Trouble (32 page)

They started back down. It was not an easy climb.

The cooling and still-damp air had hardened Henry's side, which was beyond aching now. Every downward jarring step sent an exploration of pain from his ribs somewhere out into his body. His knees were shaking with the rocky descent, and he began to take longer and longer breaks, during which he collapsed upon the rough-hewn stones, dribbled some water into his mouth, and sat with his head down, feeling his whole body move to the rhythm of the throbbing pain. Black Dog sat beside him with her ears limp. Probably, Henry figured, she was hoping they would make camp.

Which was exactly what he was hoping.

Which Louisa said they finally had to do, since Henry looked as if another step would kill him.

Which, when she realized what she had said, made her blanch and pretty much stopped all but the most necessary talk for the next few minutes.

It was dusk when they came upon a small circle beside a ledge that was more or less open, more or less level, more or less grassy (with only a few granite spurs sticking up), and more or less surrounded by new white pines. Sanborn and Chay took the tarp from Henry's backpack and spread it over the ground—taking care to avoid most of the granite spurs. They had left the sleeping bags back in the hotel, but the night was not too cold and they spread out the sweatshirts that Sanborn had packed. They scavenged for wood, and while Louisa and Chay got the fire started, Sanborn brought out the rest of his miraculous stores, drawing them up from the depths of his pack: more bread with peanut butter and honey, bags of cashews, bags of raisins, bags of dried peaches (which can be eaten only on campouts since they are inedible in any civilized place), a packet of soup mix (which didn't help, since they needed water to cook it), and a packet of beef jerky that Sanborn insisted was really good until Henry pointed out that Sanborn also thought that little fishes with their eyes still in were really good, too. And that made Sanborn remember the leftover sardines, which he looked for and pulled out to add.

They ate it all, except for the sardines, which Henry gave to Black Dog over Sanborn's objections, and except for the dried peaches and raisins, which they decided to save for the morning when they would climb down off the mountain.

Louisa and Chay packed everything up by the glow, the beautiful soft glow of the fire, and Henry settled down among the pile of sweatshirts that they would soon have to put on, since it was getting much colder now. Henry looked straight out into the dark sky, feeling the solid rock of the stone ledge beneath him. Far below them, the lights of Millinocket were all on. He thought he could make out the line of lights on the main street where they had been in the parade. He wondered if the Millinocket Junior High School Marching Band was still looking for them.

He watched Sanborn tie the packs up into the pine branches, and he watched Chay and Louisa rearrange the fire together. Other than their murmurs—they were talking about Mike's Eats—the world was quiet and still.

And Henry was quiet and still, too. He breathed deeply, sucking the piney scent down into his lungs. Black Dog lay down beside him and put her head on his stomach when he stretched out, with one hand behind his head, and lay back.

Tomorrow they would climb down off Katahdin, and there would be Trouble enough, he knew.

They'd have to go to the police about the accident, and no matter what Mr. Churchill came up with, there would be Trouble for Louisa and Chay. There would be new stories in the
Blythbury-by-the-Sea Chronicle.
And what would Louisa do on the first day she got back to school in the fall?
Would
she go back to school in the fall?

And there was Chay, whose father who wasn't really his father didn't want anything to do with him. Who had set the police on him! Henry wondered what would happen if they stopped at Mike's Eats on the way back home. "Anytime," Mike had said.

And there was Sanborn, whose father gave him a credit card instead of the most important thing.

Henry thought of Captain Smith, standing in his mansion on the ledges above the waves and watching the beached
Seaflower
burn to its frame.

And Franklin.

Earth to earth. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

Black Dog whined a little in her sleep, and Henry stroked her behind her drooped ears. Her fur was so sleek and smooth now. Henry ran his hands over her shoulder blades and down the ridge of her back, to her haunches, all healthy and strong.

Black Dog, whom he had plucked from a drowning sea, beaten and starved. He stroked her again, and then, with a start, he figured out something that he had not figured out before: how it was that Black Dog had fallen into the drowning sea. He looked at Chay, then down at Black Dog again, and thought, What a jerk I am.

And so Henry knew something else, too.

The world is Trouble ... and Grace. That is all there is.

He turned—slowly and gingerly—and looked up Katahdin again. Above their ledge, the mountain lay bare. Except for the snapping branches of the fire that Louisa and Chay had called up, everything was still. It seemed that they were as far from anything as they could ever get.

And Henry smiled. It was time to get home. No matter what happens, there is always the business of the world to attend to.

Ad usum.

Then, suddenly, Black Dog perked up her ears, and a moment later, Henry saw a bright blossom of light sparkle the dark sky out beyond them. Then came another, silver and gold, and another, just silver, and another, red and blue, and another and another, green circles of light brightening the sky, their
boom, boom, boom
coming up to Henry long after the explosions that lit up the sides of Katahdin. So the people of Millinocket spent the last night of their Independence Day celebrations setting off the most glorious fireworks display of all.

For a long time they flashed out, making the sky a gala, Katahdin herself an audience for this lavish extravagance. Umbrellas of light unfolded, and their sparkling and hissing embers cascaded into sharp explosions.

Henry looked at Chay and Louisa, and at Sanborn. The lights glittered within their eyes.

Black Dog rose beside him, and Henry held her close.

Tomorrow they would be down off the mountain.

Below him, the stars burst upward, back into the sky.