She hadn’t brought a lot of clothes. Clean underwear and socks, a shirt for each day and a spare pair of jeans. For pajamas, she’d chosen yoga pants and a soft T-shirt. At home she favored sleep shirts but figured in a group camping situation she should make sure she was a little more covered up.
Undressing in the tent was harder than she would have thought. There wasn’t a lot of headroom, so she was forced to sit on her sleeping bag, which was set on top of an air mattress. Concerned about providing some kind of shadow show on the side of the tent, she flicked off her flashlight and changed in the dark. Only it was really dark and she couldn’t see what she was doing.
“Someone needs to explain to me what about this is fun,” she muttered as she pulled on her yoga pants.
She decided that the T-shirt she was wearing would be fine for the night and that she would take off her bra later. She turned on her flashlight and unzipped her tent, then crawled out.
The rain had turned steadier and the temperature had dropped a few degrees. She shivered as she ran to Angel’s tent.
The other girls were all there, except for Olivia, who came in a few seconds later. They huddled together, holding flashlights and looking expectantly at Angel. Taryn tried not to do the same, but it was difficult. He was the only one with camping experience.
“We’re going to tell stories,” he said when they were settled.
“Scary ones?” Taryn asked. She wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with eight little girls who were too frightened to sleep.
“Can they be scary?” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Really scary?”
Some of the girls murmured in agreement, but a few of the others didn’t look as excited at the prospect.
“Not scary,” he told them. “I’ll start. Once upon a time there was a lonely bunny.”
“I know this one,” Regan told him. “My mom read me all the Lonely Bunny books when I was little. Lonely Bunny Finds a Friend, Lonely Bunny Takes a Trip. Lonely Bunny and the Severed Hand.”
Taryn tensed. “What? There’s a children’s book about a severed hand?”
Regan giggled. “No, I was kidding about that.”
“Good to know,” Taryn murmured, even as she wondered how Angel knew about the Lonely Bunny books at all. Had he read them to his son, years ago? A question she would wait to ask, she thought, then realized the rain had gotten a lot harder. It pounded on the tent like a drum. So far it wasn’t seeping through the fabric, but wasn’t that going to happen eventually?
Before she could ask Angel, one of the other Grove Keepers unzipped the front of the tent.
“We just checked the weather,” the woman said. “It’s going to be raining all night. The front that was supposed to go north of us has dropped south and parked overhead. Apparently it’s been pouring up in the mountains for hours.”
* * *
“WHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS?” Angel asked, careful to keep his voice calm. Because the stream in the campsite was fed from mountain runoff. Depending on where the rain was falling, the stream would start to rise. The question was how fast that would happen.
The other Grove Keeper shrugged. “I’m not sure. East of us. We’re thinking we should pack up the girls and get them home.”
Angel hesitated. Weather was a part of camping, and learning to deal with the elements would be good practice. On the other hand, his girls were young and for most of them, this was their first experience camping. He didn’t want the rain to be the only thing they remembered.
He looked at Taryn, who shrugged. “I can argue both sides,” she told him. “Yes, it would be nice if the weather were better, but that will never be a guarantee.”
The girls listened but didn’t offer an opinion.
The other Grove Keeper said, “I’ll talk to the rest of the groves and see what they have to say. Then we’ll make a group decision.”
“Works for me,” Angel said.
The woman stood and started to pull the zipper closed. As she did, there was a scream from another part of the camp.
Angel was through the opening and shifting the other Grove Keeper aside before the sound had finished echoing off the trees. He’d left on his boots, so he moved easily over the wet terrain. The rain soaked through his shirt and stung his eyes as he searched through the darkness to find the source of the problem.
“It’s rising! It’s rising fast.”
He headed toward the woman yelling. Other Grove Keepers and a few of the older girls joined him. He found two women standing by the benches were they’d eaten dinner a few hours before. Only what had been an open area and a gentle slope down to a stream was now a rapidly flowing and quickly rising river.
“I don’t understand,” one of the women said.
“It’s a flash flood,” he said flatly, remembering the mention of rain in the mountains. “Combined with snowmelt. It’s coming up fast. We have to get out of here.” The other three stared at him. “Now!” he added in a loud voice. “Get your groves and get back to your cars. Keep a head count. Don’t leave anyone behind.”
Aware of his girls waiting for him, he went from campsite to campsite and got everyone else. Some of the girls grabbed gear; others simply started running for the trail. He circled back to his tent and found Taryn waiting in the rain. Water dripped down her face and she was shivering.
“The stream is rising,” he told her. “There’s a flash flood coming through. Get the girls and head for the trail. You’ll be safe once you reach the cars.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Check that everyone else got out, then join you by the cars.” He grabbed her upper arms. “Do a head count when you get there.”
She nodded.
He squatted down and opened the tent flap. Eight pairs of eyes stared at him.
“There’s a flash flood,” he told them. “We’re getting out now. Taryn is going to lead you up the trail while I check to make sure all the other girls got out. Everybody pair up. You leave in pairs and you arrive in pairs. No one gets left behind.”
He felt their fear. In his head, a voice kept reminding him that while he could save the world, he hadn’t been able to protect his own. That these girls were just like Marcus, and Marcus was dead.
“You’re ready for this,” he told them gently. “I have faith in you. We’ll meet at the top by the cars. Everybody ready?”
They nodded solemnly.
Angel waited until they were all out of the tent, then pulled the poles so it collapsed. He would do the same with the other tents, the easiest way to make sure no one snuck back inside to hide. He made sure Taryn knew the way up to the parking lot and then went back toward the swirling water.
