Etherworld by Claudia Gabel Read Free Book Online Page B

burst of energy is exactly what I need.
    â€œRegan!” my father shouts. He appears around the side of a hill, slowly walking toward me with Josh, Nora, and Wyatt by his side. He looks healthy again, his skin practically glowing. In fact, the entire team is like a human rainbow, all of us bronzed and wearing different-colored T-shirts and bathing suits. The sight triggers a recollection—that we’re supposed to be a band of soldiers here, that there’s a mission that needs to be accomplished and our lives might depend on it.
    That the ball in my hand is our saving grace.
    â€œWait for us!”
    It’s Josh, bounding toward me, his handsome face lit up in a grin.
    I’m possessed by an urge to kiss him, even though his sister and my dad are following close behind him. But for some reason, the lure of the river is much too great.
    I need to get to it before anyone else does.
    â€œRegan, hold on!” my dad calls out.
    I ignore him, grabbing on to a kayak with my free hand and launching myself into the river. Claire is right behind me, cheering me on and following my lead. As I careen down the rapids, with the mysterious crystal sphere between my bare feet, I’m paddling as if I’ve been white-water rafting my whole life. I go faster and faster as foam sprays in my face, my heart beating in anticipation as Claire catches up to me.
    She smiles as she points her paddle ahead of us. “Rapids!” she screams.
    These are not the rapids I’ve seen on the Net. Here it looks like the river just stops, as if we’re about to fall off the edge of the earth.
    If Claire feels any fear or doubt, though, she doesn’t show it, hooting and hollering as she dips her paddle into the water, steering directly toward the edge.
    And suddenly she seems to lose control of her kayak, the boat changing direction by ninety degrees and teetering at the edge of the rapids. Claire’s hair is whipping in the wind as she shoves the paddle under the hull and then grabs on to the sides of the kayak for support.
    And then her kayak flips over, cascading down the rapids.
    As much as I long to follow her, a faint voice of reason urges caution.
    I twist around to look for the others, but no one else is there. Either the river has split or Claire and I have gone too far ahead of the rest of the group to see them. My kayak is getting closer to the edge of the abyss. The churning current crashes against the rocks, ricocheting into the kayak, making it heavy with water. I know I’m about to achieve something really spectacular or fail in a big way. And suddenly I’m there, hovering above the edge. The wind whips through my soaked clothes. This is not the pretty and foamy waterfall I’ve seen in books, but a giant, swirling vortex of white that heads straight down into oblivion. I can’t even see the bottom, and I can’t see Claire, either.
    Did she make it?
    I shove my paddle in between my legs and my kayak tips. It hovers over the side, and for a second I think that I have somehow willed it to safety. Just like that, I’m gone, holding on for dear life, screaming at the top of my lungs, my eyes wide open as the kayak plummets.
    I crash into the freezing-cold water and plunge underneath. Totally submerged and still stuck inside the boat, I battle toward the surface, my arms stretching out in a breaststroke, my toes gripping the ball tucked under my feet. The kayak jerks and then soars above the water like a dolphin coming up for air. I blink the water out as I breathe in deeply, my lungs slowly reviving.
    I made it.
    I hear a hearty laugh and see Claire in front of me, her arms in the air.
    â€œFinally!” she yells. I grin, relieved to see her.
    We’re in a valley surrounded by deep cliffs on either side shading the sun. No one else is here. I slowly paddle away from the falls, trailing Claire down the river toward calmer water.
    â€œThat was wicked!” Claire says as soon