Shadowed Eden (4 page)

“You can't go back alone,” Luca said.

“You didn't want me to come anyway. And I'm hot.”

“So you're going to cool off by sitting in the sandy desert?”

Luca made a good point, even though Avery wanted to go with Benny.

Benny rolled his eyes and turned around anyway. He stomped several feet away, dodging branches, except he was going in the wrong direction. Avery was about to call out to him when he screamed. He lost his footing, his arms flailing in the air like something in a cartoon. His legs finally gave out, and he landed with a thud on the ground and disappeared from view.

Weak cries came from somewhere below them.

“Benny!” Avery said, rushing forward.

Luca grabbed her arm, but she jerked away. “We have to help him!”

“We will,” he said. “But we don't know what made him fall. Let's walk a little more slowly.”

She huffed, but he did have a point. She slowed down, stepping lightly every inch of the way. “Benny, can you hear us?”

“Guys, look!” Benny's voice floated back up to them.

They got closer and Avery realized it was a ledge. He'd slipped down an embankment—a muddy one.

Benny sat at the bottom, grinning from ear to ear, in the middle of a rushing creek bed.

“Water! Benny, you found it!” Avery laughed. This must have been how Daddy felt every time he found something new on one of his digs. No wonder he was always off looking for another adventure.

Even Luca didn't stop his smile. He braced himself on an exposed tree root and slid down the slope on his feet. Avery grabbed a loose vine and made her way down after him, and the others quickly followed.

The water was clean and clear, bubbling along the large creek bed. It was perfect, and suddenly her mouth felt the same as when she had to take antibiotics for strep throat—dry and bitter. She leaned down and scooped up a handful. It was cold and wet, and it tasted like heaven.

“You're tossing caution to the wind today, aren't you?” Luca asked.

She paused, not sure if he was talking about more than just the pears and water. She shrugged and smiled. “Maybe I am.” After the water, her head cleared completely. She didn't even feel sweaty and hot.

They helped Benny up and quickly made a plan to mark the path so they could come back with containers, but it turned out that they didn't need the plan. The path back to the van was easy to follow—it looked like elephants had trampled through the jungle.

Avery smiled as she glanced around at their group. It wasn't a bad effort for a bunch of kids who had never been in the jungle before.

Her gaze landed on Luca and she paused to amend her thought. They may not have been in the jungle before, but Luca had spent a lot of time in the woods. Maybe some of the others had, as well.

June raced to meet them at the tree line, and Avery grinned, waving. As June got closer, though, Avery paused. Something was wrong. Tears raced down June's cheeks and panic was written all over her face.

“What happened?” Avery asked.

“The other girls—the ones who stayed behind—they're gone.”

Luca frowned and stepped forward. “What do you mean?”

“They said they had to go to the bathroom, but they never came out.”

Avery glanced past June and saw Erin. The youth leader's wife frowned toward the sand and paced back and forth at the driver's side of the van.

The driver stood at the driver's side door, frowning and gazing toward the jungle.

“What do we do?” Avery asked, turning to Luca.

He watched Erin for another few moments before he sighed and pulled himself up straighter. “Simple. We find them.”

4

Luca

Luca turned his back on the group, searching the jungle they'd just come from. How could two girls disappear? They had to have known the way out, and surely, they'd only gone a few trees deep. The jungle was thick, but the sun coming in from one side was obvious.

The flash of white from that morning bugged him. It might have been his imagination, but what if it wasn't?

“Luca, wait.” Avery grabbed his arm and he tried to ignore the way his skin buzzed when she touched him. The jungle was no place for thoughts like that.

“We have to find them,” he said. “The faster we get in there, the better our chances.”

“Shouldn't we wait for the food group to get back?” she said. “We need a more solid plan; some guidelines to follow so no one else gets lost.”

“You stay behind and explain to them that no one should go into the jungle except in groups. I'll be back.”

Her eyes flashed. “What? You can't go in there alone. You have to follow the same set of rules as everybody else so that you don't get lost, too.”

He gritted his teeth and looked back at the trees. The longer he waited to go after them, the further in they could wander. He wasn't losing anyone or leaving them behind, and he wasn't worried about getting lost himself. Dad taught him to track, even if he hadn't done any other good for Luca.

But when Luca looked back at Avery, his decision was made for him. She stared up at him with her sparkling blue eyes, and he knew he wouldn't go against her. “Come on,” he said. “We need to come up with a plan.”

Everyone followed him to Erin and the driver. Erin still stalked next to the side of the van, staring a hole through the sandy ground.

“We need to go in after them,” he said.

Erin looked up for a second but then went back to pacing. She took a swig from one of the water bottles she'd brought from home. “You're right. Why haven't they come yet?”

“They could be lost,” Avery piped up.

“No.” Erin stopped moving and frowned in their direction. “I mean the other van. It's been hours since the sun came up. Why aren't they here by now?”

“They'll be here,” Luca said. “And that's why we need to find the other girls. What are their names?”

“Gabby and Katelyn,” June said. “They came from my church.”

“Good. You can help us go in and look for them. Benny, you and the others will stay with Erin. You can wait for the other group, and tell everyone to stay put until we get back.”

“What about me?” Avery asked.

“Do you want to come?” She would say yes. There was nothing Luca wanted more, but at the same time, he needed to focus on finding the other girls and not worrying about Avery's safety.

“Of course,” she said.

“Fine. From now on, no one goes into the jungle except in groups of three or more. And no one goes exploring. You go in for essentials only.”

“What about the water?” Benny asked. “We need water.”

This would be so much easier if Erin would help make some decisions. “We'll take a few containers with us and try to bring water back.”

The others nodded and Luca readied to head back in.

