Nightfall by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski

Author:Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski [Halpern, Jake & Kujawinski, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Dystopian, Action & Adventure, Survival Stories, Monsters
ISBN: 9780399175800
Google: dk7RrQEACAAJ
Amazon: 0399175806
Barnesnoble: 0399175806
Goodreads: 23846037
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2015-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 31

“Go—go—go!” Kana yelled. He bolted out of the tunnel and crawled to Line and Marin, who were perched at the edge of the cave entrance and looking down.

“Is it behind you?” gasped Marin.

“I don’t think so,” he said, looking back into the darkened cave. “It’s probably too big to fit, but I can’t be sure.”

“Let’s not find out,” said Line. “Kana—can you see a way down the cliff wall?”

Kana inched his way to the edge and looked down a steep cliff that dropped nearly a hundred feet down to a rocky beach below. The rain had stopped and the sky was lighter than before. The moon peeked through the clouds. He glanced out toward the horizon. The sea had withdrawn a long ways and in its wake was a vast expanse of rocks, strewn with kelp and seaweed. It was a spectacular, otherworldly landscape. There were great rock formations, canyons, clusters of coral, and the carcasses of thousands of fish.

The most pressing matter was getting down the cliff. He examined the edge and saw a chicken head—a bulbous knob of rock sticking out of the cliff face. Lithe as a cat, Kana swung his legs over, grabbed the chicken head, and disappeared over the edge. He hung there for a few seconds as he looked for his next move. Despite the direness of their circumstances, he was pleased by how easily he could maneuver along the wall. He had never climbed as well as Marin, but now he felt supremely confident.

Just to his right, about five feet away, was a dark seam in the rock that ran straight down to the shoreline. It was a natural feature sometimes found in the cliffs, and for those with climbing experience, it made an ascent or descent doable—even easy. This particular seam gradually widened into a chimney—a crack wide enough to fit an entire body. Descending this particular chimney would be easy for Marin, even in the dark. Line would have a harder time because of his ankle, but the brace would help. On an island like theirs, with its perimeter of high cliffs, most people could free-climb all but the steepest of headwalls. The only complication now was that it had been raining and the rock face was wet.

“There’s a way down!” yelled Kana as he continued his descent. “Just over the precipice, there’s a nice chicken head—hang from it and then crab-walk to the seam on your right. Farther down, it’ll open into a chimney. Take it slow—the rock is wet and icy in a few places.” They heard Kana continue down the wall.

Line nodded at Marin to go next.

“No, you go ahead,” said Marin, pushing him gently toward the precipice. “You have to be careful of your ankle—and your arm.”

“Go on,” he said. “Please. If I’m in front, I’ll slow you down.” There was a solid resoluteness in his voice. “There’s nothing coming . . . If it was, it’d be here by now.”

Marin hesitated, then walked up to him and hugged him close.

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