by Jenna Lehne
Taste comes next. Tangy, coppery blood fills my mouth. Bitter bile burns my throat. Sweet energy drink sprays my lips.
A flash of red soars by me. Oliver smacks into the windshield headfirst. Hayley screams, but the grind of metal against stone drowns out her cries. The windshield bursts into a million glistening pearls that bite into our cheeks and foreheads. Henry bellows in pain.
The van stops somersaulting and lands on its roof. We slide, twisting and turning, until we smash into the mountain with so much force the steel sides of the van crumple like an aluminum can. The crushed vehicle twirls on its lid and slides into a glacier-fed stream.
The strangest part of all is that I don’t feel a thing as blackness takes over.
Not a thing.
Cold water shocks me back to consciousness. I’m still in my seatbelt, hanging upside down, with my hands floating in icy cold river water. I flex my limbs. Everything hurts, but nothing feels broken. I look down just in time to see the water cover Oliver’s bloodied face.
“Shit!” I unbuckle my belt and fall headfirst into the river. Teddy and Peyton are hanging upside down, both unmoving and covered in glass and blood. I can’t find Hayley. I grab Oliver and hoist his head above the water. His arms and legs are completely limp.
“What happened?” Henry drops into the water beside me and scrambles to his feet. A jagged piece of metal impales the headrest, just inches from where his head was. A deep cut, just underneath his eye, oozes blood. “Where’s Peyton?”
“She’s right there. You need to get to Hayley, I can’t find her.” I grab Oliver underneath the armpits and lean him against the side of the van. The water is already up to his waist. I slap Peyton’s cheeks and her eyes flutter open.
“Murphy!” She wraps her arms around my waist. “Get me down. Where’s Henry?”
“I’m here!” Henry says from somewhere in the back row. “I can’t find Hayley.”
“Hold on to me.” I unbuckle Peyton’s buckle and brace her featherweight. I flip her onto her feet. “You need to get the door open. I’ll find Hayley.”
“She’s out there!” Peyton sticks her arm out the side window at a fan of red hair floating downstream.
“I’ll get her.” Henry kicks out the spider-webbed passenger window. It gives after the forth boot and Henry crawls out. “Get Teddy and Oliver out of here.”
Henry takes off running just as Hayley slips under the water’s churning surface.
I slap Teddy’s cheeks, but he doesn’t move. “Put your shoulder under his, Pey. I’m going to unbuckle his belt and we’ll lower him to the ground as gently as we can.” I unbuckle him and groan as his weight falls mostly onto me. His torso pushes the shards of glass buried in my shoulder even deeper. I let him fall into the water and he wakes up instantly.
“Fuck.” He pulls himself to his feet and spits out a mouthful of blood. Blood drips from the bottom of his jaw. A chunk of windshield is still buried in his cheek.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m alive, so that’s good enough.” He gives me a once over. “You?”
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll grab Oliver. You guys get to the shore.” Teddy grabs Oliver under the armpits and drags him out of the van. Peyton and I crawl out a window and wade over to the embankment.
Henry has Hayley bent over his knee. He thumps her back until a stream of foggy water pours out of her mouth.
Hayley gasps for air and rolls onto her side.
“Are you okay?” Henry asks.
“I’m fine, I think.” She coughs up another mouthful of river water. “Where’s Olly?”
“Teddy is bringing Oliver over. I’ll go help him.” I stumble back into the icy river and wade toward the van. I can’t see Teddy or Oliver anywhere. I’m ten feet away when I start to smell the smoke.
I’m seven feet away when the engine explodes.
I’m fifteen feet away, floating down the river, when my best friend starts to scream.
CHAPTER THREE
“Do you think she’s okay?” Cold fingers brush against my cheek.
I open my eyes and squint through the rays of sun trying to blind me. “Pey?”
“Daisy Grace Murphy.” Peyton smiles through her tears and helps me into a sitting position. Her cheek has a fresh, pink burn on it. “You scared the shit out of me.”
I reach up for her face. “What happened?”
“A piece of the engine whizzed past my head and singed me a bit.” She touches the burn gingerly.
