The Moon Dwellers (41 page)

I gasp
at the wall
of water before us.
Our path i
s completely blocked by a waterfall, streaming so effortle
ssly from above that it appears
as smooth as a mirror, the surface marre
d only by Tawni’s hand, which i
s stuck into the flow
.

“It’s cold,” she announces
, cupping her hand and taking a small sip.
“And clean
,
too, I think.”

After our long
day of marching, we do
n’t ne
ed further invitation.
We line
up along the waterf
all, drinking until the water i
s dribbling down our chin
s, soaking our clothes.
It feels
wonderful.
After we satisfy our thirst, we wash
our arms and legs and faces, feeling refreshed for the first since escaping the Pen.

It i
s as good a
place as any to stop, so we do
, rationing
the food in our packs, which a
re feeling lighter and lighter.

“What should we do?” Tawni asks.
I dread
backtracking, trying to find another tunnel to go down, more of the same rough rock walls and single file marching.

“I’m going to
see what’
s behind that waterfall,” I say
, standing up.

“Be careful,” Tawni cautions
, “it might drop into a pit.”

“Cole, hold me back,” I say
.

Cole join
s me at the waterfall and ho
ld
s
my left arm with two hands, lowering himself into a well-leveraged crouch.

I push
my hand into
the streaming water.
It tickles my skin and splashes me in the face, so I turn
my head to avoid getting water in my eyes.
I force
my ar
m further in, until the water i
s hitting my elbow, and then
my shoulder.
Still my hand has
n’t made it through.

“You got me?” I say
.

“Yeah,” Cole grunts
, straining a bit.
“Not too much further though.”

With a deep breath, I duck
my head into the icy stream, gasping slightly when the water hit
s me.
All of my weight i
s bei
ng held by Cole now, as I lean
over the edge of
whatever abyss the falls empty
in
to.

And then I am through.
Although the water is all around me, I can
tell t
hat my fingers are
n’t being pelted
anymore.
Mission
accomplished.
I try
to
lean back, but gravity’s hold is too strong.
In fact, I feel like I’m
being pull
ed downwards.
Behind me I can
feel Cole’s fingers sli
pping off my arm as water pours
down my head and shoulder.

I am
going fo
rward, not back, that much I kno
w.
If I let myself simply
slip from Cole’s grasp, I will
fall awkwardly, potentially hit
ting
my head on a rock, and
will
most definitely end up taking a d
ive to wherever all the water i
s going.
I have
no other choice.

I wrench my arm free from Cole and leap
.

The water pummels me from above as I fly through the air.
It is like the liquid has suddenly grown arms and i
s grabbing at me, trying
to pull me down.
For all I kno
w, there might be nothing behind the waterfall, just a big dark void, spiraling downward all the way to the earth’s molten core.

My foot lands on something hard and twists
to the
side.
I let out a slight cry and tumble
over, skinning an arm on the unforgiving tunnel floor.
Complete darkness surrounds me.
I do
n’t have a light.
I
lie
on the ground for a moment
,
panting, my heart beating faster than a
miner’s in a rock cart race
.
I can
hear water rushing all around me.
Not just behind, but
in front, too.
At first I think it’
s jus
t the echo of the waterfall I
ju
mped through, but when I crawl forward a few feet, I fi
n
d that another waterfall blocks
my way.

Suddenly, I have
a desire to leap through the next waterfall.
And then
the one after that, if there i
s one
.
Hesitating for a moment, I come to my senses and feel
my way back to the original waterfall.
Through
the tinkling water, I can
hear
faint voices yelling.
I jump
back through.

Slam!
I crash into Cole, who i
s just on the other side.
His re
flexes are quick and he manages to half
catch me in his big arms, dragging me to
the ground with him as I bowl
him over.

The reaction I expect i
s, “Wow, what happened, what did you see?”
It i
s stupid of me to expect that.

Cole i
s on his feet in a second, his face darken
ing even more than it already i
s.
“Of all the stupid, c
hildish things to do!” he roars
, looming over me.

Of course, being me, I am
shocked
by the reaction and just stare
at
him, hoping that if I don’t move he wo
n’t be able to see me or something.

