As he approached the cleared area by the stream, he became too eager. He went backward faster, without looking, and an umbrella tree trunk hit him on the side of his rear end. He twisted, lost his balance, and rolled the last few feet.
He had not come down the same route as he and Sig had used to ascend. When he sat up, rubbing a skinned elbow, he found that he was about forty yards upstream from the camp. Dawn was sitting cross-legged on the opposite bank of the stream. She had taken her shoes off and was dabbling her feet in the clear water. Sapphire, by her side, was staring up at the sky.
Josh walked across to them, trying to act as if his final downhill roll had been planned. “Find anything interesting?”
Dawn didn’t answer, or even look at him. That was normal enough—for Dawn. What was more surprising was Sapphire’s reaction. She frowned at Josh as though she had never seen him before in her life.
“Uh?” she said.
He recognized that dead-eye expression, wide and staring with irises unmoving. Not from Sapphire, but from some of his mother’s friends. This was the final stage, the surfacing after a long, hard hit.
“Sapphire!” He waded the stream, ignoring the sudden chill of the water, and snapped his fingers under her nose. “Come on Saph, come out of it. You’re back at the camp. Everything is fine.”
She did not speak, but her eyes rolled slowly downward from the sky until she was staring right at him. She smiled, as though everything was for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
“Oh, hell.” That wasn’t Sapphire. The voice came from behind Josh, and without turning he knew it was Topaz.
“Not that.” She advanced to his side. “I was hoping she didn’t have any more of it left.”
“I guess she does. I’ve been trying to bring her out of it, but she doesn’t seem to hear me.”
“You can’t—I’ve tried often enough. It just takes time. By the way, I found out that Amy knows, too. Now we’re trying to keep it from Ruby.” Topaz moved closer and put her thumb below Sapphire’s left eye, drawing down the skin there so she could see the exposed white. “She’s still zonked, but she is coming out of it. A minute or two more.”
“Sig Lasker knows, too.” Josh saw Topaz’s reproachful look. “No, I didn’t tell him. He recognized it for himself—he says she’s a classic case.”
“Maybe he’ll keep it to himself, then. I can imagine how Brewster would react. You didn’t let Ruby see any of this, did you?”
Before Josh could respond, Sapphire took a great shuddering breath and brought her hands up to cover her eyes. “I don’t feel good. Where am I?”
“You’re with us, Saph,” said Topaz. “You’re fine. Everything is fine. We’re all here. See, here comes Amy.”
Amethyst was paddling toward them along the stream, carrying her shoes. Sapphire watched her approach. “Good, good,” she said vaguely. “All here. Good.” She sighed and seemed to shrink in size.
“No.” Josh hated to say it, but he had to. “We don’t know where Ruby is. I didn’t see her when I got here. I haven’t seen her since you all went off along the stream.”
Topaz clutched at Josh’s arm, but when she spoke it was to her sister. “Saph! Where’s Ruby. She went with you and Dawn. Remember? Did she come back with yon?”
Sapphire frowned, as though someone had presented her with a difficult abstract puzzle. Then her eyes blinked wide. She stared at Topaz and Amethyst. “Where is Ruby?”
“Oh, no.” Topaz groaned. She turned to scan the banks of the stream. “If Saph left her behind… Ruby’s only ten. She’s smart, but she won’t have any idea how to get back. And it will be dark in a few hours. We have to find her.”
Josh nodded. He followed Topaz’s gaze along the reach of the stream, empty of all movement. Behind him, an odd mewing sound had begun. Sapphire, falling hard off her snap high, was weeping for her lost sister.
They tried to get direct answers from Dawn. Josh could have told them that was useless; then he decided, good luck to them. Maybe he was wrong, and anyway what they were trying could do no harm. He left Dawn with Amethyst, while Topaz went to tell Winnie Carlson. He headed in the opposite direction, walking Sapphire along the bank of the stream. Where the vegetation grew taller, eight feet high and more, he halted.
“Here?” He thought he could see a trail, faint marks in the undergrowth.
She nodded. The last time she had been on a snap high, he had not seen her when she came down from it. Now he knew why. She was gray-faced and shivering. Normally she must hide away until she felt better. This time she couldn’t. Guilt was driving her on.
“Where did you go next?” The trail was ambiguous, splitting into several possible routes. He led the way in about thirty feet, glad to be able to stand upright without bumping his head on the upper leaf canopy.
Sapphire followed. She hesitated, turning from side to side. Under the shade of the leaves it was already darker. A rustling sound above told them that the wind was rising, although under the canopy the air remained calm.
“I don’t know.” Sapphire’s head slumped forward, her chin resting on her chest. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t know. Everything looks the same and different at the same time.”
It wasn’t expressed clearly, but Josh knew what she meant. The jungle seemed different, because it was later in the day now and the sunlight sloped in at a different angle; but it also looked the same, because one group of umbrella plants was just like another. To be sure of finding your way out once you had gone deep inside, you would have to leave a trail on the ground or mark the stems of the umbrella plants.
There was no visible trail. The plants were untouched. Josh was turning to move back to the cleared stream bank when the question hit him.
“Sapphire, listen carefully. Did you mark a trail on your way in?”
“No.” She wouldn’t look at him, but she answered miserably, “I was high. I thought I knew what I was doing. But I didn’t really think at all.”
“That’s all right. But if you didn’t mark a trail on the way in, how did you find your way out?”
This time she stared at him. After a few seconds she shook her head. “I don’t know. I think we walked a long way in, but I don’t remember coming out at all. I guess we just turned around at some point, and went the other way.”
“Maybe. But maybe not. Come on.”
Josh turned and led the way back. The group on the edge of the stream had increased in size. Rick and Hag Lasker had returned from their explorations. They carried between them what looked like a bunch of purple grapes, except that each fruit was the size of an apple. Sig was there, too, still holding the giant severed leaf of the umbrella plant.
They were all watching Winnie Carlson, who was squatting on the ground next to Dawn and speaking to her softly. Her face was grim. The wind was picking up strength, and the sky to the west was dark. The ribbons of cloud had become fuller and lower.
Winnie stood up as Josh and Sapphire joined the group. “It’s no good. I don’t think I’m getting through. In fact, I’m sure I’m not.” Dawn stared at the woman and through her, with clear, innocent brown eyes, as Winnie went on, “Did you have any luck, Sapphire?”
There was no suggestion of blame in her voice, but Sapphire looked away and shook her head.
“She doesn’t remember,” Josh said. “Give us space, everybody. Keep quiet, and don’t get in the way.”
He reached out his hand to Dawn, and when she took it in hers he lifted her to her feet. The others backed away. No one said a word when he started to walk hand in hand with Dawn along the stream bank. They knew that he was her cousin. They believed that he understood her, and how she thought.
He and Dawn were approaching the place where he had seen the faint trail entering the forest. He went in confidently, as though he knew what he was doing. Once under the leaf canopy he kept hold of Dawn’s hand, but he let himself lag a half-step behind. She walked on. Topaz and Sig followed, gesturing the rest to stay near the stream. Josh decided that in the next two minutes he would be judged either a genius or a total idiot.