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The group of girls—three of them—stood together, where the trail ended. The stream trickled from a small crack where the walls met. The only way out was up the wall or back through the cave again. It was pretty, but it felt like we were stuck in a pit.
“We should climb out,” one of the girls said as I got closer. “It’ll be like rock climbing.”
“I don’t want to do that,” another one said.
“I don’t want to go through the cave again,” the third said. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. “I don’t like this.”
“Girls,” I called out, waving as I left the cave.
They turned to me, appearing relieved.
“Tell them to climb out,” one of them said, pointing to the wall of the pit. “It’ll be easier.”
“I don’t think I can,” the other girl said. “Don’t make me.”
“We don’t want to go through the cave again.”
I sighed, looking up. “Lake?” I called.
It took a minute, but Lake appeared, looking down at us from the lip of the cave. “You found them?”
“I found three,” I said. “Carla’s going after the other group. Mrs. Rose must be with them. She’s going to get them to turn back.”
Lake nodded. “So go back. You can find your way, right?”
I looked at the girls, all folding their arms across their chests and regarding me with expectant eyes—they were waiting for me to make a decision.
I didn’t like the idea of going back into the dank and dirty cave. “Maybe we should try climbing,” I said.
We studied the walls, looking for the lowest and best spot to try.
Once we found what we agreed would be the best place to climb I stood at the bottom and assisted one of the girls up by clasping my hands together to give her a foothold, the way the guys had taught me before. I boosted and Lake put herself on her stomach to reach down from above to lift her up.
It took eons for the girl to find a foothold in the rock face that was sturdy enough for her to steady herself. Once she did, I boosted her, lifting with everything I had. The girl made it up, but barely, and I used up a lot of strength doing it.
Once she was up, I leaned against the wall and breathed heavily. Could I push up two more girls and still pull myself out?
Lake patted her hands against the dirt of the pit wall and reached down. “Come on,” she said.
I bent over, ready to lift another girl. She was heavier than the first one, and while I tried to boost her, her balance was off and she wavered. We crashed backward, me on my butt, her on her side.
Lake groaned. “Come on,” she said. “Or you’ll just have to go back through the cave.”
The third girl that was waiting shook and had tears in her eyes. “We’re going to be stuck here forever,” she said.
We needed someone stronger and taller. I thought of Silas or any of the guys. They could get themselves out.
Suddenly, I recalled the people in red who’d been following us. I’d had a suspicious feeling I knew who it could be as we walked. I suddenly hoped I was right.
“Lake,” I said, swallowing against the dryness in my throat. “I need you to make a call.”
“On my phone?” she asked. “It doesn’t have a signal.”
“I mean...make this noise.” I made a squeal—the emergency signal I’d learned from kids in my neighborhood. I just hoped one of the guys were actually out there and remembered. “Suu-weee,” I tried again. “Do that.”
“Are you kidding?” Lake said, looking down at us with a frown. “Why?”
“Just do it,” I said. “But do it loud.”
She did, making the noise as loud as she could. The girl next to her joined in.
“Do it again!” I said.
They did, and then Lake stopped abruptly and turned, stepping away out of view.
My heart was beating hard in my chest as I stared up at the opening over our heads.
Please, please, please...
Nathan’s face appeared, looking down at us, wearing a serious expression. Luke appeared beside him a minute later. Luke was wearing black pants and a camo long-sleeved T-shirt. Nathan wore the same, except for a red knit hat.
I was so happy to see them, I was going to ignore that they had been following us.
“How’d you know we were here?” Luke called down to us.
“Nathan’s hat,” I said. “I saw the red. And you were loud. I could hear you coming. And I could smell your vanilla scent.”
I’d spent a lot of time walking in the woods as a kid, so identifying noises and what was human and just wood noises was easy for me.
Luke smacked Nathan in the stomach with a loose hand. “I told you that you were being too loud.”
“Shut up,” Nathan said and then peered down at us again. “Need a hand up?”
I nodded. “I’m not strong enough to boost them out.”
Nathan squatted, and then crawled to the edge of the pit, lowering himself until he hung on with his hands, his feet dangling down. “Get out of the way,” he said.
The two other girls and I backed up. He let go and landed with a thud at the bottom, dropping down to his hands to brace himself for the impact. Once he was settled, he stood, looking up. He whistled in a low tone. “That’s a drop. That almost hurt.” He turned to me and frowned. “What are you all doing in there? Did you fall? No one’s hurt, are you?”
“Long story,” I said. “Can you help the girls out?”
“Sure,” he said. He motioned to them. “Come on. I’ll boost you up. Luke will pull you out.”
“We won’t even ask a favor,” Luke said from above us with a grin. “This one is on the house.”
Luke lowered himself on the lip of the cavern like Lake had done, lying on the ground with his hands down, reaching.
Nathan picked up the first girl with ease, boosting her so she could reach up to Luke. Luke grabbed her hands, pulling her up. Lake continued to help, taking the girl’s arm and pulling until she stood on solid ground. They worked again to lift the next girl out.
Nathan dusted his hands and then reached for me. “Your turn.”
We were alone now, so I spoke quietly, hoping the other girls couldn't hear. “Are you guys going to keep following us?”
“Of course,” he said. “Victor told us you made him promise to stay by you. We’ve got a schedule so we switch out, but we’ll try not to get in the way. We need the practice apparently anyway. I volunteered today. I wanted to see how you were getting on. Probably a good thing, too. Mrs. Rose is a little...adventurous.”
I smothered my proud and happy smile. Victor had kept a promise I’d already forgotten about. It would make this job easier knowing the guys were going to be nearby the entire week. “Thank you,” I said.
He winked and moved behind me to help me up, but gave my arms an extra encouraging squeeze. “You’re doing amazing, Peanut. Keep it up.”
I was glad it was him and Luke following, or any of my team. Anyone else might not have known to come help us.
Nathan lifted me up and Luke pulled when I reached for him.
“Except you,” Luke said with a grunt as he pulled on my arms. He grinned through it, though, his brown eyes shining as a lock of blond hair fell into his face, escaping the clip he was wearing. “You owe me a favor after this.”
“Just give him a cookie,” Nathan said from below me, boosting me higher.
“I’ll take a cookie,” Luke said. “Or five. Homemade, though. Extra chocolate chips.”
I was yanked up to the rim of the cavern, dirt smudging my sweater. When I got to the top and was standing by Luke, I brushed off my clothes. All the girls were covered in brown stains on the fronts of their clothes.
Luke dropped down to his stomach again and leaned further out. Nathan backed up, and then raced toward the wall of the pit, jumping up the side wall as he grabbed for Luke’s hand. Luke caught and used Nathan’s momentum to pull him up as the rest of us watched
in awe.
Nathan and Luke stayed on their knees for a minute, breathing heavily and recovering.
“Whew,” Nathan said, pressing a hand to his side. “No more falling into pits, girls. We might not always be around to call on.”
“What was that?” Lake asked. Her eyes were narrow, suspicious. “The call. Suu-wee?”
Luke shrugged, brushing grass and dirt off his black pants. “It’s an emergency call from our neighborhood. If you hear that, someone’s in trouble.” He looked at me to confirm. “North made sure we all recognized it once we knew what it was.”
“But that’s not an Academy thing,” Nathan said. “So don’t expect other people to respond to it.”
