Angel Falls (Angel Falls Series, #1)

by Babette de Jongh

  Ian sighed. “I know exactly what you mean. I miss you, too.”

  “When are you coming back home?” I realized my wording was a little off—this wasn’t his home—but I didn’t correct myself and he let it slide.

  “Not for another week, sorry. It’s no wonder this paper was going under—they kept horrible records, if they kept them at all. I’d invite you to come here, but I have to go through boxes and stacks and plastic grocery bags, God-help-me, before I can even meet with the bookkeeper. You’d be bored to tears. I’ll be back weekend after next, for sure.”

  Already we were skipping two weekends at a time. “I guess I’ll take what I can get.” This relationship would be breathing its last before Christmas, and there was nothing I could do to revive it. “I’d better let you go. I’m tired.”

  “I promise my work load will ease up in a few weeks.”

  Just a minute ago, it was a couple of weeks. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Please don’t be upset. I’ll be standing on your porch before you know it. Christmas holiday, for sure, if not before.”

  “Okay, fine.” No way was I going to get drawn into a big phone conversation about this. I wanted to be face-to-face when we decided this wouldn’t work out. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Defeated, I hung up.

  *

  The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas vacation limped along. The last day of the semester, Ben asked me to pick the kids up after school and take them to my house. He needed all his concentration to direct the movers in packing up the old house and moving to the new one.

  Ray and Jake were good buddies now, so we’d hardly seen them since everybody piled out of my car at three-fifteen. Maryann had been more of a challenge, but I convinced her to take Lizzie for a walk. Amy curled up on the couch in Angela’s living room, watching a Rugrats marathon on television. Angela and I felt there was hope for a quiet cup of tea, so she put a kettle on.

  “Mom,” Ray yelled, banging through Angela’s back door. “Me and Jake are going down to the canal.”

  “You mean, Jake and I,” Angela yelled back. “Come in here when you’re talking to me. You know I hate it when you yell to me from another room.”

  Ray stomped into the kitchen, trailing mud and dragging a youth-sized rifle behind him.

  “Don’t you bring that thing in my kitchen,” Angela screeched. “You take it straight back to your daddy’s gun cabinet. You are not to use that rifle unless your daddy is with you. You hear? And carry it carefully.” Angela looked at the rifle as if it could rear up and bite one of us. “It isn’t loaded, is it?”

  “No’m.” Ray dragged the rifle into the living room where Carl’s gun cabinet stood next to the TV. Jake slumped past, sending me a quiet teenage-boy grin.

  “Hey, boy.” I snagged Jake by his jacket sleeve. “Come over here. I don’t care how old you get, you don’t walk past your Aunt Casey without getting a hug.”

  Jake obliged, leaning over to hug me from behind. “What’s up?”

  “You and Ray better leave that rifle alone, you hear? That gun is not a toy, and you’re not to have anything to do with it unless there’s an adult right there with you. Got it?”

  “Yes’m.”

  “Mom,” Ray called from the living room, his voice raised above the sound of the gun cabinet being opened and then closed again. “Can we go to the canal?”

  “I believe I mentioned something about you coming into whatever room I’m in before you talk to me.” Angela waited until Ray peered around the corner into the kitchen with an exaggerated look of obliging patience on his face. Then she looked out at the window at the heavy gray clouds that promised another day of rain. “Not today, son. It’s been a rainy season, and an even rainier week, so the canal will be dangerous. Y’all take your bikes out. Go for a walk or something.”

  “Aw, Mom. The canal isn’t bad at all. It’s already drained from last week.”

  “Aw, Ray,” Angela mimicked. “Thanks for the canal report. I’m sure it has drained from last week, but now it’s filling up again. Y’all go on and find something else to do. But be back by blue-day.”

  I smiled at my mother’s familiar expression.

  The teakettle whistled. Angela got up and took it off the heat then poured the boiling water into the teapot. Jake slunk past to join Ray in the living room. A second later, we heard the front door close. The sky had already started spitting rain. The poor kids wouldn’t get much time to play outside before they’d be cooped up for the rest of the evening. “I guess Ray got that rifle he wanted for his birthday.”

