“Hold on!”
It was then I realised that we hadn’t hit the wall on the other side. We’d stopped mid river.
I looked down and saw that the cut end of the bridge had snagged onto a rock, creating a much steeper bridge, but still, a working bridge.
The T. rex fought the current, refusing to be swept away. It was slowly moving towards the base of our bridge.
“Climb up! Quick!”
Claire was in front of me, hugging a plank, refusing to move.
Her left leg slipped, kicking me in the face.
I swore and momentarily lost my balance, falling back against Axel before slipping my hands around another plank.
“Hurry! Move, Claire!” shouted Axel from behind me. He slipped a hand around my waist and held me against him. “I won’t let go of you, Amber, no matter what.”
The T. rex was getting closer.
“Hurry!” I screamed. After all we’d been through, I was not going to die between an extinct creature’s jaws.
“Who the hell wants dinosaurs in heaven?” I shouted with frustration, tears stinging my eyes.
Axel wrapped me tighter against him and chuckled in my ear, his voice low and gravelly.
“My baby brother.”
I laughed breathlessly, like a crazy person. It was strange to be finding humour in this situation. Dangling from a bridge over a dinosaur.
“Come on, Claire! Please!”
I tried inching my hands across to hers. If I had to force her to climb, I would.
She screamed and shook me off. I couldn’t get around her. I looked down, past Axel, at the water and the sharp rocks and pictured Bruce’s broken body as it was swept away, and then glanced at the T. rex snapping at Axel’s feet.
I wasn’t about to die. And I wasn’t about to lose Axel either.
The others had already climbed up the bridge and were shouting and screaming at us from above to hurry up. Only Claire was stopping us.
“Hold on. Give me some room,” I said to Axel. He eased his grip on my waist.
Unsheathing my sword, I carefully drew it up and past my body before pointing the tip of it at Claire’s butt.
“I don’t want to have to do this, Claire, I’m so sorry.”
She looked down, under her arm, at my sharp sword poised at her butt.
“What…what are you doing?”
“If you don’t move up this bridge, I’m going to poke you in the arse with this thing. It’s sharp. You won’t like it. Now move!”
She held my gaze for what seemed forever and I mouthed, “Sorry,” before she nodded and started to inch her way up the bridge. Finally.
Axel, who’d slipped his arm back around my waist, whispered, “Clever girl,” in my ear before he let me go and we both started climbing.
Plank by plank we slowly made our way up the bridge until Claire was lifted off by Jacob and Reece and it was just Axel and me.
“It’s gone,” said Axel.
I looked down and saw what he meant. Hopefully the T. rex had been swept away down the river. I didn’t want to imagine that it was waiting for us at the other side of this bridge somehow.
“Nearly there, Amber,” said Axel, who’d climbed a plank or two extra and was behind me again.
With shaking limbs, my muscles burning, I lifted myself up the last couple of planks, and, with the help of Jacob, managed to scramble up the cliff’s face to the edge.
Solid ground.
I threw my sword down and rolled onto my back, staring up at the sky through the canopy of leaves above me. Every muscle in my body burned. I didn’t realise how painful holding on to that bridge had been until now. My fingers throbbed and I had bleeding callouses on my palms from severe rope burn.
“Axel!” I sat up just as he was being pulled up and I knelt down beside him as he caught his breath.
“Thanks,” I said.
He stared into my eyes and didn’t break that stare before he leaned forward and cupped my face in one hand and pressed his lips to my forehead.
“No. Thank you, Amber,” he whispered in my ear before he seemed to realise what he had said and done, and released me as though I was on fire.
He scrambled to his feet and backed away from me, swearing under his breath and raking his hands through his tussled hair.
“You okay?” Noah asked, his gentle hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and nodded.
“You?”
He nodded, blood dripping down his cheek from his forehead. I felt my eyes sting as something trickled into them and when I wiped it away I realised it was blood from where Claire had kicked me in the face.
