lifeguard had frowned at her and some boys had jeered.
âHe jumped right from here,â reported Alice. She looked over her shoulder at Melissa. Her eyes gleamed with excitement. âHe said it felt fantastic. He said it didnât hurt at all when he landed.â
âOh,â said Melissa.
âAre you afraid to stand on the edge?â said Alice.
âNot really,â said Melissa. âI just donât want to, thatâs all.â
âWhat about jumping? Would you be afraid to jump?â
âI donât know,â said Melissa. âItâs just not my thing.â
Alice peered over the edge one last time and then walked back to Melissa. âThis is my plan,â she said.
Melissa felt a tickle of apprehension run up her back.
âWe agree to jump. Both of us.â
âI donât want to,â said Melissa quickly.
âI donât mean now. We have to psych ourselves up for this. Weâll make a pact. Weâll solemnly swear to jump in one week.â
âNo,â said Melissa.
âI thought you were in on this,â said Alice.
âIn on what?â said Melissa weakly.
âThis whole thing. Being part of Dar Wynd. Elfrida is brave. Sheâd do it.â
Youâre the one whoâs pretending to be Elfrida, not me, thought Melissa. Aliceâs stare made her uncomfortable.
âWe need some kind of test of bravery,â Alice persisted. âAnd itâs not like itâs even dangerous or anything. Austinâs done it tons of times.â
Thatâs not how she had made it sound before, thought Melissa. She had pictured Austin jumping once, that was all. Maybe he had just been lucky. âIâd never be able to do it,â she said.
There was a short silence. Then Alice said frostily, âOkay, Iâll do it by myself. And Iâll have to think about all this. You coming to Dar Wynd, I mean. Itâs not going to work if you wonât do stuff.â
What kind of stuff? For a second, Melissa pictured Alice climbing in the window of their cabin. Was that the kind of stuff she meant? Melissa felt miserable as she followed Alice back down the trail to the canoe. She scrambled in her mind for a way to repair the rift that had sprung up between them. Alice had said they would jump in one week. Melissa could always pretend to be part of the pact and then at the very end say she had changed her mind.
Melissa sucked in her breath. âOkay, Iâll do it,â she said slowly.
Alice spun around, a wide smile lighting up her face. âWeâll prick our fingers with the knife when we get back to Dar Wynd. This is going to be great. Iâm so glad you came here, Melissa!â
Melissa flushed. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She felt guilty about deceiving Alice, but it was worth it if she got to keep her for a friend.
âMay the gods witness this deed,â whispered Alice. âWe take the oath to jump from the High Cliff on the eleventh of August. We seal this pact with the blood cast this day at the stronghold of Dar Wynd.â
Melissa studied the pinprick of deep red blood that sprang up on the tip of her thumb. She glanced up at Aliceâs pale face, pinched with excitement, and shivered.
Eleven
W hen Melissa got back to the cabin, there was a note on the table from her mother.
Cody and I have gone to the store. Keeping ice is a full-time job. NO SWIMMING BY YOURSELF!!! Love Mom
Melissa got out her sketchbook and pencils and settled herself on the porch . She doodled for a few minutes while she decided what to draw. Her mind drifted to the pact that she and Alice had made. It had been dumb, really, pricking their fingers with the knife. The kind of thing little kids did. But Alice had taken it so seriously.
There was no way Melissa was going to jump off that cliff. She knew that about herself. It made her sick just thinking about it. She shrugged away the worrisome
Mandy M. Roth, Michelle M. Pillow