She sniffles and straightens her shoulders. “You’re right. There’s no reason to assume the worst. I have a habit of going there. And it doesn’t do any good.”
“No, it doesn’t do any good.”
Dante lifts Penny up for the next few boulders, but then it levels out for a while and the last bit of the trek to the top of the mountain isn’t bad. We’ve been on the trail for not quite an hour when we reach the tree line. The summit would be breathtaking in other circumstances. The wind picks up and brings a bit of relief to my sweat-drenched skin.
“It’s really beautiful.” Her smile lifts my mood.
“It is.”
“When we first landed here, I was really scared. Worried... about you. About how we could survive. But we worked together and really found a...”
“A rhythm,” Dante finishes.
“Working together, we built the camp,” Zane says.
“Some of us more than others.” Haley grabs Zane’s hand and locks their ring fingers together. “I longed for home a little less. Then when we found you, Sam, I was so relieved.” Haley’s face turns up to me. “And part of me started to care a little less about making it home. I was... happy. I mean, Iamhappy. This place—until the pirates came—it became a home. And now it’s like they’ve broken my bubble. My bubble of safety. They have to be okay,” she says with a firm nod.
“They are.” Dante kisses the top of her head. “You’re right. This island is a special place. Nowhere else have I ever been more myself.” He pivots and points back the way we came. “That over there is where the pomelo trees are, and back toward camp, that’s where we found the derelict.”
A million or so years ago, this might have been a volcano. But now we can see a good portion of the island. Not the area past the bluff near the alcove the Rock Candy was beached in, though, or the area around Chicken Beach. The top of the trees near the camp rise above the rest, and behind us there’s a bulbous part of the island.
“And that over there is Chicken Beach?” Zane asks.
There’s a ridge down the side of the island. Intermixed in the trees, I can make out a large rock outcropping.
Dante hands me Penny’s leash, and she glares at me. “Yes, damn. Look at how tall some of those rocks are. It’s like a fence dividing a quarter of the island from the rest of the island.” He takes a drink of water. “That’s where they are.”
“How are they going to get over that?” Haley leans forward.
“Calvin knows it’s there. I’m sure he’s got a plan, and if not, we’ve got the rope. We’ll go over and get them.” Zane pats the rope on his shoulder.
Chapter 8
Waypoint
Easton
“What the fuck!” Seriously, I’ve never been scared of a goat before. But then, I’ve never met one with long pointy antlers on a six-inch-wide trail. One that has his head bowed in not a respectfulcome pet meway. No, the thing is ready to charge like we’re waving a red cape in its face and it’s a running bull in Pamplona. “Nice goat, shoo.”
Calvin’s eyes go wide, and he flicks his head over his shoulder. “Nice goat?”
I shrug. “What the hell do you want me to call it? I don’t want to be gored. I’ve lost enough blood as it is already. I’m leaning into the cliff. If the thing does hit me, I want to at least have a chance of not going flying down into the bottom of the jungle. I’ve already done that once today, and that was enough. I’m keeping my feet on this damn path.”
Calvin puts one massive foot in front of the other and rises all the way up to his full height. Holy hell, he’s even bigger than he normally is. Like a yeti rising out of the night. His hands above his head, he yells. I’m not even sure what. It’s German orsomething. He growls and steps toward the goat. The billy goat lifts its head and takes a step back, and then it flips itself on the path, running away from us.
“How in the hell?” I’m shaking my head, but I’m moving as quickly as he is. The two of us follow the goat down the trail. I don’t want to be in awe. Too much of the asshole Green has been on display today. And if there’s anything my dad used to say, it’s that when there is stress, that’s when people show you who they truly are. Granted, Green’s used his smarts to get us away from the pirates and I’m not dead yet, but there’s a lot of parts of him that I would rather not have to deal with on a daily basis. “What did you even yell?” The thing was guttural and demonic-like.
“It’s some of the only Norwegian I know. My grandmother used to scream it when she stubbed her toe. I think it loosely means ‘shit tied up with a pretty blue ribbon.’ Or something like that. Used to scare the hell out of me as a kid. I thought it might work on a goat too. You doing okay?”
“Sure, let’s go with okay.” Shot and almost fell off a damn mountain. But I’m also not dead. So I guess I can go with okay. “It’s getting dark. I can keep moving. I’d rather not have to stay the night here.” The ledge we came from would have made a better place to rest for the night, but this path has a good feeling about it. Moving. Better than not moving. Every little bit adds up.
Damn, I’m just full of memories of my family.Every little bit adds upwas something my mother used to say when I was a kid. I adopted it as a mantra for my swimming training. Every second I cut off my time, I’d say it. And it never steered me wrong.
My mom. My real mom. I can’t even remember the last time I thought about her. That’s horrible.
“Right.” Green’s already moving. The wind changes as we round the corner where the goat disappeared to. The rock cliff opens up into a slope. “Fuck, this is good.”
“What?” I struggle to keep up with Calvin.
