The sun hadn’t risen high enough to peek over the mountain in White Rock, but as I walked into the open, I had to squint against its brightness. And there was no haze! I hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten in our valley until I saw the blue sky above us.
Luke walked his horse over to me. “Incredible, isn’t it?”
I nodded. The sights around us were mesmerizing. And so was the sweet scent of growing things that drifted toward us on the wind. With all the springtime grasses, the Forbidden Flats were green for miles and miles until they met the brilliant blue sky far off in the distance. In White Rock, everything had a stopping point. The edge of the first ring. The edge of the orchards. The edges of the lake. The top edge of the crater. Out here, though, there were no edges—things went on forever and ever. The trees sprouted leaves, and some were even blossoming. The river disappeared into the tunnel behind me, but in front of me, it snaked out as far as I could see. I knew that Browning sat ten miles to our left, but I couldn’t see any of its mounded dirt walls this far away.
“How many times have you been out here?” Luke asked.
I took my eyes off the Forbidden Flats for a moment to glance at him. “When I was three, but I don’t remember it. Again about four months ago, when everything was covered in snow. And then on the day of the quakes.”
“I’ve lived on the Forbidden Flats my whole life,” Luke said. “Mostly northeast of here. Before you know it, you’ll be sick of seeing nothing but flatness.”
I doubted that.
Mr. Williams’s daughter Cass, a girl who graduated Sixteens & Seventeens last year and whose split job was to take care of the horses, led a shiny black horse named Ruben over to us. “For you and Brock,” she said, and held his reins while I climbed up.
Brock put his hand on Ruben’s neck. “I thought there were enough for us each to ride our own.”
“Nope.” Cass took off her jacket and tied its arms around her waist. “They’re fast, healthy horses, but we still need to have two without riders at all times to switch places with the horses pulling the trailer.”
Brock climbed into the saddle with me, while Aaren climbed on a horse with his dad. Then we spurred our horses ahead, crossed the bridge, and followed the road around the southern end of our crater, into the forest.
When we came to search for Ameiphus on the day of the earthquake, we didn’t use the road. Instead, we had gone up through the mountainside to find an area that hadn’t already been searched by earlier parties. The last time—the only time—I had actually taken this road was when we traveled with the guard months ago, so we could sneak in through the cave where the White Rock River exited the mountain, and rescue our town. We were on this road again to do the same thing—save our town. Except this time, we were heading away from White Rock instead of to it.
The road wasn’t traveled often, and it was hard to get the trailer over the bumps and tree roots and boulders that covered much of it. The pace became so slow that Aaren, Brock, and I climbed off the horses and walked.
Once we were a little away from the others, Aaren said, “So … your mom must’ve seen your note by now. What do you think she’s doing?”
I half expected to see someone riding toward us to take Brock home.
“Probably saying my name like it’s a curse word.” Brock shrugged. “She’ll get over it.”
We walked along the road, jumping off the boulders and tree trunks that were causing so much trouble for the trailer ahead of us. Every so often, the trailer would get stuck on something, and we’d have to run forward and help the others lift it, being careful not to damage the mileage trackers attached to the wheels.
Each time we stopped, Cass handed off her reins, then went horse to horse, checking on them. She’d stroke their jaws, sometimes lay her cheek on their foreheads, look into their eyes, or say something to them. Then she’d remount her horse, ask her dad how much longer it would be until we reached water again, then peer around at the horses to decide if that was fine. Same thing every time.
Once while Cass was checking Cole’s horse, Cass said something to him—I couldn’t tell what—and he smiled and said something back. Then he reached out and tucked a curl of her light red hair behind her ear.
“How long has your brother liked Cass?” Brock asked.
“What?” Aaren said. “He doesn’t like Cass.”
Brock raised an eyebrow.
“He did give her that crooked half-smile,” I said.
Aaren rolled his eyes. “He gives that smile to everyone. She might like him. Most girls do, but Cole would’ve said something if he liked her.”
