Which shuts Tony up for the rest of the morning. Mia selects a path that’s at least a hundred feet from the edge of the ravine and starts walking, briskly but carefully. None of us want to stumble and fall. We need to follow the path of the river, but not so close there’s a danger of going over the edge, or causing another ledge to collapse.

An hour later, our hiking has turned into trudging. It’s not fun shoving our way through prickly bushes and around piles of rock. Not in the misty rain, with our bellies already rumbling. In fact, it’s downright miserable.

To lighten the mood, Mia starts singing. She has a nice voice, but the song is meant to be funny.

“Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to camp we go! In the rain and mud, like Elmer Fudd, heigh-ho, heigh-ho!”

Imani is the second to chime in. Ditto on the nice voice. Must be a girl thing, singing our way out of misery, because none of the boys join in. By the time they wear out the silly tune, we’re well on our way. The scene of the disaster is behind us.

As to what lies ahead, I’m almost afraid to think about it.

11. Boys Get More

It’s hard to believe how much the river was wrecked by the flood, but there it is, right before our eyes. Masses of smashed trees piled high. Boulders as big as trucks, scattered like marbles. Shoals of glistening sand and mud, all of it strewn around like a giant had a temper tantrum and went nuts. Ripping away the grown-ups and leaving us kids on our own.

Must have been a zillion tons of water let loose when the dam broke, a force powerful enough to change the shape of the riverbed. Wiping out old curves and forming new ones.

We’re taking a break, staring out over the edge of the ravine to the scene of destruction, when Mia says, “It wrecked the world, didn’t it? Changed everything for the river, and for us.”

Deke shrugs. “Proves my point. We shouldn’t have been here.”

Mia turns on him. “They didn’t know what was going to happen!”

“Well, they should have. That was their job, keeping us safe.”

“They tried. They died trying! It wasn’t their fault. They were taking us on a cool adventure, teaching us leadership. They didn’t know the dam was going to fail.”

Deke has a mean-sounding laugh. “They found us an adventure, all right. Just because they’re adults doesn’t mean they didn’t make a big mistake.”

“Not on purpose! And they did keep us safe, in the end. We survived because of them.”

“Believe what you want, girly whirl.”

“Don’t call me that!”

Deke grins, because he thinks he’s winning. Poking her with cruel words, messing with her head.

“We should keep moving,” I suggest.