Mountain Mission

by Kristin Earhart

  “So no littering,” Eliza said. “Obviously.”

  “My pack’s at capacity,” Sage said. “If I have to carry more, it’ll slow me down.”

  “I can take more,” Russell offered. “I can get those ropes. And some of the harnesses.”

  Dev nodded, and they used a spare bungee cord to strap them to Russell’s bag. As Dev was cinching the cord tight, Sage prompted, “How much time do we have left?”

  Dev grabbed the ancam and called out, “Ninety seconds.”

  “Eliza, can you do a last sweep of the place to make sure we didn’t forget anything?”

  Eliza trotted back inside and quickly came back. “All clear,” she announced.

  “And so is the team,” said Jace, tapping his watch. “You’re good to go.”

  “Okay, Team Ten, this is it,” Sage said to make it official, and they all took off along the same path they’d taken the day before. “Dev, please tell us when we have a clue, otherwise we’re just taking in the scenery.”

  “Will do.” Dev had loaded a copy of the map on the ancam, and Russell had the real thing in a waterproof pouch on the inside of his jacket.

  The sun was on the rise, cresting the top of a mountain and making the clouds a brilliant white. Now that they weren’t scurrying around to gather supplies and secure backpacks, Russell realized he could see his breath. His headache from the day before was gone—no more tingling fingers or toes. But he still had that nagging feeling. He searched the horizon, scanning the craggy face of the rock walls. He even glanced over his shoulder.

  “What are the chances that those wolves from last night are still on the prowl?” he asked out loud.

  “Not likely,” Mari said.

  “You sure? I thought I heard something,” Russell stated.

  “It could be the snow melting,” Dev suggested. “There are probably countless tiny streams trickling down the cliffs.”

  As the sun grew taller in the sky, light glistened on the melting snow. Russell avoided the chilly puddles on the path. Now was no time for soggy socks.

  “We got it!” Dev called out. “Our clue!” He read it to the group.

  Six legs,

  Four wings,

  Biggest of the big,

  On its back—

  Yellow-and-black,

  And spring red

  In its basket.

  First thing in the morning,

  Nests shiver with a warning.

  CREATURE FEATURE

  HIMALAYAN CLIFF BEE

  SCIENTIFIC NAME: Apis dorsata laboriosa

  TYPE: insect

  RANGE: regions of the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal, China, India, and Bhutan

  FOOD: mostly nectar and pollen. Queen bees eat a special substance called royal jelly.

  The Himalayan cliff bee is the largest of all honeybees, measuring over an inch. The bees live in colonies and build giant disk-shaped hives on the sides of the cliffs.

  For protection, the bees line up side by side around the golden hive. Instinctively, they shake their bodies in unison, creating a ripple effect. This shivering motion is a warning, discouraging anyone trying to raid the hive. These honeybees are not only the largest; they are also some of the most dangerous.

  The bees collect nectar. They store the nectar where it is exposed to air. The moisture in the nectar evaporates, making it thicker and stickier. Over time, it becomes honey.

  Building hives hundreds of feet high should keep them safe. But this honey is extremely tasty. Local villagers climb handmade ladders 200 to 300 feet (60 to 90 meters) in order to reach the honey. It is an age-old tradition—and a hazardous one!

  “The clue’s not as tricky as you think,” Eliza said as they marched along the muddy path. “They’re just trying to throw you off at the end.”

  “You mean the part about a basket?” Sage replied, brushing the hair out of her face. “Or the part about nests that shiver? Because they both threw me.”

  “And what’s the red stuff?” Dev added.

  “Seriously? How did you guys win the last race?” Eliza huffed with disbelief. “You need to start with what you know.”

  “And we know that six legs plus yellow-and-black bodies probably means a bee,” Mari put in. “And they’ve told us that we’re looking for the biggest. Around here, that would be giant cliff bees.”

  Russell had to laugh. That was how they had won the entire race. Mari.

  “But what about the red basket?” Dev reminded them. “That was the weird part.”

