Sky Jumpers Book 2 (16 page)

“I know you can do it—it’s not that hard,” I said. “We can show you.” I paused for a minute, and Luke didn’t say anything. He just sat on his horse looking unsure.

Then he said, “I can’t very well have my niece besting me when it comes to being daring now, can I? Once we get there, show me.”

When I woke up in the morning, I brushed Arabelle’s coat before I put her saddle on. “It’s okay, girl. A little farther, and you’ll get to rest.”

The mountains looked even bigger, and we rode into areas with deeper and deeper drop-offs. The ground would be level, then suddenly it would dip down, and after a few miles, it would rise back up.

At the second drop-off, Luke gestured toward the space. “Before the bombs changed the flow of rivers, these were lakes.”

“I was wondering,” Aaren said. “The soil is different here—like dried-out sediment.”

The mountains that formed White Rock’s crater and surrounded us back home were big. But I couldn’t believe the size of the Rocky Mountains! They made White Rock’s seem teeny. The closer we got, the more they towered over us, and made
me
feel teeny. Like an ant. And they kept going for as far as I could see in either direction. I had been amazed by the Forbidden Flats and how they went on forever. I think I was even more amazed by the mountains, and how they went
up
forever.

As we rode, I noticed some ruins in the distance—far off to the left of where we were headed. It was from a city that must’ve been much larger than the ruins Luke and my birth mom were from. There were dozens and dozens of buildings glinting in the sun, angled every direction imaginable.

I pointed to them. “Do people live there?”

“Yep,” Luke said. “Several hundred, actually. That’s Downwind.”

“
That’s
Downwind? That place looks like a death trap!”

“It is,” Luke said. “At least it is to outsiders—the metal
on the buildings’ framework is very unstable. The people who live there know the tricks of every spot, though, and have a nice town set up in the middle.”

That made me think of the story Luke told about his dad saying you could use a different tool when you didn’t have the right one. Maybe every town turned one of their weaknesses—or one of their dangers—into a strength. Into something that could protect them.

Even though the mountains looked close, it took four hours for us to get there. Luke pointed ahead to a place at the base of the mountains. “See those two ridges that form a V where the mountains rise almost straight up? That’s where we’re headed. There’s a waterfall coming off that ridge to the left of the V. It’s nice and cold from the spring runoff. We’ll find a spot not far from there where we can leave the horses.”

I hadn’t even thought about the fact that we wouldn’t be able to take the horses up to Heaven’s Reach. I panicked for a moment until Luke said, “It’ll be okay. I’m good at finding places to picket a horse where it’ll be safe.”

When we finally made it to the V in the mountain, we ate a quick lunch of stale rolls, some beef jerky, and an apple.

My hands were shaking while I tied Arabelle to a tree in the area Luke showed us. I grabbed hold of the bag of
Ameiphus over my shoulder, to make the shaking less obvious. I had never been this nervous before.

“Will you go with me?” I said to Luke. “When I talk to the mayor, can you come in with me to make sure I don’t say something stupid or forget to ask something, or help me if I don’t know what to say?”

Luke looked up the mountain, probably to where the Bomb’s Breath was, seeming rather nervous himself. After a minute, he turned back to me and said, “Sure. You aren’t going to need me, though.”

I was so relieved that he said yes!

Luke took us to the base of the mountain and up a zigzagging trail full of switchbacks that led to Heaven’s Reach while I thought about all the advice they had given me. I was pretty sure I couldn’t do even one of those things right. Luke was wrong. I was going to need him. A lot.

The path was steeper than anything we had to climb to get to the Bomb’s Breath in White Rock. A lot less dirt and a lot more rock covered the trail, too. It wound back and forth, getting close to the waterfall, then getting farther away, then back again. We waved our arms above us almost the whole way to feel for the Bomb’s Breath, but we hadn’t felt it yet when we reached a set of stairs carved into the stone.

“From what I know, the Bomb’s Breath begins here.” Luke took a few steps back down the path.

“All you have to do is hold your breath,” Aaren said.

“And then feel around to see where it starts.” Brock waved his arm in the air to demonstrate.

“No matter what,” I told Luke, “don’t breathe until you are absolutely sure that your head is out of the Bomb’s Breath. Even if something startles you or if you have to stay in it longer than you planned. Not even a teeny tiny breath.” When I saw the look on Luke’s face, I realized that I had done the same thing everyone else did when they were giving me tips on negotiating—said way too much. “Sorry. All you really need to know is to hold your breath while you’re in it.”

“Ready?” Aaren asked.

Luke nodded. Aaren and Brock went ahead of us; then I put my arm up to see where the dense air began. “See? It’s right here. Feel it.” Luke waved his arm where I showed him, a look of fascination on his face. “Now take a breath,” I said, and then we walked up the stairs.

The Bomb’s Breath covered everywhere the same as it covered White Rock, and it was all the same thickness as it was back home—fifteen feet, but climbing up stairs made it seem much faster, because we were going uphill so quickly. It was strange—I was in a place I’d never been to before, but walking through the Bomb’s Breath made it feel a little like home. Within moments, I felt my head
break out of the dense air, and I told Luke he could breathe again while we climbed the last few stairs.

He took a breath. “That was … interesting.” He dipped his foot back into the air of the Bomb’s Breath and moved it around. “Huh.”

I was proud of him. And proud of me for talking him through it.

“Can we help you?”

The voice startled me. I spun around to find two guards standing not far from us on the other side of a small clearing, in the shade of some aspen trees. One of them—a big man with a thick beard and a bald head—looked surprised to see us. The other guard was a tall, thin woman who narrowed her eyes.

I took one stride forward and made my voice sound as adult as possible. “We’re here representing White Rock, and we need to talk with your mayor about a trade.”

