Ahead on the rise is a patch of bright sunshine. The forest is giving way to blue sky.
‘Come on,’ Cal says. He and Everett run towards the sunlight. After a moment Riley sprints after them.
They run out into the day and skid to a halt by an old ivy-clad oak stump which stands on the lip of a cliff.
A green basin lies below – a valley enclosed by rocky peaks. The long grass of the meadow bends in the wind, as if under a stroking hand. There are low buildings on the valley floor. They look like stables or barns. There are terraces on the distant, facing side of the valley, beds and plantings and things like that – Riley guesses vegetables. She doesn’t know much about growing. To the west there is a gleam of water, showing the faint pink of the coming sunset. Beyond the rocky parapets that line the valley the hills are blue whales.
In the distance the eastern end of the valley is covered in green forest which moves gently in the wind. Occasionally through the waving treetops can be glimpsed something skeletal, black and ruined. Riley averts her eyes. If you stare too hard at a grave it might look back at you.
She sneaks a look at Cal’s face. His eyes have a feeling. He’s glad to be home. Envy rises in Riley. She hasn’t felt that kind of happiness since she was small.
‘How do we get down there?’ she asks. The cliff looks sheer, a two hundred foot drop at least.
‘We fly,’ Cal says. Reaching into the ivy-clad oak, he produces a kind of harness. Riley sees that there is a thick braided wire running from the oak down to the valley below. It’s fastened to a steel bar set between a pair of standing stones out in the meadow far below.There is some kind of wheel attached to the top. He sets the wheels on the wire where they notch sweetly into place.
‘It’s a zipline,’ Riley says to Cal. ‘Really? This is how you get in?’
He grins, white and dark places showing in his mouth. ‘This is the fly. It’s safe. Watch.’
Everett grips the handlebars and pushes off. He yells, a high, cracked noise of joy. It’s the first sound Riley has heard him make. His legs kick the air as he accelerates, descending impossibly fast. As the descent levels out he slows a little but the report when he hits the steel bar between the stones is audible, even from where they stand above.
Everett screams again as he is flung far ahead into the grass, laughing.
‘Yeah, he loves that,’ Cal says, apologetic.
‘But how do you get out?’
‘There’s a winch at the bottom. Get into the harness, someone turns the handle, up you go.’ He reaches for her. ‘Your turn.’
‘I can’t,’ Riley says firmly and simply. ‘I have vertigo. I can never do that.’
Below, Everett brings the handholds for the zipline back to the foot of the cliff. They put it in a basket with the harness and Cal starts to haul it up.
‘You can do it,’ Cal says. ‘You made it through the cliff path. I saw that you were afraid – but you did it.’ Cal takes the harness out of the basket. ‘We’ll do it together. You hold onto me.’
‘No,’ Riley says. ‘I’ll go down another way.’
‘There’s no other way,’ he says, holding out an arm. ‘Time to fly.’
Riley thinks of Oliver and lets Cal put the harness around the both of them. She puts her arms about his neck and settles into the contours of him. He smells like warm skin, sweat.
‘Ready?’ he asks. ‘I won’t let you go. Close your eyes if it helps.’
But Riley doesn’t. If she’s going to die she might as well see itcoming. They push off and all she can feel is her heart beating against his as they whistle hard through the air. As the speed picks up her eyes water but she still can’t close them. Riley concentrates on Cal’s warm limbs.
They hurtle off the end of the line, are flung into the long grass.
‘I did it,’ Riley says. She unbuckles herself and rolls into the meadowsweet, laughing. She finds she can’t stop.
‘You’ve got a grip like a monkey,’ Cal says, rubbing his neck.
‘How many monkeys hug you?’ It’s a really good joke. Riley doubles over, wheezing.
‘Uh, none.’ Cal sounds uncertain. Every time she looks up and sees his puzzled expression it makes her laugh even harder.
‘Ok,’ Cal says, ‘whatever, let’s find Noon.’
Riley follows him across the grass, lightheaded. Giggles erupt from her at intervals. It’s so surprising when things go right after a bad time, it’s almost as much of a shock as when they go wrong.
