Southern Stars

by Melissa Good

Everyone got up and stood briefly, watching the rain come down before reluctantly starting back out into it. It was downhill now. They could see water pooling at the bottom of the trail, as sheets of the rain washed down the rock path.

  Kerry glanced behind them, then sighed and continued on.

  DAR SLID THE last few feet into water up to her shins and immediately felt the pull of the current as it rushed along sideways. “Careful!” She yelled back. She felt Kerry thump against her, the impact almost taking both of them down.

  “Oof. Sorry.” Kerry got her balance and they paused as the rest of the group caught up.

  “Oh crap.” PJ said as she held on to her stick, balancing on her good foot and lifting her cut one up out of the water. “This is cray cray.”

  Dar peered around the bend. “Let me see how bad it is.” She waded carefully into the current, using her stick to balance as she felt the shove of the water against her calves. It was cold, but a little warmer than the rain driving against her and she blinked a few times to clear it from her eyes.

  This was going nowhere good. Dar made her way down what was becoming a fast running stream, hearing the rumble of thunder over head with a sense of surreal irritation. About halfway down the steep decline there was a curve in the wall. Past that the path sloped down and to the side again, but left an area clear, with a little elevation.

  There was no shelter, but at least they’d be able to stand. Dar turned and waved them forward, pointing behind the rock. There was even enough clear space between the walls that there was a chance the phone might work. She braced one arm against the wall and stepped back out into the current as she watched the rest approach.

  They could put the tents up. That would have to be enough shelter. It was getting dark and she was shivering in her jacket, pretty damn sure all of them were going to end up sick as hell.

  Maybe if the rain stopped, they could move on to the lower valley, where the cave was. That was even more open. She figured that open space she and Kerry had walked across to get to the waterfall might have room to land a copter,.

  But first they would stop and rest on the ledge. She kept an eagle eye on Kerry’s progress, hoping no one else would slip and fall. They were reaching their limits, all of them.

  She reached out her hand to Kerry and they clasped, and she pulled her behind the bend in the wall and up onto the ledge.

  Kerry put her back against the wall, now out of the wind and the driving rain. “Dar this is nuts!”

  “I know,” Dar said. “Going to continue that way.” She grimaced as two of the oncoming bodies slipped and tumbled, but they got up and kept moving toward the shelf. “I thought maybe we could rest a little then try to get to the valley down there.”

  Kerry took a few steps to the side and looked down the path, where the rain rushing was gaining real volume. “I dunno, hon.” She glanced down at her soaked boots and sighed. “But there sure isn’t much up here.”

  The rest of the group clustered onto the high spot and spread out, shielding their heads from the rain as best they could.

  Dar put her arm across Kerry’s shoulders as the crew put the long cooler down, the repository of pretty much everything dry. The injured sat down on it. Everyone was tired.

  Dar studied the path downward.

  “Best of evil choices?” Kerry put her arms around Dar and savored the warmth of the contact, and the relief from the driving rain. She closed her eyes and felt, for a minute, like she could just fall asleep standing up there in this momentary spot of almost comfort.

  Sally came to lean on the wall next to them. “We can’t really stay here.”

  Rich sighed and folded his arms. “Well, we can. But I sure don’t want to. Maybe we can at least get some stuff farther on to make some tea. Or salad. Or anything.”

  Pete knelt on the ground, his elbows and chest resting on the cooler. “I feel like such crap.”

  Dave sat next to him, his bandaged hand resting on his knee. “Me too.” PJ was at his side, her foot propped up. Janet, the last of the injured, was leaning against the wall, keeping the weight off her cut leg.

  Marcia sat on the edge of the cooler, her face pale. Everyone was shivering, half obscured in the heavy rain.

  Dar considered them. “Let’s put up the tarps best we can and get some relief,” She finally said. “I think that slope’s pretty dangerous with the rain right now.”

  Rich glanced past her. “We could make it.”

