The Trouble Series

Chapter 10-2

“Biltong?” he asks.

“Yeah, you know. Dried meat. Salty. Spicy.” When Aiden doesn’t reply, I add, “Jerky, I think the Americans call it, although the South African version is obviously better.”

“Oh, right,” Aiden says. “I know what you’re talking about.”

“Do you like it?”

“I think it’s one of the most revolting items of food ever created by man.”

I turn around and stare at him with my hands on my hips. “What? It’s delicious!”

“I’m sure it is,” he says, wiping his face with the sleeve of his T-shirt. “To those who can stomach the idea of it.”

“But it’s meat. Real men like meat, don’t they?” I say with a teasing smile.

He gives me that awesome grin of his. The one I haven’t seen since the airport. The one that shows off his dimple. “Oh, I like meat. I just prefer it when it isn’t both raw and shrivelled up at the same time.”

I configure my face into an offended expression. “Biltong isn’t shrivelled up.”

“Whatever you say.” He waves me forward with his hands. “Keep walking. We’re getting left behind.”

The large rock Matt and Malcolm were standing on marks the end of the log stairs. I fit my fingers into the cracks along the side and pull myself up, trying not to think about the excellent view Aiden currently has of my butt. I scramble onto the rock and stand. Aiden pulls himself up easily while I spot the next blue arrow painted on the rough surface next to my feet. It wouldn’t have been a problem if I hadn’t, though, because we could simply follow the sound of Simone whining about how hot it is and Elize telling her to stop being a baby.

“So, your sister’s fiancé,” I say to Aiden. “Do you like him?”

“Uh, yeah. He’s cool. I’m happy for the two of them.”

If I’m hoping to find out what that weird moment between Aiden and Emily was all about earlier, I’m probably going to have to be more direct with my questions. You can do it, Sarah. Ask a personal question without messing up and having it come out totally weird. “Um, earlier when we were in the lounge getting ready for the walk, Elize asked—”

“There you are,” Matt says as Aiden and I climb around a boulder and find him and Malcolm sitting on a ledge sticking out over open space. Emily, Aunt Hannah, Simone, and Elize appear to be helping themselves to a box of biscuits from Matt’s backpack. “You guys are taking forever.”

“Stop exaggerating,” Emily says. “We only got here, like, five seconds ago.”

“Okay, fine,” Malcolm says. “You’re all taking forever, then. Matt and I have been sitting here for at least ten minutes.”

“And we were watching those clouds over there and thinking we should probably turn back,” Matt adds.

I look to where he’s pointing and see dark, heavy clouds gathering in the distance.

“What?” Elize says around a mouthful of biscuit. “Those clouds weren’t there just now.”

“That’s what happens around here,” Matt says as he climbs to his feet. “Storms appear out of nowhere in the afternoon, fling lightning, thunder, and buckets of rain all over the place, then disappear twenty minutes later. It’s not something we want to get caught in.”

“So that’s it?” Aunt Hannah asks. “This is as far as we’re going?”

“Yip. We could come back tomorrow, though, if you want to see the view from the top.”

“Nee dankie,” Simone mutters.

“Oh, no, that’s all right,” Aunt Hannah says. “I heard we might be having a relaxing day on the lake tomorrow.” She zips up Matt’s backpack and returns it to him.

“Down we go, then,” Malcolm says, jumping up and pushing ahead of Matt so he can be at the front of the trail.

“Wait, Matt,” I say. “Can I go just a little bit further? I want to see that foresty bit with the waterfall. Remember? It was so beautiful. Like a fairy land.”

“Sarah, the storm’s coming,” Matt says with the tone of a long-suffering parent.

“I know, but it won’t take long. Aiden can come with me, and we’ll just be a few minutes behind you.”

Matt crosses his arms. “Do you know the way?” he asks, looking concerned.

“Yes.” I wish I could tell him not to speak to me like a child in front of all these people. “I remember this ledge from last time. Your mom waited here, and you and your dad and I walked a little further on and found that waterfall. Remember?”

Matt sighs. “Okay. I guess it’s not that far from here. Anyone else want to go with Sarah and Aiden?” Matt looks around the group. No one says anything, although Elize gives him an are-you-kidding-me look. “Cool, well, we’ll see you back at the bottom them,” Matt says.

Aiden and I continue along the path, and after a few minutes, it slopes downhill and leads into an area thick with greenery. Leafy trees bend over our heads, their branches tangling together above us, and moss-covered stones line the muddy path. Water trickles not too far ahead.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” I say to Aiden. “I can imagine fairies flying by and pixies prancing around. Tiny lights and sparkles of magic and circles of flowers and mushrooms.”

Aiden chuckles. “It’s certainly your kind of place.”

I lead him between the trees until we get to a sheer face of rock with water streaming down it. The water dances and tumbles over stones before falling into a small pool that becomes a stream.

