Shadowed Eden (15 page)

“Avery wait!” Luca said. “We can't run that far. Wait until they get closer!”

She slowed down, but barely.

They ran all the way to the van before they slowed to a stop.

Luca bent over, panting. Running was a dumb thing to do.

“I can't believe he found them.” Avery sucked in deep breaths as sweat dripped down her temples. “There's no one around here for miles.”

He frowned but didn't reply. What did she mean by that?

“They're coming from the direction they left,” Luca said instead. “So did he find them in the middle of the desert?”

She shrugged. “It's almost like they walked in a straight line and back.”

Luca gulped and looked toward the jungle. Where were they?

The group drew closer and Avery couldn't contain her excitement. “I can't believe they're here. I was afraid I'd never see him again.”

He smiled, but inside he cringed. He'd never win Avery back with her dad hanging around. He didn't understand why she wanted to please him so badly.

Mr. Miles had no time for Avery, and he never had. Once, he'd promised to take her skiing for Christmas. He'd told her to have her bags packed on Christmas Eve morning. Then, when the big day arrived, he was gone. He'd left in the middle of the night after getting a tip on a big dig. He hadn't called to explain, or even apologized when he finally got home.

Then, after Avery's
episode
when her mom left, he'd practically stopped speaking to her—period. Instead of Avery getting angry, she'd tried harder to make him happy. When Mr. Miles was around, it felt like Avery barely had a brain.

He glanced at her again, and her smile melted his heart a little. No matter what had happened, he would always wish he'd been enough for Dad. Maybe he could understand Avery's motives after all.

Finally, the group drew close enough for Avery to reach and she raced out to greet them. She laughed and threw herself into her dad's arms. He wrapped her in a hug and whispered something into her ear, and Luca couldn't help but smile for her. A jerk or not, Avery loved him.

At least she still had her dad, which was more than he could say.

Luca took a deep breath and forced himself to unclench his fists. Breaking open his knuckles—again—on the side of the van wouldn't help anyone, especially in front of Mr. Miles.

He reached the group a few paces behind Avery and clapped Bradley on the shoulder. “I'm taking it you didn't find a rescue group?”

Bradley's eyes showed his confusion, but he shook his head. “We walked straight out into the desert, but somehow we ended up on the other side of the jungle.”

Luca winced, and confusion clung to his brain. How was that even possible? “This place doesn't make any sense.”

“Where's Erin?” Chad stepped forward and Luca saw his face. Worry practically dripped from his shoulders.

Bradley must have told him how his wife had been acting.

“She's back at camp,” Luca said. “She'll be glad to see you.”

Chad didn't wait for anyone else as he jogged through the sand and toward the tree line.

Luca turned back to Bradley's group. “Have you guys eaten? Did you run out of water?”

“We found fruit and water on our side of the jungle,” Mr. Miles said.

“What about your van?” Luca felt kind of absurd asking Mr. Miles these questions, as if they were equals when Luca knew full well they weren't. And he knew that Mr. Miles hated him.

Mr. Miles shook his head. “Won't crank. Bradley tells me you guys ran out of gas.”

“That's right. But we have food and medical supplies from the back of the van, so let's get everyone back and we'll make sure everyone eats something more filling than fruit.”

Mr. Miles smiled and clapped Luca's shoulder. “Well done, Luca.”

That was a first.

Luca shook off his surprise and led the march back to the tree line. As they drew closer, they came upon Chad and Erin. Chad held Erin and cried. Erin rested her head on her husband's shoulder, but no emotion showed on her face. It was almost like she wasn't even happy to see him. It wasn't like her at all, but that wasn't unusual in this place.

A few girls from Mr. Miles' van broke free from the group and ran to meet Gabby, Katelyn, and June. They all hugged in a giant, girly love fest.

The rest of the group mingled with the kids from his own church.

It was good to be together again. Really good.

