She laps it up, licking his skin and looking up at him with devoted eyes.
I know the feeling. Despite everything that’s happened, I trust him. So why am I questioning what he thinks is for the best? I’m not sure. Just something about it feels wrong. It feels like we should be closer—that if he could go down and help the guys, things might turn out differently.
“Let’s get going. We’re almost to the caves.” I yank myself up and gingerly scramble and slide through the rubble of the mountain over to the caves. From here, you can see down into the ocean, and shit—there’s the pirate boat. It’s right there.
I can see it. If I can see it, it can see me. I look at Calvin, speechless for a moment, but then it rushes to me. “They can see us. We have to move. We can’t stay here.”
“What?” Calvin says. He’s busy holding on to Penny. For such a fierce friend, she can be rather timid, especially on trails like this. That’s why Sam usually carries her up the mountain.
“Look, there, in our bay,” I say, pointing over the edge of the far bluff. The pirate ship is just hanging there.
“Fuck,” Calvin’s deep voice echoes, startling a bird from the side of the mountain. Penny barks twice.
“Penny,” I say, shushing her. “Quiet, girl.” I know the ship can’t hear us, but that doesn’t mean any pirates who’ve come ashore can’t. “I think... you might be right. Maybe we should go over the mountain,” I suggest.
Calvin shakes his head. “No, no, we need to keep going.”
“Wait, see that glint on the far edge? That’s gotta be somebody looking at us. If they have binoculars like the good ones we have, they’re counting the hairs on the top of Penny’s head right now.” I flatten myself against the mountain, but there’s not really anywhere to hide. “They’re going to see us going into the cave.”
“Yeah, I think it is. I mean, it’s a little hard to see with the naked eye, but...” Calvin trails off, his eyes narrowing as he scans the area.
“We need to switch this around,” I say, urgency in my voice. “They’re going to know we’re on the mountain. They’re going to come this way. The cave isn’t safe. The other side of the mountain isn’t safe either.”
“You’re right. There are more places to hide on this side and it’s bigger. We pivot,” Calvin says, his voice firm. “The safest place would be over in the thicket where Easton is hunkered down. We can get there by going around the backside of the waterfall. I’ve done it once before. It’s not comfortable, it’s really overgrown, but we’re here—we might as well try.”
I nod in agreement.
We’re moving with more efficiency now, but going down takes just as long as it did getting up with Penny. I sort of slide from one boulder to the next on my belly. Easton’s sister’s high school T-shirt is taking the brunt of my sliding. The thin fabric now sports a hole on the side. I’m not going to die wearing Emily’s T-shirt. That would be too much for Easton.
Damn that’s a weird thought. I push it out. My brain is always there for me, coming up with the worst of the worst-case scenarios.
My foot skids on loose pebbles.
Calvin grabs my forearm, stopping me from sliding any farther. “You good?” His blue eyes stare at me, his hand gripping the top part of my forearm, holding me steady.
“Yeah, yeah, I got it, thanks.”
Even Penny’s looking at me like I might fall.
I cock my head at her. “You’re the one who has to be carried.” I scratch her between her ears. “Let’s go.”
Up took a while. Down doesn’t take as long. There was urgency before, but it’s doubled now. Those on the boat know where we are, which means if they have radios—which most boats do—those on the island know where we are too.
“This way,” Calvin says.
“I thought we were going to the thicket.”
“Another change of plans.”
“Change of plans? Where to, then?”
“I don’t know about you, but if I were a pirate, I wouldn’t be looking behind a waterfall.”
“What do we do with Penny?”
“Oh, good point,” Calvin grunts. Our four-legged friend hates water, tolerates it on a good day, but most days, she’ll do anything to not get anywhere near it. “All right, back to the original plan. Let’s go to the thicket, but we’ll take the route above it.”
“Great.” I stare at the waterfall on the side of the mountain. A few months back, Easton jumped from the top of the waterfall into the pool. I asked him to never do it again. It scared the living daylights out of me. He said it was fine, but when even the littlest of injuries, as we’ve learned, can be life-threatening here, it isn’t worth it.
