Journey to Rainbow Island (34 page)

A man spoke up at the same time, not realizing he was corroborating Yu-ning's directions. “I have the map right here; it says we should head to the right 40 degrees and continue south. This is the correct route to the top of the mountain.”

The adults acted as if they were following his advice, unwilling to acknowledge that Yu-ning had just said the very same thing! Yu-ning just chuckled.

They all began moving up the mountain. And even though they were all going in the same direction, the adults' reservations were slowing the momentum and flow of the four children. They followed behind the adults, looking at one another with exasperation. Yu-ning spoke up, “Just follow the pink path and you will not need your maps; it will take us safely to the top.” The adults ignored her and stopped yet again to look at the map and deliberate among themselves.

Yu-ning and the children took the opportunity to move ahead as the adults were busy with the maps. They walked all the way to the front, excited and energized by the beautiful, colorful path. They were now far ahead of their parents, who didn't even realize the children had passed them. The sounds of the children's laughter caused two adults to look up. Irritated, they yelled, “Get back here right now!” But the children were too far ahead to hear them; the adults had no other choice but to continue on in the same direction. One adult was looking at his own map, which said they needed to continue forward at 45 degrees SW; as he looked up, he saw that the children were already moving ahead in that direction. “They are following the exact coordinates the maps and compass indicate. How do they know where to go?”

“Maybe one of them has been here before, and knows where to look,” a woman murmured. “We have to catch up. They won't know what to do with gold nuggets if they find them first. Hurry!” The children were now colorful specks in the distance amidst the white landscape. The adults were quickly scrambling upward on the mountain, leaving their maps aside.

One man said, “Those kids know nothing. They are just going to get lost on the mountain—or lead others to the gem deposits.” At that moment, the children rounded a huge
rocky outcropping and disappeared out of sight. The adults tried to run up the steep trail, but they couldn't catch up. “I can't see them anymore! Where did they go?” It began to snow, first lightly, and then with increasing heaviness. The trail was becoming difficult to see with the new layer of snow. The adults began to wander down a side trail, headed in the wrong direction. Adjacent to them was the true trail, where the children had journeyed on.

The adults continued to climb, fearing for their lives at every turn. The snow was increasing, and it was clear that a large storm was brewing on the horizon, with dark, ominous grey clouds threatening on distant peaks. The winds became more and more violent. Strong gusts blew, and the snow started whipping across their faces. They couldn't see beyond the sheet of snow, and stumbled as the incline grew steeper. The wind chill factor dropped below zero—they were slowing down now, and losing their stamina. All the adults were walking alone, trying their best to navigate the way forward. In the distance, they could hear a distinct echo of the children's sweet singsong voices. Yu-ning and the children were making steady progress. They used their small hands to help one another as they traversed the pink mountain trail.

“I can't go on. I am so tired and cold; we're being led to our grave,” one woman wailed.

“I'm turning around and going back down,” another man agreed. “It's too cold on this mountain, and I can't see anything. There is nothing here!”

Up ahead, Yu-ning stopped in her tracks and closed her eyes. She was silent for a full minute. “Everyone stop—the adults are in trouble. They have lost their way. They can't see
us and don't know which way to go. We have to go back and help them.” The children all agreed, and they started back down the mountain toward the adults. The pink light flowed ahead of them as they descended the mountain with dexterity and speed. They found the adults a short way up the side trail, huddling under a snowbank, cold, tired, and shivering.

Some were crying, others were shouting and arguing, until one of the adults looked up and saw the children. “Oh thank goodness, we have found you! Don't you know you could be killed out here? Where have you been?”

Yu-ning spoke up for the children. “We can see the summit up above. We came back to help you and lead you there.”

“We're turning around,” said one of the men. “Now come, all of you. Follow us; we're going back to the village.”

“No, don't go back—we are so close,” Yu-ning said. “Keep following the path; we'll get there soon. We've come back to guide you. Follow us.”

“Just follow us,” said James, appealing to his mother and father. He picked up a stick and drew two lines in the snow on either side of the path. “Walk straight, and don't go beyond these points.”

As they walked, the snow began to let up a bit. Several adults stopped in their tracks and noticed a trail heading southeast, along a ridge leading away from the pink path. “That trail looks like it is well traveled, and leads straight up to the summit. Let's go this way!” a man shouted to his wife and a friend who had accompanied the couple. The other two adults nodded and started to follow the man. But the children were concerned: it was off the pink path, and something felt ominous about the trail, which cut across a huge
rock scree formation, with a high overhang of snow several hundred yards above. Yu-ning remembered One's firm words and looked at the other children with concern. They called out warnings to the three adults.

The couple and their friend ignored Yu-ning and started across the path. The other adults, however, stayed where they were, silently watching their fellow hikers head off on the other trail. About halfway to the other side, one of the men stopped and turned back toward the hikers looking on. “We will reach the summit before you! Just wait and see who finds the gold first.” There was a low rumble as the man shouted across to the hikers.

An older gentleman, whose name was Elliot, stepped next to Yu-ning. He had a look of concern on his face as he stared at the three hikers exposed on the face of the mountain. “He mustn't yell,” he said to Yu-ning. Then, in a louder voice, but trying not to yell, he called out to the three other adults, saying, “Keep your voices down. You don't want to—”

The man on the mountain face screamed back, “What? We can't hear you!” in a loud, booming voice.

Elliot made a slicing motion across his throat, trying to get the man to stop yelling. Then there was a second rumble, and everyone turned in the direction of the deep sound. High above, as if in slow motion, the large overhang of snow gave way with a deafening crack, sending a giant wall of snow crashing downslope.