  “The basket is a special pouch on the bees’ legs. They use it to store pollen,” Eliza said.

  “But the basket isn’t red,” Mari pointed out. “The red is pollen from a special flower that blooms in the spring and makes the most amazing honey. At least, that’s what the video that I watched said.”

  “I saw that, too!” Eliza said, and the two started walking side by side, comparing notes.

  “Well, you guys got that right,” Dev declared, holding up the ancam. “It was worth twenty points, but we’ll get thirty more if we send in a picture.”

  “So that’s how it’s going to work,” Sage said. “We can get extra points for the picture, or we can keep moving and make better time.” She kept talking as they made their way up a steep path littered with rocks. Bright green grass sprouted in new clumps wherever the sun could reach. “Jace,” Sage continued, “is there any way to know how many points we get for finishing first? Can we figure out if we should try to get a photo or just move on?”

  “I don’t have any real advice,” Jace replied. “They didn’t tell the guides the details of the point system.”

  Sage needed to have a plan, even though they didn’t have enough information to make one. But that wasn’t how Russell approached things. He didn’t need to win the All-Star Extravaganza. They had already won The Wild Life as a team of four. Eliza was the only one who had not been part of the winning crew.

  But if they won again, it would mean more prize money. Russell had wanted to donate a bunch of his Wild Life earnings to his local rec center. The center was kind of run-down, but he loved it. It’s where he played basketball, flag football, and baseball in the spring. And it was where he’d met Dallas and his other friends who had all ended up on Team Green in Season 10. Even after what had happened, Russell considered meeting them a good thing.

  When Russell had told his parents that he wanted to donate some of the money to the center, they had refused. “It’s for your future,” they had said. “Maybe for college.” Russell had tried to argue, but it was no use. He trusted his parents. He knew they were looking out for him.

  If Team Ten won the All-Star Extravaganza, Russell could use some of the money the way he wanted. He thought about how the rec center could get a real backstop for the baseball field. He wondered if he and Dallas and the other guys would be on the same team.

  “Dude, what’s up?” Dev asked.

  Russell gave Dev a long look. “Nothing,” he replied under his breath—breath that was much more even today, now that he’d adjusted to the altitude.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Russell lifted his eyes from the ground to discover that they were nearing the top of a pass, a narrow path between two mountains. They had been in the shadow of a mighty peak, but now the sun warmed Russell’s head, right through his tight curls to his scalp.

  “Whoa,” Eliza said as she joined them. The team gathered together to take in the view.

  “Oh my gosh,” Mari exclaimed, peering through binoculars. “Langur monkeys!”

  “Where?” Eliza asked, cramming her own binoculars into her eye sockets.

  Mari pointed to a clutch of trees thick with blossoms. “These guys hang out in trees and on the ground,” Mari observed.

  “The scientific term for an animal that’s tree-dwelling is arboreal,” Eliza added absentmindedly.

  “What’s super cool about these monkeys is that they behave differently than their relatives who live lower in the mo
untains. Up here, they cluster in a big friendly family group. Farther down, the groups are much smaller because the males always fight about who is in control.”

  “Why?” Sage asked.

  Mari shrugged. “Mountain life is hard, so these guys stick together.”

  “It is hard,” Dev said, studying the ancam. “Hard going. We’re not making much progress.”

  “We’ve got to keep moving,” Sage announced as she headed downhill at a jog.

  Mari lagged behind. She couldn’t just lope past the monkeys. Russell stayed back to wait for her, until he heard the other three yelling. Then he and Mari took off.

  “What’s the matter?” Russell called as they rounded the bend.

  Sage, Dev, and Eliza were gazing up at a wall of red rock.

  “Whoa, it’s gigantic,” Russell said.

  “Well, yeah,” Dev agreed. “But more importantly, look up there. Gigantic bees.”

  “No way,” replied Russell.

  “Way,” said Dev. “We got lucky.”

  They all stared at the disk-shaped masses that jutted out from the cliff wall. The hives were humongous, and they were covered with hundreds of huge bees.

