First Kiss

by C. L. Stone

  Carla spoke, “It’s when that plan of action requires more than your team can handle. That’s when you spend favors.”

  “But you can also lose favors,” Lake said. It had been a while since she spoke. She looked at her boots as she walked. “I heard someone lost favors.”

  Mrs. Rose signed, “Teams can choose to set rules within themselves. You can lose a favor by disobeying an important rule. You have to work to earn a favor back.”

  I paused in interpreting. Breaking rules. Like when the boys couldn’t kiss me. Didn’t one of them say they didn’t have enough favors?

  I had to concentrate to continue so I pushed the thought aside.

  “Favors are earned back through our work in the community,” Mrs. Rose signed. “Once your family life becomes stable, we don’t simply stop. We reach out and use our skills and talents to help other people. Sometimes we’re improving neighborhoods and making them safe. Sometimes we help lost children find parents. It could be anything. Usually, we try to focus on areas where we can do the most good but have been neglected by authorities. We may take preemptive measures to prevent harm.”

  “How do we find these jobs?” Lake asked.

  “Your team will have an official Academy lead. He or she is our contact for your group. What jobs are offered might be dependent on your skills. This is why we keep a file, to highlight your talents and we try to create a match.”

  Kayli had known about her file. I wanted to know what was listed in mine.

  She waved her hand. “Anyway, I’m not going to go into those details now. Do you all understand the cash and favor system?”

  “So we spend it once we’re a member?” someone asked. “The ten thousand and the ten favors?”

  “You’ve got a credit limit of thirty thousand dollars and thirty favors, but as you go through classes and learn what you need to know, you’ll eventually get to where you’ve paid off your credit and favor debts, and you gain a surplus.”

  “This is called graduation,” she said. “Once you’re able to support yourself and you have a surplus of favors and cash, you’ve officially graduated from member in training to full-fledged member.”

  “Does that mean we can graduate early?” Lake asked.

  “The moment you’re in the clear, you’ve graduated—there’s no other prerequisite like a number of hours or making good grades.” Mrs. Rose smiled at me. “Your doctor and his friend were the youngest pair to graduate, at age ten or twelve, I think. They were very young and did it all themselves.”

  I had said it aloud because I was in translate mode but then stopped to absorb what she said about Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne. I’d heard it before but hadn’t really understood it until now. Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne had been the youngest ever to graduate?

  “How’d they do it?” Carla asked, her eyes wide. Everyone else looked at me, too.

  I looked to Mrs. Rose, waiting for her answer.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Mrs. Rose signed. “Focus on your own graduations. Before you get to that, though, you should think of getting into the Academy. Any questions about the basics?”

  “So when do we pick our teams? And how do we pick them?” Lake asked.

  “You can pick whoever you want,” Mrs. Rose said. “As long as everyone agrees. We might make suggestions and ask you to try out other teams, based on what we know about you and learn this week, but it’s always up to you.”

  She wasn’t telling them about their desire to keep boys and girls on separate teams in certain cases. I wanted to ask about it, but I didn’t know a way to bring it up and not reveal my own worries about joining a guy team too early.

  The other girls started to talk to each other but then Mrs. Rose snapped her fingers to draw attention back to her. “I should tell you, though, that during your first few years, you will have trainers and a manager.”

  This was a surprise to me. “What’s a manager?” I asked, looking at her.

  Carla spoke instead. “All new teams need a manager,” she said. “How else are we supposed to figure out what to do?”

  Did our team have a manager? I wasn’t sure. I had never seen one. Maybe we didn’t because Dr. Green and Mr. Blackbourne were graduates, and the boys had been through a few years of training. I wondered who their manager had been.

  “A manager will be picked for you,” Mrs. Rose signed. “You might even live with your manager if you are young and in danger if you stay with your immediate family. It’s all decided individually. This won’t be a choice, however. Your manager won’t be your family, but you should still trust him...or her.” She paused, and then took a very deep breath before she continued. “This comes after you’ve gotten through application and become a member-in-training, though. I think it’s time for a break for now. Let’s enjoy this hike and give ourselves time to think. I don’t want to bombard you with too much at once.”

  I was grateful for that. My voice was already scratchy, and it was hard to take sips of water when she was signing and needing me to talk. It also made me run out of breath more quickly as I tried to keep up with walking and interpreting at the same time.

  “Why don’t you take a break?” Mrs. Rose signed to me.

  With a nod, I retreated, walking behind the others to give my voice a break and take sips of water. I listened as the girls talked about teams, wondering who would manage them, and how that worked. Who would be my manager? I suspected it would be one of the boys. Maybe North or Silas. I’d thought of Mr. Blackbourne, Dr. Green or Kota, but they were already very busy.