We traveled all day, and by the time we made it through the forest and to the place where the river exited White Rock, the sun had set, it was way past dinnertime, and everyone was hot, sweaty, and worn out from trying to maneuver the trailer through such a rough area.
Cass and I took the horses down to the river to drink while Aaren’s dad, Cole, and Luke unloaded sections of fence that hung on the outside of the trailer, clamping them together to make a pen for the horses near the river. Mr. Williams started making a fire pit and gathered items for our dinner from the trailer while Brock and Aaren searched for firewood.
When we all finally gathered around the fire with the river on one side, and the trailer and the horse pen forming a wall around us, we were starving and tired. As we finished eating our vegetable stew, Luke stood up, the fire casting different parts of him in shadow or an orange glow. “We all did good today. We didn’t make it as far as I’d hoped, but the terrain from here on out is fairly flat, so hopefully we’ll be able to make up for the lost time.”
“It’s a clear enough night,” Mr. Williams added, “and everyone’s tired. We’ll forgo setting up the tents.”
We pulled our bedrolls out of the trailer and laid them by the fire, then snuggled into our blankets. Before long, we heard several people snoring, including Aaren’s dad.
“Psst!” Brock whispered. “I want to show you something.”
Aaren and I slipped out of our bedrolls and tiptoed with Brock toward the trailer. Along with the horses’ occasional nickers, we heard whispers. We peeked around the edge of the trailer and saw Cole leaning against the horse pen with Cass. Their faces were so close together, their whispers sounded like the wind. Brock started chuckling next to me. They were going to hear him! I caught hold of his arm and pulled him and Aaren back to our bedrolls where we laughed into the fabric as quietly as we could.
“See?” Brock said. “I was right. I’m always right!”
Even in the dim light from the embers, I could see Aaren roll his eyes. “Yes, Brock. You’re very astute.”
“Yeah, I am.” Brock leaned in closer to me and whispered, “What does astute mean?”
A little of my giggling returned. “It means smart. Or clever.”
Aaren and I laughed, and before long, Brock started laughing, too. Then Aaren’s dad rolled over and told us to go to sleep. We each lay on our backs and watched the stars. Pretty soon, Aaren’s and Brock’s breathing slowed, and I could tell they were falling asleep.
“I’m really glad you two came,” I whispered.
We ate breakfast quickly and packed up camp. Within thirty minutes, we were back to riding on the open space alongside the river, Brock and I once again sharing a horse.
Aaren’s dad steered the horse he and Aaren shared next to us. “I’m surprised you’re all so wide awake with how late you stayed up talking last night.”
“Some of us kept talking even after we went to sleep,” Brock said, eyeing Aaren.
“It’s true,” I said. “Do you always do medical procedures in your sleep?”
“No!” Aaren looked between us, as though he was trying to decide if we were telling the truth or messing with him. We were definitely telling the truth. I woke up several times hearing more medical terms than I’d ever heard in the clinic with Aaren’s mom.
Brock waved his hand as if he was brushing away Aaren�
�s discomfort. “At least you don’t laugh in your sleep like Hope does.”
“What?” I squeaked. “You’re making that up.”
Mr. Grenwood chuckled, and I spun my head in his direction. “He’s not.”
I blushed a little, then wished I could remember my dream. It must’ve been a good one if I was laughing enough to wake at least two people. After a minute, I gave up. None of the dream remained. Instead, I entertained myself by staring at my surroundings. I could see so far away! It was amazing how much freedom I felt with so much open space surrounding me.
By midafternoon on the third day, though, nothing around us had changed at all. I didn’t want to tell Luke that he was right and I was getting sick of seeing the Forbidden Flats, but I was actually kind of sick of seeing the Forbidden Flats. I sighed for the five hundred seventeenth time.
“I thought we’d see stuff,” Brock said. “Different stuff. Like ruins of buildings.”