  “There’s even a ladder.” Eliza motioned to an old rope ladder that was obviously handmade. It went hundreds of feet straight up.

  “I don’t know,” Mari mumbled. She stared at the cliff and raked her teeth along her upper lip.

  “I can do it,” Russell offered. But Dev insisted that as the keeper of the ancam it was his duty.

  The team approached the ladder together. “I don’t know,” Mari repeated. “It feels like we shouldn’t.”

  “We’re not going to get thirty points any easier,” Sage said, and Dev strode to the ladder.

  “I’ll be careful, Mari,” Dev assured her. There was something in his voice—a softness—that made Russell think that Dev understood Mari’s concern. The ladder wasn’t theirs. They had no idea of its history. It probably belonged to local people who relied on the honey from the hive. The race’s rules said they must leave the land as they found it. Maybe the ladder deserved that respect, too.

  But the ladder was the only way to the bees, other than climbing the cliff and trying to get a photo from the top. While both ways were dangerous, the ladder would be much faster.

  Dev steadied one foot on a low rung and pulled himself up.

  “Don’t get too close,” Mari advised. “If you upset one bee, it will release a chemical that the other bees will detect. Then the whole hive will be on alert. That’s all it takes to start a swarm.”

  “Well, thanks, Mari,” Dev said, forcing a swallow.

  When she thought Dev was out of earshot, Eliza whispered, “Too bad we didn’t pack a bee helmet. I saw one back at the rest stop.”

  “Well, feel free to go back and get it,” Sage replied dismissively. “Grab me an extra granola bar while you’re at it.”

  Eliza locked eyes with Russell. When they’d first met, Sage hadn’t had a sense of humor at all. She had finally developed one, but she didn’t always use it at the right time.

  “A bee helmet might have been nice, but there’s no way I would have carried it,” Russell said. “I already feel like a pack mule. Besides, Dev will play it safe up there.” At least Russell hoped he would.

  Staring up at Dev’s lanky body, all knees and elbows, Russell felt a surge of concern. He stepped forward and used his weight to steady the swinging of the ladder.

  “Just a little farther and I can get it with the zoom,” Dev called down.

  But at that moment, something dropped from above. It hit Russell’s shoulder and ricocheted to the ground. Before he could react, something else hit his arm with a decisive ping. Russell let go of the ladder to rub the spot. Whatever it was, it really stung.

  “Wait. What’s that?” Eliza asked. She motioned toward the hives with one hand and gripped her binoculars with the other.

  “They’re starting to swarm,” Mari murmured.

  A chill ran through Russell, numbing him. It was Sage who managed to cry out. “Dev! Get down! Now!”

  CREATURE FEATURE

  CENTRAL HIMALAYAN LANGUR

  SCIENTIFIC NAME: Semnopithecus schistaceus

  TYPE: mammal

  RANGE: regions of the Himalayan Mountains in Pakistan, Nepal, China, India, and Bhutan

  FOOD: fruit, leaves, flowers, and buds

  The Central Himalayan langur is a species of gray langur monkey that lives 5,000 to 13,000 feet (1,500 to 4,000 meters) above sea level. It’s a mountain monkey! It travels up and down the mountain with the seasons, preferring lower levels during the winter and higher climbs from spring to early fall.

  Langur bodies are long and slender, with hands and feet to match. They eat a variety of plant foods and have large, complex stomachs for digesting fruit, leaves, and other plants.

  There are many different species of langur monkey. In India, some are even trained to chase less-friendly monkeys away from people’s gathering places. These helpful monkeys are revered as a sacred symbol of the Hindu god Hanuman.

  Russell held tight to the ladder. When he glanced up, he couldn’t see anything but the intense glare of the sun. From the way the ladder pitched and swayed, he could tell Dev was scrambling toward the ground. The question was whether a massive swarm of bees was coming with him.