  Dar turned and met his eyes. “Not all of us, maybe. And if someone else gets hurt, we’re running out of people to help carry them.”

  Grudgingly, he nodded. “Yeah.”

  Tracey watched him. Then she turned and went over to where Pete was kneeling. She crouched down next to him and helped him up as they opened up the cooler and removed the top layer of tarps.

  The sound of the rain on the fabric was loud and sharp. Dar turned and studied the wall, then she released Kerry and went over to the edge of the tarp and took one of the bungies attached to it. It had a ball in the middle of it and she tucked the ball into a crack in the rock above her head.

  That immediately got everyone moving, and in the small triangle of rock they quickly found spots for the other balls, raising a shelter over them that everyone gathered under.

  “That’s better,” PJ said, wringing her jacket out. “At least, a little better.”

  It was better. Kerry kept her jacket on and zipped up, waiting for the shivers in her body to subside. After hours of the rain pounding on her head, it was a relief to just stand there without it. She glanced up at the gray sky, then ran a hand through her hair and tried to brush some of the water out of it.

  Dar came up behind her and put her hands on Kerry’s shoulders, gently massaging them and granting her a moment of solace out of proportion to the action.

  They all fell silent, staring out at the rain.

  Chapter Eleven

  THE RAIN FINALLY slowed down. Dar wrung out her clothing as best as she could, but put the damp garments back. She figured the wet was going to continue, and getting two sets of clothes wet made no sense.

  Standing in the rain made no sense, sitting in the rain made no sense, waiting to get so cold they started chattering made no sense. Dar exhaled.

  The wind was dropping, at least. She went to the edge of the shelter and looked out over the path, judging the rush of the water still heading downhill.

  Kerry came over to stand next to her. “Whatcha thinking?”

  “Thinking I don’t want to stay up here,” Dar answered. “Want to go looking around for a better place with me?”

  Kerry smiled. “Is that a serious question?”

  “Not really, no.”

  Kerry folded her arms and rocked up and down on her hiking boots a little. She had her hood down, exposing her short pale hair in damp disarray. “It’ll be pretty slow going if everyone joins us.”

  “Everyone’s not joining us,” Dar said calmly. “No saying we’ll find anything better before it gets dark. We come back if not.”

  Behind them the rest of the group was sitting down on the remaining tarps, just trying to stay as dry as they could. No one was talking. Rich had made no effort to get out his cards. Pete was still draped over the cooler, resting on his belly with his arms folded under his head.

  Don wandered over. “You gals want to sit down over there? We got some space.” He gestured vaguely behind him. “Not real comfortable, but it’s something.”

  Dar shook her head. “No.” She stuck her hand out and judged the rain. “I think we’re going to go see if we can find a better place to shelter.”

  “It’s too cold to just sit out here,” Kerry said. “My lips are turning blue.”

  Dar inspected them. She leaned over unexpectedly and covered Kerry’s lips with her own for quite some seconds, then pulled back.

  Kerry’s cheeks were now pink, and she gave Dar an abashed look. Dar leaned forward and kissed her again, cupping her hand around the back of
Kerry’s neck, and willing the body heat to transfer. Then she paused and examined her face again. “Better?”

  “Yes.” Kerry cleared her throat. “Better stop though. I’m getting lightheaded from blushing.”

  Dar chuckled briefly, then released Kerry and put her hands in her pockets.

  Kerry cleared her throat again. “So I agree with Dar. We should see if we can find a place with more shelter, where we can find something to light up so it’s not so cold.”

  Don nodded. “Good idea. Let me and one of those fellers come along too.” He turned and went back over to the group, pulling Rich aside and speaking to him.

  Dar’s eyes narrowed. “Did I ask for company?” She muttered.

  Kerry patted her side. “It’ll be good to have company. Especially if we have to make a hand bridge over water or something like that.” She turned. “Let me get my pack and our sticks.”

  Dar zipped her jacket up and put the hood up around her head, snugging it tight under her jaw and fastening the throat flap of the waterproof garment.

