Southern Stars

by Melissa Good

  He stared back. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with you little bitch.”

  “Likewise.” Kerry smiled coolly at him, aware from the corner of her eye that Dar was leaping down the rocks like a demented antelope heading her way. She turned and offered Don a hand up again, confident her back was covered. “You okay, Don?”

  “Yeah.” He looked disgusted, and rolled over onto his knees to rise. “Just a jerk.” He got up and brushed himself off, grimacing a little as he touched the back of his hip. “Hit something.”

  Dar arrived at that moment, sliding a little on the wet rocks near the shore. “What happened?” she asked. “You okay?”

  Don made a face. “Can’t stay out of other people’s mix ups,” he admitted, in a low tone, glancing past her to where Todd had gone back to arguing with Janet. “I’m too old for this crap.”

  Janet walked past them toward the raft, her cheeks flushed and red. Todd came over to them and pointed at Kerry. “And you stay out of my business.”

  Dar reached out and took hold of his hand, pushing it aside. “Don’t do that,” she said, in a quiet, even tone. “You’re the idiot who went climbing up into poison ivy after they told you not to. It’s not their fault.” She released him.

  Don stepped up next to Dar, instinctively standing shoulder to shoulder with her. A moment later, Doug joined them, but Todd just laughed and backed off. “The more the merrier for the lawsuit. No problem, jackasses.”

  “No problem,” Dar responded, still in that mild tone. But he turned his back and went over to Amy, who was drying her tears as she inspected her calamine tainted skin.

  “Jerk,” Don muttered.

  “Rich jerk whose father’s a lawyer,” Doug said with a sigh. “And really, folks, not that I don’t appreciate you all standing up for us, stay out of it. No sense in getting yourselves mixed up in this. We have liability insurance.” He looked meaningfully at Don. “Please.”

  Don lifted his hands. “Sorry.”

  Doug smiled briefly and walked back to the aid kit, kneeling beside it.

  Kerry sighed. “Dudley Douchebag.” She shook her head. “Why does it always have be Dudley Douchebag, Dar?” She looked up to see Dar’s profile as her partner watched the scene at her back, and saw that narrowing at the corners of those blue eyes.

  Then Dar put her sunglasses back on and dusted her hands off. “I thought,” she said, “I could bring back a handful or so of those rocks. I think my mother’d like em.”

  Kerry went with the subject change as they carefully maneuvered back across the slippery rocks to the slope. “The ones with all those colors? I bet she would.” She joined Dar in examining the specimens near the water’s edge, which were shaped and rounded by the river. “What would Dad like?”

  “A bobcat.”

  Kerry chuckled softly under her breath.

  THEY WERE BACK on the boat, on the river, heading for another rapid when the sky overhead started to gather a few clouds. The sun rippled through them, making large, dark splotches against the water’s surface. Kerry caught Janet turn her head and watch them as she balanced along one side of the raft.

  “Okay, everyone, get ready!” Doug yelled, from the back. “We’re going to the wall, and then down that side channel! Hang on!”

  The river ahead split in two, one side turning into a thick churn of white whirlpools, and the other a faster rush between a huge boulder and the wall. The water seemed smoother, but ahead of that Kerry could see a drop. Not a huge one, but a plunge anyway and that was where Doug was aiming them.

  She reached down and got her camera ready, feeling the powerful tug as Dar took hold of her safety jacket and the rest of the crew edged down the sides of the raft, holding onto the support ropes.

  Rich was already whooping like a cowboy, holding on with one hand and waving the other one as they lurched hard to the right and came up against the rock wall, sliding up partly sideways against it and throwing them all against their respective restraints.

  “Holy crap.” Dar squirmed out of her seat and got behind Kerry’s, trading her one-handed hold with both arms clasping herself to the seat back and around Kerry’s body in a tight squeeze, bracing both long legs against the deck.

  For a long moment, the raft tipped up sideways and Kerry was sure they were going over. She started breathing harder, but kept the record button down on her camera as the front right side of the raft came up and scraped against the wall.