  Jace rushed forward and took Russell’s place. Russell backed away and was at last able to see Dev, who was shinnying down the ladder rung by rung. Russell narrowed his eyes, searching for a swarm of angry insects. He didn’t see one, but he did see something else plunge past them. More rubble? Russell wondered. He rubbed his arm again.

  “What’s going on?” Mari asked. Despite being huddled with the others, she had covered her eyes and hadn’t seen a thing.

  “He’s got it,” Sage answered under her breath, putting an arm on Mari’s shoulder. “He’s almost here, and the bees seem to have settled down.”

  Yet, just as Sage said it, they all heard a crack, followed by a hum, like the long vibration of a guitar string. The hum grew louder.

  “It’s one of the hives!” Eliza cried. “An entire hive! Run!”

  At first, Russell couldn’t move. A dark, churning cloud—a mass of giant insects moving as one—was headed their way.

  Jace let go of the ladder and started to grab each of the kids, one by one, and hurtle them in the direction of the trees. “Go!” he yelled. “To the trees!”

  Russell shielded his eyes. Then came a two-handed shove, and Russell stumbled forward, catching himself. “Go!” Jace yelled again. Russell got the hint and took off running. Then the guide pulled Dev from the ladder and together they ran after the rest of the team.

  Under the cover of the thick leaves, the team gathered together and caught their breath. Russell took off his backpack and tried to stretch out his shoulders.

  “What happened back there?” Eliza blurted.

  “I’m not sure, but we’ve got to be on alert,” Jace answered.

  “What do you mean?” Sage asked, pressing for details.

  “I mean that this isn’t the safest place for kids to be plotting their own course,” Jace confided. “It’s wilder than other places you’ve been. The animals. The mountains. I mean, you can’t even trust the ground under your feet. It’s always moving.”

  Russell listened closely. Did Jace think there might have been a tremor, a small earthquake?

  What Jace suggested made sense. Russell had learned about the Himalayas in science class. He learned that the tectonic plates under the earth’s crust are in constant movement. In some regions, the plates move more than others. The Himalayas were one of those places. The plate movement could cause regular earthquakes and landslides.

  “We’re pretty much on our own out here.” Jace wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm, but he kept his gaze toward the ground. “I trust you guys and all, but this terrain is rough even for seasoned hikers and climbers. A joyride, it is
not.”

  Russell glanced around at his teammates. Expressions were grave. This wasn’t just about winning the race. It was about surviving the mountains. The Wild Life had never been like that before.

  “On the bright side,” Dev began, “I got a shot of the bees, so we should earn the points.”

  Instead of cheers, there were nods of relief.

  “And we just got another clue.” Dev read it out loud.

  No more red than Pippi,

  No more bear than cat.

  With rings and a mask

  This mammal is all that.

  The common name may make you groan,

  But now its family is all its own.

  Instead of all chiming in to figure out the clue, the team looked back at Dev with blank faces.

  Russell tried to focus, but his mind was still back at the cliffs, wondering what had upset the bees. Was it a tremor?

  “Maybe we should try to figure it out as we hike to the next pass,” Sage suggested.

  “Yeah, let’s do that,” Eliza agreed, but no one moved.

  After a moment, Sage pulled up her socks. Mari tightened the band at the end of her braid. Russell hefted his bag onto his back, and the whole crew ducked out from the cover of the trees into a dense, wet mist.

  The Himalayas rise between the hot, humid land in northern India and the high, dry stretches of Tibet. The weather in these places is very different. As warm, moist air from India travels north, it gets trapped in the mountains and creates very extreme weather.

  The wet air often clings to the mountaintops, covering the area in a cloudy mist. At higher altitudes, where it is always cold, the wetness means snow and lots of it.

  Summer is monsoon season in the Himalayas. A monsoon is a strong wind that changes with the season, and can alter the weather. The term monsoon has also come to mean the intense, enduring rains that come with the wind change. The region relies on the rains to sustain them throughout the year. Even though monsoon season can bring damaging rains and floods, it is essential to the people and animals who call the Himalayas home.