  She had said though that we wouldn’t get a choice in our manager. Was...was Dr. Roberts a manager? It would make sense since he shifted me in the line, and spoke for me within the group. I’d have to ask Kota.

  OFF PATH

  As we walked, I kept an eye out for whoever was following us. They weren’t easy to keep tabs on, but occasionally I could hear the crack twigs or rustle of dry leaves from off the trail. No one seemed to notice except for me and I wondered if I should alert Mrs. Rose.

  Whoever it was, they didn’t seem to be doing any harm. They weren’t spying on us naked in a latrine. I doubted from the distance that they could even hear what we were saying. For all I knew, it was part of some Academy training.

  Until I smelled something familiar. Sugar and vanilla. It was faint, but the wind had shifted in our direction.

  Luke?

  Maybe he was practicing with someone on how to follow people, because whoever was with him was noisy and wearing red. We just happened to be easy to follow with the simple trail. That seemed like an Academy training course.

  Eventually, our group came to where the main trail split of into paths.

  One of the girls pointed into the distance. “What’s that?”

  There was a small dirt path that led through a group of trees to a clearing on the other side. We were uphill and could see the roof of a building.

  I took out my map, wondering if we’d found some way around to where the rangers slept. Based on the map and the short distance we’d walked, I didn’t think we were anywhere near it.

  “It could be a hunting cabin,” Lake said.

  Mrs. Rose signed to me and I spoke. “If we’re curious, we should investigate.” I’d said the words, but I frowned. I didn’t really agree with her. They’d said not to let Mrs. Rose do anything too crazy. What about bears?

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go too far from the trail,” Carla said.

  As she was talking, Mrs. Rose forged ahead. I shared a look with Carla and Lake as the other girls started along the smaller trail after her.

  “She’s a crazy old lady,” Lake said.

  “She’s Academy, though,” Carla said. “We should trust her.”

  We couldn’t just stand and wait for them to return. We snaked our way down the path behind the others.

  The closer we got, the more I realized it couldn’t be a hunting cabin. The building would barely fit a cot inside, let alone much else. Was it a
n outhouse of some sort? A restroom along the trail?

  Once we got to the clearing, the building came into full view, atop a small hill stuck against the rest of the slope. It had wood siding painted bright red, with a black roof, white trim, and little windows. There was a cranking noise coming from it.

  The path wound around to the front of the building, meeting with a tiny, trickling stream.

  The stream had formed a small trench, about waist-high and a couple feet wide, that wound north down the hill. I suspected it met up with the river eventually.

  The little stream started from under the building, which had been built on top of the little gorge.

  Underneath the building, the trench darkened as it deepened. A water wheel was on the far side of the building, turning as water flowed over it—this was what was making the grinding noise. The water flowed down, following a small ditch to a mini waterfall on one side.

  “It’s like a water house?” Carla asked and looked at Mrs. Rose. “It’s pumping up water from a water source below?”

  She nodded and signed. “Some sort of pumping station.” Mrs. Rose started up the hill to peer into one of the windows. She started signing again as she turned back to me. “Possibly for the latrines. They just made it look like a pretty little cottage with a water wheel.”

  We all followed, taking turns looking inside. I stood at the end of the line, curious but also unsure. Was this what made this hiking trail interesting? This little water pump house? Maybe we should have taken the main trail further, and then tried another of the paths. Maybe it was part of the camp, but it didn’t seem like we should be poking our noses inside.

  When the girls had moved on to go look at the water wheel, I peered inside, finding pipes and the inside of the gear that turned the water wheel. The grinding noise was louder here and echoed from below. While there was a floor, there was a lot of open space around the pipes and darkness into the cave area. The pipe inside led down into the cave.

  When I stepped back, Lake was nearby, ready to look in. “Don’t let Mrs. Rose in the cave,” I said, joking.

  “Too late,” Carla said behind me.

  I turned, as did Lake. A trail of girls had dropped down into the trench. The stream wasn’t the issue. You could easily step over it, and there was room on either side within the gorge to walk along its sandy bank.

  But the girls were heading under the building, and into the cave, skirting the mini-waterfall as they went.

  “Oh shit,” Lake said. “The crazy old bat is going to get us killed.”

  “There could be bears,” Carla said. “I read about it. This is Hunting Island. There’s bears. And wolves.”

  “I’m more worried about snakes,” Lake said. “Snakes like caves, right?”

  I pressed my lips together. We couldn’t just leave Mrs. Rose and the girls to wander around in caves that might lead on forever. “Do we follow them?”

  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.