He’d been gone less than ten minutes, but in that time, the water had risen at least six feet. Several of the tents were already half underwater by the time he reached the lowest campsites. The roar of the water echoed off the mountains.
He waded through icy runoff, ignoring the cold clutching at his midsection. He checked each of the tents, then hurried up to the next site.
At the third one he found a girl who was maybe eleven or twelve. She was crouched at the base of a tree, crying. Angel took her by the arm and pulled her to him. Rain poured over both of them.
“Let’s get out of here,” he told her.
The girl shook her head. “I can’t swim.”
“Then heading away from the water is the best plan.”
She trembled but didn’t move. Angel didn’t bother to argue anymore. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the main trail. At the base of it, he found Taryn waiting.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded loudly.
“Making sure you get out, too,” Taryn said. “Don’t worry. The Acorns are all safe. I did a head count before I came back.”
He swore under his breath, then thrust the girl at her. “She’s in shock. Get her to the top and out of the cold.”
“I will.”
He wanted to say more, but he had three sites to check. The rain fell hard and he could hear the water even from here. It was rising fast.
“Go,” Taryn told him. “I’ll take care of her.”
He nodded. In the distance came two sharp explosions. Trees, he though grimly as he hurried along the muddy path. The water had reached the tree line.
He couldn’t see very far in front of him. Rain blinded him and he was cold to the bone. Still, he checked the last of the campsites. They were empty. He turned to the main trail only to find it was now covered in water that rose visibly every second.
As he watched, a couple of coolers floated by. There was a chair, then an air mattress. He moved faster. He hoped to hell Taryn had gotten the girl off the trail, because it wouldn’t be very long until there wasn’t a trail.
He waded through the rising water. Something hard hit him and he nearly went down. He grabbed a nearby tree branch and managed to stay on his feet. But there was no way he could get back to the trail.
He did the only thing possible—he went straight up the mountain. Hand over hand, dragging himself under branches and around bushes. Mud and debris seeped into his clothing, but he kept moving. There was a rumble as part of the mountain started to give way. Then he was up over the side and pulling himself to his feet so he could get to the parking lot and do a head count.
He arrived there a couple of minutes later. There was chaos everywhere. Parents ran around frantically looking for their girls. Angel brushed the mud from his face and realized the rain had stopped. But the flood waters would keep rising.
“People! Please!” Denise Hendrix yelled, trying to get the group to pay attention.
Angel walked over to her, put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loud enough to wake the dead. Everyone turned toward him.
“Everyone get over here,” he yelled. “Parents, line up in rows of ten. Stop crying and screaming and get over here—now! I went through the camps myself. The tents are empty.”
By now they were all gone, but there was no point in mentioning that now.
“Line up,” he repeated. “Only in groups of ten. Girls, stand with your grove. Grove Keepers, show them where you want them.”
The number didn’t matter, but he knew from experience that if people were busy figuring out how many were in their line, they would be less inclined to panic.
Everyone started to do what he said. Soon they were sorted and the head counts started.
He walked around, looking for his girls, only they weren’t there. None of them. His chest tightened and breathing became impossible. Then he heard the second scream of the night.
Angel went running. He found several of his girls at the trailhead leading down to the lower campsite. But Taryn wasn’t there. Neither were Chloe or Regan.
“Regan lost her bracelet,” Allison told him, grabbing on to his hand. “She and Chloe went to look for it and when Taryn found out, she was really mad. She went after them. They haven’t come back yet.”
Angel told her to get back. Other parents came and took charge of the girls. He started down the trail. The ground shifted under his feet and he was forced to retreat.
“Angel?”
He heard the small voice, so faint it nearly faded into the wind.
“Chloe?”
“Angel? We’re here.”
He followed the sound and moved to the right. He could hear the water but couldn’t see anything. Several parents moved close and turned on their flashlights. Then Angel spotted movement. Regan and Chloe were clinging to a tree. Taryn was with them. Water lapped at their feet.
“We went to get my bracelet,” Regan admitted when she saw him. “Taryn said to stay with the others, but we didn’t. We’re sorry.”
Something Angel would deal with later, he thought as he started down the muddy side of the mountain. He braced himself against a still-standing tree and reached for Regan. She grabbed his hands and he pulled her to him.
Behind him several other Grove Keepers drew her up to safety.
“You’re next,” he told Chloe.
Nearby another tree snapped and the ground beneath them shifted. Chloe screamed.
“I’m here,” Angel told her. “I’m not going anywhere. Just move up the tree and I’ll grab you.”
Chloe nodded and inched toward him. He leaned forward as far as he could, but it wasn’t enough.
“Here!”
He felt something hit his back. A rope. He tied it around his waist, then felt it tighten as the others hung on to him. He leaned forward and reached for Chloe again. This time he grabbed her.
She clung to him like a monkey. He stepped back and felt them both being hauled up a few feet.
“Come on, Chloe,” Denise Hendrix said firmly as she stuck out her hand. “I’ve got you.”
Chloe reached for her, then scrambled to the top. Which left only Taryn.
Angel adjusted the rope at his waist, then moved toward her. The ground shifted and she screamed as the tree she was on cracked and bent. The night was dark and the flashlights didn’t reach this far. He could only see shapes rather than details, but he knew she was watching him.
“Taryn,” he said slowly. “Taryn, listen to me.”
Because the tree she was on was going to be swallowed by the river any second. She was going to have to let go and grab on to him. She was going to have to trust him.
Defeat settled on his shoulders. There was no way he could convince her. Not so fast. Not with a lifetime of horror to recover from. Her father had reached out and had let her fall.
The water continued to rise. It was loud and he could see objects floating by. He felt the first waves lapping at his feet. Before long, the tree she clung to would be pulled into the current and she would go with it.