Avery jogged to the van and grabbed a stack of empty water bottles and a backpack. She shoved the bottles inside the pack and started to put it on her back, but Luca stopped her.

“I'll take them. Ready?”

“I am,” June said. It was the first time she didn't look like she was falling apart. She had dug up a rubber band from somewhere and tied her hair back from her face, and her eyes blazed with determination.

Luca looked to Erin. “We'll be back.”

She nodded and went back to pacing.

Luca turned to June. “Do you know where they went in at?”

June pointed toward a dip in the trees. “Over there.”

Finally, someone had some useful information. He stepped toward the trees, and Avery and June followed him. Hot air swarmed him as soon as he was under the leafy canopy. The moisture took his breath away. He pushed out the thought of water for now and tried to focus on the missing girls. “We need to find their trail. We should be able to tell which direction they walked in. The brush will be pushed aside.”

Avery began searching through the leaves, looking toward the ground. Her dark hair hung over both shoulders, framing her face.

It took a second to realize he was staring at her. He forced himself to look away. “June, can you look over there?”

She nodded. “Of course. What do I look for?”

“Broken branches, squished leaves, pushed down grass; it's no different from tracking deer.”

“Right.” She turned and started looking, but she was looking everywhere except toward the ground.

They would never find anyone at this rate.

He walked straight ahead, searching for any sign that someone had passed this way. So far, he hadn't seen anything that looked disturbed. Every tree was perfect. Every vine hung low and untouched.

They looked for what felt like hours.

Maybe June was wrong about where they'd come in at.

Luca knelt close to the ground and began inspecting the dirt when Avery called to him.

“Over here! There are several broken branches.”

He pushed through the brush and stood beside her. A clear path had been stomped into the jungle. It was about time. “Good. This is the way they walked.”

The path moved in a straight line for several paces, but after a while, it started to turn to the right. He veered along with it.

“That's the path we took to the creek.” Avery pointed further to the right, and their earlier path stood out like a parade route. “Maybe they found our path and followed it back.”

Luca studied the ground. It had clearly been walked on, making a bridge between the two paths. “But did they go toward the creek or back toward the camp?”

And why hadn't they just stayed put like he'd told them to do? They were supposed to be waiting for the rescue van.

“We can check the creek first,” Avery said. She stepped toward him, talking softly, her eyes understanding. She knew this was frustrating him, and she was trying to keep him calm like she always had.

He took a deep breath. “OK. We'll fill up the water bottles, and then we'll head back to camp. Maybe they'll be there.”

It didn't take long to retrace their steps to the water. The gurgling creek was music to his ears. He filled up a bottle and downed it in one long drink.

Avery grabbed the bottle from his hands and did the same. Luca watched her, almost unable to believe they were here together. He'd wanted nothing more than to talk to her—to apologize for screwing things up—for so long, and now they were together, but they still weren't talking. Not really talking.

“Can I have some?” June asked.

Luca had almost forgotten she was there. “Here. We'll each fill a few.”

He handed out the bottles and they hurried to fill them. The clear water rushed over the rocks and reminded him of the woods around his house back home. He'd give just about anything to be back there again.

As everyone handed back their bottles, he tucked them inside his bag. It felt like a lead weight.

“It doesn't look like they came this way,” Avery said. “There are no fresh footprints in the mud.”

“Let's check the camp.” The two paths had run into each other, and the creek was deserted. Camp was the only other choice.

“I really hope they're there,” June said. “I don't know what they'll do otherwise.” Her voice was smooth like a musical instrument. No wonder she liked singing.

“What do you mean?” Avery asked, pushing her way back through the brush.

Luca wondered, too. Something in June's tone tipped him off.

June glanced at them and frowned. “Well, because Katelyn has asthma, and I have her inhaler. She asked me to hold it at the airport. She didn't have any pockets.”

Great, so she could be having an asthma attack right now, and there'd be no help for her.

They tromped through the hot jungle, and by the time they reached the desert's edge, sweat ran down Luca's back and his shirt stuck to him, making it uncomfortable to move. He sure wished for that cold morning air, now.

He adjusted his pack and stepped out of the cover of the trees. The rest of the group stood around the van, and Erin sat on one of the boxes of supplies. At least she'd given up the death march.

“Are they back?” he called.

Benny turned around and jogged toward them. “Nope. The food group came back though. They found fruit. Not pears this time. Pomegranates. Want one?”

Luca stared at the greenish-reddish fruit. It did look good, but he couldn't eat right now. “They didn't come back?”

Benny held out the fruit another second before he got that Luca didn't want it, and he dropped his hand. “No. We haven't seen them.”

Luca looked toward the sky. The sun was already moving toward the trees. Before they knew it, they would be in the pitch-black desert again. And it would be cold.

How were the girls going to survive in the jungle, by themselves, at night?

“I'll take that,” June said, pointing to Benny's hand.

Benny handed over the fruit.

“Are there more of them?” Avery asked.

Luca glanced at her. She'd practically devoured the pear from earlier, but now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her eat anything else since they got stranded. “I have chips and stuff if you're hungry.”

“Oh, I'm fine.” She said it way too fast. She wouldn't even look at him.

“Avery, quit trying to be a hero and eat. Come on.” He almost grabbed her hand to pull her toward the van, but he stopped himself just in time. She would freak out if he did that.

She only hesitated for a second before following after him.

“You're lucky I grabbed my backpack from the other van when I switched seats with your dad.” He handed her the half eaten bag of chips.

She grabbed it and started eating as if she hadn't eaten in days.

He turned away while she ate. Watching her was way too painful. In fact, being with her at all was painful. It'd been easier at home when they'd only had to see each other at school, and even there it was easy to focus on getting his school work done, so he could get a job over the summer.