  “Yeah. Milk and sugar, right?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Angela put milk and sugar into our teacups then topped them up with the hot tea. “He’s been dying for Carl to take him to the shooting range for target practice, but it’s been so rainy.” She brought our tea to the table. “How are things with you and Ian?”

  I took a sip—ow, too hot—then set the cup aside. “I don’t know, but maybe I’ll find out later tonight. He said he’s coming for Christmas vacation, but I’m not holding my breath.”

  Angela paused for a minute before she slipped in the trick question. “Has he told you yet that he loves you?”

  “Yeah.” But it didn’t mean anything unless he was willing to stay.

  “I knew it.” She patted me on the hand. “I knew from the minute I saw that man sitting on our porch he’d be the one for you. Didn’t I tell you?”

  “Well, no, Angela. Actually, you—”

  “Of course, it was obvious. The walls are pretty thin around here.”

  “What?” My face heated at Angela’s implication. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you know.” She looked under her lashes at me. “For a while, I thought you’d end up with Ben, after Melody and all, but... well, it’s just... Like I said, the walls are thin.” She pulled her chair closer with a scraping sound against the linoleum. “Ben comes over, we never hear anything but the TV or the stereo in the living room. Ian comes over, and, well... our bedroom backs up to your bedroom. If you know what I mean.”

  “Oh, Angela.” I was mortified to the bone. “You never said...”

  “What should I say? Landlady, you’d better not holler so loud when your boyfriend comes over?”

  “Angela.” I knew my face had turned three shades of red. “I am so sorry.”

  She laughed. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not a problem. I told Carl he should try to make me holler like that.”

  We were both hooting with laughter when Maryann came charging in, her clothes soaked, her hair a wet tangled mess hanging down her back.

  “The boys went to the canal on their bikes, and they wouldn’t let me go, too.” She put her hands on her hips. “They said girls aren’t allowed to go into the canal. That’s not true, is it?”

  I looked out the window. “Those little toads!” Surely they wouldn’t actually go down there after we’d forbidden them to.

  Angela jumped up. “Damn that boy! He’s gonna get skinned alive. At least he didn’t take that gun with him.”

  “Yes ma’am, he did,” Maryann said with smug assurance. “I told him he shouldn’t, but he said you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Wouldn’t mind,” Angela steamed, “wouldn’t mind, my hind foot! That little so-and-so. When I get him home safe and sound, I’m gonna kill him.”

  “I’ll go get them, Angela.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit here and wait. “You stay with the girls. Maryann, do you know where they went into the canal?”

  “No’m. But they said they were going past the new house.”

  “The bridge steps by the hospital.” I sighed. “I know Ben has to be at the house to supervise the movers, but I should let him know what’s going on.”

  Angela nodded. “You’re going to need his help. I’ll take the girls to the new house, and we’ll supervise the movers.” She followed me to the front door and watched while I pulled on my mud boots. “If Carl weren’t making a r
un to Greensboro today...”

  I put on my rain jacket and checked my cell’s battery. Thank goodness, it was full. I squeezed Angela’s arm to comfort us both. “I’ll bring them back safe, then we’ll tan their behinds.”

  I put my head down and ran through the rain, my heavy boots sloshing and sliding. When I got into my car, I called Ben, not sparing time for greetings. “Jake and Ray have gone down into the canal. They’ve got Ray’s rifle. I don’t know what kind of shape the canal’s in right now, but...”

  “I can see it from here. It’s not bad yet, but it will be soon. Where do you want me to meet you?”

  “My guess is the limestone steps by the hospital bridge.”

  “I’m on my way. Don’t go in there without me.”

  “All right, I’ll wait. But hurry.”

  I knew I’d guessed right when I saw the boys’ bikes propped against the bridge rail. I parked on the wide gravel and grass verge that extended to the canal’s edge. A second later, Ben parked beside me, and we both got out, slamming doors.