  Don and Rich came over, with their packs on their back.

  “Good idea,” Rich said. “I’m really sick and tired of being here.” He tightened the sleeves on his jacket around his wrists. “I’m starving.”

  “We all are,” Don said. “So let’s see if we can find a better spot. You got that radio phone?”

  “Got it.” Rich said. “We told the rest of them where we’re going.” He put up his hood. “Told em if we found some place we’d come back and get everyone.”

  “And if it got dark we’d shelter ourselves under someplace,” Don said. “They can catch up in the morning. Easier to find shelter for four.”

  Easier to find for two. Kerry could almost hear Dar’s thoughts audibly as Dar adjusted the straps on the pack she was carrying, brow puckered. She gave her a pat on the hip and took a deep breath, pausing to sip a mouthful of rain water from her bottle, hoping it would quell her complaining stomach.

  “True that,” Rich said. “Let’s go.”

  Dar led the way out into the gray light, starting down the path. The rushing water covered her boots, but presented no real impediment to her progress. She probed the ground with the stick Kerry handed her, and they made their way down the slope and out of sight of the camp with relative speed.

  “Glad to be out of that bunch,” Don said, after about twenty minutes walking. “Rather be doing something constructive.”

  “Yeah.” Rich maneuvered around a half-submerged boulder. “It was getting cold just standing there. Kerry’s right. We’re going to end up with hypothermia.”

  “Better walking.” Kerry felt herself warming up, despite the fact her pants were once again drenched with rain. “If we can get back to that shelter from the other night, there were those sagebrush bushes, and those trees near the waterfall.”

  They could see the bottom of the trail. “Could be,” Don said. “Looks like it’s not too bad there.” He looked around. “You figure those other two came this way? We should have caught them by now, yeah?”

  Dar started slightly. “Crap. Forgot all about them,” she admitted. “No telling which way they went. Not like this ground holds footprints.”

  There were several bends in the path ahead of them and they went down the slope sideways, unable to really see their footing with all the water. The rain, as though in cooperation with them slowed to an annoying mist, droplets fine but still stinging.

  “Florida rain’s sure not like this,” Kerry said, after a brief silence. “Drops big enough to knock you over.”

  “Tropical,” Don said.

  “Part of it, yes,” Dar said. “Bottom three counties are tropical. Above that’s sub-tropical.” She evaded a rush of water over a big rock and moved closer to the right wall of the canyon. “But all of it’s hot.”

  “What was 9-11 like for you ladies?” Don asked. “Must have been strange with all those pilots being trained down there.”

  Dar and Kerry exchanged glances. “I was out of the country the day it happened,” Dar said. “Kerry was in Michigan. We didn’t get back until most of that was over.”

  “I was at work,” Rich said. “We had a big promotion starting that day so we were all in early getting ready for it. I’d just sat down with a bagel when one of the admins came running in and told us to all come into the breakroom and watch CNN.”

  “I was cleaning the garage,” Don said. “Marcia came in and told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I thought it was a Piper Cub or something. Some sightseeing thing, you know?” He shook his head. “I said, yeah, so what?’”

  Kerry amiably joined in. “I was eating breakfast with my family. Or, actually, brunch I think. Dar called me from the UK.”

  Dar nodded. “I was on the line with my admin, ordering a marketing kit. I heard from one of our staff through the phone something was happening and we turned it on where we were.”

  “Everyone remembers where they were right then,” Don said. “It was that kind of moment.”

  Rich nodded. “They sent us home. We didn’t come back in for a week. You guys?” He looked at Dar and Kerry.

  “Not exactly.” They both answered in unison, then looked at each other again. Kerry tilted her head in Dar’s direction.

  Dar reached the next curve and peered around it. “Company we worked for did some work to help the recovery,” she said, briefly. “We were tied up with that a few weeks.”

  They continued around the corner and across the next narrow area, where the flowing water was puddling at the bottom of the path. It was halfway up Dar’s lower legs, and she pushed through it to the next angle that started upward.