“What happened to Bruce?” Noah asked, wiping away his own blood. “Is he going to be okay?”
“We have to find him,” said Kyle, who I remembered had taken to Bruce as somewhat of a father figure. They’d bonded over their love for surfing.
I slid my face over to the edge of the cliff and vomited as I pictured the gash on Bruce’s forehead and the way his lifeless body had slammed against the rocks on his way down the wild river.
“I don’t think he’s alive,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. My throat tightened as Kyle’s eyes turned red with emotion. “I’m sorry, Kyle.”
“Maybe he’s okay. You don’t know that he’s dead. He could have washed up somewhere safe.”
“She’s right,” said Jacob, grabbing hold of Kyle’s arm. “I saw him. He hit his head on the rocks. Hard. We’ll have to continue without him.”
“But he said it won’t work if were not together,” said Reuben. “Don’t we have to be a group of nine to get to this Land of Resting Souls place?”
“Maybe we can find his body and carry it with us,” said Claire, her voice hoarse.
“No way,” said Noah. “I’m not going to drag a dead body around.”
They all looked at me, like I was their leader, second in command after Bruce. It made me feel awkward, not heroic or brave. I looked to Axel, because, to me, he was the best authority on this place. I wanted him in command, not me. But he wouldn’t meet my eyes after that forehead kiss.
I sighed. I was on my own.
“I don’t know how this works, but maybe if we get through nine of these Changes, these different versions of heavens or hells, then we’ll get to the Land of Resting Souls. Maybe that’s all there is to it. But I think Claire’s right. I think we need to find Bruce’s body. Maybe if we have him with us it’ll still count. And even more importantly, we can’t leave him in another person’s afterlife. That could be dangerous for his soul.”
“What if he never gets to reunite with his wife?” said Claire. “We have to find him.”
Axel nodded. “I think she’s right,” he said, nodding towards Claire and completely ignoring me. “We must find Bruce.”
Everyone agreed.
I sheathed my sword and rubbed my sore head.
Now that the danger had passed, the effects of the river wine hangover intensified. I wondered how long it would take before I felt normal again. The pounding against my skull was so bad I felt like chopping off my head and throwing myself at the mercy of the rocks below. At least I wouldn’t feel anything anymore. It made me wonder why people went back for it, like Jacob’s mum. If this was how they felt the day after drinking, why would they do it again?
We started walking in the direction of the flowing water, each of us silent, deep in thought.
My cheeks heated as I recalled my failed attempt at kissing Jacob, and when I looked up he was staring back at me over his shoulder, his dark eyes soft, and his cheeks equally as inflamed as mine. He quickly looked away.
Great. Jacob was never going to say another word to me again. I’d ruined my friendship with him before it had begun.
And then there was Axel and that kiss.
A flood of butterflies fluttered inside my lower belly as I recalled the feeling of his hand as it had cupped my face, and the way his lips had caressed my forehead. He’d stared so deeply i
nto my eyes when he’d thanked me. And then there was the way he’d held me tight against his body on the bridge. Oh God. Surely I hadn’t imagined the electricity that had vibrated between us.
“Let’s just follow the river until—”
“Until the shit comes at us,” said Reuben, finishing Reece’s sentence, staring up at the sky before he continued forward, shoulders down. “I’m sick of it already. Maybe I want to let my dad’s soul rest in peace. Maybe we shouldn’t be here.”
“I wish I was home in my own bed,” said Claire, sniffing.
“Me too,” I said, feeling guilty as soon as I said it. I didn’t deserve a comfy bed until I got my brother back.
Reece looked up sharply at me, but his face softened. “Same.”
I was surprised, unsure what to do. Normally he’d attack me for speaking, the only time he’d ever been nice to me was last night, and that was only after he’d drunk from the red river.
“Do you remember much of last night?” he asked, falling into step beside me.
My shoulders stiffened.
“Only the stuff I want to forget.”