“We thought you were dead,” Oliver says as he and Hayley come into view. “When the engine exploded, you flew into the air like Superman and landed in the river.”
“Teddy and Oliver were already out of the van and up the river. Teddy was trying to wake Oliver up when the engine exploded.” Henry grips my elbow and pulls me to my feet. “How are you feeling?”
I open my mouth to tell them I’m fine, as usual, but I can’t. I pull my arm away from Henry and stumble away, but looking at the ruined van makes everything worse. Flashbacks of the last accident I was in come flood my brain. I’m sobbing before I can stop myself. Peyton reaches me first, then Hayley. They wrap their arms around me in a protective cocoon and whisper into my wet hair.
“It’s okay,” Peyton says. “Everyone is okay.”
“We all made it, Murphy.” Hayley pushes my hair off my face. “All of us.”
I manage to catch my breath and reign everything in. I stand up and wipe my eyes. “Sorry, guys.”
They all smile at me. I fucking hate pity smiles. I turn my attention to Oliver. Scraps of Teddy’s t-shirt are tied under his jaw, knotting on the top of his head.
“How’s your head?” I ask him.
Oliver shrugs. “I have a hell of a headache, but Teddy tied my scalp back together with his t-shirt.”
“So everyone is okay then?” I grab Peyton’s hand and squeeze.
“Yeah, somehow we’re all alive.” Teddy wades into the river and fishes out a black duffle bag. “Our stuff even made it.”
“Speak for yourself.” Henry’s face is pale and soot-streaked. “My parent’s van is fucking toast.”
“Literally.” I snort. “I’m sorry, that’s not funny at all.”
Peyton giggles beside me. “They’re going to be fired up when you tell them what happened.”
“They’re going to roast your ass,” Hayley chimes in.
Henry sucks in a breath, probably to scream at us, but it comes out in a laugh. Seconds later, we’re grabbing our stomachs and howling. Near death makes everyone a comedian.
When we can finally breathe, Oliver straightens up and pats down his pockets. “Does anyone have a phone so we can call our parents or something?”
I dig mine out of my back pocket. “Mine needs a rice bath, stat.”
“Same here,” Peyton says.
Henry pulls his out. “I don’t have any service.”
“Neither do I,” Teddy and Hayley say in unison.
“What do we do then?” Oliver asks.
I walk into the water and grab Peyton’s pink bag and my canvas tote. “The lake house has a phone we can use. Let’s hike down there and clean ourselves up a bit. Then we can face the wrath of Henry’s parents.”
“How far of a walk is it?” Peyton lugs her bag onto her shoulder.
“Since we’re almost at the top of the mountain, it should only take us a few hours to get down the other side.” I loop the handles of my bag over my shoulders and grab one of the smaller coolers.
A sea of groans fills the air.
“Guys,” Henry snaps. “It’s going to get dark soon. We either get our butts up and down that mountain or we sleep in the tin can that was once my van and wait for the bears to come sniffing.”
“There are bears out here?” Teddy asks, his face paling slightly.”
I start to tell him no, but Henry cuts me off.
“Yeah.” He grabs the biggest cooler. “The mountains are known to have grizzlies t
he size of your car.”
“What are we waiting for?” Teddy grabs Henry’s bag. “Let’s move.”
The sun dips behind the taller mountains before we’re halfway down.
“We’re so screwed.” Peyton slaps at a mosquito the size of a ping-pong ball. “We’re never going to make it to the lake house. We’re going to be walking for days.”
“Yeah, well it’s not like we can call a cab,” I say. “This is our only choice.”
“I know,” Peyton huffs. “But I don’t have to like it.”
Henry and Teddy don’t say anything. They haven’t spoken in nearly an hour, but that’s probably because they’re too out of breath from carrying the majority of our crap. Hayley and Oliver are in surprisingly good spirits considering they were the two closest to death. They point out cool cloud shapes or weird trees along the road and even try to start a sing along. One death glare from Teddy puts an end to that.
