was the first to open his eyes. “Did I fall asleep?”
“I think you all did. Lucky you didn’t drown.”
“I wasn’t asleep,” Meg said, just… I felt like I was floating.”
“Yes, that’s what it was like, floating,” Purity said.
“I don’t want to move,” Courtney said. “I’ve never felt so relaxed in all my life.”
“Well, you’re going to have to move. I have work to do and I want to make sure you all get back okay,” Sam said.
Nobody even flinched.
“I’m serious. I have to get back to work. Come on. Get up!”
“I don’t think we can,” Alex said. “It’s like my arms and legs are dead weight. They won’t move.”
“Try wiggling your toe or your finger.”
“Okay, I’m freaking out here,” Meg said. “I can’t move anything.”
“Let’s not panic,” Brad said. “Sam, can you reach in here and grab my arm and pull it out of the water?”
Sam did as Brad requested.
The second his hand was out of the water, he could wiggle his fingers. Brad made a fist, then released it. “This hand is perfectly fine.” He tried to move the hand still immersed in the water. “I can’t move the other one.” He reached over and pulled his other arm up. Again, he made a fist and released it. “This is crazy.”
“Pull my arm up,” Court said.
Brad pulled her arms up, then put his hands behind him and pulled his body out of the water until he was resting on the edge of the spring.
One by one, they all followed his motion.
“Look,” Courtney said. “I thought I’d be covered in mud, but there’s not an ounce of mud anywhere on me. And, all the water is dripping back into the spring.” She glanced at her arms. “They’re dry already.”
“What in the heck is this place?” Meg asked.
“I don’t know what it is, but I’ll tell you right now, we’re not coming back here. If Sam hadn’t come along, we’d all still be immobile,” Alex said.
“But, did you notice? No pain.” Bobby jumped up and down and imitated a boxer throwing punches. “I feel like I’m a teenager again.”
“Are you okay, Purity?” Alex asked, realizing that the baby might have been harmed in some way. “I can’t believe I didn’t think about the baby.”
“You didn’t know. We all thought it was just hot water. I feel fine. Great, actually. The best I’ve felt in months.”
They all made their way back to the golf cart. Somehow, squeezing back into their spaces seemed easier. They all felt more flexible and calm.
“How are you feeling, Jacob?” Bob asked.
“Okay.” It was understatement. Jacob felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He couldn’t explain it. It was almost as if the spring knew exactly what each person needed, and then healed them.
“Do you think it’s temporary?” Court asked. “I want to bottle this and take a swig whenever I’m feeling low.”
“I’ve never felt both relaxed and energized at the same time,” Meg said.
“You’re all sort of glowing,” Sam said.
“It’ll be interesting to see if it has any lasting effect,” Alex said. He ran his thumb across Pure’s belly. He still wasn’t sure the baby hadn’t sustained damage. Purity looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her before. If that was any indication, the baby was just fine.
Sam pulled the golf cart into the area by the fire pit. “Remember, mums the word.”
“I couldn’t tell anyone what happened if I tried,” Courtney said.
“Have you ever been in the hot spring?” Meg asked Sam.
“No, but I’ve heard a lot of stories about it.”
“Good or bad?”
“All good, about healing and curing illnesses.”
“So why do you have that funny look on your face?” Meg asked.
“I don’t put a lot of trust in things I can’t explain. Why does one person get full healing and another one doesn’t? Everyone reports feeling better, but I think it’s a placebo effect. People want it to work, so it does.”
“Then how do you explain that none of us could move our arms or legs?” Purity asked. “That didn’t happen to just one of us, it happened to all of us.”
“Group hallucination.”
“Even I don’t buy that one,” Courtney said. “I’m not that susceptible to suggestion.”
“What if I told you that spring was just a place where water builds up because there’s no drainage? The sun heats it and it stays warm. In the winter it freezes over and basically ceases to exist until the rain comes again in the spring.”
“There’s more to it than that,” Bobby said. “There has to be.”
“Does