Page 37

When we walk away, our steps drag. And when we go far enough that we round the corner and lose sight of our friends, the whole world seems darker, like all the light is sucked out, leaving the air stale and hopeless. It even smells different now. Less greenery, more…what is that odor? Rot? Decay?

Tayla glances up. “Is it just me or…?”

“It’s not just you.”

“Maybe a sign of wonderment?”

Wonderment? In this place?

Crinkling my nose, I say, “Uhhh, more like nightmarish bad omens.”

She cocks her head.

“I mean, just look around us. Barely any sunlight. Poisonous snakes. Stalker butterflies. Roots that maybe come alive? Eyes watching you?” I scoff.

“Please, tell me what about the forest screams ‘wonderment’? More like ‘Here lies some scary shit that will probably definitely kill you, turn around, go home, stay the fuck away.’?”

She laughs then bites her lip and guiltily slides her gaze back to the trail. It feels wrong to laugh when Kiara could be in danger, and my own smile dims. I won’t make the mistake of thinking I’m sharing a moment with Tayla again. We’re never going to be friends.

For several minutes, or maybe more, our walk passes in silence.

We don’t wear watches, and we don’t have our phones, and the nonexistent sun hardly illuminates the passage of time.

The trees close in around us, and though we don’t see them, every so often, carried over a great distance, come the faint caws of a crow, the battle cry of a falcon.

Once, I think I see something streak past us under the cover of the trees, but it’s gone so fast that I wonder if I imagined it.

“You really didn’t see the roots grab Kiara?” I ask. “It’s just, we’re all a little on edge, right? It makes sense your mind would seek to rationalize what you saw. And Evan seemed pretty sure.”

Her shoulders hike up. At first I think she’s going to ignore me, but then she says, somewhat reluctantly, “It happened too fast. I can’t trust what I thought I saw.”

My breath hitches. “So then you did see the roots—”

Tayla cuts me off. “My turn,” she says. “Did you really find that acorn on the forest floor?”

“Uh, yeah? Where else would it come from?”

“Dunno. Maybe you brought it with you.”

I scoff. “Yeah? You see me pull it from my pocket or something?”

She sets her jaw. “No. But the ground is picked clean. Do you see any lucky acorns lying around for the taking?”

“They’re not ‘lucky acorns,’ they’re just acorns. The nut itself is what makes it lucky.”

Her mouth opens to fire back a retort, but I clap my hand over it. “ Shhh! Did you hear that?”

I’m not wholly convinced she won’t bite me, but she shakes her head at my question, eyebrows pinching together.

I slowly release her, holding up my palms as I back away.

The noise is louder now, almost as if it’s approaching us, but I can’t pinpoint the exact direction.

It’s a spinning, whirring sound. Smooth. Like a…

“Does that sound like a fan to you?” I whisper. There’s nothing that can make that kind of sound out here. Maybe cicadas, but we saw the last of them in late September, and now it’s October.

“More like the rotor blades of a helicopter,” Tayla says.

My eyes widen. “How do you know that?”

“Before we moved here from California, my dad was an air ambulance pilot. Mom was his flight nurse. That’s how they met. Trust me, I know what an aircraft sounds like.”

“Think they’re medevacing someone? From here?”

“Take a look around. We’re surrounded by dense forest. Where exactly is a helicopter going to land?”

She makes a good—if somewhat bitchy—point. “Okay, so what if it’s search and rescue? Looking for heat signatures? I don’t know. Someone could be in trouble.”

“Someone is. Kiara. ”

“Right, I just meant—”

“Stop jumping at every strange sound and get a move on , Nova. I swear, you’re worse than Keiffer!”

It’s clear I’ve exhausted her patience by the way she strides forward, her pace brisk to make up for lost time.

The way she just expects me to follow gets my hackles up.

Every second in her presence infuriates me.

The way Tayla’s personality veers between doting and abrasive makes my head spin.

She can be fair, yes, but I’m starting to suspect it’s only when it happens to align with her own plans.

Once again I find myself bemoaning that I’d ever crushed on her. Okay, fair, Tayla doesn’t get what Kiara sees in me, but what does Kiara see in her ?

Is she going to get back with Tayla when we return to Prior’s End?

There’s a chill in my blood as I contemplate this.

I will be so pissed with myself if she gets back with Tayla before I have a chance to kiss her.

Nova, stop it. It’s none of your business.

You didn’t even kiss Kiara this morning when you had a chance.

When she was looking at you with all the longing in the world.

I know why I didn’t. I know why I never told any of my crushes that I liked them in time, before Kiara got to them first. Because deep down I don’t think I deserve happiness.

Not when I’m responsible for ruining my parents’.

Unless I bring Dad back with me, there won’t be any graying twilight years for Jules and Rhea, only a snipped thread of fate severed forever.

We walk on and on and on in a ceaseless march.

The next sound that breaks the silence is my stomach’s sharp complaint.