Suddenly, an angel in the form of a beat-up old pickup truck lurches up behind us. A man older than the mountain itself slings his arm out the window. “Kids need a lift?”
“Yes, please.” Peyton, my prissy neat freak of a best friend, doesn’t last a second before she tosses her bag into the filthy bed of the truck and scrambles into the middle seat.
I think about grabbing Peyton and hauling her out of the truck, but now isn’t the time for a car safety lecture, unless we want to be walking until three am.
“We’re going to Lake Shore drive,” I say and climb into the cab beside Peyton and Hayley. The boys pile into the back. The truck smells like dust and old cigarette smoke. “You’re a lifesaver.”
The man nods and chews on the end of a soggy toothpick. “We don’t get many travelers this high up. Too many accidents on these roads.”
“We know,” Peyton says. “We totaled our van on the other side of the mountain. We’re just going to the cabin to call our families.”
“No luck there.” The man drives down the road like he knows where every rock and pinecone is along the way. “The telephone pole blew down in the storm two nights ago. Cell phone tower is pooched too. You’ll have to wait until Monday to call.”
“We can’t,” I say. “Our parents need to know that we’re okay.”
The truck thunders over a rickety wooden bridge, my last childhood checkpoint, and swings down the last winding road.
“Do they know there was an accident?” the man asks.
“No, why?” Hayley asks.
“If they don’t know there’s an accident, why do they need to know you’re okay?” The man spits out the toothpick and fishes another out of his stained denim shirt.
“I guess you’re right,” I say slowly. “Still though, we should probably go home. Besides, if I don’t check in tonight my parents are going to start freaking out anyway. If the phones are out, can you just bring us back to the city? We can pay you for gas and your time.”
“Can’t.” The man nods at the gas needle hovering just above empty. “Gas truck won’t be here 'till Monday afternoon.”
“There’s got to be fuel around here somewhere,” I say. “Maybe one of my neighbors has some.”
“Already checked.” The man turns down Lake Shore drive. His hand grazes Peyton’s knee when he shifts, but he pretends it’s an accident. “You kids are the only touristy folks here so far. If more show up, I’ll fill up and take you home.”
“And if not?” Peyton asks.
“Then you kids do what you came here to do and I’ll see you Monday.” The man’s gaze lingers a little too long on Peyton’s damp tank top.
“That’s my place.” I point to my distant neighbor’s cabin. “Thanks a lot.”
I climb out of the truck before he has a chance to fully stop and drag the girls out with me. Everyone else hops out and unloads the truck.
“Thanks for the ride, sir.” Henry sticks his hand through the window.
The man doesn’t take his hand.
Creep.
We wait until the truck’s taillights disappear before we head toward the line of empty cabins. Teddy lets out a low whistle as he eyes up the medium-sized cabin. “This is nice.”
Peyton laughs. “Wait until you actually see Murphy’s cabin. That’s not it.”
“It’s just a few houses down,” I say and take the cooler handle opposite of Henry and lift it up. “I didn’t want that old dude knowing exactly where we’d be.”
“Why?” Henry asks. “Our parents will be here in a couple hours.”
“Oh, about that…” Peyton fills everyone in on the gas and phone situation until we reach the white front door of the cabin. “So we’re staying here until one of the neighbors show up or until Monday comes around. That’s when the phone tower gets fixed or the old dude brings us home.”
“I think we’ll wait on the phone tower,” I say, then I dig around my pocket for the spare key, thankful it didn’t wash down the river, and unlock the door. It still smells like the lemon Pledge Mom uses to polish every wooden surface before we leave. And for a log cabin, that’s at least three cans. Some people might find the smell gross, but I think it’s nice.
“It smells like the body shop in here.” Hayley steps in and closes here eyes. “I like it.”
“I can definitely hang out here for a few nights.” Teddy lugs the cooler into the kitchen and sets it down on the stone island. “This place is insane.”