“Wait here,” the man said. “I’ll inform the mayor.” Then he walked into the trees.

We waited a long time before the guard returned, and it felt even longer with the other guard staring at us the whole time. I didn’t think she appreciated strangers. And based on how often she peered over her shoulder to see if the other guard was on the trail behind her, I guessed she didn’t expect him to take so long, either.

When the guard finally returned, he said, “Follow me,” and took us along an overgrown pathway meandering through the aspen trees. In a few minutes, we stepped out of the trees into a clearing overlooking a small valley. The guard gestured to the area in front of us. “Welcome,” he said, “to Heaven’s Reach.”

We were on a hill only about ten feet higher than the
valley, and a hundred yards from the nearest building, but from our vantage point, we could see all of it. The ground the city was on was mostly flat, but sloped slightly uphill as it went back; then the mountain rose straight up behind it. The mountains curved, and the layout of the town curved, too. Almost as if a giant had scooped the area for the town right out of the mountain itself.

The building closest to us was large and bent the opposite direction of the mountain. Then there was a grassy area, and three rows of homes curved the same direction as the mountain right behind it, as though they were all forming a giant piece of pie, with roads at both sides of the pie.

The most incredible part of it all was a towering sculpture that stood in front of the main building. It was made from lots of different kinds of metals, each a distinct shade, from almost whitish-silver to a dark pewter gray to metals that were slightly red, orange, brown, or blue. Some were shiny and others were dull. Each of the metals started with the others at the base, then rose outward and upward, as if they were all reaching toward the sky, some twisting as they went up. In the middle of it all was a glass ball, about the size of a watermelon, only round, and filled with an orange powder. The metal around it was almost
white, so the sun caught it and made the ball look like it was glowing.

“This place is amazing!” Aaren said.

Luke raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed. The mayor talked big about this place when I saw him, but I guess I thought he was embellishing.”

We walked across the clearing toward the building with the grass in front. Hundreds of people—probably their entire town—gathered in groups on the grassy hill, finishing their lunch. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us. I straightened my shirt, and suddenly wished I’d thought to brush my hair before we came.

A girl stood in front of the building, on a strip of gravel that separated it from the grass, with her shoulders back and her hands clasped in front of her. Her hair fell down her back in curls and was a coppery color like no one’s in White Rock. It shone in the sun. She stared at us with bright green eyes and a strange look on her face. The guard with us moved to her side.

I stood straighter, because it seemed to matter, and tried to figure out why she was looking at us that way. The guard cleared his throat. “This is Alondra. She’s the daughter of the mayor. Alondra, these people are here representing White Rock.”

She gave a little curtsy.

“Thank you so much for inviting us into your town,” Luke said. “It’s quite an honor to be here.” He bowed. I didn’t know what to do, so I bowed, too. The girl smiled, as if she found it funny. Did I do something wrong? “This is Hope,” Luke said as he gently touched my back. “She’s the daughter of Council Head Toriella in White Rock, and my niece, and she’s come to talk with the mayor about a possible trade for seforium.”

Maybe now was the time I was supposed to bow. I bowed again, feeling awkward. “Hi,” I said. “Nice to meet you.”

“And you,” Alondra said.

Then Luke introduced Brock and Aaren. Aaren reached to shake Alondra’s hand. I should’ve offered to shake hands instead!

“Your city is incredible,” Aaren said.

Alondra smiled, and I beamed at Aaren. How did he always know what to say? Brock shook Alondra’s hand, too, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s nice to meet you all. We do mine seforium here,” Alondra said, and a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, “although I’m not sure we have any to trade. I regret to inform you that my father is tied up with some business away from town, and he won’t be able to meet with you.
If you’d like to wait a few days, though, then you are more than welcome to.”

The relief I felt vanished, and panic rose in its place.

“A few days?” Brock groaned. “We don’t have a few days!”

“We don’t,” I said. “Isn’t there any way to talk with him sooner? It’s urgent. Our entire town is in danger!”

Alondra looked startled. I didn’t know if it was because we had yelled or because I said our town was in danger. I tried to calm my voice, but it still came out shaky. “Please. We live inside one of the craters from a green bomb, and the Bomb’s Breath over our crater is lowering. We need seforium to fix it. Everyone in my town will have to leave if we don’t make it back soon, and it already took longer to get here than we had planned. If we wait for a few more days, it’ll be too late. We’ll have to abandon White Rock.”

Alarm and sympathy showed on Alondra’s face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “He’s in Downwind making trades. There’s no way for me to contact him.”

“I’ll go find him,” Luke said. “Let him know it’s an emergency.” He started running toward the woods leading to the pathway and called out, “Be back soon.”

Aaren, Alondra, Brock, and I were left in uncomfortable
silence. I looked at Alondra, wondering if we should head back down to the horses, or if we should wait here.

“Follow me,” she said, and she led us back through the clearing and into the trees. I walked straight-backed the whole time, the way she did, practicing being proper. It reminded me of when we learned about royalty in history class. I didn’t think I’d see it in a town in the Rocky Mountains, though. Right before we reached the trees, she looked over her shoulder, as if she was checking to see if anyone was watching.

As soon as we had all entered the woods, she spun around. “You’re kids!” Brock and Aaren and I glanced at each other, then back to her, confused. “I apologize,” she said. “It’s just that we’ve never had visitors who were kids before!”

I laughed. What happened to acting like royalty?

“And you go through the Bomb’s Breath. People almost never come here—we usually make trades down below. Some get impatient and brave the Bomb’s Breath to talk with my dad sooner. A few even die trying, but kids never come here!” She looked at each of us. “I’m rambling. Tell me about you.”