  Muddy skid-marks from the boys’ shoes marked the crude limestone steps someone had long-ago engineered into the canal’s steep bank. Limestone tended to break off in flat slabs, and the big chunks looked like they’d been shoved into the crumbling, nearly vertical slope.

  We looked down into the chasm. A fast-moving stream of white-capped brown water rushed down the center, snaking along the deepest cuts in the limestone. There was still space to walk along both sides of the stream, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. I cupped my hands and yelled. “Jake! Ray! Boys!”

  Ben patted my shoulder. “They can’t hear you. I’ll have to go down after them.”

  At least it wasn’t raining as hard here as it was at home. Yet.

  “Angela’s taking the girls to the new house to help with the movers. I told you Ray has his rifle? I don’t know what they think they’re going to shoot down here.”

  Hands on hips, a worried scowl on his face, Ben gave a short, distracted nod. I could tell he was figuring out the best way to proceed without either of us getting our necks broken. “Tin cans, most likely. The canal walls are soft enough to absorb any stray shots without throwing them back. I hope.” Ben started the slippery descent into the canal, holding his arms out for balance as his tennis shoes skidded down the slope. “You stay here.”

  “No.” Without waiting for discussion or permission, I began negotiating my descent. “I’m coming with you.”

  Ben paused on a ledge about halfway down and held up a hand to help me. “You never listen to anybody, do you?”

  “Nope.” I took his hand and let him steady me. Step by slippery step, we slid and skidded into the depths of the canal. When we got to the bottom, there were few firm footings. The torrent rushing down the center channel made the limestone floor slippery as owl shit. “I’m sorry this happened on my watch.”

  Ben held onto me, gauging the safest route before proceeding. “Not your fault. Jake’s been headed for an ass-whipping for a while.”

  I could barely hear Ben now that we were in the canal. The rushing water echoed off the smooth limestone walls, drowning our voices. We walked hand in hand because it was so slippery, taking turns holding each other up.

  We headed north, their most likely direction. The canal widened just south of the bridge where we’d entered. It flattened out there, spreading the churning water across the entire floor. It would have been almost impossible for them to have gone in that direction.

  The sharp report of a rifle shot ricocheted along the high limestone walls. Then another, and another. We moved as quickly as we dared toward the sound.

  “I hope to God they don’t shoot us,” Ben shouted. I barely heard him. Brownish water sloshed over the edges of the deep channel. Ben lost his footing on the slick floor. I grabbed his arm, and an instant later he held me up when I hit the same algae-slick spot.

  Ben pointed up ahead, where runoff rushed over the walkway. “We’ll have to jump,” he said into my ear. “The only way is on the other side.”

  Yeah, until that one flooded, too.

  “I’ll jump it first then catch you.” Ben backed up to the wall then took a running leap across the stream. His mud-slick tennis shoes slid, tossing him up against the opposite wall. He turned and held out his arms, ready to catch me.

  In heavy knee-high mud boots, I took a preparation stance for grand jete, then cleared the trench with ease and landed lightly beside Ben.

  “God, you’re good.” Relieved that neither of us had been killed yet, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the mouth.

  I grinned. “You’re not surprised, are you?”

  He chucked me on the chin. “I’ve never forgotten.”

  Abrupt pops of rifle fire seemed to elicit a low rumble of thunder from the gray skies. I sent up a prayer of thanks that only a light drizzle was falling. For some reason, on this side of the trench, Ben and I could hear each other better. “I can’t believe those boys would do something this stupid,” I said.

  Ben resumed our trek along the canal floor. “Don’t tell Jake, but I did this and worse when I was his age.”

  “Oh?” I chanced a look up at him then regretted it when my moment of inattention almost pitched me into the muddy whitecaps. “I thought sneaking out with me was the dumbest thing you did in your youth.”

  Ben steadied me with his hands on my hips as we walked single-file along a narrow, crumbling ledge. “Angel, loving you was one of the few smart things I did.”

