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To The Rescue

6 min read
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? Chapter Eleven

THE STORY SO FAR: Hearing her father and the other Elders, and realizing they need help, Rainera begins running toward their voices – and the cliff!

As Rainera ran along the path, she heard Dalton yelling somewhere behind her. The voices, which had seemed so close and clear, now seemed far-off again. And they seemed to be coming from a different direction, which caused her to turn back toward the plateau and the cliff.

She thought she’d find her father and the others any second now. Instead, only boulders loomed out of the fog and mist. The rocky path was wet and slippery, and she nearly fell twice. If she hadn’t caught her balance in time, she would have had some nasty cuts and sprains.

Or worse. The cliff edge was dangerously close.

“Who’s there?” called her father from ahead. “Rain? Rain, is that you?”

Luckily, his voice stopped her – just as she was about to plunge over the cliff edge. And suddenly there he was, big as a bear, his mouth open, gaping at her in surprise. Next she made out the dark, gnarled face of Jenson, the hunter. And there, on the rocky ground, lay the mayor, Phil Brunton, his tough face clenched in pain. A dark stain of blood covered the front of his coat, and one arm was bent awkwardly.

Dalton stumbled out of the bank of fog behind Rainera and nearly collided with her.

“Rainera? Dalton? What in blazes are you doing here? What is the meaning of this?” exclaimed Rainera’s father, stunned by their sudden appearance.

He wasn’t the only one surprised. Shock even showed on the normally stolid, unexpressive face of Jenson. The mayor, too, though clearly in pain, had half raised himself and was staring at them, wide-eyed.

Rainera looked back at the anxious, surprised faces before her.

“We heard you calling for help,” she explained. Then she rushed on, the words pouring out. “Now you can carry the mayor to safety. Dalton and I can go on. We’re ready! We’ll meet the Eagles!”

The men looked at her, stunned all over again. She saw that in their eyes she wasn’t acting thoughtfully or carefully. But she couldn’t help it. What had to be done seemed so clear.

“But … but what are you two doing here?” her father stammered, trying to grasp what was going on.

“We, Dalton and I,” she answered, “were, uh … climbing the mountain. We heard you talking and want to help.”

Jenson, his eyes boring into them, asked, “So, you two just happened to be climbing the mountain in winter, on the day we’re to meet the Eagles?”

“They know we’re up to something,” Rainera told herself. “They know it’s not just a coincidence that we’re up here.”

The men looked at one another. Then her father spoke. “Rainera, tell us what’s going on.”

She opened her mouth, not sure what to say. Then, once again, her words came pouring out. “We – I – wanted to see the Eagles. I made Dalton take me up the mountain.”

If the men looked shocked before, it was nothing to how they looked now.

Her father was the first to speak: “I guess the road we’re on is not what we thought. Something more seems to be at work. Something no one could predict.” He looked at the others. “We need them. We need them to finish the job.”

“Maybe it’s … for the best,” gasped the mayor. “Couldn’t have planned it … better.”

“Haste makes waste,” countered Jenson, and spat into the snow. Then he stood silently, as if deep in thought. Suddenly he put his hand in his pocket – and pulled out a gun. Eyes flashing defiantly, he turned the weapon, grip first, toward Rainera. “Take this,” he said. “Just in case.”

“Are you crazy?” yelled Rainera’s father. Leaping forward, he knocked the gun from Jenson’s hand and sent it spinning over the cliff.

Rainera had never seen her father so angry. She was afraid he was going to hit Jenson. Instead, he grabbed him by the lapels of his coat, almost lifted him from the ground, and pushed him away so that the hunter fell sprawled in the snow.

Jenson got up slowly, his face dark. He stared at the big man towering over him and appeared to be thinking carefully. “Just trying to be helpful,” he said stiffly. “Who knows what they’ll face.”

“I’m easily as concerned as you, Jenson, believe me,” Rainera’s father said. “She’s my daughter, remember? But no guns; that’s not the way to do this.”

Then he turned to Rainera and said, “Rain, listen. Sometimes the person who has a talent for haste is just the one who’s needed. They spring up, just in time. Like now.”

“And then you have to … trust them,” said the mayor slowly and painfully. “Them and their … road.” He looked at Jenson, who looked back, then shrugged and turned away.

“You’re an adult now, Rain,” said Rainera’s father, “and each adult of the People has his or her own way. This is a big road you’re now on, you and Dalton. It’s not ours any longer, but yours, both of yours. It looks as if you two are meant to be our representatives, the youngest ever. Though you haven’t been chosen in the usual way, you have been chosen nonetheless, for here you are, exactly where and when you are needed. Go and see the Eagles. Find out what they want. Listen well, remember everything they say and do, then come back down the mountain and tell us.

“Go now, both of you, with our blessings. Have courage, and do your best. We’ll be waiting for you down in the village when you return.”

• NEXT WEEK: Up on Top

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