He shrugged. “Don’t worry. We all said and did stupid things last night.”
We walked in silence for a while and I wondered how much of last night I’d blocked out. Who knew what else I’d done beside kiss Jacob. Maybe that was why Axel was upset. Had I tried to kiss him too? No. I’d remember kissing Axel. Wait. No. He’d only changed after the bridge and that forehead kiss.
“I remember something you said to me,” Reece said.
I swallowed thickly and tried to quicken my steps but he kept up.
“You remember what Axel said about his mum’s bedtime story? About the River of Truth or some shit like that?”
I nodded. Here we go. What had I said?
“I don’t even remember talking to you,” I said, my breath coming out fast and hard.
“Well, you were pretty drunk, and you came and gave me a hug and you said ‘sorry.’”
“Oh.”
Reece stopped and put an arm out to stop me while the others went ahead.
“You said you were sorry that you couldn’t get your brother out. That you tried until your hands burned, and I never looked at your hands, I never cared to, but you showed me last night.”
I stayed silent for a few seconds, absorbing everything Reece was telling me.
“You saw the scars?” I’d never showed anybody the scars. They were faint enough that if you didn’t look you wouldn’t know they were there. But when you did look, you were treated to a palm no palm reader in the world would be able to decipher.
“Yeah.” His green eyes softened. “Why didn’t you show them to me before? When I first started blaming you, when the whole town did? The newspapers were printing all the stuff about you letting him burn and you starting the fire and then last night you showed me your hands and you told me about how it started.”
Tears burned beneath my lids but I didn’t shed them. My hands burned as though they were being burned on the brass doorknob all over again. My brother’s screams filled my ears.
“It wasn’t your fault, Amber,” said Reece, putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing me. “And I’m sorry I gave you so much hell about it. I’m an arsehole.”
I rubbed my eyes and swallowed down the solid lump in my throat. “It’s okay.”
Reece shook his head. “It’s not okay. Sam was smoking in his room and fell asleep and the ash fell onto the doona. The firefighters told you that in a report, you said so last night.”
“My mum and dad read the report and they knew Sam started it with his cigarette, but they still blame me. They still think I should have stopped Sam. That he was the wild one and that I’m the responsible one.” I paused to blink away the tears burning my eyes and Reece squeezed my shoulder harder. “When Mum read the report, I was waiting for my hugs, for someone to tell me it was okay, that they believed me and were sorry for blaming me. But when she looked up from that piece of paper, she glared at me like she hated me. And I never got the hugs.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, Amber. I’m so sorry.” Reece pulled me into his arms and gave me a bear hug and I lost myself inside of it, lost myself inside the acceptance Reece had just given me.
“I was such a prick to you,” he said, squeezing me tight, his voice breaking. “Sam would hate me for what I did to his sister. I’m a bad friend to him…and to you.”
“It’s okay.” I squeezed him back and then we pulled apart.
Reece patted me on the back. “So can I call you my friend now? Will you have me as your friend?”
I nodded and rubbed away the last of my tears. My shoulders felt light, my head was free of the painful thumping from earlier.
“It’s nice to have someone who believes me for once.”
He smiled, looking like the twelve-year-old Reece standing by the Christmas tree with his mother.
“You want me to tell the others?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“One’s enough for the day?” he asked, and I nodded. “Okay, but I’ll tell Claire tomorrow. She misses you.”
“Thanks,” I said, speaking over the lump that was building up again in my throat.
“It’s okay. Sam was my best friend.” He elbowed me in the ribs. “I’ve got to look out for his little sister.”
I laughed. “Big sister by two minutes. And I’m taller than he was.”
Reece laughed. “You are. Taller than me too. Which I hate.”
I laughed again, and it felt amazing, like fluttery birds were flying out of my lungs, up my throat, and into the sky, making me feel light and giddy.
“What the hell are you two laughing at?” said Reuben, his brows furrowed. He was standing with his arms folded over his chest. The other’s had turned around too and were eyeing us with raised brows.
