by Karen Rispin
"Did you see my mom? Did you pass them?" I blurted.
"Excuse, not understand much English," the shorter man said. "Please to say more slowly."
I took a deep breath and said slowly and clearly, "Did you pass two men, one woman, and three children going up the mountain? See, I got lost and now I don't know if they went—"
He held up his hand to stop me because I'd started talking faster and faster. The taller man said something to him in another language and he answered. Then he turned back to me.
"Yes, we see. Also they ask for girl. Are you girl?"
I nodded wildly, grabbed my pack by one strap, and started to run past them up the path.
The taller man yelled something, came after me, and grabbed my arm. His friend, who knew English, came panting up.
"Please to wait!" he exclaimed. "If hurry too much, not good. Slow will arrive in safety. Also must put pack on properly."
His friend took my pack and motioned me to take off my poncho. I grabbed to get the pack back and glared at him. Were they thieves?
The shorter man waved his hand back and forth. "Pack must not be rain," he said. "Can go under roof of coat." He motioned toward his friend, who spun around to show me his back. His pack was underneath the back flap of his poncho.
"Oh," I said, feeling silly, and let go of my pack. A couple of seconds later they'd helped me get my pack under my poncho properly.
"Thanks!" I said, and I started up the path, walking fast.
The short man called after me, "Girl! Please to remember slow."
My foot and the shoulder straps of the pack stung viciously. The pain faded to a bearable ache in a few minutes. I looked back. The men were out of sight. I started to run. I just had to catch Mom and the others.
My pack rode up and whacked me in the back of the head at every step. Water got down my neck because the poncho hood kept flopping off. My lungs ached and I gasped for breath like I was dying of asthma. I kept slipping and stumbling.
Finally I went down—hard. I just sat there gasping and sobbing. As soon as I could breathe I struggled to my feet and started walking. I was warmer, but my legs felt like rubber. Running was a stupid idea, I thought bitterly, as I stumbled over another grass clump. Those men were right.
"Anika!"
My head snapped up. Uncle Paul! Uncle Paul was coming down the path!
I yelled for joy and stumbled towards him. He grabbed me in a bear hug.
"Am I ever glad to see you!" He hugged me again and then stepped back. "Your mother is fit to be tied. When we lost sight of you we assumed you'd gone on ahead, but then those Chinese men hadn't seen you. Did you see them?"
I nodded.
"We had no idea where you were by that time. Joey has gone ahead to try to catch you on the path. Your mom and the kids are waiting, and I came back this way."
"Is everybody mad?" I whispered.
"You have some explaining to do," he said. "Look, I'll go ahead to tell your mother you're OK and try to catch Joey. You just keep on coming. See that ridge?" he asked, pointing ahead. "They're in a cave just over the top of that. OK?"
I nodded.
"Just make sure you stay on the path."
"I will!" I said fervently.
Uncle Paul looked at me hard, laughed, and said, "I guess you will." Then he waved and headed up the steep path at a fast, swinging walk. I tried to keep up, but I had to sit down and rest after a little way. Pretty soon he was out of sight.
It seemed ages before I came over the crest of that ridge. Just off the path there was a wide and low opening like a giant frog's mouth with black lips. Mom, Sandy, Traci, and Lisa were sitting just inside the cave.
Mom ran towards me and gave me a big hug. "Anika, what on earth happened? What yid you det surdelf into this time?" she demanded.
I laughed and hugged her hard, thinking, My very own mom. Suddenly I remembered why I'd got lost.
"Mom," I said, but she kept right on talking.
"My heart dropped when I looked up to where you'd been sitting and you were gone. Do you realize how much trouble you've put Uncle Paul and Uncle Joey through?!"
"I didn't mean to!" I insisted with my head down.
"Come on, let's get out of the rain," Mom said, heading for the cave. I followed her.
"What happened?" blurted Sandy as we ducked into the opening. "Where did you go?"
"It was that same guy," I said, looking at Mom. "That same guy that's been staring at us."
"What guy?" Mom asked.
"He has!" I said and looked at Sandy and Traci. "Right?"
They nodded, and Sandy said, "He got right in my way when I was carrying stuff to the cabin."
