Lightning by Bonnie S. Calhoun Page B

morning in the earthquake,” Selah said.
    â€œEarthquake? What earthquake?” Cleon slowly approached.
    â€œWhen I was in the Repository.”
    Treva waved a finger back and forth. “We’re going to have to work on improving our communication, ’cause I don’t remember you saying a single word about anything like an earthquake.”
    Selah hung her head. “I thought you’d make me stay home if I told you I was seeing things.”
    â€œLadies, how about we continue this conversation on the road and get out of here before our company decides to return?” Jaenen snatched up Selah’s bag and stuffed the contents back inside, including the reader and data glass holder. He started to toss it into the wagon, but Selah caught his arm and gently relieved him of the bag.
    The four scrambled into the AirWagon. Cleon rubbed the control panel and encouraged it to start, using sweet cooing sounds like Selah heard him use when talking to his cows. She and Treva traded glances and giggles, but when the AirWagon fired up, they both cheered. Cleon threw it in forward, and they shot up the road at close to the max of forty miles an hour.
    No one spoke. The silence was almost a group signal for “don’t break the good fortune by talking until we’re completely safe.” Fifteen minutes later they let out a collective sigh of relief as the waters of the Delaware Bay appeared.
    â€œHow long will it take to cross the water?” Already glistening with sweat, Selah rubbed her hands down her pant legs. Thinking about one of those large-finned monsters chomping down on a leg and dragging her out to sea had kept her on land since the age of ten, when she’d witnessed a shark attack that left the waters churning red with blood. She loved the ocean smell and the hypnotic motion of the waves, but that was as close as she wanted to get even though she could swim well. Mother said swimming was like riding a horse—you never forgot how.
    â€œMaybe fifteen minutes,” Cleon said. “I’ll keep it at top speed. I know your love of the water.”
    Treva turned. “Oh, you like to swim too! I love—”
    â€œI hate it. He was being sarcastic,” Selah said.
    Jaenen reached over and patted her arm. Selah grabbed his hand, turning her knuckles white with the strength of her death grip. Jaenen grimaced but lifted the left side of his mouth in a tortured half smile. Selah appreciated his sacrifice as she restricted the blood flow to his hand.
    She needed something to alleviate her fear of the AirWagon pitching and dumping her in the water at any second. She took a few quick looks at the waves sliding along the bay. Her chest squeezed. Small whitecaps dotted the peaks on the surface, and an occasional gull dove for fish. For the most part, she kept her eyes closed, content to smell the seaweed and brine in the air. That was as close as she wanted to get.
    She bit her lip raw until they safely edged onto shore at the other side, then expelled the breath it seemed she’d held since they started across.
    â€œHow soon can we get to the Mountain?” Selah said without thinking.
    â€œThe Mountain?” Treva turned to face her. “What do you, of all people, want with the Mountain?”
    Selah slid her hand from Jaenen’s. He looked at her apologetically. “You might as well tell them. It’s now or never.”
    Cleon cycled down the AirWagon and it drifted to the ground. “Tell us what?” He looked at Jaenen. “Apparently you knew about this?”
    Jaenen bristled. “Listen, my job is to find your—”
    â€œIt’s not Jaenen’s fault. I didn’t tell him the whole story.” Selah looked around. “Are we safe to stop here? I don’t want to get attacked just for the sake of conversation.”
    â€œWe’re on the safe side of the bay. We’ll be camping a few miles farther up the road near