  Then, just as she was sure they were going to end up overturning, the river slammed them around and the front of the raft plunged down again into the gap between the rock and the wall. They were moving fast, heading right into a froth of churning water that exploded up around them in a wash of sun splashed brilliant green.

  A blob came right up and whacked Kerry in the face, obscuring her vision as she felt Dar press up behind her. The raft bucked under them as it turned and plunged down a definite slope and a wave came up and wet them all through and through.

  “Oh yeah!” Rich yelled in excitement.

  The water drained off the raft and they were through the rapids and emerged into a wider, slower stretch. “That was fun,” Kerry said as she reached up to wipe the water out of her eyes. “I thought we were going in for a minute.”

  “Me too.” Dar released her and licked her lips. “I was all ready to start swimming.”

  “Fun, huh?” Janet was next to them. “I love that rapid.”

  Don wiped his face with a towel. “It was great,” He said. “Did you get that on your camera, Kerry?”

  “I did.” Kerry said. “The best part was when the front of the raft came down there, and all the sun? It was great.”

  PJ came over and peered past Kerry’s shoulder. “Rock star.”

  She bumped Kerry’s shoulder with her fist. “I was hoping someone on this thing could use a camera better than I could. Everything I shoot is out of focus. I don’t have a clue why.”

  “Yeah, I already know who’s going to be featured on the screen at the end of ride dinner.” Janet smiled and glanced around. “Hey, folks, listen up?” She raised her voice. “We’re going to run it a little later today so we get to a camp where we’ve got some hard shelter overhead. I think we’re in for a rare event, a rainstorm on the river.”

  She pointed overhead, where the scattered clouds were becoming less scattered and dark. A brisk wind ruffled across the water, fluttering the clothing they all were wearing. “Sleeping out in that is no fun, and cooking isn’t either. So, we’re going to stop at a place where there’s a nice big cave to set up camp in.”

  “Indian cave?” Don asked with interest. “Read about those.”

  “Yes,” Janet said. “We have permission,” she added, seeing some raised eyebrows. “They know we treat the place with respect, and always leave it in pristine condition.”

  Todd and Amy were huddled in the plush seats at the back center, and merely listened. They were covered with waterproof ponchos, and Amy was visibly shivering. “How much longer?” Todd asked, brusquely.

  “About two hours.” Janet didn’t even check her watch. “So, I’m going to hand out some snacks, and we’ll move along so we can get undercover before the weather breaks.” She moved along to the storage bins and opened one, and two other crew members went with her.

  “Hm.” Kerry accepted a towel Dar offered. “Have you ever slept in a cave?”

  Dar was momentarily silent then she grinned briefly. “Yeah.” She sat down and ruffled her hair dry. “Wasn’t much fun. Me and some of the guys were caught out up in the Polypody jungle, mid state. They have limestone formations there and...well, anyway.”

  “Polypody jungle?”

  “Long story.”

  Kerry squinted at her. “Is this the kind of story that ends up with mud and worms?”

  Dar cleared her throat. “A cow, actually. Tell you later.”

  It was near sundown when they started to pull over toward an inlet. The sky was already darkened overhe
ad and they could hear thunder in the distance. There was a faint sense of urgency in the crew and they hurried the passengers off the raft. Doug jogged in the lead, taking a moment to stick glow sticks in the ground to lead them as the purple light was rapidly starting to fade.

  The river had a distinct smell, but over that Kerry could smell rain coming, that odd, almost musty scent she had become used to over her time spent in Florida, which had more than its share of it. She followed Dar off the raft, almost the last of the group to step down onto a red sand covered beach they’d pulled the boat up onto.

  The wind was whistling around them, coursing in and out of the rock walls and she felt it buffet her between the shoulder blades, pushing her forward a little as the climbed up the slope to a level area full of random rocky debris.

  “Careful,” Dar said, as she stepped between several larger rocks.

  Kerry had her personal bag over her shoulder and she shifted it from one side to the other as she followed in Dar’s footsteps. She turned her head to look behind her, and saw the outline of the cliff face still distinct against the darkening sky.

