by Karen Rispin
I looked up. Sun struck my eyes, making me squint. It was hard to see clearly against the sun. The peaks were clear of cloud. They were huge and seemed as high as the moon. For a few seconds it seemed perfectly logical. The Kikuyu were right. This live mountain, huger than the world, was where God lived.
It gradually soaked into my dizzy head. God, the real God, my God, is bigger than that. Bigger than this whole mountain. Bigger than the universe.
"I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong" went through my head from those verses I'd been reading. Father in his great glory! echoed in my head. The bigness of God filled me up until I thought I would explode with the wonder of it. Mount Kenya was another creature of his, like me, like animals. I felt held down to the mountain by the weight of my pack, small on the mountain in front of him.
"Strength out of his great glory"? I thought and tried to figure it out. Strength enough for anything, for mountains. Does it fit with this Rick thing somehow? I wondered, but I couldn't concentrate, and the thought slid away. I was walking in a dizzy daze.
The sun went behind the mountain's shoulder. We walked in shadow. Nelion and Mbatian still stood in the sun, high in a burnished sky. We walked on and on.
My body was on automatic. The complaints of my heel, shoulders, and even my aching head seemed far away. When Uncle Paul finally stopped, I walked straight into his back. The hard canvas of his pack smacked my face. I stumbled and sat down.
He looked at me and chuckled. "Sleeping on the march? Come on, we're just about there."
His hand felt warm and rough as he hauled me to my feet. "Take a drink at the creek," he said, kneeling and scooping up water.
I hadn't noticed that we were right on the edge of a noisy brook. I looked at him blankly, trying to connect.
He looked up with water running off his beard. "Come on, drink up."
I shook my head to clear it and got down to drink. My pack just about pitched me into the water head-first. I stuck out my hands to catch my balance. They hit the water with a splash that soaked my face. Luckily the water was only about three inches deep. I gasped and woke up properly. My ears popped and quit buzzing.
Suddenly everything hurt. Also I'd never felt so tired in my life. I looked around. We were in the bottom of the valley. About the length of a football field away, there was a hut and a bunch of tents.
Uncle Paul chuckled again. I must have looked really out of it. Then he stood up and started across the stream. I tried to get up. Ow! My shoulders felt like they were coming off.
I tried again and this time made it to my feet. I splashed across the creek, not even bothering about stepping-stones, and followed Uncle Paul. Just a few more steps. Just a little way, I thought, staring at the back of Uncle Paul's legs. I didn't even try not to limp. Uncle Paul's boots walked steadily across the grass and into the hut.
It was almost completely dark inside. Uncle Paul was busy doing something with his pack. The only thing I paid any attention to was a wooden shelf across the hut. There was room for seven or eight sleeping bags. I shrugged my shoulders and shoved my pack straps off. My pack hit the floor with a thud, and I hit the shelf bed facedown. I lay there thinking, I'll get up in a minute. I'll get up and help Uncle Paul.
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Chapter Seven
"No, none for me!" Uncle Joey's voice boomed. I jumped and struggled to sit up. The side of my face was gooey from sleeping facedown on the hard shelf. I wiped at it with the back of my hand and tried to figure out where I was.
Uncle Joey's voice went on, "Better leave my mistreated stomach empty if I want to climb tomorrow."
I looked wildly around, trying to see in the pitch dark. A blanket or something was tangled around me. My cheekbone hurt from the hard boards. I rubbed it and tried to think. Climb? Oh, Mount Kenya, at the hut.
The smell of food made my mouth water. I shoved aside the thing tangling up my legs and stood up. "Ouch!" I gasped and grabbed my left foot. Wow, did that heel ever hurt now! Still I wasn't going to miss supper. I got to my feet and felt for the door. Something tripped me, and I bumped the door and staggered out into the light.
"The sleeper awakes!" Uncle Joey boomed.
"Your hair is sticking straight up," Sandy said, bursting into giggles.
I blinked at her, trying to get my head together. Everybody was sitting in a circle around a fire and a pot of food. There was a lamp lit.
