Chapter 63—The Unexpected

Ipu stood in the large western window watching the sun melt into the horizon. It would be twilight soon and the kids weren't back from their exploration of the caves, nor had there been any calls. She had expected them to be home by now. Eying the Oracle cards, she felt the crawl of trouble cross her skin.

The phone rang and Ipu pulled it out of her baggy trousers. "Hi." Her voice quivered into the mouthpiece.

"Ipu? It's Maggie."

"Who? Bad connection."

"Taylor's mom. We're back from the fishing trip."

"Oh," Ipu said, frowning. "Back early?"

"Yeah, weather's coming in. Big storm," Maggie said.

Ipu walked to the east window and looked out over the ocean. Ominous clouds were gathering in the distance and the wind was gusting. She hoped the kids would make it back before the storm hit, or at least before their parents returned. Storms on the North Island could be brutal.

"When you come home?" she asked Maggie.

"We're cleaning the boat and packing up now. It will be an hour, maybe more. How are the kids?"

"Kids good." Ipu swallowed hard and stared at the cards. "Must go now, see soon." She clicked off and dialed Jojo's cell number—but there was still no answer.

* * *

Jojo pulled out his map, but a wind gust caught it. He looked up at the darkening sky. "Hold this," he said, grabbing the map and handing it to Taylor and Chaz. Once they got it open and secured, he got out his flashlight.

"I think we're here." He pointed to a spot on the east side of the mountain. "See the river?" Then he slid his finger to another spot on the map. "This is where we came in, on the northwest side. See the parking symbol?" Chaz nodded. "That's where the Woody's parked. The question is, which way should we go?"

"I'd say the shortest way," Chaz said.

"You'd think," Jojo said, "but there are no good roads, see?" He drew his finger from the river north around the base of the mountain. "It's all bushy and hilly. This way's longer but has roads. We might see a car and could hitch."

"How long will that take, if no car comes along, I mean?" Tip shivered and his lips were turning blue. The temperature was dropping fast. His sister put an arm around him and rubbed.

Jojo looked at the mileage legend on the map. "About an hour, maybe longer, if we do it." He glanced up at the menacing eastern sky and then toward a large opening he'd seen earlier. A wind gust grabbed the map again and it flew away. "I said, 'hold on.'" Jojo ran to catch it and then drew it into a fold.

Chaz looked up at the buffeting branches and felt a drop of rain. "What do you mean, 'if we do it'—you don't think we should go?"

Jojo removed his bush hat and rubbed his head. "A monster storm's coming, Tip's practically hypothermic, and we have to be back at this exact spot in less than twenty-four hours."

"Where would we sleep?" Taylor asked. "We can't stay out here in the storm."

Jojo tried his phone one last time, but there was still no service. He pointed to an opening fifty feet away. "If that's what I think it is, we can stay in there." He looked up at the sky and the wind blew off his hat. Running after it, he said, "We might have fifteen minutes." Jojo headed toward the cave opening, waving an arm for them to follow.

Taylor and Chaz pulled off their hats and started to run, their hair blowing wild. Chaz stopped when Tip didn't follow. "Come on, man," he said.

"I can't feel my feet," Tip said, looking down at them as if they were someone else's.

Chaz grabbed his arm and pulled Tip behind him. "Oww," Tip said, but managed to half trot, half run toward the opening.

"This'll work just fine," Jojo said once they were inside. "We need to get dry wood. Tip, you stay here. We'll have you warmed up in no time." Tip trembled uncontrollably and sat on a ledge that jutted out from the cavern wall.

Outside the cave Taylor grabbed Jojo's arm. "Ipu must be worried sick." Her eyes filled with tears.

"I know, but we have no choice," Jojo said.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, thunder erupted and lightning dazzled the sky. The wind sounded like a train and rain fell like someone was hurling it in buckets.

Back inside Jojo blew on the smoldering fire and a flame shot up. Tip's wet clothes hung on a rigged totem made with long sticks. He pulled the dry fleece closer around him, and his stomach felt like it did on the night before a big test.

"I think we should try to get home after the storm ends," he said. "Ipu's worried sick, and if our parents find out where we've been we'll be in big trouble." He glared at Chaz. "And don't you need to tell Jesse and Nikki we've found the crystals?"