Chapter 1
The first signal they received was a kind of detonation, a dull explosion whose provenance they could not determine. Young Meiling, obviously scared, covered her ears with both hands and stood next to her brother, as if wanting to protect herself with his larger body.
They all looked up at the sky wondering if what they had heard was a loud thunderclap rumbling in the valley they were in. However, even though the sky was cloudy, there were no signs of a nearby thunderstorm. Again it was Meiling who pointed to some rodents that were rushing to climb the wall of the ravine.
“The squirrels try to escape from this place and go up.”
Jean Luc pointed to a large anthill that was in a higher place than theirs.
“What happens to the termites, they are leaving the anthill en masse?”
After a moment of perplexity a light began to appear Xiang´s mind, the oldest of the campers.
“We are walking through the dry bed of a river or stream!” His voice denoted concern and urgency. “What we are hearing is an alluvium, an avalanche, a flood of water that comes from the upper part of the river in the mountains dragging everything in its path. Quickly! We must get out of this riverbed immediately.”
"Let's go back at full speed!" Said Jean Luc.
“No! The water would reach us anyway.” Replied Xiang.” It is upwards that we have to go, climb the ravine.”
"Like the squirrels?" Meiling asked.
"Exactly like them." Aylen replied, taking her hand and trying to lead the child in the right direction.
"Leave her!" Xiang shouted. "I will carry my sister in my arms. You run up!”
The four expeditionary began the climb of the high cliff that would take them to safety if it was true that an alluvium traveled the downward channel. Jean Luc helped Aylen in the most difficult area of ascent, where the slope of the ravine was almost vertical. Seeing the effort that Xiang had to make to carry Meiling, once Aylen was at the top, the young man went down and released his friend from all the burden of the camp stuff, leaving him only the weight of the girl.
Aylen and Jean Luc were already at the top of the slope while the two brothers were still not reaching that height. The noise became deafening and as they looked forward the two youngsters saw horrified the immense mass of water that already appeared in the nearby bend of the river, carrying mud, rocks, tree trunks and all kinds of objects in a confusing and threatening tangle.
"They won't make it in time!" Aylen moaned.
Jean Luc lowered his torso and stretched out his arms towards his friend.
"Pass me the girl!" He said peremptorily.
Xiang did so and Meiling was hoisted and deposited on the edge. Aylen also leaned into the abyss and spread her arms.
“Take my hand.”
The water level rose sharply and reached up to the young man's legs, making his body tilt back and forth; one of the hands detached from Aylen's, creating a moment of anxiety for the friends. In a lucky move Jean Luc was able to take the other boy´s loose hand in his and by moving energetically backwards he managed to place part of his friend's shoulder and arm over the edge. The upward pull exerted by Aylen and Jean Luc was finally able to extract the rest of the exhausted Xiang's body completely out of the riverbed while the muddy water reached the edge of the ravine.
“Hurry! Here we are not sure yet.” The rescued exclaimed. “We must go even higher.”
"Isn't this the edge of the river?" Asked puzzled Aylen.
“Yes. But this is an extraordinary flood. It will exceed the usual maximum level.”
Thus, the girl took Meiling in her arms and launched herself in a desperate race along a path that opened in front of her, really only a footprint of forest animals that kept it open with their incessant traffic; meanwhile Xiang put an arm around his friend's shoulders and they both went on the trail of their companions. The vegetation was extremely thick in all directions and they could hardly see where to take the next step. Finally they reached a kind of clearing in the forest, with a small area free of vegetation.
"We can stop her." Meiling stated with great confidence.
“How do you know that?” Asked Aylen.
“Look at the squirrels. They have left the nuts and their load on the ground and are making a cave. They know this is a safe place.”
Aylen looked surprised at the other two comrades and Jean Luc said with a smile on his lips.
“You have to trust the girl. It was the one that prevented us from the avalanche by looking precisely at the squirrels. Besides, we desperately need rest.”
While Xiang stretched out exhausted on the grass with his sister next to him, Aylen opened the backpacks to verify what part of their load they had been able to save and what part had been lost; meanwhile Jean Luc walked until he found a kind of window of the surrounding vegetation, which allowed him to look down towards the river. What he saw overwhelmed him.
An immense mass of water, mud, stones and logs was circulating at full speed down the river bed, and had it not been for the backpacker's prompt reaction, it would have drowned and dragged them miles below. The young man could not contain a whistle.
His ears caught a new blast and as he looked up this time they did see the intense lightning and the clouds circling at full speed. The whistle of the wind over the treetops turned into an intense hoot and soon the first thick drops of rain began to fall into the clearing.
"It will cool a lot and we are soaked." Xiang said. "If we do not take cover we will freeze.”
They lifted their belongings and walked more and more inside the frond, until they reached a point where under a canopy of tall trees the permanent darkness produced by them had left the ground free of bushes that could not grow due to lack of light, which allowed the travelers to settle comfortably without being exposed to rain.
“We managed to keep the three tents.” Said Aylen. “Let's assemble them right away.”
“You and Xiang get down to work.” Jean Luc said.” I will light a good fire to dry ourselves and heat the food. Was some portion of the provisions saved?”
"Enough to eat today." Informed Aylen, who had taken the inventory of their possessions.
While the others were busy with their tasks, the little girl began to walk along what seemed to be the continuation of the path that had led them there. Even though she did not notice her fresh mind was particularly receptive to signs that others did not notice and the thicket in which they were was rich in those signs.
“Meiling. Do not go away. Stay with us.” She heard his brother's voice at a certain distance.
“No, I'll be right back.”
The girl had the feeling that in front of her way the forest opened towards the front and always in an upward direction. Meiling was magnetically attracted to that space where the dark figures on the tree trunks were blurred in thick fog. Again she heard her brother's voice calling her and this time she decided to retrace her steps and return to the camp that had already been established around a lively fire from which arose smell of burned wood but also of the scent of food. Only then did the girl realize how hungry she was.