The Fire Sisters (Brilliant Darkness 3) (8 page)

Plodding along to my left, Conda makes a surprised noise. “A bridge!”

We all stop.

“Where?” Derain asks.

“There… see it?”

I’m jostled out of the way as the others move toward him for a look.

“It blends into the rock wall on the other side,” Peree says.

“How do we get down to it?” Cuda asks.

“Don’t know,” Conda says. “We’ll have to get closer. Careful, everyone. That edge looks like it drops right off.”

Peree takes my hand as we all leave the rustling of the trees behind and step onto what feels like a bare rock ledge. I inch forward. The river, far below now, sounds much different than it did when we first joined it. Now it’s a thousand aqueous creatures that leap, growl, and grind their watery teeth, forming one unstoppable beast.

“Look—a trail to the bridge,” Cuda says. “Cut into the rock wall.”

“The Sisters took the children
there?
” Bear asks.

“I don’t understand,” I whisper to Peree. “What trail?”

“There are sheer rock walls on both sides of the river. A wooden bridge is secured to each one about halfway up. Rock trails are cut into the walls, leading across to the ends of the bridge. Only… the trails are so narrow, we’ll have to shuffle sideways across, and there’s no handhold.”

The tension in Peree’s voice and the stiffness of his hand isn’t due to the height of the trail or the bridge. He grew up in the treetops. No, it’s the fearsome water a long drop below. I’m afraid of how vicious the river sounds, too, and
I
know how to swim. I squeeze his hand. He squeezes back.

“So,” Bear asks, “are we going for it?”

“Do we have a choice?” Moray says.

“We could keep walking and find a place to ford the river,” Conda says.

“
If
we found one,” Kai says. “The bridge is here. Now.”

“This may not be the way the Sisters took the children,” Peree says. “Fenn, do you still smell them?”

“Not right now.” But the wind is whipping my hair around and yanking at my clothes. It could easily be pulling their scent away with it.

“The Sisters
must
use this bridge,” Amarina says. “Who else would maintain it?”

“We will try it.” Derain decides.

“Then I’ll go first.” I’m tired of following everyone else’s lead—tired of being scared and helpless.

“First?” Kai scoffs. “You can’t see the trail.”

“Going last won’t change that,” I coolly answer. “Peree, will you show me where the trail starts?”

“I’ll go across with you.” His voice is tight.

He leads me farther along the bare rock ledge we’ve been standing on, then stops.

“Put your right hand out,” he says. “You should feel the beginning of the wall in front of you.”

I skim my hand up and down, feeling the rock face. It’s vertical, mostly smooth, and warm to the touch, which is odd because it’s not very sunny today. It feels like the clouds have clustered even more, dulling the light, since we’ve been standing around jawing.

“Move your pack to the front,” Peree says. “There’s no room for it behind you against the wall. Give me your walking stick, and I’ll lash it to my pack with my bow. We’ll need both hands free.”

I hand him my stick and relocate my pack, my heart racing. When I’m set, I suck in a breath and release it. I can’t listen to the river below us, or I’ll lose courage.

“Ready."

I’m about to step out when someone tugs hard on my pack, pulling me back. “This is stupid, Peree.
I’ll
go first. Someone needs to check that bridge and make sure it’s sound.”

I grip the wall. “Kai, I can—”

She pushes past me onto the trail and takes her first tentative, sliding steps. I'm speechless.

“Let her go, if she wants to so bad.” Peree takes my left hand in one of his. “Okay, face the river, feel for the wall next to you, and step sideways to your right.”

I swallow down all the spiteful things I
really
want to yell at Kai. I need to focus on not dying now. Pressing my back to the smooth rock of the wall, I step out onto the edge.

The river crashes far below my feet, and the wind shoves my hair into my face and mouth. I can’t tell how deep the edge I’m moving along is, but at least my feet fit on it without hanging off.
My stomach cramps and turns queasy, sensing the height.

After another full breath, I slide a little to the right. Then, a little more. And a little more.

I count the paces in my head the way I used to when I was the Water Bearer. Kai’s feet slide along some distance to my right.

To my left, still holding my hand, Peree keeps in step with me. His breathing is shallow.

