The next day, Alice was waiting for Melissa on the flat rock. “We’re not going to make the arrows anymore,” she said as Melissa tied her canoe to the overhanging branch. “It was kind of dumb anyway. I’ve got something way better.” Her thin face was tight with excitement.
“What is it?”
“It’s a surprise. It’s at Dar Wynd.”
Melissa followed Alice along the path through the trees. Her feet were bare today and the ground felt hot and parched. The leaves on the bushes had a gray dusty look. A patch of wild purple daisies at the edge of the clearing had withered in the heat.
A long thin object wrapped in a white towel lay on the floor in the middle of the tree house. Melissa stared in amazement as Alice folded back the towel and uncovered a gleaming silver sword with a long narrow blade attached to an ornate handle.
Melissa gasped. “Is it real?”
“Of course it’s real.” For a second, Alice looked annoyed. “Austin gave it to me. Well, lent it really. But he said I can keep it all summer.”
“Where did he get it?” breathed Melissa.
“He has a whole collection of swords. He orders them off the Internet. This is his best one. He wanted me to take it.”
“It’s amazing,” said Melissa.
“Pick it up. Hold it,” said Alice.
Melissa carefully picked up the sword. It was very heavy. The blade shimmered and was almost as long as her arm. The handle, fashioned from a darker metal, was a monster’s head with sharp curved horns and long claws that gripped the top of the blade.
Melissa swung the sword back and forth gently. “What does he do with it?” she said.
“Nothing,” said Alice. She sounded impatient. “He has all his swords on his wall. He collects them. Elfrida’s going to have a sword just like this. Her brother Warwick gives it to her. She can use it to battle the fairies.”
Melissa put the sword back on the floor. It made her feel a little sick.
“I’m going to write about the sword now,” said Alice. “While I’m feeling inspired. You can read one of my books if you want.”
Alice’s books with the monsters and weird fantasy creatures on the covers didn’t interest Melissa at all. “Do you have any blank paper here?” she asked.
Alice opened her red binder and took out a sheet of paper. Melissa found a pencil on the shelf. She leaned her back against the wall and used the binder for a table. Alice sat cross-legged, flipping through a pile of papers covered with writing.
Melissa slid into her drawing. She was hesitant at first and then drew quickly, shutting out everything else around her. She was startled when she heard Alice crumple up a piece of paper and say crossly, “I can’t do it today. I can’t write.”
Alice stood up and peered over Melissa’s shoulder. Melissa resisted the urge to cover her drawing with her hand. Her back tensed.
“Hey, that’s good,” said Alice. She sounded shocked. “Really, really good. I didn’t know you could draw like that.”
Melissa shrugged. She didn’t say anything but she glowed inside. She had drawn a girl dressed in a tunic and tall boots. Her hair was tucked under a cap, but you could tell she was a girl because of her delicate features. She was holding a sword that looked exactly like the sword Austin had given Alice.
“It’s Elfrida, isn’t it?” said Alice.
Melissa nodded. “People are hard to draw,” she said.
“I think she looks like me,” said Alice.
“I used your face,” said Melissa.
Alice studied the drawing for a moment. “Can I keep it?”
“If you want.” Melissa handed her the paper and the binder. “It’s not that great.”
“But I love it!” Alice seemed unable to pull her eyes away from the drawing. Finally she put it carefully in the back of the binder, snapped the rings shut and put the binder on the floor beside her scattered papers.
Melissa stood up and stretched. She could feel a rim of sweat on her upper lip. “It’s so hot today. Do you want to go swimming?”
“Not at the rock. That’s getting boring.” Alice’s pleasure over the drawing seemed to have evaporated and a small frown darkened her pale face. She picked up a mug and then set it down restlessly. “I’m going to change the rules,” she said suddenly.
“What rules?” A tickle of apprehension ran up Melissa’s spine.