With more of them, they should be able to figure out a way home. There would be more brains working together, and Mr. Miles was sure to know something about their location—he knew everything about the Middle East.

A few of them moved to boil noodles for the newcomers, while the rest sat in the shade to rest from their long journey.

“Tell me what happened,” Luca said as Bradley got comfortable near the fire.

Everyone gathered around him and he cleared his throat. “We started off heading toward the open desert, but by midday we knew something was off. We'd made a wrong turn somewhere along the line.

“The next thing we knew we were walking toward the jungle instead of away from it, but when we got closer we saw the van. We thought we'd made it back here, to our own camp, but I noticed the van was pointing toward the jungle instead of away from it, and that's when I saw Mr. Miles.”

“We were blown to the other side of the jungle,” Mr. Miles broke in. “We've been there for days now.”

Avery frowned and shook her head. “Daddy, how is this possible? We were on the same road, but we ended up in two different places. Two entirely different places.”

Mr. Miles didn't seem at all disturbed. He shrugged and shook his head. “Stranger things have happened.”

Luca frowned. There was more to his answer that he wasn't sharing. And he wasn't even upset at being lost. Luca knew he'd never trusted that man.

Bradley continued his story and Luca turned to listen. “Once we'd rested for the night with Mr. Miles's group, we loaded up and headed back here. We stopped to sleep for the night, and we weren't even sure we were headed in the right direction, but first thing this morning we continued the trip.” Bradley pointed at their van and laughed. “I never thought I'd be so happy to see that old clunker.”

Luca smiled on the outside, and he was glad Bradley and the others had made it back, but his mind worked quickly.

Mr. Miles was hiding something, and whatever it was, it had to be big.

18

Avery

Based on Daddy's behavior, Avery was sure he knew something about their location. Or at least suspected something.

He acted relaxed and excited, instead of uptight and anxious to be rescued.

And worse, based on Luca's facial expression, he saw it too. Luca didn't think much of Daddy at all, and it killed Avery. Daddy could be kind—when he tried.

She swallowed hard and looked away. Sometimes she saw families who looked so happy. So normal. They didn't know how blessed they were.

The food was passed around and Avery took her small portion. Her stomach twisted when she looked at it, but she made herself eat it, nerves or not.

After everyone ate, she worked up the courage to talk to Daddy. He might shoot her down—he usually did—but she had to try.

He stepped away from the group and stared into the jungle, and Avery quickly followed him.

He spotted her and turned her way. “I missed you, Avery. I worried about you.” He smiled and patted her shoulders.

She smiled and nodded, but she almost doubted his words. He'd never played the part of the worried father all that well, especially when he was excited about an upcoming dig. “I thought I'd never see you again,” she admitted. “This place is really strange.”

He glanced up at the massive jungle canopy over their heads. “Strange is too weak a word. This place is special.”

“Daddy, what do you think about it? I've been trying to figure it out.”

Something passed across his face. Surprise, or suspicion, maybe? But it was gone as quickly as it had come. He shrugged. “Too early to say, but we've stumbled onto something big. I've been trying to dig up some information from my side, but I had a whole group of teens to take care of.”

Why did he have to sound annoyed over that? He had agreed to chaperone a mission trip, after all. He could put away work for a few days during
an emergency
.

She didn't say that to him. Never would.

“Now that we've found each other, I shouldn't have to play such a vital role in caring for the others. I'll be free to figure out what's going on.”

“Daddy, you can't be going out in the jungle alone. It's dangerous. Last night we were attacked by—”

“I'm a grown man who's been on a lot of dangerous digs, Avery. You just keep doing your part in taking care of everyone here, and leave the discovery work to me.” He patted her shoulder like he was comforting a dense child.

He was dismissing her—and what she wanted—just like he always had.

She stood awkwardly, not sure how to answer him, but there was no need to worry; he wouldn't listen to her anyway.

Daddy looked deeper into the jungle, practically glowing with excitement. “I can hardly wait to get in there and learn this place's secrets!”