I try to look at the cabin like I’m seeing it for the first time. Thirty-foot ceilings made up of exposed beams crisscross above our heads. The walls look like stacks of scraped logs, aside from the wall furthest away. It’s completely covered in stone and features a giant fireplace big enough to roast a pig in. The beat-up hardwood floors are covered in handmade rugs and woolen carpets. Two full sets of worn-in brown leather furniture face the fireplace with a giant coffee table in the middle. Quilts and pillows cover every couch, love seat, and chair. The living room blends into the huge kitchen, which is fully stocked with the liquor my parents buy every summer and leave here for quick one-nighters away from the city.
A loft overlooks the living room and holds a king sized bed and a set of bunk beds. The main floor has the master bedroom, which I’m definitely taking, and a huge bathroom complete with a claw-footed tub. The basement has two more bedrooms, a theater room, a pool table and bar, and a couple more bathrooms. While all of that is awesome, my favorite part of the whole house is the huge, wraparound deck that overlooks the lake. The hot tub isn't too bad either.
“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet.” I start unloading the groceries and double -heck the old school rotary phone next to the kitchen. Like the old guy said, it’s as dead as the bear sprawled in front of the fireplace. I open up the counter underneath the sink and pull out a ridiculously extravagant first aid kit. “Now, does anyone want to play doctor?”
We take turns in the shower and meet back in the kitchen to fix each other up. Hayley stitches Oliver’s head up, since she’s the only one who knows how to sew. Oliver takes the pain like a champ, alternating between bottle of vodka and a pipe as she threads the needle in and out of his head.
Peyton uses her tweezers to fish the glass out of the cut below Henry’s eye.
“You’re up, Murph.” Teddy smacks the counter next to the sink. I already dug out the glass lodged in his jaw and cheek. His blood underneath my fingernails is proof.
I pull myself onto the counter, wincing as the glass in my shoulder shifts, and wince. I pull my tank top and bra straps down my shoulder. “Be gentle. Please.”
Teddy puts his fingers on either side of the largest cut and pushes down.
White-hot pain spears through my torso. “That’s not gentle,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Sorry, kid.” Teddy pushes the tweezers into the cut and latches onto a piece of glass. He pulls it out slowly and tosses it into the sink. He does the same with the next cut. “Do you want to talk about the river?”
“About my meltdown?” I ask. I gasp when the points of
the tweezers graze bone. “I’d rather have you dig around my flesh all day.”
“Gotcha.” Teddy roots around a little more before he unearths another long, skinny piece of glass. “I think that’s it.”
“Thanks.” I sag against the raised island behind my back. Thank God. I didn’t want to cry in front of Teddy. Again. I look at the stove clock. “I know it’s only eight o’clock, but I’m going to bed. I’m so tired I can’t even think.”
“Thank God.” Peyton dabs a little more burn cream onto her cheek. “I’ve been ready for bed since we got here.”
“Me too,” Henry says. “Where do you want us?”
I yawn and shrug. “I don’t care. Maybe Teddy should sleep upstairs so he doesn’t have to listen to you guys humping all night.”
“Good idea.” Peyton winks at Henry.
Oliver sits up with a jolt. Thankfully Hayley was done with his stitches. “Who’s humping?”
Hayley smiles. “No one, baby. Let’s go to bed.”
“’Kay.” Oliver puts his unopened beer back in the fridge and grabs a pack of cheese strings. “Can we watch Archer?”
Hayley rolls her eyes but smiles. “Yeah, the laptop is in my backpack.”
“Where are you sleeping, Murphy?” Teddy throws the glass in the garbage and rinses off the tweezers.
“In my parents' room,” I say. “Alone.”
Teddy blinks in genuine surprise. “You don’t want to sleep with me?”
My mouth falls open. “You can’t actually be that cocky.”
He continues staring at me.
“Give it a rest, Teddy.” Henry slaps him on the back. “We’ve had a long ass day. You can make her fall in love with you tomorrow.”
I give Henry a little smile as he brushes by me on the way to the basement. “Goodnight.”
“Night, Murph.” Peyton hugs me tight.
“Goodnight.” I let her go and wave at Henry. “Sleep tight.”
“We won’t be sleeping,” Peyton whispers to Henry as they walk downstairs.
A pang of loneliness knifes through my stomach. And now I won’t be either.