  She heard falling rocks and looked up, stopping abruptly as her vision was occluded by Dar’s back. “Oh.”

  Above them on the wall a large bird was just landing, folding its wings as it came to perch on a ledge full of random sticks and debris. “Is that a nest?”

  “I think it was a hawk.” Dar peered at it. “Too dark to get a shot?”

  “Hold this.” Kerry handed over her bag and lifted her camera in its case up, adjusting the controls for a moment before she looked through the viewfinder and zoomed in. The light wasn’t great, but just as she snapped the picture a flash of far off lightning, as though accommodating her, lit up the sky.

  “Folks, please let’s get under cover.” Janet’s voice chided them. “It’s going to start pouring rain and we need the path clear to get all the gear inside.”

  “Sorry.” Kerry turned the camera off and followed Dar around a huge boulder to find the entrance to the promised cave ahead of them. “Oh.”

  It was larger than she’d thought it would be. An irregularly shaped dark gap in the wall, higher on one side than the other, but tall enough to allow them to enter upright with ease.

  Inside, the crew already had some lanterns lit, and as Dar and Kerry entered they all trotted purposefully outside to get more gear. The cave itself was extremely large, and her momentary anxiety that she was going to end up cheek by jowl to the rest of the crowd was eased.

  The rest of the group was clustered near a central, now darkened, fire pit and they joined them to wait for whatever was going to come next.

  Dar put down both of their bags, then she put her hands on her hips, one eyebrow edging up. After a moment of silent pondering, she drew in a breath, then released it. “This’ll go faster if we help,” she said. “C’mon.” She turned and started for the entrance, not watching to see who followed her.

  Kerry suppressed a smile, then followed, and as she did she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and was surrounded by a cluster of bodies who joined them as they walked back out, into a wind already tinged with moisture.

  “Good idea,” Don commented as they evaded the shooing hands of the crew and grabbed the gear bags lining the shoreline. “C’mon, kids, none of us are cripples. Move aside.”

  Dar picked up a tent and put it on her shoulder and the college gals picked up one of the two big kitchen kits, and they started back toward the cave as Rich and Sally grabbed another sealed bin and Kerry lifted a large duffel bag.

  “Choo.” Rich waved Janet out of the way. “C’mon, we’re gonna get wet.”

  The rest of the crew looked unabashedly relieved, and two of them broke off moving gear to go over to where Doug was standing, sorting out ropes to tie the raft down with.

  “Thanks,” Janet said. She lifted a box and joined them. “I really do appreciate the help. They want to get the boat secured in case we get a surge of downstream.”

  “Exactly,” Rich said. “Last thing we need is to lose that.”

  The first spattering of raindrops just caught them as they marched inside the cave, depositing their burdens and turning around for another trip. “Hey,” Dar addressed the few lingerers. “Start sorting that out while we get the rest of it.”

  Todd and Amy, especially stared at her.

  “Aren’t you hungry?” Dar asked. “C’mon!”

  There was a moment of silence, then grudging movement. Dar shook her head and grumbled under her breath, as they emerged back into the weather.

  “Sure you weren’t in the navy?” Don asked, as he caught up to her, chuckling a little. “Coulda fooled me.”

  KERRY HUNG HER shirt up to dry on the line she’d strung from their tent and sat down on one of the two folding chairs the staff had placed nearby. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and exhaled, watching the crew set up their cook stove inside the old fire pit as Janet picked up a tray and started circulating with drinks.

  Their tent was on a slight rise to one side of the pit and Kerry was the first to be offered. “Thanks.” She took two of the cups and put them down on the small camp table.

  “Thank you for helping out,” Janet replied. “I know I said that before, but I wanted you to know I really meant it.”

  Kerry smiled. “Hey, it was to our advantage. Glad we made it here before the storm really let loose. It’s raining sideways out there.”

  Janet looked over her shoulder. “It is. But I’m not worried, really, about what it’s doing here. I’m worried about what it’s doing upstream.” She confided. “Let’s hope it just moves over us and goes west.”