She could tell him a few secrets—magically appearing fruit, a state of confusion that permeated the jungle air, a dark force. And one couldn't forget the inhuman natives.

But she didn't tell him any of that. Rae had chosen to reveal himself to her, and
only
her. That is, until they'd gone tracking him down. Even then, though, he'd spoken to her during their exchange. If anyone could get the jungle's secrets from Rae, it was her. Not Daddy.

“Avery?” Luca's voice gave her an excuse to get out of there, but Daddy stopped her with a tug on her arm.

“I hope you haven't gotten involved with that boy again.”

She frowned and pulled her arm away. “Of course not.”

“Good. I see that he's really stepped in and taken care of everyone here, but that doesn't mean he's good for you.”

Anger bubbled up her legs and spilled over into her stomach. “We've all taken care of each other here.”

She stomped away before he could reply, and she hurried to find Luca.

He stood near the shelters, backpack in hand. “We're going to the water hole. With this many people we're going to need a lot. Want to come?” His relaxed, undemanding attitude calmed her down.

“Yeah,” she said. “That sounds great.”

They gathered two backpacks full of empty water bottles, then they hiked into the jungle with Benny and June. Avery frowned at June as she climbed over a fallen tree. “Shouldn't you be staying off that leg?”

June scowled at Avery. “I'm OK. It's not even sore anymore.”

Avery's cheeks burned and she looked away. What was June's problem? She'd never said a mean word to anyone, and now she was mad at Avery?

Luca cleared his throat and glanced at her. “I tried to tell her, but she said we're the water group and she's not missing out.”

Benny grumbled and marched ahead.

Avery decided to let June's rude remark pass. She turned and teased Benny. “You aren't trying to shirk your duties are you, Benny?”

He huffed and walked faster.

Avery frowned. He'd been more open and willing to help ever since they'd arrived, but now he seemed back to his usual pity-partying self. It seemed everyone was grumpy since the other group had arrived.

They reached the creek and everyone bent to fill the empty bottles.

“I almost didn't ask you to come,” Luca said. He squatted beside her. “I thought you might want to stay with your dad.”

Avery worked to keep her face neutral. “Yeah, well, he seems less excited at seeing me than I was at seeing him.” Telling Luca these things was safe. It was nothing he didn't know already. She wanted Luca and Daddy to get along, but maybe she wanted a sounding board more.

“What do you think of all this? Of everything Bradley told us?”

She screwed the lid on a bottle and grabbed another. “I don't know. I'm working on it.”

His eyebrows rose. “You got a theory?”

Did she? Finally, she shook her head. “Not really, but there are a few things I can't shake. I'll let you know when I figure it all out.” She ended with a grin and he smiled back.

He believed her. Believed
in
her. He was the only one who had, or at least the only one who had in a while.

Guilt pinged at the edge of her mind, guilt that he believed in her more than she had believed in him. And when he'd needed her most, she'd followed Daddy's order to stay away. It was a wonder he even spoke to her.

Still, this felt good. Renewing their friendship couldn't hurt anything, and she needed a person she could be herself with. Someone who wouldn't stare at her or ignore her.

A thought occurred to her and she paused. In the last few days, there hadn't been any stares. No one had left her out of anything. She tucked the information away for later and kept working.

They finished filling all the bottles, and Avery pulled a pack onto her back. Luca took the other and they started back.

“Do you guys care if I stay here for a while?”

Everyone turned to June, surprised by her question. “You want to stay here alone?” Avery asked.

June's eyes still sparkled a startling blue. Avery hadn't brought it up to anyone, especially since it was just another reason everyone might think she'd lost her marbles.

June glanced at the guys and blushed. “I wanted to swim for a while. You know. Wash up.”

Washing sounded really good. Better than good, it sounded great. “Why don't we get some shampoo and stuff from our bags? We can come back with all the girls.”

“Actually, I wanted to do it alone.”