“Is this the waterfall you were talking about?” Aiden asks.

“Yes, but what I actually wanted to show you is off the path.” I duck beneath a tree branch and climb over a damp log.

“Ah. I imagine your boyfriend wouldn’t have been happy to hear that.”

I decide not to comment on that statement, mainly because it’s true, but also because I don’t want to get into a discussion about how it seemed like I had to ask Matt’s permission just to walk somewhere. After fighting through a few more tangled branches and bushes, we come out onto a flat rocky surface. “Come and see,” I say as I walk to the edge and look out across the spectacular landscape of rolling hills and mighty mountains. “We’re a little sheltered here, so you can’t see as widely as you can from the top, but the view is just as incredible.”

“I think I’m going to stay here,” Aiden says. I swivel around and see him hanging onto a tree branch as if it’s the only thing connecting him to the earth, even though he’s standing at least five metres from the edge of the rock.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Heights,” he says. “I’m not a fan.”

“Oh. I thought it was just flying.”

“No. Not just flying.”

“But …” I turn back and marvel at the never-ending palette of green spread out before me. The bright green of the hills rolling into the darker green of the lower parts of the mountains spreading up into the grey-blue-green of the mountain peaks melting in the shadowy grey of the storm clouds. “You can’t miss this view. It’s magnificent. It’s like opening a window from heaven and looking down at God’s creation.”

“That … sounds amazing,” Aiden says in a strained voice. “But you don’t understand. The closer I get to the edge, the more it feels like the ground is tilting. Like it’s getting steeper and steeper and I’m sliding towards the edge, and if I don’t hold onto something I’ll slide right off and plummet to the ground.”

I pause for a moment, watching him, then say, “What if you hold onto me?”

He stares at me. I see the fear in his eyes. The same fear that was there when the plane took off. Am I only making things worse by trying to convince him to walk closer to the edge? But these mountains, this view … It’s all so profoundly beautiful that it stirs something deep within me. Something I want to share with him.

I tilt my head to the side and say, “Come on. I dare you.”

He raises an eyebrow at that. He lets out a long breath and says, “Okay. I guess I can’t back down from a dare.”

I walk back to him and hold out my hand. A thrill races through me as he takes it. A stupid, ridiculous thrill I have no right to feel. Step by step, we get closer to the edge of the rock. Aiden keeps his eyes aimed firmly upwards at the distant clouds as he mutters, “Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down.” It makes me smile because it reminds of the things I like to chant to myself: Don’t be weird, just be normal. Say something, say something, say something.

I stop, let go of his hand—with some difficulty due to how tightly he’s holding onto it—and step in front of him. “Look over my shoulder. That way you can’t look down. You can only look around.”

We stand like that for some time. The clouds move closer, tumbling over each other in slow motion until they cover the sun. A cool breeze drifts over my arms, a welcome relief from the heat we were suffering under not half an hour ago.

“Okay,” Aiden says eventually. “We should probably head back now.”

I turn around, expecting him to have taken at least a few steps back by now, but he’s right there, his face as close to mine as when he was about to kiss me in the airport. And that’s all I can think about now, that kiss and his lips, which my eyes seem to be glued to. I wonder if he’s thinking about the same thing. I wonder if he—

Crack!

The thunder gives me such a fright I almost fall backwards. Aiden grabs onto me and drags me back to the trees. “Yeah, we should definitely get going,” I say.

We push through the branches until we get back to the muddy path. From there it’s only a few minutes to the ledge where we said goodbye to Matt and everyone else. After that we hurry over rocks and logs, laughing at the fact that we were ever afraid of storms as children. Tiny spots of rain dot our skin and clothes, urging us on. I’ve never descended a mountain so quickly before, and I skid on loose pebbles and stumble over rocks far too many times. Aiden’s always right there to steady me, though.

After a while, I start to wonder if we might actually beat the rain home. But then, with a fork of lightning that strikes alarmingly close by and a ground-shuddering crash of thunder, the clouds open and rain begins to bucket down. I come to a stop with a gasp, tensing against the cold water running down my back and drenching my clothes. But then, because it doesn’t feel like there’s any other way to respond, I start laughing. I turn around and find Aiden shaking his head at me. I can see he’s trying to hold back a smile, though. “Oh, come on,” I shout above the roar of the rain. “I’ve never been caught in the rain before. It’s fun. And it won’t be for too long. We should be quite close to the lake now.”

I look around for a familiar landmark, but I don’t spot anything. I turn slowly on the spot, feeling a twinge of apprehension in the pit of my stomach. “Um, do you remember this part of the hike from earlier?”

Aiden wipes a hand across his face and looks around. “Now that you mention it … I don’t think so.”

“And shouldn’t we have come across another blue arrow by now?”

Aiden nods slowly, and when his eyes meet mine, I know he’s thinking the same thing I am.

We’re lost.