“I’m going to jump today.” Alice stared at Melissa and burst into laughter. “You should see your face! I didn’t say you had to jump. You still have another five days. But I’m going to do it!”
Melissa’s stomach turned to water. “Why now?” she said weakly.
“Because,” said Alice, “I can’t write and there’s nothing else to do.” Her eyes glowed. “You have to come with me. I need a witness.”
The little cove was in dappled shade, the water smooth and deep green. Even out of the direct sun it was broiling hot. Melissa had worked up a sweat paddling and she leaned over the edge of the canoe and splashed water on her face. A small brown bird hopped through an overhanging bush, and Melissa imagined she could hear the dusty leaves crackle with the heat.
The cliff was even higher than she remembered. It loomed above them, the rocks at the top shimmering white in the sunlight. Alice had chatted all the way over but was silent now. They tied the canoe to the dead tree and climbed up the trail. The air was thick with the smell of pine needles, and the heat felt like a heavy blanket on Melissa’s shoulders.
When they got to the top, Alice walked right across the rocks to the edge and peered over. “It doesn’t look that bad,” she announced.
Melissa hung back. If she went any closer she would feel dizzy. “Are you sure it’s safe? You don’t want to hit a rock or something.”
“In that deep water? And I told you Austin did it.” Alice sounded impatient. She stripped off her shorts and top and stood poised in her red bathing suit. “Count to five for me. Then I’ll go.”
Melissa licked her dry lips. “One…two…three… four…five.”
At the last minute she thought Alice was going to back out. Alice hesitated and her back went rigid. Then she took a deep breath, spread her arms apart like wings and jumped.
Melissa heard a huge splash.
She waited a few seconds and then called, “Alice?”
From the middle of the lake a loon gave a long warbling cry. A bumblebee droning in a patch of tall white clover was the only other sound breaking the silence.
Melissa had expected Alice to shout out something, tell her how great it was, urge her to not be such a baby, to jump too. “Alice?” she called again.
She edged closer to the edge of the cliff. She shouldn’t be such a scaredy-cat. It wasn’t as if the cliff was suddenly going to collapse. But she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
She got close enough so she could see down into the bay to the spot where she figured Alice must have landed. A widening circle of ripples spread across the smooth water. There was no sign of Alice.
“Alice!” A wave of panic rose in Melissa’s throat. There was no way Alice could hold her breath all that time. She imagined all kinds of terrible things—Alice somehow caught in the weeds or knocked unconscious from hitting a submerged log.
Help, I need to get help, thought Melissa frantically. She backed away from the cliff and plunged down the trail, her feet skidding on the brown pine needles. She frantically recited instructions over and over in her head—untie the canoe, paddle back to the cabin, get Sharlene.
Melissa fumbled with the rope. She looked up and scanned the bay one last time.
“Hey, wait for me!” said Alice’s voice.
She was treading water, right up against the bottom of the cliff, deep in shadow. She swam toward the canoe with strong strokes. Melissa’s legs felt weak with relief. She took big breaths to steady her slowly growing anger.
“That wasn’t funny,” said Melissa when Alice stood up in the shallow water beside the canoe.
Alice made her eyes huge. “What?”
“I thought you had drowned.” Melissa knew she sounded pathetic, but she couldn’t help it. “Why did you hide like that?”
Alice looked like she was about to protest, but then she shrugged her thin shoulders and said, “It was just a joke. You don’t have to get so mad.”
“Well, it wasn’t a joke to me,” said Melissa furiously.
She waited stiffly in the canoe while Alice climbed back up to the top for her clothes. They paddled to the island in silence. I’m going back to the cabin, thought Melissa. As soon as we get to the island, I’m going to the cabin.
But as they were nearing the flat rock, her anger slowly melted away and curiosity overcame her. “So what was it like, anyway?” she said grudgingly.
Alice’s words came out in a gush. “Great! Awesome! I felt like an eagle. You wait until it’s your turn, Melissa. You just wait!”