Mom came towards me and smoothed my hair. "You OK, Anika? You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you. I covered you with your sleeping bag."
"Um, Mom," I interrupted. "Is there an outhouse or something here?"
"I'll show you, but put this on."
She handed me my jacket, and I shrugged into its thick canvas warmth. The movement made my shoulders ache again. I followed her, limping across the frosty grass. It looked silver in the moonlight.
When I came out, Mom had her back to me and was looking up at the peaks. They stood huge and black in the bright silver light.
"I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help," Mom said, then she added in a more determined voice, "My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth."
It was the psalm Daddy had read, only King James Version. I hung back, wondering if she was thinking about God helping her with this Rick thing.
She turned and put her arm around me. "We have a great God, don't we?"
I nodded, not sure what to say. Instead I looked at the peaks high in the huge silver-lit sky. The mountain's beauty and power swelled over me until no room was left. I stood still, drinking it in.
"Anika, there's something I need to tell you," Mom said.
I froze, dreading what she would say.
"I should have told you before, but I wanted to do this climb so much first." She sighed, and I squirmed. "When I was a teenager I did something very foolish.…" There was a long pause. "I… um… got involved with a boy in a way I shouldn't have, and—"
Suddenly I was angry. She was supposed to say it wasn't true. Rick was not her kid! I didn't want to hear it.
"Mom, can't we just go back? I'm starving," I blurted.
I twisted away from her and hurried toward the others. She came after me and caught my shoulder. I flinched and twisted away again.
"Anika, you're limping badly."
"My heel hurts," I said, glad to get her attention away from the thing I didn't even want to think about. It was like a monster just outside the door. If I didn't open the door and look at it, maybe it would go away. A sore foot was easier to deal with.
"I want to take a look at that in the light."
I nodded, but I still kept hurrying to get away from her.
"Hungry, Anika?" Uncle Paul asked, handing me a bowl of steaming stew.
The hot, meaty stew was the best thing I ever ate. It warmed up my cold, hungry body.
"At least somebody is getting some good out of Elsie's stew," Uncle Joey said. "I figured a good hot meal would be worth the extra weight to pack it in. But it didn't do me much good."
"Why not?" I asked, surprised.
"I don't think my stomach is too keen on food right now."
"Speaking of stomachaches and such, who is planning to go on tomorrow?" Uncle Paul asked. "The ones who aren't able can sleep in and wait for the rest of us here."
"I'm going!" I blurted through a mouthful of stew.
"Anika, I want to check your foot out first," Mom said.
"But Mom! It gets numb after I walk a bit. I'm going!" I insisted. "You're wrecking my life!"
Mom looked like I had slapped her in the face. There was a dead silence and everybody stared at me. I ducked my head, frowning furiously. Mom was wrecking everything. First Rick, and then not letting me climb.
After a second Uncle Paul kept on with finding out who was going. I listened but I wouldn't look up at Mom.
"Lisa?" he asked. "You were looking pretty miserable earlier."
"I'
m OK now. I want to try," she said.
"Good for you, Lisa, that's the spirit," Uncle Joey said almost as loud as usual. "I'll give it a try too, Paul. After all I can't let my little girl beat me."
"Hazel?" Uncle Paul asked.
"I feel fine, but I want to check Anika's foot. I'll stay back with her."
"Mom, I'm going!" I insisted.
"Not if you don't let me look at that foot," she said in the voice that means it's no use arguing.
I had to grit my teeth hard to keep from yelling when she pulled my boot off. My stomach felt sick when I looked. The whole heel of my sock was red.
"Anika!" Mom said, sounding shocked. "You tould have should me!"
"Huh?" said Uncle Joey.
She peeled off my sock. There was a raw spot about as big as a quarter. The cold air made it sting. For a second I wanted to stay back. I clenched my teeth. It would be really stupid to get this far and stop.
"It's just a rubbed-off blister," I insisted. "Really, it gets numb after a bit when I walk."
"You sure you want to try?" Mom asked gently.
