Page 49 of Chained

"We aren't going to make it the whole way tonight. The forest isn't safe when it gets too dark," Coal said as we paused in a clearing. "There's a place to stop beyond this ridge."

"Why isn't it safe at night?" I called after him as he turned aside and clambered up the small hill.

"You don't really want to know," he replied as he reached the summit and dropped out of sight.

"Yes I do!" I shouted after him but he didn't reply, leaving me to scramble up the thorny incline with Laurie.

At the top we realised the hill, which had been running along the side of our path for some time, had been hiding a small lake from view.

The water stretched out before us, its surface clear and silvery with a perfect reflection of the moon and first stars of the night's sky. Coal was standing next to Kaloo at the water's edge. She leaned forward to take a drink and ripples spread away from her.

A huge waterfall splashed in the distance on the far side of the lake, creating a gurgling sound that reached out and filled the silence.

"Any chance you can swim?" Coal looked doubtfully between Laurie and me.

"No," Laurie replied as I shook my head.

"Do you possess any useful talents?" He grinned as he started to pull off his boots, followed by his shirt.

I tried to think of something snide to say in response but the power of speech seemed to have abandoned me again as he undressed and I dropped my gaze to scrutinise my boots.

"Wait here while I unload sleeping beauty. Come on Kaloo."

We watched as he tossed his clothes in with Taylor and waded out into the lake. Kaloo ran headlong into the water too, dragging Taylor on his oversized leaf which bobbed along behind her. They swam out towards the waterfall.

"You can close your mouth now," Laurie said, smirking.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You know what," she said and sat down on the bank. After a moment, I joined her.

"Do you think we would know if we were contaminated?" Laurie asked, a note of fear creeping into her voice, while we waited on the lakeshore.

"I'd like to think so. What are the symptoms?" I picked up a twig and used it to trace patterns in the damp, sandy bank.

"I don't know."

"I'm sure we would have noticed them by now if we were," I reasoned. We looked at each other uncomfortably for a while.

"What are we doing out here?" Laurie asked. She was clutching the back of her neck nervously.

"Sitting in the sand and waiting to cross a lake," I smiled.

"You know what I meant." She tossed a pebble into the water and it splashed loudly into the silence.

"It's about the best answer I've got." I shrugged.

Laurie scuffed her boots in the dirt. Coal and Kaloo reached the waterfall and disappeared beneath it.

Something rustled in the bushes behind us and we jumped to our feet. I pulled my pistol out and Laurie took a knife from my belt. The leaves trembled and I felt my finger itch for the trigger. A second later a bird burst through the foliage and headed for the treetops, squawking its protest at our presence.

I let out a shaky breath and we slowly sat back down on the sand.

"What's taking him so long?" Laurie hissed.

"Maybe he's not coming back."

"Thanks. That makes me feel much better." She scowled.