India Rose & The Eternals - The Fountain Of Youth Chronicles Vol. 1

Chapter 16: Revelations, Surprises, And The Roxxon Maritz

The Cliffs Of Madness And Camp Outermost, 1982, 10 A.M, 29th Day of Summer

The campers awoke in the morning to the usual stiffness and soreness associated with sleeping on a rock for the night, even a very flat rock. A thick, white fog was billowing in from the ocean, giving the entire campsite a slightly mystical quality. As the light of day crept down into the hollow space in the rock, India stirred in her sleeping bag, not wanting to leave the warmth of her cocoon for the wet, cold air that was brushing past her face.

She immediately ran through the events of the night before in her mind; the sunset, Mrs. Blue's near miss, the quiet aftermath. Egan and the other counselors had ushered all the campers to their sleeping bags right after the incident in an effort to give Mrs. Blue her privacy. The campers had complied, and an unnatural quiet had settled over the campsite, with red streaks of the sun still in the sky. But after the long day of hiking, most campers fell asleep in very little time. India had drifted off to the sounds of snores (both loud and soft, some of the boy campers made an unholy racket when they breathed, being in a cabin with them must be tough at night), and the waves crashing against the rocks below the cliffs.

As India put off leaving her warm surroundings she heard another female camper exclaim, "Where's Mrs. Blue?"

Shaken a bit from their morning haze, several campers, India included, sat up in their sleeping bags and looked over to where the camper who spoke was standing.

"I saw her go to sleep last night," the girl said. 'Her spot was right next to mine over here. But her stuff's gone."

Egan and several other counselors who had been starting to pack up their gear rushed over to the spot and saw that, indeed, nothing was there, just a bare rock surface.

"There's a note!" exclaimed another camper, pointing to the side of a rock above the spot.

Another camper reached up and grabbed the note. Looking at it for just a second, he quickly handed it over to Egan. "It's for you," he said, looking a bit confused.

Egan took the note and moved over to a quiet spot of the campsite and quickly read it. Every camper and counselor was awake an up now, and they all looked over at Egan in sleepy, yet curious fashion.

"She's okay. She just needs a quiet morning to herself, that's all," said Egan, folding the note and sticking it in his pocket. "Who wants to help India get breakfast going? I think I know what Roberto packed for us, and we're going to need to get that fire up and going again. Let's hop to it. If we can get going early enough back down the trail we can go to this great swimming spot I saw on the way up here."

The campsite sprang to life with the flurry of campers trying to roll up their sleeping bags (almost always an impossible task to a younger camper), and others stirring up the coals of the fire and gathering a few more armloads of wood. Roberto had cooked up a bacon and a batch of chocolate chip pancakes the day before, and India and a few other campers and counselors took turns warming up the breakfast food on the griddle. The smell was soon wafting over the rocks, and even a few seagulls flew in with eager expectations of getting a few scraps thrown their way.

Though no one would say it, the trip back down from the cliffs was a considerably lighter and more buoyant hike since Mrs. Blue was not with them. India's pack was light since all the food had been eaten (pretty fast too) by the end of breakfast. She was able to be just one of the campers, laughing, singing and enjoying the sunshine as it broke gloriously through the morning fog.

True to his word, about halfway back to the camp, Egan led the group slightly off the trail. He instructed each camper to leave their packs and gear on the narrow, main trail, and follow him carefully down a secondary trail to the water below.