred. “Um. Keep him awake and breathing normally. Keep him warm. And …” His brow furrowed in concentration. “Elevate his legs.”

“Very good.”

I squeezed Aaren’s hand again. “I’m sorry, Aaren. I shouldn’t have gone up! I knew Brenna wanted to follow me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Aaren’s dad reached out and placed his hand on my arm. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered. I looked into his eyes, and they showed uncertainty. Then the doubt left, and in a commanding voice, he said, “It’ll be okay.” Like if he believed it strongly enough, it’d be true. He wrapped his arm around Brenna to calm her trembling. “It’ll be okay.”

Dr. Grenwood took an instrument from her bag and
gently prodded the wound with it. “This patient has a stomach wound. What would I do?”

Aaren took a few breaths. “Disinfect it. See if any internal organs were cut.”

“The wound is deep, but the organs look okay. Hm. The small intestine may be cut.” Dr. Grenwood packed the wound with gauze. “What’s next?”

Aaren groaned. “Um. Stitch it closed and give the patient an antibiotic.” Then Aaren started breathing too fast. “But the Ameiphus isn’t ready. It won’t be ready for weeks!”

I glanced up when Aaren’s dad stiffened at his panic, and saw the curly-haired man from the river right behind him. The man disappeared into the crowd just as quickly as my eyes flew back to Aaren.

Dr. Grenwood gave Aaren’s arm a pat. “It’s okay, Aaren. We have one dose left from last year’s batch. You’re doing great. Just a few more minutes and we’ll get you to my office.”

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see my dad. He gave me a sad smile, but the worried look on his face made my stomach churn, so I looked back to Aaren. He fought to keep his eyes open, but he couldn’t. I wished over and over that I could turn back time. Make it not happen. I couldn’t believe I’d cared so much about being able to see the Showdown. It all seemed so stupid now.

When the two boys returned with the stretcher, Dr. Grenwood pulled strips of fabric from her medical bag and wrapped Aaren’s cut tightly. “Son, we’re going to move you now.” Aaren didn’t even open his eyes or nod. His parents, along with the two kids from Sixteens & Seventeens, moved Aaren onto the stretcher, then carried him to the wagon. I ran alongside the stretcher, hoping Dr. Grenwood would ask me to ride in the wagon with them. I wanted to be with Aaren. To know that everything was going to be okay. But no one asked me to, and I couldn’t get my voice to work. Mr. Grenwood told Aaren’s older sister Thalie to watch Brenna before climbing onto the wagon himself.

Then they left.

I stood at the edge of the road, unable to move as I watched the wagon disappear behind the trees long before it traveled the mile and a half down to City Circle. I’m not sure how long I stayed there, staring at the empty road, wishing that what had happened to my best friend was a mistake. A dream. Not real.

But I knew that only something real could make my heart hurt so much.

A snowflake landed on my nose and I pulled my winter coat around me tighter. It amazed me that it had turned so cold when the Harvest Festival was only three weeks ago. My parents and I, along with a hundred others, stood at the opening to the tunnel to say goodbye to our guard.

We didn’t need our guard during the winter. With the Bomb’s Breath protecting any entrance from over the mountain, the tunnel was the only way into White Rock. The windstorms on the plains blew the heavy snows into the tunnel and completely blocked it, so we didn’t have to fear bandit attacks. Browning wasn’t so lucky. They lived ten miles past White Rock, on the flat plains. Their city walls and their own guard weren’t enough to protect
them. Bandits didn’t farm, so when they got hungry, they attacked towns for food.

I heard snow crunch behind me and turned to see Aaren, in actual sunlight for the first time since the Harvest Festival.

“Do you think there’ll be enough snow to build a fort?” he asked.

I grinned. His voice was still weak, but at least he had enough energy to stand up—I hadn’t seen that since before the accident. It made my heart feel lighter than it had in weeks. “There’s no way your mom will give you permission.”

His parents had let me see him the night he was injured, but he wasn’t awake. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that I actually saw him with his eyes open. The first two weeks after his injury, he could barely move. Every free moment I had, I sat on the edge of his bed, told him about school, and read him chapters from our science book. He was too exhausted to even hold the book himself. I was surprised he was able to come today.

He shook his head. “There may have to be sneaking involved.”

He was teasing, of course, or he wouldn’t have said it with my parents right next to us. Besides, there was no way he could build a fort. He probably couldn’t even make a snowball—there was still a fear the wound would reopen with any movement.