12: Setting Up Camp Veronica and the Volcano

Veronica, Maddy, and their fathers stepped out in single file onto the narrow steel bridge. From her perch, Veronica could see the tops of the highest trees poking through the marshmallow clouds. At the center of the bridge, the clouds parted, revealing a lush green forest below. Towering redwoods gave way to old-growth fig, cedar, and teak. 

They continued along the bridge to the small volcano on the other side, emerging onto a mossy glen. A crystal-clear stream meandered through the glen and down the slope. Mount Mystery loomed in the distance.

“We’re almost there,” the Captain said. “Just follow the stream down, and you’ll find the campsite. And don’t worry, this volcano’s extinct.”

Extinct. Veronica had heard that word at least twice before. Once, in science class, describing the ancient volcano at the center of her own hometown, and again, from her father, describing the volcano that would eventually destroy Babeltown.

Together they descended with the stream into the forest, moss drapes deafening every footfall and birdcall. Veronica felt as if the earth itself had stopped rotating, as if everything would always be still and calm and exactly the same. 

Maddy broke the silence first, feeling drops of liquid on her hair and shoulders. “Rain,” she grumbled. “Just our luck.” The drops quickened into a steady spray.

Veronica looked up horrified. “Maddy,” she said, “it’s not rain. It’s … it’s … monkey pee.”