Broken Wings 2 - Midnight Flight by Andrews, C. (popular books to read .TXT) 📕

and complaining constantly, but the wind took her voice off as well.

At a particularly large clump of bushes and nearsome cacti, I paused to give us a rest, then took a second swig of my canteen. We hovered around each other.

“Are you sure we're not going too far on the right?” Robin asked me.

“No, I'm not sure. I'm not sure of anything anymore.”

“What does that mean?” Teal cried. “You don't know where you're going now?”

“I'm not your desert guide, you know. I'm no better at finding my way around here than you are.”

“But you're leading us and we're following.”

“So you lead,” I said.

“I'm so tired,” Teal replied instead of arguing. “Can we take a longer rest?”

“We're going to burn up out here,” Robin reminded her. “Look at your legs. Look at mine.”

I nodded and reached into Natani's healing bag to come out with the ointment he had once used on them. They recognized it immediately and began to smear it on their legs and arms and each other's neck, neither complaining about how it made them look now.

“Do your faces, too,” I advised. I took some and put it on my own.

“Why are you doing that? Natani calls you daughter of the sun because you're black, doesn't he?” Teal asked, sounding jealous.

It made me smile. “Yes. I have an advantage out here, but black people do get sunburn and do get skin cancers. My daddy told me that and I never forgot it.”

Teal looked skeptical.

“You know . . .” Robin said, looking around and watching the wind roll dried brush over the sand. It bounced and flew with such ease. “Maybe we shouldfollow Natani's advice about traveling in the desert and wait until the sun goes down.”

“What are you talking about?” Teal said sharply. “If we don't get back to the van, they might think we're lost and leave without us or something and then we'll really be lost.”

“If they were really worrying about that, Teal, they wouldn't have left us out here like this,” I said. “I doubt very much that they're sitting in some hot van waiting to see if we'll make it back. Robin's right. It's harder to travel in the desert now.”

“Well, what are we going to do?”

“Have lunch,” I said, “and then burrow under the sand and take a nap.”

“What? I'm not burrowing under any sand. That's disgusting, and who knows what sort of things will be crawling all over us.”

“Suit yourself.” I opened one of the nutritional bars.

Robin did the same. Petulantly, Teal followed. She reached for her canteen again, and I held out my hand.

“You're drinking too much too fast.”

“So?”

“Look around. I don't see any restaurants. If you run out of water way ahead of us, we'll have to give you some of our own and then we'll all suffer more.”

Teal looked at Robin, then tightened the cap on her canteen and stuffed it back into her bag.

Using the bag, I began to dig myself a ditch in the sand. Robin did the same, and soon we were low enough to cover ourselves with sand and keep the sun off our exposed legs and arms especially. Teal watched, still stubborn. I put the bag over my face and closed my eyes. The wind continued to blow around us.

“This is insane!” Teal screamed.

However, it wasn't long before we heard her start to dig, mumbling and complaining all the while.

“You're listening to a crazy old Indian. Maybe this is wrong,” she said.

Neither Robin nor I answered.

We heard her scream in frustration and then she was quiet. Soon, I did feel cooler, not cool, but cooler, and it was enough to permit me to close my eyes and seek some rest. Soon I surprised myself and actually fell asleep.

I woke first and not because I was fully rested before Robin and Teal. I felt something on my stomach and then on my chest. When I opened my eyes, the sun was almost completely down behind the mountains in the distance, but it was light enough for me to realize I was looking at the side of the head of a Gila monster, the poisonous lizard. I did not move a muscle. Eyeing me, it didn't move. My heart began to pound so hard, I was sure that would frighten it.

But it was Teal's scream that did that. She had woken and sat up and saw it on me. The creature scurried off and disappeared quickly.

“What was that?” she asked. Robin sat up and wiped her face.

“Gila monster,” I said, amazed at how casual I sounded about it. “Okay, we each take another drink of water and then we continue.”

As we started walking again, the sun continued to descend. Soon night began to slide over the desert sky and stars popped out brightly. There was no moonlight, but the sky was so clear that the starlight was enough to illuminate the desert. The sand glistened and the silhouetted cacti seemed to look even more like soldiers at attention.

Robin was the first to hear the coyotes. I was too deep in thought and Teal's ears were full of her own stream of constant moans and complaints, curses and cries.

“Look,” Robin shouted, pointing to her right.

We stopped. A pack of coyotes was moving rapidly parallel to us, but not coming at us.

“Oh, my God,” Teal said. “Do you think they want to eat us?”

“Probably, but as I understand from what Natani told me, they are cowards,” I said.

“Cowards in a pack create their own courage,” Robin said wisely, “but as long as we look strong, they'll keep their distance, I'm sure.”

“I'm glad you're sure. How do we show them we're strong and unafraid of them?” Teal asked.

We all thought a moment.

“Let's start singing,” I said. “What do we all know?”

“Singing? Are you crazy?”

“No, she's right,” Robin said. “How about the national anthem? We all know that. We've heard it enough at school.”

“The anthem? You're kidding,” Teal said.

“No, no, look. See how the cacti are already standing at attention.”

“Huh?”

“Good idea,”