Page 2 of The Explorer
With an annoyed huff, he turned away from me and approached the tree. Mason had to jump to get a hold of the lowest branch. Pulling himself up, he did a balancing act and stood on top of the branch looking upward for his next branch to climb.
Indiana followed his example and with agile movements, the two strong boys climbed up the forbidden tree.
My body was buzzing with a combination of fear and excitement. If I accepted their bossing me around and telling me something was too dangerous, I’d end up like my boring cousin Freya. She was our age, but happy with being a spectator when the boys did all the fun things.
Realizing that the lowest branch was too high for me to reach by jumping, I narrowed my eyes and backed up enough to give me room for speed.
Accelerating as fast as I could, I ran up the trunk of the tree and jumped to grab onto the lowest branch. Hours of practicing on the agility course paid off as I managed to swing my body to the top of the thick branch.
Balancing on top, I put a supporting hand on the tree trunk and looked up to see my brother already halfway up the enormous fir.
Mason looked down at me and warned, “Don’t do it, Aubri. You could get hurt.”
“Shut up, Mason. You’re not my dad.”
“No, but if I was, I’d spank you for not following instructions.”
Ignoring his scolding, I climbed upward, wishing I had Indiana’s strength. His arms were already toned and showing bumps of muscle.
“It’s not fair that boys are stronger than girls,” I grumped while continuing to climb. “But I’m still going to show you that I can do anything you can.”
“Don’t be stupid, Aubri. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“It’s not up to you.”
Indiana looked up to Mason above us, who was far ahead. I could tell how conflicted he was.
“You don’t have to wait for me. Just go!”
“You sure?” Indiana asked.
“I don’t need your help. I can climb a stupid tree myself. I’ve done it a million times.”
“Not the big one. None of us have.”
Just then I nearly slipped. Tightening my grip on the branch above me, I felt adrenaline rushing through me and my heartbeat spiked from fear. “I said, go, Indy, I don’t need you staring at me.”
He hesitated for a second and then he climbed upward, leaving me to regret that I’d ever run after my brother and Indiana to begin with. If only I wasn’t so bloody curious. Now I was forced to prove that I could be one of the boys. I had to find a way to overcome my fear and climb this stupid monstrous tree.
Every branch higher was a victory. When I was midway, Mason was coming down again.
“I told you not to climb up. Why don’t you ever listen?” he said.
“If you can do it, so can I.”
“Aubri, stop, you’re going to kill yourself,” Mason shouted after me as I kept climbing. “Seriously, don’t go any higher. It’s windy and slippery up there.”
I believed him, but with my heart in my throat and my palms wet from fear, I still kept going. Mason had made it all the way up, which proved to me that it was possible.
Later, when it was Indiana’s turn to pass me on his way down, he pleaded with me once again.
“You don’t have to do this, Aubri. No girl has ever made it this high up. Look, you can see above the forest from here and the Mansion looks tiny, doesn’t it?”
We stood for a moment on each side of the giant trunk of the tree, looking out over the million pine trees that surrounded the Gray Manor where I lived.
“Did you see your island from the top?” I asked Indiana, who lived on Victoria’s Island with his family.
“I did. It’s beautiful but let’s go down together. I’ll help you.”