“Nope,” Aaren’s dad said. “Not this close to White Rock. A bomb that can make a crater big enough for an entire town to live in decimates everything. You have to go out at least two hundred miles before you start seeing any remains from before the bombs. And even then, they’re not full cities. Only parts.”
“How long will it take to get that far away?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Another few days. But we’ll get to see Glacier before then.”
“You aren’t getting bored already, are you?” Luke rode his horse right up next to me. I didn’t even realize he’d been listening.
“No—I love it,” I lied.
He raised an eyebrow. He didn’t believe me for a second.
“All right,” I said. “Maybe it’s getting a little boring.”
“A little boring?” Brock said.
“And we are going so slow!” I complained.
Luke grinned, and that made me smile, too. He kind of looked like a kid—like he was planning something fun. Maybe he looked familiar because his expressions were so similar to those of my friends. He jerked his chin farther up the trail. “See that clump of trees?”
Brock and I nodded. They were probably a half mile up the road—five of them together at the edge of the river.
“Race you.”
Luke was so cool.
“Go!” Brock yelled. He jabbed his heels into Ruben’s side, and we took off galloping.
I could faintly hear Cass and Mr. Williams yell something behind me, but I wanted to win, and I loved the feeling of being totally free, the wind blowing through my hair. I held tight to Brock’s waist as we bounced ahead. Luke stayed at our side the entire time, sometimes barely pulling ahead, sometimes falling a little behind.
“Faster!” I yelled to Brock over the sound of the wind blowing past us. Brock leaned against Ruben’s neck, and I leaned into Brock. We flew forward. At the last moment, Luke’s horse gave an extra burst of speed, and he beat us to the trees. A second later, we reached the trees, and Brock pulled back on the reins.
“That was awesome!” Brock said.
I laughed out loud. I hadn’t ridden that fast on a horse for far too long. Even though we lost, the ride was exhilarating, and made the dull landscape a billion times easier to handle.
The ground we traveled on had been getting higher and higher when compared to the river, but Luke found a spot where we could carefully walk our horses down to it. While Ruben drank, I stroked his neck and told him what a great job he did. When he was finished, I led him back up to the road.
The rest of the group neared, and I was surprised how quiet they were. Instead of the usual chatting with each other, everyone just looked ahead. Except Aaren. He looked down at his horse’s mane.
Cass was the first to reach us. She flung her leg over the saddle and landed on the ground with a thud. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
I was too shocked to say anything. I’d never heard Cass yell before.
“These horses have to travel more distance in three weeks than a horse should ever have to. We don’t even have time to stop and let them rest. Did you forget that?”
“Relax,” Luke said. “We just had a little race.”
“Relax?” she yelled. “If you run them like that, they’ll be dead before we make it back! They’re living, breathing things. I’ve been so careful with each and every one of them, making sure they get rotated so they can handle this journey. They don’t deserve to be abused because you want ‘a little race.’ ”
“I’m sorry, Cass,” I said, and I meant it. “I … didn’t think. I didn’t know it would be bad.”
Cass glared at me for a minute.
“I’m sorry, too,” Brock said.
“Maybe you didn’t know better,” Mr. Williams said, “but Luke did.”
Luke brushed some dust off his jacket. “You two are making a big deal out of nothing.”
“Out of nothing?” Cass looked closely at my horse’s eyes and mouth, and put her hand on the big pulsing vein on the side of his neck.
“Yeah. Out of nothing,” Luke said. “They got time to rest and get some water while we were waiting for you. They’re good as new.” He looked at Brock and me, then back at Cass. “We should go. Your town’s in danger. We don’t want to waste any time dillydallying.” Then he heeled his horse and rode ahead of the group.
Ruben had seemed to enjoy the race. He was probably pretty sick of the scenery and going the same speed, too. But I hated making Cass mad. I stayed right where I was while she checked out Ruben. Slowly, the rest of the group joined Luke, heading on the same path beside the river. As soon as most of them were moving, I said, “Cass?”
“What?”
“I really am sorry. I didn’t know it would hurt them.”
