Free A Nearer Moon by Melanie Crowder Page B

wedged the firecrackers in until all that showed were twisted wicks hanging expectantly downward. All told there were five, arranged in a frown, right at the heart of the dam. When Benny was happy with the way he’d placed all the little bombs, Luna dropped over the lip of the old riverbank. Her legs slipped out from under her and she fell in a tumble of rocks and grit to the dry riverbed.
    Benny dusted off his hands and helped her up. “You’re worried. Don’t be worried, Luna.”
    She shook her head; her lips pressed together in a thin, white line. “I’m not worried.”
    â€œLook, it’ll be easy. You take these matches and light those two right there, closest to the riverbank. I’ll light these three at the far end, and I’ll be right behind you.”
    â€œWhy do you get the risky part? It’s my sister we’re doing this for. It’s my fault we’re in this mess at all.”
    â€œYeah? Well, they’re my firecrackers. Besides, it’s my turn to be the reckless one,” Benny said with a wink.
    Luna’s hands shook, just a little, just enough that the pink tips of the matches wobbled in the air. She stood in front of her two wicks and waited for Benny. He arched an eyebrow and lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
    â€œReady or not,” he said, and he struck his first match. It crackled to life, and Luna hurried to light hers. She cupped her hand around the wobbling flame and lifted it to the wick.
    â€œCome on, come on, come on,” she whispered. The flame danced around the wick, tickling all the edges before a thread of smoke rose into the air and the fibers whooshed into flame. The smell of singed peppers filled her nostrils as the match burned down, too close to Luna’s fingers, and she hopped from foot to foot, shaking the match in the air and blowing it out.
    The flame crackled as it ate up the wick, burning fasttoward the mud. Luna struck her second match and it popped into flame. Beside her, she could hear first one, then two of Benny’s wicks begin sizzling toward their firecrackers.
    â€œCome on, come on, come on,” she whispered as she fumbled to light the second wick. It flared to life, and Luna darted a look at Benny. He flashed her a smile as he shook the flame out of his last match.
    â€œGo!” he shouted as he dashed for the riverbank.
    Luna turned and ran. She clambered up and sprinted toward the trees. She looked back over her shoulder once, just in time to see the wicks fizzling down to the very nubs and Benny’s exhilarated face peeking up over the riverbank. Just in time to see him stumble over a loose rock, scrabble for a handhold, and fall back into the riverbed.
    Luna skidded to a stop. “Benny!”
    BAM! BAM BAM BOOOOM!
    Luna covered her head with her arms as dirt and hunks of rock flew into the air. Mud thwacked against tree trunks and a rumbling thundered at the base of the dam, a rumbling like boulders clunking against one another.
    And then it all stopped.
    Luna raced back to the riverbank. She couldn’t seeBenny anywhere. Everything was coated in a thick layer of mud. The dam held, even though five craters as big as crab pots pocked its surface. Luna dropped over the side.
    Her head was ringing. Her arms were scratched and bleeding. She could hear shouts coming from out in the swamp, people running toward her, yelling at her to get away, get out of the riverbed.
    Above her, the dam creaked, like it was trying to find a new balance, like the water was pushing hard as it could against the weak spots.
    â€œBenny!” Luna thrust her arms into the mud and waded through the muck, grabbing at anything solid.
    â€œBenny!” she screamed, though the sound that reached her was muffled, as if she had cotton balls stuck in her ears. Luna spread her arms wide as she fished through the sludge for a foot, a wrist—anything. She slipped and crashed to the ground, landing on something