Angel Fall by Coleman Luck Page B

back in the sand. Towering above her was a gravestone covered with scorch marks. Sitting up, she turned to look for the baby. The movement made her gasp—every inch of her body ached. But the most awful pain was in her hand and ankle where the roots had touched her.
    It was all the proof she needed that the worst nightmare had been real.
    The little boy was awake, sitting quietly, looking at her with his strange eyes. She tried to smile at him. “Hi. Hope you slept better than I did. I’m not doin’ so good this morning.” She examined the burns. They were streaks of white surrounded with haloes of dusky red. The skin was hard and there was a sickly sweet odor about it. “You saved us last night. How’d you do that? What kind of a baby are you?”
    The little boy only smiled and cooed. A bubble formed on his lips. As it grew larger, he stared down at it. When it popped, he jumped. His look was so comical that Amanda laughed in spite of her pain. “Well, that was a pretty normal baby thing. I guess we’d better eat before we start out. But I’m sure not hungry.” When she opened the knapsack, though, she realized how weak she was. Every move took a tremendous effort. “I hope I feel better soon, or we’re not gonna get very far.”
    Breakfast was light. Little cakes, a piece of fruit, and sips of water from a bottle. Neither ate very much. Finally she packed it all away and put the baby in his sling. Then, with the knapsack in place, she stood up. Instantly she was almost overcome with dizziness and had to grab a gravestone to keep from falling.
    “Oh, God, what am I gonna do? I’m really sick.” She started to cry. Suddenly, more than anything, she wanted to be home with her mother. Her mom would put her in bed and wipe her face with a cool damp cloth. Her mom always knew how to make her feel better. Funny how little she had appreciated that until now. But something inside whispered that she would never see her mother again. Amanda gritted her teeth. “Just shut up. Stop thinking that.” With a tremendous effort she wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. The dizziness was fading. She forced herself to search for the path.
    The vines that had choked the graveyard had been burned away. Now a thick layer of white ash covered everything. With the vegetation gone, the path was clear. But with the first step came a deathly exhaustion. After only a few feet she had to stop and lean against another stone.
    How am I gonna do this? she thought. I’m never gonna make it. More tears welled in her eyes. Then she looked up. Far away loomed the great Mountain. “Oh, please…if I’m supposed to come to you, you’ve gotta help me…and you’ve gotta do it right now.”
    Nothing seemed to change. But in a few moments she found the strength to walk a little farther. And after that, a little farther still. Then she was on the path and there was nothing to do but keep going. At the edge of the graveyard she found gateposts covered with carvings. Walking between them, Amanda entered the forest…and the Mountain vanished from view.
    The path wound through a jungle of delicate ferns. Dense trees with long willowy branches drooped overhead. Amanda barely noticed any of the beauty around her. Very soon her face was covered with sweat, and her head became so heavy that all she could do was stare at the ground. Looking at the baby helped a little—as he hung in his sling against her breast, he seemed to be making a scientific examination of her hair. A curl was in his tiny fist and he kept trying to taste it. “No, that’s yucky.” But she couldn’t say any more because forming the words was too exhausting.
    As she struggled on, slowly her body seemed to grow heavier. Every few minutes she had to stop and rest. And the burns made her want to scream. Instead of screaming, she became very angry.
    How could Bellwind have sent me out this way? She knew there were terrible things out here, things that could kill me. How many