She scowled in Luke’s direction. “I know. I’m not mad at you.”
I was glad, but I didn’t want her to be mad at Luke, either.
Cass’s yelling had caused an awkward silence among the entire group. She rode on the right of Brock and me so she could keep an eye on Ruben. Eventually, she must’ve decided that Ruben was fine, because her shoulders relaxed and she stopped holding her reins so tightly.
Up ahead, Luke pulled his horse to a stop and leaned toward Mr. Williams. He said something I couldn’t hear, and he pointed to a small cloud of dust ahead on the horizon. Mr. Williams pulled the trailer next to a few trees at the edge of the path and stopped. Luke turned his horse around and rode back to each of us.
When he neared Brock and me, he said in a low voice, “That might be bandits up ahead. Follow me.”
Luke led everyone down the small incline to the river, where the high bank would mostly hide us. Once we were all huddled next to the river, I whispered to Luke, “Are they going to attack?”
“I doubt it,” he said. “We don’t even know if they’re bandits. They’re far away, and we hid quickly. Plus, we weren’t traveling fast enough to kick up much dust. The best way to stay safe on the Forbidden Flats is to take cover if you see them in the distance. Don’t give them a reason to come your way, and you’ll be fine.”
We stayed still on our horses, our muscles tight with worry even after Luke’s words. I pulled my pendant from behind my shirt and clutched it so tight, it left indents in my hand from the tiny conglomerate rocks that formed its surface. When Ruben sidestepped and snorted, I let go of it and patted his neck, telling him everything was fine.
“That’s a nice necklace,” Luke said. “Where’d you get it?”
I looked down at the necklace I wore every second of every day. “I’ve always had it.”
Luke pursed his lips and stared at me for the length of a few breaths, as though he was trying to figure me out. He looked away for the smallest of moments, then turned right back to me, almost like my necklace was pulling him. “Did you find it? Or trade someone for it?”
I peeked down at it. “No. The chain is from my parents—it was made before the bombs. The pendant is from my birth mom. She died right after I was born. She told my parents that
it was special to her, and that she wanted me to have it.”
Luke gazed at the Forbidden Flats again and the dust cloud disappearing far off into the distance. He didn’t say a word. Eventually, he looked at me and reached out, almost as if he was going to touch the pendant but changed his mind at the last minute and pulled his hand away. “I made that pendant for my sister on her wedding day.”
I grasped the pendant. I didn’t understand. It took a few minutes before the pieces clicked into place and I noticed all those familiar things about him again. His thick brown hair, his skin that looked tanned, his green eyes with little flecks of gold. Did he look familiar because he looked like me? “You’re … my birth mom’s brother?”
I looked around at the others, knowing they were close enough to hear Luke and me, hoping there would be answers on their faces. But their faces held confusion and fascination, wariness and wonder.
“I don’t know. Maybe. I was away when bandits hit our town—I didn’t find out until I arrived home weeks later. I never saw her again.” He paused for a moment. “She was pregnant. Her baby would be about your age.”
No. No. He couldn’t be my uncle. This was too weird. Things like this didn’t happen. A family member you never knew existed doesn’t just show up! Maybe Luke was lying. Although I had no idea why he’d lie about something like that.
“I know it isn’t the prettiest stone,” Luke said. “But when I was thirteen, my sister and I—”
“Anna?” I whispered.
Luke nodded slowly, as if he hadn’t truly believed I had gotten the necklace from her until he heard me say her name. “Anna and I were on a trip with our dad, camped by mountains. Anna had a thing for rocks—all rocks—and she found some conglomerate ones that she loved. She put a bunch in her pockets, even though I told her they were ugly. Later that day, we found a cave and went exploring. The cave forked and Anna worried we’d get lost, but I told her it was fine—I never got lost. Still, though, she put one of those stones at each fork in the cave to mark our way. My lantern wasn’t very bright, so I didn’t see a large drop-off and fell.”
Sky Jumpers Book 2: The Forbidden Flats Page 5
