Page 26 of Wandering Wild

Real panic slams into me now that our jump is imminent, and that feeling only grows when Hawke points out the door and tells Zander, “See the ledge about halfway up that peak? That’s our drop zone.”

I can see nothing but forest and mountains and jagged,deadlycliffs, but Zander offers a confident, “Got it.”

“On your count, then,” