Page 56 of My Sister is Going to Kill Me

“Waste their time?” Liv asked.

Imogen waved at the stunning cascade behind her. “You know, with ones like this that are mid.”

Liv wasn’t exactly an outdoorswoman, but still. Some people didn’t deserve mermaids.

“If Babette isn’t here yet, could she be up at the patio?” Devon asked.

Big Pete nodded. “It’s the first decent stop for shade and water after the long hike down.”

“Which way?”

He pointed left, to a stack of crumbly sandstone slabs piled into a makeshift staircase, winding up the steep cliff and over the waterfall.

They were all hot, and sleepy. But Devon’s face had shifted, taking on a grim determination Liv hadn’t seen before.

“This is still my sister’s launch,” Devon said. “Let’s see what she has planned after all.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Up close, Thunder Spring was nothing like the other waterfalls Mandy had seen in the Grand Canyon. It didn’t drop in an orderly sheet, plunge into pools, or cascade down rocks on its own private waterslide. Thunder Spring did all these things, all at the same time. It was wide and messy and undecided, a crazy quilt of motion, like every waterfall ever created tumbled together into a wild simultaneous eruption.

Surrounding the falls, Thunder Spring had spawned an oasis in the desert, with thick cottonwoods, a shag carpet of moss, and undulating bursts of purple-veined white trumpet flowers. Fiona and Lucinda were sitting in the shade, picking feathery leaves off a bush that gave off a sharp, familiar scent.

“Wild mint,” Fiona explained. “Excellent for preventing inflammation.”

“And quite refreshing after that hike.” Lucinda passed Mandy a sprig, and she took an experimental nibble. Delicious. This was how breath mints should taste. Like redemption. Like rebirth.

“Where is Charlie?” Stefan asked.

“Over here.” The CFO was knee-deep in a shadowed pool at the edge of the falls. “Just trying to cool down before I get hiking again.” Charlie pulled himself up onto the mossy bank and walked toward them. His hat was soaked again, along with his hiking shirt and the bottom half of his pants. “I’m thinking I’ll head out soon.”

“But we just got here,” Lucinda protested.

Stefan looked from her to Charlie and then turned to Thor. “Is it permissible for us to go ahead?”

Thor shrugged. “It’s not protocol, but what Big Pete don’t know won’t hurt him. If you stick together, you’ll be fine. It’s a straight shot from here to Surprise Valley. There’s a trail junction there with a sign pointing you to Deer Creek. Follow the arrow, and you can’t miss.”

Stefan gave them a solemn nod. “Then I believe I will press on as well.”

“Sure you don’t want to enjoy the water a little?” Mandy said. “Looks like paradise here.”

“Paradise is a distraction I cannot afford,” Stefan said. “I will hike with Charlie. While you enjoy the splashing.”

She didn’t care if he meant it disparagingly; Mandy fully intended to enjoy the splashing. She approached Thunder Spring, letting the waterfall roar in her face and sting her scalp. Close up, the water was rich with minerals, a pale aquamarine whipped into a sparkling lather. She felt an irrational desire to lick it, to gather its iridescent foam and smear it all over her body. She wondered if this was how Devon had gone from botany to Babette, out of the naked desire to bottle the glory of nature and drench herself in it.

“Magic, right?”

She turned from the pounding cascade. Thor had a cocky smile on his face.

“Want to try something cool?” he asked.

“Cooler than this?”

“There’s a secret place. Behind there.” He pointed to a break in the falls where the spring ran over a ledge.

She looked dubiously at the water pouring over the rocks, the variable force of it, the way it galloped and gurgled in alternation.

“C’mon. Law of the wild. You’ll love it.”