"Anyway," I interrupted, "when you stopped I saw that he was there watching us, off the path behind a rock where you couldn't see him."
I stopped and shuffled my feet in the thick gray dust on the cave floor.
"Did he kidnap you or something?" Traci demanded, sounding excited.
I gave her a disgusted look. "No." I gulped and plunged on. "It was weird. I went over and told him to leave us alone. He asked me if my name was Anika Scott, then—"
"Well?" Sandy and Traci both blurted.
Slowly I went on. "He said for me to tell my mother—" I paused and looked at her uneasily. "Tell you that Rick wants to talk to you."
Traci said, "Ha, ha, he must want to marry you! Anika has a boyfriend! Anika has a boyfriend."
"Shut up!" Sandy said, kicking her in the ankle. She was watching Mom the same as I was. Mom had gone sheet white. Her eyes were blank. She wandered vaguely over to a rock, sat down, and hung her head.
I felt sick. I spun on my heel and stood in the cave mouth with my back to her. It can't be true! I won't let it! I thought furiously.
Everything was dead quiet behind me. Then Mom asked, "Are you sure that's what he said, Anika? Rick wants to talk to me? Here in Kenya?" Her voice sounded shaky.
I nodded, then spun around and added fiercely, "He never said he was Rick."
She didn't answer. She was sitting still with her head in her hands. I wondered if she was praying.
"What's going on?" Traci asked uneasily.
Sandy whispered, "I don't know."
I turned to look at them and then looked away and bit my lip. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my head. I wasn't going to tell them. I wasn't going to let it be true. I shook my head. It couldn't be. That guy Rick couldn't be Mom's kid.… I gulped and shoved the thought away. It was impossible. That would mean that Mom had—
"I see the lost sheep has returned!" Uncle Joey boomed, stamping his feet as he came into the cave. I nearly jumped out of my skin. He walloped me on the shoulder. "Scared ya, did I? Well, now we're even." He grabbed my elbows and spun me around to face him. "You had me scared, disappearing like that, Anika Scott." Then he grinned and squeezed my arms tighter, gave me a little shake and put me down. "Great to have you back."
By the time I caught my balance he'd left me. I glanced over at Mom. She was on her feet doing something with her pack. I couldn't see her face.
I was watching her so hard that what Uncle Joey was saying to Lisa didn't sink in for a few seconds.
"… quit already?" He yelled so loud that it finally penetrated my brain. "Just because you got a little damp, you wimp out?"
I glanced over. Lisa was sitting huddled miserably on a rock. Her wet hair was plastered to her head. She ducked her head and didn't answer her father.
"She's not 'a little damp,' Joey. She's soaked, the same as you are," Uncle Paul said. He was silhouetted against the sky, standing in the mouth of the cave.
"So what's a little water?" Uncle Joey demanded. "Not enough to make me quit, I'll tell you right now."
That grabbed my attention. I stopped thinking about Rick. "Quit?" I blurted. "We're not quitting, are we?"
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Chapter Six
Everything was turning out horrible.
"No way!" Trac
i said. "Dad, you can't make us quit!"
"Mom!" Sandy demanded. "Mom! We're not going back, are we?"
Without turning around, Mom said in a low, tight voice, "I'll leave that up to Paul."
I spun to look at the two men. Uncle Paul was looking thoughtfully at Mom. His big red beard was beaded with water.
"Paul!" Uncle Joey said. "You're not going to let my wimp of a daughter ruin this for everyone!" His angry voice echoed and filled the cave.
I cringed and glanced at Lisa. Uncle Joey kept yelling, something about him not being cold, but I shut him out. I wanted to go over to Lisa. She looked so miserable. I shuffled my feet in the dust on the cave floor, thinking. If I did that, they'd maybe think I was for going back. Then that verse about loving each other came into my head. I shifted uneasily and walked over and put my hand on Lisa's arm. It was freezing and goose-bumpy, like raw chicken skin.
She looked up briefly and grabbed my hand, and suddenly I felt better. Uncle Joey abruptly stopped yelling. I looked up to find him staring at us.
Uncle Paul broke in, "Joey, you may not be cold, but Lisa has a smaller body mass and considerably less fat padding than you do. Being soaked can lead straight to hypothermia. It's dangerous."
