Eve of Destruction Read Free Page A

thinking about how much work it would be hiking out of the ravine and back to the cars and hoped for a little more time to rest. His dizzy spells were always a lot worse when he exerted himself. 2
    â€œIt might feel good to get wet before we go,” said Marisa, smiling awkwardly at the group. “It is hot out here.”
    â€œAnd it’s a hell of a hike out,” Connor added, which seemed to bring everyone halfheartedly into alignment with the idea of cooling off first.
    It was agreed we’d forgo searching for a dead version of Mrs. Goring and dare each other to leap into the freezing pond instead. This seemed to chipper everyone up the farther we got away from Fort Eden on a grassy path in the woods. I remembered my first walk with Marisa down the same trail and felt a swell of emotion, taking her hand as she leaned into me.
    â€œI remember, too,” she whispered, close and warm.
    I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me before, but something struck me then as I looked above and saw a crow staring angrily down at me.
    This whole situation could have gone terribly wrong.
    I might have had to tell them the truth.
    What had I been thinking, dragging them all out here in the first place?
    No sooner had I processed this thought and squeezed Marisa’s hand tighter, than I noticed everyone had turned in my direction on the path. They’d arrived at the clearing before the pond and stopped short, still and quiet, as if a rare creature was up ahead and they might scare it off.
    It was certainly rare, what they saw, but it was no wild animal.
    As I stepped past Connor and Kate and the rest, my eyes settled on a figure standing at the dock. She was staring out over the still, glassy water, her shock of hair a brilliant white in the sunlight.
    Mrs. Goring was not dead after all.
    She turned to us without smiling; her dark eyes the only moving things against the granite stillness of her face. At length, Mrs. Goring moved a few steps closer.
    â€œMy god you’re loud,” she said unapologetically, as if it was our fault we hadn’t searched where she was standing sooner. “Like a herd of elephants.”
    Mrs. Goring’s gaze landed on me, and I felt the full force of her will like a blast of hot wind in my face. She was searching my expression, trying to read my thoughts.
    You didn’t tell them, did you? Not even Marisa.
    No, Mrs. Goring, I didn’t tell them. Not even Marisa. It’s not exactly easy stuff to tell if you don’t have to.
    Mrs. Goring lost interest in staring at my face as she walked toward us. She wore the same clumsy boots, half tied, with the heavy heels clubbing the dock with each step; the same flannel shirt even in the blistering heat. And she was annoyed at our presence, like we’d invaded her privacy.
    â€œI told Cynthia to have you here early ,” she continued. “It’s noon.”
    Nobody answered, but everyone else had to be thinking the same thing I was: you invited us up here. We drove two hours and hiked down into a ravine on the hottest day of the summer. Nice to see you, too.
    But no one was about to say what they really felt, not even Kate or Connor. Mrs. Goring had that effect on people.
    â€œLet me take a wild guess. You haven’t eaten since breakfast and now you expect me to feed you.”
    Connor started to open his mouth, but Marisa cut him off.
    â€œWe’re fine. You don’t need to cook for us. We just came to say hi and see how you were doing.”
    â€œSure you did,” Mrs. Goring snapped, and I wished I’d had the courage to tell her to shut up and leave Marisa alone. But I didn’t.
    â€œThere are things I need to tell you, and quick,” she went on, pointing her chin toward me. “Me and him, we both have information , don’t we, Will Besting?”
    She said it like she was almost enjoying the fact that I’d withheld certain important facts she and I both knew.