The Inheritance Book 1

Ch 26 Mountaintop: Kellyn Stanley [Monday, Week Three]

Kellyn had never stood on the top of a mountain before. It didn't have one tippy top little peak like she thought most mountains did. This one was long, wide, and rocky.

The bottoms of her feet felt all tingly with excitement. She could see literally everything from here! The castle looked like a little dollhouse sitting next to an itty-bitty lake. Quite a ways beyond the castle was just a glimpse of the highway before it disappeared off into the mountains. As far as she could see, there was nothing but mountains and forests and fields.

The noise of the other kids talking and laughing interrupted what should have been a quiet experience with nature. Kellyn wished they would hush just for a minute.

"We did it guys! Check out that view, huh!?" Lennox planted his feet wide apart and folded his arms. "Let's take a fifteen minute break before we head back down." He sat on a boulder, unzipped his backpack and got out a bag of trail mix.

Mirabelle took Kellyn's arm. "Hey let's go have our snacks on those rocks over there." She pointed to part of the mountain that jutted out farther than the rest.

Kellyn was afraid to be so close to the edge, but Mirabelle pulled her along. Nothing she could do but follow. She stumbled over the unstable ground, littered with sharp stones and brush that jabbed at her feet through the soles of her shoes. Once they reached the spot, Mirabelle let go. The rocks formed a sort of bench and they sat down.

Kellyn's insides went all mushy as she peered to the front and side. "We are right above the cliffs!"

Beneath them was a sheer drop of at least 50 feet. One misstep and she'd be dead. There were no protective railings out here in the middle of the wilderness. She scooted as far back on the rock as possible.

"Yeah. Imagine falling from here." Mirabelle picked up a small rock and threw it over the cliff.

"Too scary." Kellyn unwrapped her granola bar and took a bite, trying not to think of it.

In one quick motion, Mirabelle suddenly grabbed Kellyn's shoulder and pretended like she was going to push her off.

Kellyn gasped from terror and about choked on her granola. Out of automatic reflex, she frantically grabbed the rock bench to steady herself. When she did, the granola bar flew out of her hand and disappeared into the rocks below.

Mirabelle exploded with laughter. "Oh my gosh! You should have seen your face!"

Kellyn coughed as her stomach flip-flopped. Surprise, shock and fear transformed into hurt, anger and confusion. "Yeah. It must have been hilarious," she said quietly.

"Oh, come on. Don't be mad. I was just messing around. You didn't think I would actually push you off, did you?"

Kellyn was too upset to respond.

"Look, I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't realize you were gonna be so sensitive about it." She tossed a granola bar into Kellyn's lap. "Here, you lost yours so you can have mine."

"I don't want it." Kellyn handed it back to her. "I'm not hungry anymore." She backed up carefully away from the edge and started back toward Miss Sarah and some of the other kids.

Mirabelle followed close behind. "I said I was sorry. Do you really think I would be stupid enough or mean enough to push you off. Is that what you think of me? Seriously? I'm hurt that you would think I'm that bad of a person. I only wanted to make you laugh."

Kellyn started feeling a little bit guilty, but she wasn't ready to talk yet. She stepped over a small bush and was almost to Miss Sarah.

Mirabelle stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I apologized. I'm not sure what more you want from me. I feel like the way you're treating me now is worse than what I did." She looked very hurt and frustrated.

Kellyn moved a pebble around with her foot. "I just need a minute to get over it. That's all."

Of course, Kellyn knew Mirabelle had only meant to tease her. And in reality, it was just a quick grab of her shoulder, not an actual push. She hadn't been in that much danger, it just scared the living daylights out of her. So, Mirabelle was probably right; she was overreacting.

Averi, Graehm and Hannah were chatting with Miss Sarah. Kellyn stood with Mirabelle a little apart, but she could hear their conversation. They were talking about the birthmarks on their fingers.

Miss Sarah walked over to Kellyn and Mirabelle. "Do you girls have it too?"

"Yes, we do," Mirabelle spoke for both of them.

They showed Miss Sarah their fingertips.

Miss Sarah called Coach Lennox over and told him about the coincidence. He said it must be a weird Eversleigh family trait.

Pretty soon the rest of the kids gathered around and were talking about the birthmark. As it turned out, every single one of them had it on the tip of their index finger. Hannah's was on her left, and everyone else's was on their right.

"I am left-handed though," Hannah clarified. "I don't know if that means anything, just putting it out there."

"Craziest thing I've seen," Miss Sarah said.

Kellyn looked at the mark on her fingertip for probably the millionth time in her life. Up until now, she'd always hated it and been embarrassed by it. In elementary school, a few of the kids joked that it was a booger and called her a nose-picker.

But now she saw the mark in a more positive light. She didn't know what it meant, if anything at all, but it connected her with these other kids.

Miss Sarah hoisted her backpack on. "Are we ready to head back down?"

Coach Lennox scanned the mountaintop. "Check for trash guys. If you brought it in, you gotta take it out. That's one key rule of the outdoors!"

"Hey Coach, instead of going back the same way we came up, can we go down the other side so we can get closer to the waterfall?" Jarrett asked. "And from that side, we might have a better view of the estate. There's one part we can't see well from here because the trees are blocking it."

"We could, but that would add at least another hour to the hike because we would have to walk all the way around the lake to get back," Coach Lennox said. "Why do you want to see that part of the estate anyway?" He stepped on a stray wrapper that the breeze blew past, picked it up and shoved it into his pack.

"Just curious," Sione said quickly. He made a face at Jarrett that was easily interpreted as you better not say another word. Kellyn wondered what that was all about.

"Fuck that," Mirabelle muttered in Kellyn's ear. "I can't wait to get off of this fucking mountain and back to the castle."

Kellyn nodded, although she wouldn't have minded hiking a little longer to see the waterfall up close.

The vote was split so Miss Sarah suggested that Coach Lennox take the more adventurous ones to the falls, and she would lead the rest back as planned.

It turned out that all the boys wanted to go to the falls, except for Bryce who acted like he didn't care one way or the other. Lennox rounded them up, including Bryce, and began to lead them east toward uncharted territory. The girls gladly followed Miss Sarah back the way they had come.

Mirabelle stopped for a moment to tie her shoes. Kellyn politely waited for her while the others kept going.

Mirabelle linked her arm with Kellyn's and said, "Thanks for waiting for me. I am so glad we became friends. You're such an awesome person and I can't imagine hanging out with anyone else here."

Those words washed away the last of Kellyn's bad feelings.