"Right," Uncle Joey said softly, and sighed. "You're right. Anika goes over to Lisa to help. I'm her dad and all I can do is think of myself. Lisa is more important than any mountain."
There was a long silence. It made me feel odd to hear Uncle Joey talk like that. Lisa lifted her head and looked straight at her dad. I followed the direction of her gaze just in time to see him smile at her, really smile like he was seeing her as a person.
Then he looked toward Uncle Paul and said, "OK, what should we do, Paul?"
"Considering the rain, and our lack of gear—" Here he looked sharply at Uncle Joey. "I think going back would be the wisest—"
Mom interrupted. "Anika, did Rick go on up?"
I nodded, then added fiercely, "He never said he was Rick."
She wasn't listening. "If we get Lisa warm and it stops raining, will it be safe to continue?" she asked, looking at Uncle Paul.
He nodded slowly.
"Lisa, are you still willing to give it a go?" Uncle Joey asked in a gentler voice than I'd ever heard him use.
She looked up at him, bit her lip, and nodded.
"All right!" Traci yelled. "Then let's pray that the rain stops!"
We did that, holding hands in a circle.
Mom didn't pray about climbing at all. She said something about wanting the pattern of our lives to please God and bring him glory. Then she said, "You've promised to work all things together for good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose. Please work that out in our lives."
I peeked and watched her while other people prayed. I badly wanted to ask her what was happening. She didn't give me a chance.
"Who wants a cup of hot chocolate?" Mom asked as soon as we were done praying. She laughed when everybody yelled, "I do!" but it sounded like a fake laugh to me.
I watched her getting out a tiny stove. She looked so normal. I shook myself. Those things I'd been thinking couldn't be true. She was my mom. She and Daddy belonged together. Sandy and I were her only kids, and that was that.
"Silly," I said to myself. "Of course it's not true."
"What?" asked Lisa.
"Nothing," I answered quickly.
Lisa looked at me, frowning. Thank goodness Uncle Paul interrupted just then.
"Lisa, you and your dad better get into dry clothes."
Lisa's wet jeans were really stuck to her. She was so cold her hands wouldn't work properly.
"Are you sure you want to keep on?" I asked, tugging at her jeans leg.
"Uh-huh," she said between jerks. "Dad sounded like he really cares about me, for once."
"Come on, you guys, help," I called to Sandy and Traci, who were over by Mom. "I can't get these things off."
They came over and grabbed the other leg.
"Hey!" said Lisa, holding onto the rock she was sitting on. "Don't dump me in the dirt."
By the time we finally got Lisa dressed in dry clothes, the hot chocolate was ready. Mom passed around sandwiches and cookies. I sat there munching and staring at the rain. Drips came down so fast off the grass above the cave mouth that the cave had a silver bead curtain door.
My thoughts were going around and around. Please let the rain stop. Let me at least try to make it. Please, please … I would think. Then it would go the other way. I'd think, But if we go up we might see that guy. I shut that thought down in a hurry. I didn't want to ever see him again. But I did want to climb that mountain so much it hurt.
"Look!" Sandy said suddenly. "Look! It's stopping!"
The bead curtain was down to a few drips, and the slanting silver sheets of rain were gone. Everybody rushed to the cave mouth.
"Praise God!" bellowed Uncle Joey. "Come on, praise him with me." He started right in singing, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow…"
We all joined in. "Praise him, all creatures here below!"
A feeling of calm happiness washed over me. "Praise him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."
Just as we finished, the sun burst through a rip in the cloud. Everything glittered golden. The whole earth was praising him with us.
"All right!" I yelled, running out into the sunshine. My heel hurt, so I stopped and spun in a circle with my face to the sun. Traci and Sandy whooped and danced around too.
"God is still God no matter what, right?" I said to Lisa as I came back into the cave trying not to limp.
"You're crazy," she said, but she was grinning too.
A few minutes later we were packed and on our way.
"Ouch," I muttered under my breath in time to each step. "Ouch, ouch, ouch."
My heel burned, but I wasn't about to stop and look at it. Not now that we were on our way again.