I nodded without looking at her.
"You're going to have to walk on it anyway. If we get it clean and covered with moleskin, you can give it a try. Sandy, would you get the first-aid kit out of my pack? Then I want all you kids to check your feet for blisters. If Anika had done something about this when it started, we wouldn't have this mess."
It turned out that everybody checked their feet, even the grown-ups. Uncle Paul said to wash them good and get clean socks on. I'd never thought about it, but he said keeping your feet healthy is one of the most important things when you're out in the wilderness. A couple of other people had blisters, but not like mine.
"It's going to hurt worse tomorrow," Mom said.
I grunted and turned my back on her to pull on my socks.
Lisa came and sat by me. "What's the matter, Anika?" she whispered.
I muttered, "Nothing" without looking up at her.
"So you don't have to be so stuck-up," she said, sounding upset.
"So maybe I'm afraid I won't make it up the mountain tomorrow," I said, trying to head her off. The only trouble was, saying it made me realize how true it was. On top of everything else I really was scared I wouldn't make it. My heel hurt a lot. Also I'd had a headache all afternoon, and maybe that meant I was starting to get altitude-sick.
"Oh," she said, "you will. You were first here, weren't you?"
"That doesn't count. I was really out of it," I said, carefully pulling my sock over the bandage on my heel.
"It's me that won't make it. I want to because of Dad."
She sounded so sad that I looked up at her. "At least you don't have a bad foot," I said.
"I just want Dad to think I'm OK for once." She paused, then added, "I asked God, so maybe it will be OK."
"Yeah, maybe it will be OK," I said softly, not just thinking about the mountain.
"Hey, I know," Lisa said. "Let's—"
"Anika! Lisa!" Mom called. "Come on, you two. Bedtime. Hurry up."
"But, Mom, I don't have my boot back on," I said.
"Hop then. You've got to take it off for bed anyway. Sandy and Traci are already tucked in. We've all got to get to bed early so we'll be ready to get up before dawn."
"Before dawn?" Lisa squeaked, stopping halfway to the hut.
I laughed and hopped after her.
"I don't do 'before dawn,"' she insisted.
"So you're staying back?" I asked, grabbing her shoulder to keep my balance.
"No way. But they're not going anywhere." She flapped her hand at the peaks showing in the moonlight. "I don't see why we have to get up so early."
"Don't ask me. People who climb just do," I said, hopping toward the door.
It was cold getting changed. We decided to put on the inside layer of the clothes we were going to wear the next day. I snuggled into my sleeping bag, hugging myself against the cold. Uncle Joey came in to read us the Bible.
He stood there in the flickering light of the lantern and read, "'But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again. They will be able to rise up as an eagle in the sky. They will run without needing rest. They will walk without becoming tired.'"
"Does that mean we can get to the top for sure if we just trust God, or whatever?" Traci asked.
Uncle Paul chuckled, but didn't say anything. He was leaning against the wall, and the dim light made his beard look even bigger.
"Well?" Traci demanded.
"No, I guess not," said Uncle Joey after a bit. "Actually, that's why I read it, to encourage myself. But you're right. It doesn't exactly fit. I think it means God will give us the strength to do the things we need to do, the things that are right. I guess making it to the top of Mount Kenya isn't exactly essential."
"It is to me!" Sandy said, and everybody laughed.
Uncle Joey asked Mom to pray. In her prayer she thanked God for the reminder that his strength was enough for any situation. I didn't get the feeling she was talking about the mountain.
The adults went out to the fire just outside the door. I could hear their voices coming softly through the wall as I waited for my sleeping bag to warm up. After a minute I realized that I could feel my heart beating like I was running. I was breathing hard too.
"I think I'm dying," Traci whispered suddenly.
Sandy sat up straight in her sleeping bag and yelled, "Mom!"
"What is it?" Uncle Joey asked, opening the door.
"Traci's dying!" Sandy blurted.
Traci sat up and said, "My heart is going too fast."
Uncle Joey bellowed with laughter. "So's mine, and I'd bet my bottom dollar so is every one of the other kids'. It's the high-altitude demons again."
