First Kiss: The Ghost Bird Series: #10 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series) (36 page)

Carla nodded. “One of us should.” She pointed to Lake. “Can you circle the building? See if there’s another side to this stream where they might come out.” She pointed to me. “Go in after them. Try to encourage them to get out.”

“What are you going to do?” Lake said.

“I’m going to stand at the entrance here and be here when they come out. If something happens, we don’t want everyone stuck inside.” She looked at me. “Whistle if they get stuck somewhere. I’ll send Lake for help if you take too long. Make them use flashlights so they don’t break an ankle in the dark. Don’t trust the dark. Try to get in front of Mrs. Rose and encourage her out. Tell her there’s a bear out here somewhere if you have to.”

I couldn’t whistle, but was hoping if I caught up to one of the girls, she would be able to. I didn’t remember to bring mine and wished I had. I breathed in and out slowly and dropped myself down into the little canyon. I accidentally stepped in the stream on my way down, getting a bit of water on my boots. The little waterfall splashed into my face as I started in but I walked around it.

The air got colder the closer I got to the mouth of the cave and I could smell the musty dampness from within.

I stopped at the entrance, able to hear the echoes of the girls giggling inside, but it was all black from my perspective. I wasn’t sure I would be able to see once I was inside.

I also didn’t have a light.

“Hey!” someone above called to me and I looked up to find Carla holding a flashlight above my head. “Catch.”

I did and then waved to her. “Don’t you need it?”

“I’ve got my phone,” she said. “Don’t get lost.”

Easier said...

I turned on the light. It was small and had a narrow beam, but it was enough to allow me to see inside.

The cave started out as a small circular area, the building above my head. When I looked up, I could see inside the building, the pump inside and a pipe going into the ground. Parts of the mechanisms were exposed down here. It was clear this part of the cave was used to get access to the pumping system, so at least this part was probably safe.

However, the cave continued and had two paths, leading deeper in.

This was exactly what everyone had warned me about. Keep her out of caves.

The girls weren’t in the main room but I heard voices coming from the paths stretching inward.

I sighed, shining a light toward one path and then the other. “Where are you?” I called. “Which way did you all go?”

“We split up and went both ways!” one of the girls said. “Talk so we can still hear you.”

How could she have let them split up? I thought to go back to warn Carla, but I didn’t want to lose them further, either. What if the paths split again?

I wasn’t sure what to do, and I felt uncomfortable letting this continue. I thought the best solution was to get to them and encourage them out. We didn’t know if this place was safe and everyone warned us to keep Mrs. Rose out of caves.

I picked the right side path, following it in. My plan was to get one side out, and then go back and follow the other path.

It wasn’t long before I saw the beam of their flashlight, and I did my best to navigate in the dark, using the small light I had to make sure I didn’t trip over any rocks. The cave floor was uneven and the walls closed in at several points, making trying to follow the girls harder than I thought.

I was so focused on the ground and where to step that I bumped into one of the girls before I actually saw her.

She stood in the middle of the path and turned toward me. “I can’t go,” she said in a shaking voice. “I can’t go any further.”

I shone my flashlight down the path in front of her, where the other girls had already wiggled their way further in.

“Why don’t you go on out?” I said. “Carla’s waiting at the pump house for us.”

“I don’t want to chicken out,” she said. “And lose my chance at getting into the Academy.”

I was pretty sure the Academy wouldn’t kick her out because she was afraid to go into a cave. I tried to think of a good reason to encourage her to leave. “Carla could use your help. She’s watching for bears just in case one gets curious about the cave while everyone is in here.”

The girl nodded and then peered at me with wide eyes, barely visible in the darkness. “Walk back with me?”

I didn’t want to risk losing whoever was in front of us. “I’ll go with you until we can see the pump house again,” I said.

We started back, adding my light to hers so she could find her way out. When we were at the pumping area, Carla was just inside the entryway, shining her phone light in.

“Hi,” she said to the girl before turning to me. “Are they coming back?”

“They went both directions,” I said. “And I wasn’t able to get to them.”

“I went around,” Carla said, pointing above us. “There is a place further up the hill where the cave opens up again, like the creek, but it’s steep. They won’t be able to climb out, so they’ll have to come back. And if there’s two paths, then I’m not sure which one leads there. I had Lake go over there and stay to encourage them out.”

I nodded. “I’ll go back on the right, and get them to return.”

“Do your best.” She said and then looked at the new girl. “Can you stay here and shine your light into the cave on the left? I’m going to go in and see if I can get them to come out.”

Were we being too cautious? Mrs. Rose was an adventurous spirit. I remembered following Nathan through paths in woods surrounding our neighborhood, and he was always eager to try new places we hadn’t discovered yet.

This felt different to me, but perhaps because of the cave and darkness.

Or if there might be bears sleeping at the end.

Or snakes between the rocks.

I went alone down the right path, unable to hear the other girls ahead of me. I was alone.

Thinking of snakes made my knees tremble and I moved along the right path much slower now. If only the boys were here. It didn’t seem so bad when someone else was here, and I had to be brave, but now it was just me with a tiny light facing the darkness and silence and I was shaking all over, afraid of bugs, of bats, of bears who might jump out at me at any moment.

I tucked myself between rocks. The walls became narrow, and I had to duck and squeeze. At one point, I was on my hands and knees, suddenly disbelieving the group could have possibly wanted to go any further.

“Hello?” I called out.

A voice replied, but it echoed and I couldn’t tell who it was, only that they were ahead of me.

Eventually, there was more light. I didn’t know where it was coming from until I turned a bend, and saw it was coming from above where a small section had opened up.

This had to be the path that opened up, the one that Carla found. I hoped Lake was still out there.

I continued on, now able to use natural light to make my way through the cave, and eventually turned a bend to find the little stream and the small gorge it had formed, except the walls were taller here, well over my head.

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.