  “Ben...” I would’ve looked over my shoulder at him if I wasn’t so preoccupied with where I planned to step next.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not driving at anything. I know you’re in love with Ian.” With a brief squeeze, he let me go when the path widened enough for us to walk side by side again. He took my hand and helped me around a deep, round pit that created a sucking whirlpool at the flood’s edge.

  “Ben, I don’t want you to think... I mean, even if things don’t work out with Ian, I wouldn’t want you to...”

  “I know, Angel. I had my chance, and I blew it. I can’t regret any of it. Not our time together, and not my life with Mel. I guess things happened just the way they were supposed to.”

  We rounded a curve in the canal, and suddenly we could hear the boys’ voices carrying clearly above the increasing roar of the water. We couldn’t see them, but we could hear them. Bits of conversation floated towards us. “...so cool... look at... yeah, like...”

  Calling their names, we hurried toward them through the pattering rain. We slipped on the wet limestone, we held each other up, we slogged through inch-deep water where before there had been none. Runoff poured from pipes set at intervals along the top of the channel, mini-waterfalls raising the water level in this death trap.

  Damn. Would it never stop raining? With the ground so saturated, every drop poured right into this gigantic ditch. I was a good swimmer, but I didn’t want to brave the frigid waves that would soon be churning down this chute. Let alone try it with two young boys in tow.

  “Man...” They were closer now, the sounds of their voices coming towards us. Ray saying “...Mom’s gonna kill me. These are new shoes.” Jake’s, “Yeah, my dad would have a cow if he—”

  They stopped short at the sight of Ben and me coming toward them.

  “Dad.” Jake’s voice cracked uncertainly. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. “What are y’all doing here?”

  “Busted,” Ray moaned.

  “Busted is right,” Ben said. “I hope you boys had fun, because it’s the last fun you’re going to have for a very long time.” Ben jerked the rifle out of Ray’s hands. He pointed it at the ground and cocked the bolt back several times. Cartridges splashed into the rushing stream at his feet. “Let’s get out of here before this ditch fills up.”

  Ray stepped back and swallowed hard. The freckles on his pale skin stood out even more when he realized for the first time the danger we were in. />
  Jake’s gaze darted from one pouring drain pipe to another. “Shit,” he said without thinking, then clapped his hands over his mouth.

  “Worse than that,” said Ben. “Ray, can you swim?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Thank God.” Ben took Jake’s hand and turned back the way we’d come. “Follow me. Stay close.”

  I grabbed Ray’s hand, tugging him forward. The slick limestone floor we navigated was difficult at the best of times. Now, with water flowing ankle-deep in the shallowest places, it was treacherous. Ray slipped—his hand ripped from mine with surprising ease—and fell into one of the deep circular holes that pitted the canal bottom. He went under, sucked into the whirlpool for an instant before Ben hauled him up by the collar.

  He took a moment to steady the boy, then took Jake’s hand and trudged forward again. We passed another gushing pipe, and the flood rose higher, swirling to my knees. In no time, it was thigh-deep.

  Up ahead, two more pipes spewed water into the deepening flow. We slogged on, avoiding the deep trench in the center.

  Ben held the rifle out to me and reached for Ray’s hand. “Casey,” he yelled above the increasing roar, “Take the rifle and get out of here while you can. The boys and I will follow behind. If the gun’s too much trouble to handle, ditch it. But it’s not loaded; you may be able to use it for leverage.”

  “I’m a good swimmer,” I yelled back. “You might need my help.”

  “No.” He handed the gun over. “You’re the smallest one of us. It would be too easy for you to get swept away.”

  And just like that, my feet slid out from under me. The rifle was snatched from my hands by a churning current that swept me along.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  “Casey!” Ben’s voice sounded far away. The wild torrent hurled me downstream, and I was helpless against a vicious tide, an evil, living thing determined to destroy me. I scrambled to stand. My feet skidded along the slippery bottom, then the water sucked me into a strong undertow.

  The cold, dark water closed over my head. The current dragged me under and slammed me against the bottom. I fought to the surface, choking and sputtering, only to be sucked down again. I was a breath away from drowning.