"What d'you mean?" Traci asked, sounding irritated.
"Look at it this way," he explained. "The air is too thin, so you have to breathe more to get enough oxygen, and your heart has to pump more to take enough oxygen to your body."
"Oh," she said, and lay down.
"Sleep tight, kids," Uncle Joey said, and he shut the door, still chuckling.
After a bit Traci said, "It feels weird, trying to go to sleep breathing like you're running."
"Shhh!" Lisa and I both hissed.
I half woke up when the adults came to bed. They shoved everybody over, and Lisa ended up partly on top of me. I didn't care because that was warmer. Somebody was snoring. I pulled my sleeping bag over my face to get out of the cold. Traci jabbed me hard with her knee. I shoved her off.
Whanggg! Bang! The noise echoed in my head. I tried to sit up and couldn't. People were yelling. I thrashed and finally found the top of the sleeping bag and got my face out. I gasped for breath and sat up. A flashlight beam was dancing around the hut.
"What happened?" Lisa asked sleepily.
"Your dad knocked the pot and kettle down," Sandy said.
"There was something in here! There was!" Uncle Joey insisted. "Some animal, and I reached for the flashlight and hit the pots first."
"Well, I think you got rid of it pretty efficiently," Mom said, half laughing.
Uncle Paul's sleeping bag turned over with a thump, and he said something like, "Just hyraxes… hyraxes… sleep." It thumped over again and held still.
"Hyraxes?" Uncle Joey asked. "Oh, those rabbity things that are supposed to be related to elephants. I thought they lived in trees."
I sighed and lay down again. All that noise for a dumb hyrax.
Mom laughed, "Tree hyraxes do."
"Rock hyraxes!" Uncle Paul's sleeping bag said loudly. "Saw them yesterday … beg food all over the camp. Must be blind. Sleep!"
"OK, OK, I get the point," Uncle Joey said, and he lay back down.
It seemed like I'd only been asleep about ten minutes when somebody's watch alarm went off. The high, piercing beep kept on and on. I dragged my eyes open. It was pitch dark.
Something thumped over on the end where Uncle Paul was, and the beep quit.
"Dawn in a hour," he grunted. There were more thumps. There was a gust of cold air, and the door banged shut behind Uncle Paul.
This is it; this is the day, I thought, and I sat up with a jerk. It felt like I'd knocked my brain loose, because my head started aching like fury. Also I had to go to the bathroom.
So what, I thought and grinned. This is the day I get to the top of Lenana peak of Mount Kenya. I leaned on one elbow and felt for my clothes along the wall where I'd left them.
"Ow!" Lisa complained in a muffled voice. "Get your elbow off me."
I jerked back.
"Stop it, Anika!" Traci snapped from the other side of me. "Get off me."
"Sorrreee!" I said, stuffing a sweatshirt over the T-shirt I'd slept in. I pulled off the sleeping bag and fumbled to get my jeans on over my sweatpants. Brrr! It was cold.
My feet bumped my boots as I climbed off the shelf. I felt around to turn them right side up and stuffed them on. Wow, did that hurt my heel! I gritted my teeth and limped out the door, heading for the outhouse.
As soon as I was outside I wished I'd stopped to put on my jacket. I hugged myself and limped faster. The moon was behind the edge of the mountain, but you could still see—sort of, anyway. The grass was pale silver and crunchy with frost.
When I came out of the outhouse, I stood still, shivering, and looked up at the peaks. They rose up, high and black, into the dim silver sky. There was a wide light streak above the mountain shoulder from where the moon was. I guess you could call it a moonset. Straight overhead, away from the moonlight, the stars looked close enough to touch.
I shivered again harder, partly because I was excited, then, forgetting all about my heel, I ran for the hut.
When I stopped by the door, I almost fell. Whew, was I dizzy, and my head was banging in time to my heartbeat. I leaned my head against the cold door to catch my balance. My stomach heaved up and down like a bird's nest at the end of a branch in a high wind.