ugly streets of warehouses and on out to where the town fizzled away. None of them had been used to running such a long distance. It wasn’t long before Maggie and Temo started walking. Max was bitching about a blister. Chrissy was mad because she didn’t have any gear or gadget to measure the impact of their workout. But Ria had loved the surprise of it. Changing up workouts was always a good way to erase bad habits and start over, fresh.
She didn’t think anyone else would be there today. There were plenty of prettier spots to go. She worried she wouldn’t be able to find the way, but as soon as they started along the trail, her body remembered. The smell of the trees and the moss and the air were the same. Except, instead of following Benny and being with her team, she was leading Cotton to the clearing.
Enormous boulders sat in the middle of shrubs, and beyond them, a grove of tall, willowy trees circled the area. She watched Cotton study the place as if he was mapping it in his mind.
“What is this place? Does it have a name?” He looked troubled and unsure.
“I don’t know. Not officially.”
Benny had called it Stone Revenge. Like Stonehenge, but with a vengeance for physical exertion. He’d assigned them each a boulder and they spent the next thirty minutes doing push-ups against it, first right-side up, then upside down in handstands. It was hard, but it had felt like a challenge, not a punishment. It had been a good day, after an awful one. The weekend before, the rest of the team had a bad showing at a local meet. So the first day back he’d raged at them all. He let them get wet, then made them sit on the deck, shivering while he yelled. Only she had been allowed to stay warm and dry, her reward for first place. Her team’s resentment had been a different kind of punishment. But then he’d planned the trip to this magical spot. That’s how it went. Whenever he felt bad for losing his temper, he made up for it with something better.
“I thought we looked everywhere when we were trying to find Esther. But I don’t remember this place.”
“There were a lot of people looking. I’m sure someone was here.” Her voice felt close to cracking. “Do you want to leave? We could go somewhere else.”
“No. It’s a highly satisfactory place.”
She swallowed. Took a deep breath. She needed to switch his attention to something other than Esther. “How did the rocks get here, Cotton? Where did they come from?”
“They’re most likely from a prehistoric eruption. Or a flood.”
Ria pictured the wonder of a world where enormous boulders moved locations. Despite their size and weight, they’d been picked up and transported here. They’d had no choice. Like Esther.
“Each boulder has a slightly different surface,” she said, avoiding those thoughts. “Try to plan your route. It’ll be easier if you already know where you’re headed.”
They started at one of the smaller rocks. Even so, its top was a couple of feet over Cotton’s head. She tapped the spot around her knees’ height. “You could probably make this work for a first step up.”
He did as she suggested but couldn’t secure the foothold. He pushed off, fell back to the ground with a thud.
She needed to make the climb before she could try to break it down for him. She forced herself to analyze what she was doing, step by step, inch by inch. From the top, she looked down at Cotton, the top of his head a few inches below her view. “You need to use the rock more. Lean into it. Let it hold you. Each angle and curve can be part of your lift. Use your legs for the force and let your hands help your balance.”
“You make climbing look simple.” As he made his way up, slowly, awkwardly, she realized she was leaning too, as if she could will him upward. Maybe she did, because he made it to the top.
Going down was more of a free fall, but he looked exhilarated.
“Let’s climb that one.” He pointed to a rock made of obvious handholds.
By the third or fourth boulder, Ria understood the rocks in a whole new way. Rather than seeing them as enormous blocks of rough stone, she saw each one in terms of nooks and crannies, fissures and slivery places to tuck her raw and tender fingers.
As Cotton