After the Ashes by Sara K. Joiner

Author:Sara K. Joiner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2015-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

We tore out of the parlor doors and whipped around the house. My aunt, whom I half dragged behind me, cried, “Careful, Katrien! The rosebushes!”

I swerved to avoid crashing into the spindly things, but my skirt snagged on some of the thorns. I did not stop moving and heard the fabric rip.

The thick blanket of powder slowed us down. It was worse than trying to run on the beach. We pushed our way through the drifts and the falling ash.

“Keep running, Katrien,” Tante Greet panted behind me, her hand slipping in mine. I tightened my grip.

Our slog through the ash was taking too long. I could hear the ocean roiling behind me, and I pictured a wall of clear blue water coming to sweep us away.

Tante Greet stopped in the cemetery by the Dutch Reformed Church. She leaned against the side of the little wooden building. “I’m not going to make it, Katrien.”

“Ja, you will,” I insisted, reaching for her hand. “I’ll carry you into the jungle if I have to.”

She brushed me away. “No, Katrien, you keep going. I’ll wait here.”

“I’m not going to leave you.” The rushing sound got louder, more distinct, over the rumblings of Krakatau.

“Your father will have to come this way. I’ll rest, and he and I will join you.”

“Vader—” I stopped. Vader would never leave his post. She was making excuses.

The thunderous roar of the ocean grew even louder. I couldn’t hear my own breathing.

We couldn’t hide behind the tombstones. They weren’t tall enough.

But the trees could work. They were tamarinds with solid trunks and thick branches. Perfect for climbing. “We have to get up there.” I pointed to a low-hanging branch.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“It’s our only hope.”

“I can’t climb a tree.”

“Your life may depend on it.”

“You climb. I will cling to the trunk.”

“No—”

“Do it, Katrien!” She shoved me toward the tree.

The ash still fell like rain. I shimmied up the trunk, my feet slipping numerous times on the powder-coated tree. But my experienced fingers clung like a house gecko crawling up a window. They sifted through the grit and gripped the rough bark. I had just gotten my legs and arms over the lowest branch when the giant wave attacked Anjer.

Crack!

As the water smashed through town, the sound of splintering wood was the first noise I could identify above the roar. Then a sharp crash followed as glass shattered, and a grinding screech as metal buckled, and heavy thudding as large objects shifted from their foundations.

The wave itself was worse than I imagined. Much worse. It was not a clear blue, but a roiling gray-green mass, as tall as the tree I clutched. It washed over buildings, casting them aside like houses of cards.

“I love you, Katrien!” Tante Greet cried from below.

She flung her arms around the base of the tamarind as the water washed over us. My body lifted off the branch, and I held my breath. I squeezed my arms and clung with my fingertips.

The water pummeled the tree, whipping me around and around as objects banged against my legs and side.

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