The Challenge(15)
As they left the yard between the barns, one of the stable hands waved to Peter as though he had something to tell him. Peter was leading the group, but he slowed to find out what the stable hand had to say.
“There are fire warnings on the other side of the mountains. The fire is still a long way away, but good to know.” It had been a dry summer, and by the end of it, there were always fire warnings somewhere. Peter wasn’t worried.
“Thanks, Joe.” They started up again and headed for the trail at a slow trot. Peter didn’t want to wear the horses out in the heat, and a short time later they were on one of the lower trails toward Granite Peak. Juliet was riding behind Peter’s and Benjie’s horses, and the other boys were strung out single file behind her. It took them an hour of steady climbing to get to where Peter wanted to go. The boys knew the trail, and here and there were beautiful vistas. They slowly gained altitude. Then they took another trail and could hear the waterfall before they saw it. It was spectacular. They reached the clearing where they all knew they could tether the horses and leave them in the shade. Peter was disappointed to see that the waterfall wasn’t as full as it usually was because of the dry summer, but it was still beautiful, and the pool at the base of it would be even better for swimming.
Once the horses were tied up, they left their clothes in a heap near them, and raced each other to the base of the waterfall. They cavorted and played in the water for an hour, and Juliet kept an eye on Benjie so Matt could play with the others. They dove off the rocks into the deep pool. Justin stayed with Benjie then, and Juliet dove into the water with the others. They were all being careful and responsible with their young charge, and finally Matt took his brother in with him, and let Benjie ride on his back. Benjie squealed with delight and pretended to whip him like a horse until Matt threatened to take him out of the water. Then Benjie calmed down again. They had all cooled off and climbed out of the water, then lay on the rocks to dry off. Matt didn’t let Benjie out of his sight, and Benjie sat near him begging to get back in the water again. They promised they’d go for another swim before they left, and then Peter suggested they hike upstream along the riverbanks that were around a bend. The water was deep there, they all knew, and Peter explained to Juliet that the water would be too turbulent for them to cross the river. They hadn’t been to the river all summer, but they came to the waterfall every week.
They took out Juliet’s sandwiches, spread out the blankets, and ate lunch. All the boys thanked her for having brought them, and as soon as they finished eating, they put everything away. Peter told her that up here at a higher elevation it was particularly important, so they didn’t attract bears looking for something to eat. Juliet didn’t find the warning reassuring, but Peter told her that they never saw bears. Then they took off on the familiar hiking trail to meet up with the river. They expected it to be roaring past them and were stunned when they rounded the bend to see a dry creek bed full of gigantic, jagged rocks. The river had gone dry, and there was barely a drop of water at the bottom of it. If they could find rocks that were smooth enough to walk across, they could easily get to the other side. They had never been able to do that before.
It looked like a landscape on the moon as they all stared at the dry riverbed, filled with boulders. After hiking a short distance up the trail, they found a place where they could cautiously let themselves down, lending each other a hand, and make their way across the riverbed to the other side. It was new terrain for them, but they made it with Benjie on Justin’s back, and a short time later, they found a wider trail that headed up the mountain. Since they’d never been on that side of the river before, they were eager to explore. Even Justin looked excited and threw himself into the expedition wholeheartedly, and leading the way, with Peter and Matt right behind him, and the others following. Juliet was holding Benjie’s hand. He skipped along and stumbled occasionally on a loose rock, and Juliet quickly pulled him up to keep him from falling and hurting himself.
They’d been walking for half an hour, when a bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder exploded over their heads. They all jumped. It looked as though the lightning might strike right next to them. There was no time span at all between the thunder and lightning, and a torrent of rain began to fall. They took refuge under some trees to wait for the rain to stop. They huddled together on some rocks. The clash of thunder and lightning was scary, and Benjie started to cry. Juliet held him tightly in her arms and told him that it was exciting, and there was nothing to be afraid of. He looked unconvinced, but his cries dwindled to a whimper as they watched the storm unleash on precisely the area where they had been minutes before. Beyond it, in the distance, they could see blue sky filled with smoke, and Peter realized it was from the fires the stable hand had warned them about. Below them, they could see that there were no rain clouds in the valley, they were only directly over the half of the mountain where they stood.
The downpour continued for an hour, and then they heard a roaring sound, like boulders rushing down the mountain. Within seconds, they saw that it was not boulders rushing toward them, it was water. Somewhere on the mountain, a flash flood had started and filled the riverbed that had been dry only an hour before. All the mysteries and calamities of nature were clashing at once: fire in the distance, a flash flood from an unknown source up the mountain, the sky seeming to fall, and a riverbed they could no longer cross, which had become a torrent between them and the other side. The boys looked at each other, trying to figure out what to do next. Juliet watched their eyes, trying to determine if she should be panicked, or if this was all an ordinary occurrence.