Reece just laughed and mussed up my hair before catching up with Claire and putting his arm around her. He turned back to face me and gave me a wink and I smiled.
I caught Jacob looking at me with soft dark eyes again and he quickly looked away. I wondered if he was thinking about the kiss and how disgusting an experience it was for him, or wondering why Reece was now talking to me. Or, worse, did I do or say something to him last night that I wasn’t aware of?
No way was I ever drinking again. Water wine or real wine or anything. Just good old plain water from now on.
The earth vibrated beneath out feet.
“Oh shit, not again,” shouted Noah as he ran backwards and crashed into Kyle, knocking him flat on his back.
“What?” Axel said, just in time to see a heard of dinosaurs come bursting through an opening in the trees, running straight for the cliff face…or us.
We split up and ran in opposite directions, and scrambled up the trunks of the low hanging trees that bent over the rushing waters below.
From the thick branch of my tree, I watched as several spiky tailed, short, fat dinosaurs threw themselves off the cliff face.
What on earth? Suicidal dinosaurs?
I blinked as a shimmering light met my eyes, blinding me. At first I thought it may have been the sunlight shining against the water, but then I realised that I couldn’t see the water anymore, just a thick mist of swirling colours that glittered between the two cliff faces.
“Why are they doing that?” Claire said. She was clinging to the same branch as me.
“Maybe it’s the only way to another afterlife, a Change. I don’t know.”
“I looks like a Change to me,” said Axel.
“What if they went down this river and all died?” asked Noah.
“Or what if the river leads to the Land of Resting Souls?” shouted Reuben from a tree further down the riverbed.
“But why would the dinosaurs do that? Why would they want to just off and ride this rainbow river like a waterslide?” Noah asked.
“We’re probably in some kid’s heaven. Maybe the dinosaurs are his friendly companions and t
his is some kind of fun, safe land.”
Axel fixed an intense gaze on me before that gaze softened. I knew he was thinking about his little brother.
“I’m not sliding down there only to be crushed by dinosaurs,” shouted Reuben.
Kyle jumped down from the same tree Reuben was in. He shrugged and started to poke around the trees, looking for something. He returned a minute or so later with a large piece of bark, the size of a boogie board.
“What are you doing?” asked Reece.
Kyle ran over to us.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going for the ride of my life.” He grinned up at us. “I’ve been waiting for this moment forever.”
“But you don’t know what’s down there!” shouted Claire.
Kyle shrugged. “All I know is that something is down there, through that rainbow mist, and maybe it’s good. Maybe it’s a nice place where all our loved ones are waiting. Who knows?” Tears filled his eyes and his face turned red. But then he broke into a wide smile. “But I want to find out.”
“No. Wait!” shouted Reuben from the other tree.
Kyle waved at us all before holding the bark in front of him and jumping off the cliff.
He twisted in the air and shouted out a “Woohoo!” before disappearing into the sparkling rainbow mist beneath him.
Chapter 24
Axel
We watched the lunatic disappear into the glittering mist, his cries echoing his joy. Maybe he wasn’t such a lunatic after all. Maybe he was headed somewhere better than where we were right now. It could be the quickest way to the Land of Resting Souls, or, if he survived the fall, he might possibly find Bruce’s body.
But he was still an idiot for leaving us.
Because now we were missing not only Bruce but Kyle too.
Two down.
Not that it mattered in the end. Well, it did. But in the end only one of us got to bring the soul of a loved one to life, and I selfishly wanted that someone to be me.
I’d almost lost my head earlier, when I’d kissed Amber on the forehead and cradled her face in my hand. I’d wanted everyone around us to disappear so that I could kiss her in more places than just her forehead. I wanted to put my lips to her mouth, and on her neck and her entire body. I’d wanted to kiss those scars on her hands that she thought nobody could see.
Alive (The Veiled World Book 1) Page 20