“Okay?” I ask him.

“Yes.” But that one flimsy word is enough to tell me he’s petrified.

“Picture us in the trees.” I lick my dry lips and struggle to control my own fear. “We’re walking from your house to Petrel and Moon’s, only…
um
… we’re walking sideways for some reason. Anyway, the wind is blowing through the trees, shuffling the leaves below you. It kind of sounds like a river… but it’s not. Not at all. It’s just leaves and trees.”

He snorts. “Those leaves look like they can drown you.”

“Stay with me,” I say. “We’re in the
trees.
Maybe a storm is coming in, and it’s blowing hard. But you’re safe.”

As a matter of fact, it sounds like a storm
is
coming in. The wind plucks at my pack on my chest; the air holds the charged feel of rain ready to be unleashed. We need to hurry, get everyone across this death trap and back on land.

I’ve lost count of my paces. “How much farther to the bridge?”

“A few more steps,” Peree says. “Almost there.”

I start over counting.
One, two, three, four
… Will we ever get there? Finally, my hand meets what feels like a taut rope.

"We need to duck under the handhold," Peree says with relief. "It’s secured to the rock.”

We both tug on it. Feels secure. Carefully, holding the rope, I bend my knees and go under. I grope for what I assume will be another handhold on the other side. It’s there, about the distance of my outstretched arms, also nice and tight.

“The bridge is in front of you, now,” he says. “Kai’s going across.”

Her feet thud against what sounds like wooden boards. She’s moving one step at a time, probably to test each slat before putting her weight on them. I pull a face in her direction; I could have done the same thing
.
Slinging my pack onto my back again, still holding each handhold, I step forward onto the first slat. My muscles relax—plenty of room here on the bridge.

“I’ll wait until you get a little way across before I start,” Peree says. “Be careful.”

“Okay. You, too.”

“Get moving!” Moray yells from behind us somewhere, his voice faint. “Storm’s coming!”

The slat under my feet feels strong and fresh, not soft or creaky like wood rotted beyond its useful life. I press down on the next slat before putting my full weight on it. Then the next. Another step, and another.

A hard gust buffets the bridge, sending my heart careening around my chest. I yelp, but the wind rips the cry from my mouth. A second blast of wind hits, shaking the bridge like a toy, throwing me off balance. I step awkwardly to the left, gripping the handholds to keep my balance.

Wood splits with a sudden
crack, crack
, and a panicked shout for help comes from in front of me, farther along the bridge.

Right about where Kai should be.

“Kai?” I shout. “Are you okay?”

“No!”

Peree yells at me to wait, but it doesn’t sound like there’s time. Moving as fast as I can, while testing each step, I cross the bridge.

“Where are you?” I call.

I only hear the sounds of the storm. My pulse, already racing, puts on speed. Did she fall? Would I hear a splash?

“I’m
…
here.” Her voice comes from around my knees.

I move closer.

“Stop there!” she gasps. “A few slats broke… there’s a gap.”

I grip the rope handholds and feel for the hole between boards with my foot. “Are you on the other side of it?”

She makes a strangled noise. “
In
it. Hanging from the handhold. To… your left.”

Oh no.

I grope along that rope until I find her hands, cold and hard, clenching the rope. My feet are basically behind me now.
 I move my arm down to her back, trying
 not to think about the empty air we must both be hanging out over, or the hungry river below. she’s too far away; 
I can’t reach all the way around her
.

“Can you pull yourself closer?” I blink rainwater from my eyes. Peree’s a few feet behind me now, his feet thudding closer.

Kai moves my way, bouncing a little. I keep an arm around her, but I have to hold the rope with the other. If she fell now, I wouldn’t be able to hang on to her. She'd take us both down. The wind rattles the bridge, shaking us up with it.

Kai shouts, and her weight falls into my outstretched arm, almost dragging my feet off the bridge. “Hand… slipped!”

Her body twists, stretching the muscles of my arm past the point of exertion and into pain. Teeth clenched, I hold her with all the strength I have.

“I’m here!” Peree leans out behind me, his arm joining mine around Kai’s back. Her body stops swiveling.

“We’ve got you, Kai,” he says. “Reach up and grab the rope again.”