This time, Elliot screamed as loud as he could, “RUN! RUN BACK!” The panic-stricken adults on the face saw the avalanche headed their way and began to move as quickly as they could back toward the horrified adults and children. The woman was closest and had the greatest chance of getting
back to safety. The men were close behind, running with every ounce of speed they could manage on the rocky trail.

Yu-ning screamed encouragement to the three adults. “Look at us. Don't look up. You can make it!” The adults were getting closer, but it was uncertain if they could escape the wall of snow racing toward them. The woman reached the nine adults first, falling into Elliot's arms. Her husband was about twenty steps behind, and their friend was behind him. The wave of snow was nearly upon them, and they had only a few seconds to escape its terrible path.

Solimar ran forward, holding a climbing rope she had removed from her pack. She yelled, “Hold me!” to the adults as she threw the rope to the first man. Yu-ning and several adults grabbed the end of the rope, along with Solimar. The rope flew in the air, and just as the first man grabbed it, they could see the second man lunging for the legs of the first man.

The avalanche slammed into the men, and instantly, Solimar was yanked violently downhill. The adults held on with all their might, some gaining a grip on the rope, and others holding Solimar around the waist and shoulders. After a few seconds, the rumble stopped. The snow was still. All was quiet.

“Where are they?” exclaimed James.

“Everyone take a section of the rope and start pulling,” yelled Elliot. But it was no use. The weight of the snow made any progress with the rope impossible. “I have another idea,” Elliot said, and he started to follow the rope, hand over hand, through the snow down the hill. It was deep, and everyone took hold of one another's belts and jackets, forming a human chain as they followed the rope downhill.

“I think they are here!” yelled Elliot. They had reached the end of the rope and couldn't pull anymore. The rope disappeared straight down into the snow. “Dig!” yelled James. Everyone dug furiously, the soft snow of the avalanche giving way with relative ease.

“There's a hand!” yelled Yu-ning, as a thumb and index finger protruded from the bottom of the hole they had dug. They continued furiously, and soon were able to reach the back of the man's jacket and pull upward. As his head broke through the snow, he gasped, taking in a huge gulp of crisp mountain air.

“Where is Ewan?” the rescued man said, referring to his friend who had grabbed his legs just as he had caught the rope from Solimar. The thirteen hikers dug furiously, but try as they might, they could not find the second man. The morning wore on, and for two hours the group searched. It was Ewan's friend who finally found him, a bit farther down the mountain, a gloved hand poking from the snow. Though they tried to resuscitate the lifeless man, it was to no avail. He was gone.

The couple decided to return to Caer-a-mor to arrange for transportation of the body from the mountain. Though the remaining hikers offered to join them, they insisted that everyone press on. “Ewan would have wanted you all to get to the top. Please don't call off your search for the treasure now.” With reluctance, the group voted to continue on. Yu-ning wished she could turn back, but she knew that her mission had meaning beyond this snowy mountain. She had no choice but to press on, in search of Joshua and the elusive quiver of arrows.

T
HE CLIMBERS CONTINUED UPWARD
in a somber line, moving in silence. The snow eased even more, and bits of blue sky could be seen through the mass of grey and white clouds swirling around the mountain. No one spoke; all were still very shaken by the sad events of the morning.

Marisol moved up the path to walk just behind Yu-ning. “Why didn't they listen to us, Yu-ning?”

Yu-ning slowly shook her head and said, “I don't know, Marisol. Maybe it's because we are children, and adults aren't used to taking direction from kids. I wish they could see the pink path, but they can't, or won't.” Yu-ning was crying, though she swallowed her tears, not wanting to upset the younger girl even more.

She missed Romeo so much right now. Oh, what she would give to be playing music with her best friend from the top of the Great Kapok Tree! The cold seeped into her upper left arm, the familiar dull ache of her wound reminding her
of her foe and the tasks before her. She trudged on, though, and took comfort in the twins, James, and James's parents, who had been deeply shaken by the avalanche and the death of the couple's friend, Ewan. It softened them, and they began to warm to Yu-ning as they hiked ever closer to the summit of Snowy Mountain.

The small party stopped to rest in the early afternoon. The storm clouds had cleared, giving way to a brilliant cerulean sky. Though the temperatures were still very low, the warmth from the sun was a very welcome change. The grandeur of the surrounding mountains was awe-inspiring: the massive peaks rose up in all directions, with the picturesque village and deep blue fjord well below them. Yu-ning pretended she could see Minkaro doing flips in the water. She strained to see any sign of his pink body, but she couldn't make out anything at this distance. Beyond the village and the deep fjord, Yu-ning could just make out the shining reflection of the sea in the distance.

“It is beautiful here, isn't it?” James's mother, Lorelei, sat down on a flat rock next to Yu-ning.

“It is very beautiful, yes,” Yu-ning replied.

“Are you here alone, Yu-ning? I mean, where is your family—your parents?”

“I am from Rainbow Island, and it is a long way from here. The teachers at the school raised me. I was brought to the Island when I was a baby. I believe my parents were from Darqendia, but I don't know what happened to them. I am here to seek out a man named Joshua. I am hoping he can help me.”

“A young girl like you should not be alone in a place like this, Yu-ning!”

“Oh, I am not alone, ma'am. My friend Minkaro is waiting for me near the village.” But that's all Yu-ning said. She was too tired to explain to an adult that her friend was a talking pink dolphin, and that she was here to find some magic arrows that could be used to stop a creepy fire-breathing dragon. Instead, she added, “When we reach Joshua, he will be able to help all of us, I think.”