Free Shadowed Eden by Katie Clark Page B

The wet liquid rushed down her throat and she sighed. Much better. She closed the bottle and handed it back. After a few more steps, something began moving up ahead.
    It definitely wasn’t the girls, and no monkey stalked them that she could see.
    Was it the tree branches? Or the air? Whatever it was, she was seeing the wind again. She turned away, trying to put the strangeness of the place out of her mind, but the movement held her eye.
    Maybe it wasn’t the air, after all. She squinted ahead and realized she wasn’t seeing things. There was fruit on a few trees in front of them. “Look, guys!”
    “Are those bananas?” June asked.
    Benny grinned. “Score!” He jogged to the tree and began shimmying up.
    “You can climb that?” Luca asked.
    “Sure, my granddad used to take me hunting, and we climbed up without a stand.”
    Avery couldn’t imagine giving Benny a gun, but she kept that to herself.
    He tossed down a bunch of bananas.
    Avery grabbed a few to distribute. The sweet fruit was better than any full course meal she’d ever eaten. “Should we take the rest back to the group?” she asked.
    “Yeah, good idea,” Luca replied.
    June frowned and kicked at the dirt. “So, is the search over?”
    Luca studied June, his eyebrows drawn tight. “We’re not giving up, but this path seems to lead back to the desert. They may have beaten us to it.”
    Found their way back? That’s exactly what Rae said would happen.
    Still, June didn’t seem to want to accept it.
    Avery put her arm around June’s shoulder. “It will be fine.”
    June smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.
    “Let’s get back to the group,” Luca said. “We’ll rest and see if they’ve made it back.”
    “And then what?” June pressed.
    He shrugged. “We’ll go from there. We’re not giving up on them.”
    Why was Luca coddling her? The path was obviously leading back to the group. What more did June want?
    Avery took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She wasn't being fair. It was just this place. She grabbed the remainder of the bananas and continued her walk.
    The others caught up.
    “What’s the hurry?” Luca asked, jogging to catch her.
    She shrugged. “I just want to get out of here. I need to see the sun.”
    That appeased him. “We’ll figure something out. We’ll find them.”
    Let him think that’s why she was upset. She sure wasn’t going to tell him the missing girls had nothing to do with it, and she wasn’t going to admit a huge, black beetle had just crawled across her feet.

10
    Luca
    The good news was pretty obvious as soon as they stepped into the light of the open desert. Dry heat hit Luca in the face. It was at least ten degrees hotter than the jungle, but without the humidity, it was bearable.
    Everyone in the group gathered in a circle, talking over each other in loud, excited voices.
    “They’re here!” June sprinted through the sand. Her feet slipped and she almost nose-dived, but she righted herself and made it to the group. Pushing herself through, she threw herself at Gabby in a hug.
    The girls laughed.
    Luca smiled. “Can’t believe we did all that and they made it back on their own.”
    Avery turned to look at him but winced. “I’m really sorry about your head.”
    The lump on his forehead felt bigger than it had before. He shrugged. “It’s really no big deal.”
    “At least you have a great story to tell. You were attacked by a jungle monkey.”
    He laughed but it faded fast. “I think we all have a great story to tell. We’ve been stranded in the desert for days.”
    Her smile fell away, too, and worry lines replaced it. She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Can you believe this? Why hasn’t anyone come looking for us?”
    He fought the urge to hug her. To comfort her.
    A rumbling in the distance caught his attention and he let a slow grin spread across his face. “Do you hear that? It sounds like they got our van running.”
    Her head snapped up, and she gazed