We break only long enough to refill our water bottles with cool spring water and eat salted almonds and dried mango slices.

Tayla has black licorice she doesn’t offer to share, so I don’t offer her my peanut M&M’s, either.

Then we’re on our way again, mindful of the uneven terrain below us and the glaring tension between us.

I miss the others. Their friendly squabbling, the nonstop chatter.

It’s easier to forget where we are and what else could be lurking out there when I hear Keiffer’s rumbling laughter, Evan’s witty quips, and Radhika’s mutterings as she tries to decipher what the book isn’t revealing about the wishing well.

I find myself dwelling on what she was going to tell me before Tayla interrupted. Was it that our Prior heritage and her precious book haven’t done us any favors? Or something else entirely? Another reason to be annoyed with Tayla. Even when she’s not trying, she gets between people.

An insect flies past my cheek, and I swat it on reflex. I’m surrounded by pests, truly .

I’m trying to pick what I think is a mango fiber out of my teeth when I hear my name.

Nova…

The voice is deep, hoarse, like a voice rusty with disuse. I bite the meat of my inner cheek. I taste blood. “Tayla,” I say, tongue thick and feeling far too big for my mouth. “Did you say something?”

She answers without breaking stride. “No? Why?”

I’m about to tell her then decide against it. “Never mind. Can we stop for a minute? I think it would be a good idea to tell my friends that we split up from the others. Just in case.”

“Fine, but hurry up. I’ll go on ahead and see if I can find a vantage point or something.”

I don’t want her to leave me, but I want to show weakness even less. I find a trunk to rest against and pull my walkie-talkie from my backpack. Knowing that I’m holding our one link to civilization is both terrifying and comforting at the same time.

Turning it on, I’m relieved that it still has plenty of juice. “Austin? It’s me.”

I settle against the rough bark and work out some stiffness in my neck. Trying to keep my eyes peeled all the time, swiveling my head here and there, it’s no wonder.

Within moments, he’s joined me on the channel. “Nova! Good to hear your voice. Wasn’t expecting it so soon, though. Everything okay?”

Now that I hear his voice, words fail me.

If I tell him what happened to Kiara—the absolute unnatural, unreal confusion of it all—he’s going to send help.

All of us will be brought back to Prior’s End by well-meaning adults who will never, ever let me out of their sight again, and there goes my last chance of finding my dad.

Tayla and I will find Kiara. I truly believe that.

Even if rescuers set out this very minute, they’d be two days behind.

Right now, we have a head start. I know it’s irresponsible, but for all I know, even while I’m having this conversation, Tayla will make headway, be the heroine, and save the day.

“Nova? You there?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Tayla just heard a chopper overhead, and we wondered if you’d seen one leaving town? Heading for the Longing Woods?”

There’s some muffled discussion in the background before Caroline’s voice chimes in. “No, we haven’t seen or heard one. We did encounter some other folks on their way out, though.”

“Yeah? Any of them mention stuff going missing on their hike?”

“A guy thought his car had been broken into,” Austin says. “But this was at the trailhead, and it was just some spare cash from the glove compartment. But we didn’t really chat.”

“Oh, okay. Just asking. We’ve been losing some things, but I guess it’s easy to leave something behind when we’re on the move all the time.”

“For sure,” says Caroline. “How’s Kiara?”

“She’s…hanging in there.”

With promises to check in again soon, we say goodbye. They both sounded happy and relaxed, which hopefully means by the time I’m back, they’ll have gotten over friend code and finally made a move on each other. The thought is my one sliver of brightness in the otherwise dismal day.

As I zip up my pack, I hear it again. Nova…

Tayla’s too far away, and I don’t think she’s the type to sneak up and scare me for a laugh. I stand slowly, bringing my backpack with me as a shield. Cautiously, I peer behind the tree trunk. Nothing and no one there. Feeling silly, I wear my backpack properly.

Nova…it’s me.

My lips part in shock. “D-Dad?”

You…go…wishing well…trouble…help…

I look down at the radio in confusion. It’s still on. The disjointed words scratch their way from the radio. He’s in trouble? He wants me to go to the wishing well? Something deep inside me renews.

Raising the radio to my lips, I say, “Dad? How do I get to the well? Help me, please.”

I get Caroline instead. “Hey, did you say something? We were, um—”

Austin says something so faint I can’t even hear it, but it makes Caroline giggle.

“Oh, sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

The slow trickle of hope, dripping from a leaky tap, shuts off. Leaving me with nothing. Less than nothing. Because this is worse than if it never happened at all. It’s not Dad on the other end, if it ever was.

“No, it’s fine!” Another giggle. “I just thought I heard you say something.”

“Yeah, no. Your radio must have just picked up some background noise on my end. I forgot to turn it off. Sorry.”

“Stay safe!” Austin shouts, and I promise I will before switching the radio off. For sure this time.

“So stupid,” I mutter, stashing it back in my backpack. “Like it’s really going to be Dad.”