  Don examined some debris on the wall. “Must have been pretty high here. Don’t think we should bring those hurt people through unless it drops.”

  “Hey, wait,” Rich said, suddenly. “I remember seeing you on the news!” He caught hold of Dar’s arm. “I knew I’d seen you somewhere before! I saw you interviewed about something you were doing in New York!”

  They paused and Dar looked at him. “Yeah.” She turned and kept going. “C’mon, we’re getting soaked here.” She climbed around the corner and they started up again, quickly getting past the pooling and back onto higher ground.

  “We worked with the city on restoring some services,” Kerry said, after they’d hiked upward for about five minutes. “I remember that interview. We were at our offices in Rockefeller Center and they were asking us about some of the things we were doing.”

  “Stock exchange?” Don asked, giving her a shrewd look.

  “Something of that, yes,” Kerry said. “Some other things, services for the city, things like that.”

  “Uh huh,” Don said. “Pal of mine works for Verizon.” He sidled up the slope sideways. “He was there. I remember him telling me some crazy stories.”

  “Mm.” Kerry grinned briefly. “It was a strange time.”

  The rock ground now was quite slippery, and Dar focused on leaning forward and keeping her boots from slipping on the wet gravel, still feeling the rain hitting the hood over her head. She started looking forward as they climbed up along the track, then saw motion ahead of them. “Whoa.”

  “Hey, it’s a sheep,” Rich said, with some excitement. “Let’s catch it!” He started to plunge up the path, slipping and sliding as he dashed after the animal.

  Don groaned. “He’s going to kill himself. Hey! Watch it! Be careful!”

  Just as Don said it, Rich slipped and then he tumbled back down toward them. Kerry dodged over to get in the way but found herself hauled back out of the way as Dar pulled them both to one side. “Let him go,” she said. “If he hits you you’ll both go down.”

  Don had also jumped clear, and Rich was unable to stop himself until he was at the bottom of the slope, rolling into the pool of water.

  Dar sighed. Then she started down with the rest of them hastily following.

  “YEAH, IT WAS stupid,” Rich said. He was sitting on
a rock, his pants leg rolled up exposing a bloody kneecap. “You don’t have to tell me. I’m just so damn hungry all I saw was a chance to get something to eat.”

  Dar finished wrapping a strip of shirt fabric around the bruised cut. “Unless it was a girl and we were going to milk it, wouldn’t have done much for us.” She stood up. “There, try that.” She looked around. “Does it pay to keep going on?”

  “Oh, don’t let me be the one to squish this.” Rich got up hastily and stamped around in a circle, his boots splashing in the edge of the pooled rainwater. “Okay, let’s go.” He picked up his stick, grimacing as he eased his elbow out straight. “Sorry guys.”

  The wind picked up again as they started uphill, this time on a path free of mammals. Rich was limping, and he tucked his left arm close to his body, using his stick with his right hand.

  Dar took the lead again and they climbed steadily up, keeping speech to a minimum as the clouds drifted grumpily overhead, spattering down rain that smacked against the rubberized surface of their jackets and sounded like large caterpillars dropping out of the sky.

  They got to the top of the rise and up into the small pass, where the walls narrowed and cut the wind, and the tall walls arched over and gave them some protection and relief. Walking on flat ground was a relief as well, and Dar flexed her legs that were burning a little from the climb.

  The canyon angled to the left, and they crossed under two thick arches as they straddled a thin stream of water running down the middle of the path. They had just started through the narrow passage that would lead to the larger valley when they heard hoof beats again.

  Dar, in the lead, stopped and lifted her hand up. “What’s that?”

  “That sheep?” Rich eased up behind her and peered past her shoulder.

  Dar got both hands around her hiking pole just in time as a large animal skittered through the end of the passage and headed right for them with its horns down in an aggressive charge.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Get against the wall.” Dar braced herself and lifted the pole as the animal came right at her. “Kerry get behind me.”