"Of course," Miss Dubbers said with knowing assurance, "we cannot camp here specifically as there is a three percent chance one of those lightning strikes might seek us out. How exciting! It gives me shivers thinking of it." She seemed delighted.
"Was that earthquake our three percent?" came a hesitant query.
"In a way perhaps. A lightning strike must have reached a part of this mountain chain some thirty miles to the north where it is much closer. Usually they are confined to the immediate vicinity of the storm barrier." She looked again at the boiling mass of cloud on the horizon. "See the markers in the valley below? They indicate the absolute limit of safety."
"Race you!" Danique suddenly said, giving Bubbles a pinch that made her react exactly as she intended. Then she plunged down the sweeping grassy slope spangled with beautiful flowers so that the Frangea girl was obliged to chase after her.
"Oh, there go the first years," sighed the outdoor mistress. "So full of energy."
"Shall I bring them back miss?" one of the older girls offered.
"No. Let them run down their excess energy if they must play. There is no immediate danger as the fencing is placed so there is a distinct margin for safety. Come, let us set up our base camp to the mighty sounds of titanic forces."
The two youngsters were oblivious of these words as they sprinted breathlessly towards the fractured cliff crowned with those same titanic forces, rumbling and grumbling like a distant summer storm.
It turned out Bubbles was the better sprinter over rough ground and as she leapt tussocky grass and shallow rills of damp mud she saw she was gaining on the Evernight girl rapidly. Then she almost collided with her as the girl had stopped all together to gaze up at the flickering lightning. They were yards from a high wire fence covered in warning notices to proceed no further. Danique turned round.
"Do you think we might climb that?" pointing at the long line of sticky wire and rubber insulators.
"Do you think we might live to a ripe old age?" Bubbles countered as she regained her breath. She looked back the way they had come and could see the others moving off the plateau to a sheltered nook. "Hey, they're abandoning us," she laughed. By the time she turned again to face the other girl she too had been abandoned for Danique had gone right up to the towering fence which stretched for miles either side of her. She peered through the wires and saw another line of fencing beyond that made her frown.
"Ow!" she then said.
"I owe you that pinch," Bubbles declared, trying to rouse the girl from her strange behaviour. "How good are you at races uphill?" With that she sprinted up the slope towards the plateau again and was relieved to find the Evernight girl chasing after her.
At the summit they were greeted by Vanira with a grin.
"Well, while you two adventurers were away exploring fences, we have been arranging the camp. You've been assigned a tent together of course for none of us wanted to share with babies, and sadly as you were not here to claim your ground you've also been assigned a place right over there." She pointed across the plateau to where a bright blue tent could be seen in the distance perched upon a jutting rock beneath the spreading branches of a sinister looking mountain spruce. By the look of the ground heavy cones often fell from this towering tree and the rising cliff from the other side of a ravine brought mist and windy gusts from the colder heights above.
"Excellent," Bubbles said. "Free from midges and damp smells," and having retrieved her discarded rucksack she made for the bright blue canvas with her head held high. It was a while however before Danique joined her inside the cosy little tent.
"Been scouting around," she offered as an explanation.
"We're sheltered here from the rumblings of the barrier," Bubbles said. "Just a pleasant hum in the distance. Should get a decent night's sleep." As soon as she finished saying this a cone from above plonked on the tent and skittered among the others. Bubbles laughed.
The evening meal was suitably atmospheric as everyone gathered round a semi-primitive log fire that sat upon a portable platform to prevent accidents. Miss Dubbers, after insisting the girls did not break into any camp fire songs, for which she had a particular aversion, handed out plastic sheets upon which were the following day's schedules of wilderness studies.
"Are we going to hunt and kill anything?" Vanira Suthiam innocently asked as she squinted at her schedule by the light of the fire.
"Goodness no!" came the indignant reply. "The score sheet is for sightings only. Insects, reptiles, small mammals and large. Flowers will be imaged by your wristlets and you will be expected to have identified all the ones you record before we return to base camp."
"Reptiles?" another girl shuddered.
"Snakes, my dear. None poisonous. Those venomous types reside over in Yotun Winkel." She named the nearest Winkel to Frangea, an inland place with higher mountains, more rugged plains, populated by the deadlier species to be found in such places such as bears and forest pumas with a sprinkling of wolfhounds, and their complementary herbivores as food sources. An all together more violent place separated by two storm barriers this time of year, though the theory was during Foam Fullness when the barriers were at their weakest it was conceivable some intrepid carnivore could cross the fifty mile wasteland between Winkels and invade the peaceful forests of Frangea.
Some girls did try to tell ghost stories as the twilight turned into a deep blue sprinkled with stars overhead, the only clouds being on the horizon facing the barrier. The chirping of insects all but drowned out the rumbling thunder and created a drowsy atmosphere that compelled many a young spirit to retire to their tents for the night.
Bubbles was one of them, happy to tuck herself into the tiny space one side of the shared tent. She slept and dreamed of flying with her father in a two seater flitter through the storm barrier, not during Foam Fullness but when at its most dangerous. The excitement was ended when she was woken by Danique also turning in for the night.
"Been scouting again?" Bubbles yawned and stretched.
"Certainly have. Did you notice those scorch marks this side of the safety fence? I had a closer look at them and picked this up as a souvenir." She showed a glassy rock to her companion which glittered in the lamplight. "We've been assigned an area east of some shallow ridge. Took a look at it too. Interesting tracks out that way, big tracks."
"That Pangol you faced down?"
"Bigger. Should be interesting to try and find out what it might be and add it to the score sheet. More interesting than capturing flowers and skewering butterflies."
Bubbles sighed.
"I like butterflies. They are our national symbol."
"Ours is a skull."
"Why am I not surprised. Goodnight." With that Bubbles rolled over so her back was to the Evernight girl and she snuggled down, squirmed, removed a cone that had somehow got into the tent, and endeavoured to resume her exciting flying dream. Instead all she could see was a flash of lightning and the frazzled remains of a young girl surrounded by scorched and glassy rock.
(Sorry but that's all for here folks! If Danique were a cat her nine lives would have been long gone by now. Find out how she pushes herself and Bubbles to the very edge of a crumbly precipice in a strong wind like the crazy, moody and driven little Evernight girl she appears to be in the amazing conclusion of 'Bubbles Goes Wild' available in e-book form at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and all the other excellent online retailers. Shop around for a competitive price!)