  Kerry considered that as she watched the woman make her way along the rocks, going clockwise around the large chamber that now had a somewhat incongruous set of colored tents scattered around its large interior.

  There were torches planted randomly and lanterns, and they gave the large space a sense of curious mystery. There were markings on the walls, but the light was too dim to make them out, and the surface above the cook pit was darkened visibly from smoke.

  Above where they had the tents set up there was a higher level, but this was blocked off by a chain and post fence, and there were signs positioned along it. Behind that the darkness obscured her vision, but she made a mental note to wander up in the morning and see what was past it.

  The next tents over were the college kids. PJ was seated with her foot up on a box, with Doug and Don tending her foot. Past them Sally was wandering around taking pictures.

  Todd and Amy, predictably, had set up their tent near the fence. One of the crew was carrying a first aid kit up to where they were seated.

  Dar emerged from the temporary bathroom, which had been set up as far away as possible from everyone else, near the other side of the cavern. She paused at the entrance to the cave to look out, the wind blowing her dark hair back as she studied the storm.

  Then she continued across the front of the cave, past the busy crew, stopping to watch two of the crew hauling out what they were going to make for dinner.

  SALLY CAME OVER and sat down next to Kerry. “Hope this storm doesn’t last long,” she said, with a sigh. “Starting to get the sense this trip’s kinda...um...”

  “Cursed?” Kerry supplied.

  “Sort of.” The lanky woman said. “First we pick up the douches, then PJ’s foot, then the poison ivy...I mean I’m used to little things happening, but wow. Now the rain?”

  Kerry hiked up one foot and put it on her knee, clasping her hands around her knee. “Well,” she mused. “At least two of those things are related.”

  “Mm.”

  Kerry caught sight of Dar straightening up to her full height and craning her neck to observe the contents of a tray being moved toward the cook stove. She chuckled under her breath as a relatively content expression appeared and Dar continued on her way up to the tent.

  “You’re so funny,” Sally said.

  “S
ometimes.” Kerry reached out a hand as Dar got up to where they were. She smiled as it was clasped and lifted, and a kiss planted on the back of her knuckles in a gentle, absent gesture. “So, you satisfied with dinner, hon?”

  Dar sat down on the ground, reaching over to pick up the mug. “I think so. Looks like salmon.”

  “Oh.” Sally seemed surprised. “Hey, something I eat. Hot damn.” She rested her elbows on the chair arms. “I didn’t think they brought fish with them.” She got up from the chair. “I’m going to scope it out. See you guys at dinner.”

  “Sally was just wondering if we were cursed,” Kerry said, after Sally had walked out of earshot. “You think? Or is it just one of our typical vacations?”

  Dar smiled. “Our one?” She said. “I think we’re fine. Better than if we’d gotten caught out in the storm. They did a good job getting us to cover.” She took a sip from the mug. “Can I be honest?”

  Kerry reached out and riffled her fingers through her partner’s dark hair. “You’re bored with this. I can tell.” She watched as Dar looked up at her, eyes shaded almost sand color from the dim light. “Sorry, hon.”

  “Why? We both decided on this.” Dar said. “I just think...I just want to do more.” She looked a touch embarrassed. “I feel bad about just sitting around letting these guys take us from spot to spot. Too...”

  “Touristy?”

  Dar shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Kerry considered that, “Ah well. It’s only a couple more days. Then we can get back in our camper, pick up our dogs and go find some adventure on the way back to Vegas.” She gently brushed her thumb over Dar’s cheekbone. “I’ll get some decent pictures out of it at least.”

  Dar nodded. “It’s fine,” She said. “We’re supposed to go to that swimming hole tomorrow. That sounds fun. I think there’s a ledge you can dive off.” She sounded more enthusiastic. “And there’s more rapids.”

  “And you have your book.”

  “And I have my book.” Dar grinned at her, standing up and offering her hand. “Let’s go sit around the campfire. Maybe those kids will drag out that trivia game again.”