Before long, we got to where the ground was dry and the grass clumps were smaller. We were walking up a long slope at an angle towards a ridge. This time I paid attention and stayed close to the others. We all trudged along at a slow, steady walk.
"Is that people?" Sandy stopped suddenly and pointed across the slope. She was right in front of me.
I tried to push past her. It was too hard to start again if you stopped.
"Uncle Paul!" she called. "Is that people?"
"OK, rest time," Uncle Paul called.
I flopped down and shut my eyes. My shoulders felt suddenly cool and light as the weight of the pack rested on a rock.
I could feel Uncle Paul's footsteps through the ground as he came up to us.
"What was that, Sandy?" His voice came out of the air above my head.
Sandy repeated her question for the third time. Then I heard Uncle Paul chuckle.
"Well?" she demanded.
"Anika," Uncle Paul said. I opened my eyes and squinted at him against the sun. "You wanted gnomes. Well, there they are."
I sat up and stared. There was something there. A group of upright shapes. I squinted to see better.
"Gnomes?" Sandy asked, staring hard at the things. "There is no such thing as gnomes," she added indignantly. "What's he talking about?"
"Gnome plants," I said, grinning. "Like in that book I saw. See, they're straight up and down like poles and covered with greenish gray hair."
"Everybody up!" Uncle Paul called. "We've got to keep moving to get to the Teleki Valley camp before dark."
"Uuuuugh!" groaned Uncle Joey. "You're a slave driver, Paul. I'm dying, and you force me onward."
He rolled onto his feet with another moan.
"Are you OK, Joey?" Mom asked. I think that was the first thing she'd said since we left the cave.
He laughed, but it wasn't a very loud laugh for Uncle Joey. "Except that I'm filthy, exhausted, and have a world-class headache, I'm fine. Paul, your high-altitude demons are getting to me."
"Demons?" Traci aske
d nervously, looking at her dad.
That made Uncle Joey laugh. "Ow! Laughing hurts. Be careful, Traci, or they'll get you too. They suck the oxygen out of the air so your head aches. They make you dizzy and buzz your brain."
Lisa rolled her eyes at her dad, but she was smiling. Then she said, "It's not really demons, Traci. Your dad told us in the car that the Africans had never been in high altitude or really cold places. So when they started getting sick or frozen they thought evil spirits were attacking them."
"Are you sick?" Sandy demanded, looking at Uncle Joey.
"No," he said too loudly. "Let's move it."
My heel hurt worse every time we got up from a rest, but it would go numb after a bit. I just had to keep from limping for the first little ways. Lisa caught up to me, and we walked together.
"This place is weird," she said, motioning around.
I nodded, too out of breath to say much. It was weird and beautiful. Silver-brown grass stretched down across the folds of the mountain. Here and there were clumps of gnome plants looking like old men at a committee meeting. There were also big cabbage-y plants. Some were low down, like giant green chrysanthemum flowers on the ground. Others were up on poles, like very strange baggy palm trees. I felt light, and hollow, and odd with space and wild sky around me.
Everything seemed strange, like one of those dreams you have when you're half asleep. My head ached. My thoughts felt pulled out of shape like Silly Putty. Worry about Mom and "Rick" twisted together and spread thin over the awesome weird beauty of the mountain.
Lisa didn't talk anymore either. I could hear her breathing hard. Even though she was just behind me, I felt alone. My body fell into a rhythm of walking. After a bit we came over a ridge.
"We're in Teleki Valley. It will be easier going now." Uncle Paul's voice sounded far away. My ears were buzzing. "Take a break. I'll keep moving and get supper started."
It suddenly seemed harder to stop than to keep going. I didn't want my shoulders and heel to get unnumb. Walking seemed automatic. Everybody else sat down. I kept walking behind Uncle Paul. He looked back at me, nodded once, and kept going.
The path got less steep. I seemed to float along. The aching weight of my pack was like a hand on my back pushing me. In my dizzy head the mountain seemed alive. The rough, tawny grass was fur, and I walked along a wide, soft fold in its hide. The path jogged around a boulder, and I looked down Teleki Valley to the real world. It was far away, far down from where the mountain held me up. Way down there, a lake shone silver like a dropped sequin.