Together, we support her as she slides her hands back to our side of the bridge. We don’t let go.

“Now bring your legs up,” Peree tells her.

Her feet thunk on the board we’re standing on. We back up a little, and Peree must pull her to her feet. I grip the handhold with both hands, breathing hard. He rests a hand on my back.

“All right, Kai?” he says.

“Yeah… thanks," she pants.

I'm glad she's okay, but we can't stay out here chatting. I yell over the wind. “How big is the gap?”

“Two paces,” Peree shouts.

“Should we go back? Try to cross the river some other way?” Lightning fractures the sky overhead.

“Can’t. Cuda and Conda are already coming across on the rock trail. They’d started before the bridge went.” Thunder menaces, and the bridge shudders. “We have to get across this way.”

I hang on to the rope through the next gust of wind.

“The boards on the other side of the gap look okay,” Peree says, “but it’s hard to tell for sure.”

“I’ll go across the rope and test them,” Kai says.

“Kai, wait—” Peree says.

But she doesn’t listen. The bridge sways as she drops back onto the rope. Call the girl reckless, thoughtless, and mean, but she’s no coward.

“She’s across. The slats on the other side held,” Peree says close to my ear. “Do you want to use the rope to cross hand to hand, like she did, or jump?”

Neither?

“Out of the way,” Cuda calls from behind us. He’s trying to sound casual, but I hear the apprehension in his voice. “Con and I are going.”

I must look as sick and indecisive as I feel, because Peree pulls me back to where the bridge meets the rock trail. As soon as we squeeze onto the dubious safety of the rock trail at the start of the bridge, a brother’s feet thump by us. There’s silence for a moment, when he must jump, and then a bang.

I bite my lip hard. “Did he make it?”

“Yeah.”

The other brother does, too. Those boards on the far side of the gap must be strong to take their weight; why did some break up under Kai when she was moving so carefully?

Bear comes next. “You two okay?”

“I need another minute.” I still feel sick, and my heart flutters.

“You can do it, Fenn,” he says. “When you’re ready.”

The bridge creaks as he moves across. Amarina and Derain follow Bear, stopping briefly to check in with Peree and me.

Thunder growls over our heads; rainwater runs down my legs. The river crashes below, a constant reminder that one misstep could mean death for any of us.

“Time’s wasting, sweetheart.” Moray pokes me as he goes by. He smashes onto the other side of the bridge a minute later.

Only Peree and I are left. I hold the carved bird at my neck as if it could flicker to life any moment and carry me to the other side. No such luck. Hands trembling, I reach out for the handholds, and we cross the bridge again.

He grips my shoulder to stop me. “How do you want to do this? Hand to hand or jump?”

“Jump.” The others all did it, and the idea of hanging free in the gap terrifies me even more than a leap. “Two paces, right?”

I feel for the gap with one foot, then back up three measured steps. It’s probably an easy distance, even for me, except I can’t see the boards I’m leaving from or the ones I’m landing on. I try, but I can’t make myself move forward.

Get a grip, Fenn.
You’re the girl who walked out into the Scourge alone, with only a scarf and the severed foot of a rabbit to protect you. You volunteered to search the caves by yourself to find the Hidden Waters. You helped lead a bunch of scared and angry people through the caves to safety in Koolkuna. What’s your problem?

My problem is that those things I did had some terrible repercussions. Was I only courageous before I discovered the true consequences of failure?

Lightning cracks again; the water below seems to spark and sizzle. I feel Peree cringe behind me, but to his credit, he doesn’t rush me. Still, time’s up.
I need to do this right now. He could be injured, or worse, because I was too chicken to jump. 

I press my lips together and wipe my sweating hands on my soaked dress. My feet are ice, and my shoulders hunch up around my ears, but I let go of one rope, hold the other to keep me oriented, and run.

One, two, three
paces—the edge of the bridge is underfoot. I release the handhold and launch myself forward.

For a moment, I fly… the glorious, sleek-feathered cassowary woman of Peree’s story.

Until I land.

Off-balance, I stumble back toward the gap. My hands shoot out to the ropes on either side and come up empty. Peree shouts behind me, much too far away to help. My arms spin and my feet try to stay under me.