I look around slowly and see that Tawni is hugging Elsey, who i
s crying, tears rollin
g over her lips.
Then it dawns
on me.
They thought I was dead
.
I
jumped through a mysterious waterfall, let out a scream, and then they didn’t hear anything from me.
I hadn’t even thought to—or bothered to—yell back to them that I was okay.

“I was going to fall,” I say
dumbly.

“Tawni was about to help me pull you back when you jumped.”

“Oh.”

“You scared your sister half to death.
All of us, Adele.”

“Sorry,” I say
weakly.

“Not good enough,” Cole says
.

“
Really
sorry?”
I say
i
t like a question, which also i
s
not good enough
.
“Look,” I continue
quickly, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.
It was really, really s
tupid.
Please forgive me.
El
?”

Elsey pulls herself away from Tawni and ru
n
s
to me, throwing her arms around me a
nd holding me so tightly I can
barely br
eathe.
By the time she releases me she is almost as wet as I am
.
“Of
course I forgive you,” she says
.
“I thought you were gone.”

“I’ll never leave you,” I say
.

“You will if you keep doing
stupid things like that,” Cole gr
umbles
.

His forgiveness will take
longer to earn.

Tawni co
me
s
over and put
s
an arm around me.
“Try to be more careful.
We’re like family now.”

A wave of emotion wells up unexpectedly.
I ge
t choked up, literally trying to swall
ow her words down as they seem
to get stuck a
dozen times in my throat.
I am
teary
-
eyed, but not to the poin
t of overflowing.
It’s been so long since I’ve
h
ad any real friends and now I’
ve
grown closer to these two in just a couple of days.
Wild, thrilling, scary, emotional days, yeah, but still only days.

I realize I love
them both.
Tawni for her good heart, logical mind, and overflowing compassion for others.
Cole for his quiet strength, fierce lo
yalty, and righteous anger—I do
n’t even mind his temper.

This migh
t sound ch
eesy, but all I want
i
s to be
close to my new family.
I wave
Cole over, and afte
r a few seconds
’
pause, he joins us in a group hug.
I’ve
never felt more loved in my life.

It only lasts
about a minute—a glorious,
beautiful minute—before Cole ge
t
s embarrassed.
He releases us and says
, “Uh, what was behind the water anyway?”

“A landing and
then another waterfall,” I say
.

“This has the maki
ngs of a comedy sketch,” he says
, manag
ing a slight grin.
His face has
returned to its normal dark color.

Note to self: group hugs diffuse tempers
, I think
.

I grin
back.
“Why don’t you and I
go check it out?”
When Cole gi
ve
s
me an
I-don’t-think-so
look, I quickly add
, “No more insane leaps of faith, I promise!
I just have a good feeling about wh
ere this might lead.”
And I do.
Something about it just feels
right.
Or at least more right than goi
ng back.
Plus this tunnel will
be safe
for us.
No one who actually kno
w
s
their way around the
Lonely Caverns
would ever think to go down this particular tunnel.

“Fine,”
Cole says
grudgingly.
“How far i
s the
jump?”

“Maybe five fe
et,” I say
.

Cole nods
.
“Ladies first.
When you get across, move back and I’ll jump five seconds after you.”

Elsey looks worried so I gi
ve her an extra hug.
“It’ll be okay.
We’ll be back in just a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll never forget you,” she says
dramatically.

“Yeah, you
,
too, El
.”

I grab
two
waterproof flashlights, hand
on
e to Cole, and then easily leap
through the waterfall onto the landing.
I fl
ick
on the flashlight and
move
back
.
A
few seconds later Cole splashes
through the liquid wall.

The light does
n’t re
veal anything unexpected.
We a
re in a tiny section of
nondescript
cave that, except for the waterfalls at either end, could have been anywhere in the caverns.

“How are we gonna tes
t the next waterfall?” Cole says
.

“Simple—we
jump through,” I say
.

“You said you were gonna be careful.
That doesn’t sound careful.”

“I
am
going to be careful,” I say
, smirking.
“You’re going to try it first this time.”