Page 7 of Flyboy

“Well, then I see nothing you should be frowning about.”

“This ain’t frowning. This is my normal expression.”

“He’s right.” Ivy stepped out to join them. “You should have seen him on the islands. Everything around us as beautiful as it gets, and Omar is over there frowning.”

“Ivy.” He pulled her in for a hug. Colton felt every part of his body bristle like a prickly pear cactus, while he watched the two of them embrace.

“It was hotter than any place needs to be and humid on top of it.” He looked up at the sky. “But this. I could go to a lot of assignments with weather like this.”

Omar was a good, solid, passionate sort of guy. The more missions he went on, the more the team wanted to use him. But if he kept hugging Ivy like they were the best pals in the world, Colton might not like him as much.

“Let’s be off, then. We’ve got two days to appreciate the weather before we’re stuck indoors.” Colton led the way down a path to their left. He hummed to himself while the other two chattered together. At first, the path was wide, lined with grass and rocks, but the further on they went, the more dense the vegetation became. Soon the three of them were walking in a single file line. Thick underbrush rubbed against his legs and branches scratched at his arms, making him grateful for his sweatshirt.

After about thirty minutes, the path opened up again and then stopped at the edge of a huge rock outcrop overlooking a pool that splashed with a frothy foam as the towering plunge of the powerful torrent rushed downward. Mist refreshed Colton’s face as he lifted his chin, eyes closed, into the spray of the falls that rose above them. Ivy came to stand beside him. “This is really incredible.”

“It really is.” He winked at her, peered down off the rocky ledge at the pool beneath them and then dove off.

Her scream behind him as he fell made him laugh. Then he shouted a great whoop of happiness to the nature all around them until his hands hit the water. He sunk into the cool depths and then swam to the surface. He looked up at the rock outcropping and laughed at Ivy’s face, peering over the edge at him. He waved and then swam over to the side.

As he suspected, Ivy and Omar did not follow him down the same way. They made their way along the path. He could almost feel Ivy shaking her head in his direction.

Well, she needed to learn to relax a little bit.

And she thought he needed to act more responsibly. Well, he would keep trying to change her mind.

When they finally reached him, he was making his way across the rocks toward the falls. “Come on. There’s supposed to be a cave behind here.”

“Wait for us. I gotta do something first.” Ivy’s voice sounded excited enough that he turned. And to his amazement, she dove into the water. When she came up, he cheered.

She shook out her hair, her eyes sparkling up at him. “I was so hot after that climb. This feels nice.”

“The water is chilly, but I imagine it feels just right.”

She swam over to him and lifted her hands up on the rocks. He knelt down and offered her a hand just as Omar joined them. “I’m not getting in that. Who knows what kinds of things live in that water.”

“This?” Ivy used his hand as leverage and stepped up beside him. She was surprisingly light.

“Wow, you’re strong.” The grin she sent his way was less guarded, almost impressed. She turned to Omar. “It’s too cold for anything too terrible to live in there. You should try it. After that climb, it feels amazing.”

Omar just grunted and then moved to step beneath the falls. “Did someone say we’re going back behind here?” He skirted the edge, letting the water cascade down all around him. He shook his now-drenched hair.

“Yes. Follow me. There’s a ledge.” Colton followed along the left-hand side. Fatima had told him it led to a cave behind the falls. They were able to skirt the strongest force of the falls and hug the side of the rock cliff. Once past the front of the falls, he stepped up onto another ledge and then into a recess in the rocks. He turned as the others joined him, and they all stared at a sheet of water to their front.

“Wow, this is really cool.” Ivy reached her hand out. The water powered into her palm. “That’s so much stronger than it looks.”

“It really is.” Colton turned, his shoulder bumping Ivy’s. “Oops. Excuse me.”

The face she turned up to him was open, friendly. Hmm. Good. Progress. Her hair hung down around her in wet waves. Her clothes clung to her in ways he liked. And above all, she seemed as into this adventure as he was. “They say that the cave goes back a ways, and if we choose the right direction, it actually opens up back near the original path.” He stepped closer to her and winked. “Or . . . buried treasure.”

Omar snorted.

“Truth. They’ve never found it. But they say, long ago, there was a time everyone in the area was hiding all their belongings because of the robbers that plagued their land. And during that time, many forgot where they hid things. This place is crawling with ancient treasure. Says the rumors.”

“Rumors?” Ivy’s voice sounded amused, at least.

“Well, says Fatima.”

She laughed. “Excellent. Well, we need to cross our fingers for some hidden treasuresandthe path back to the house.”

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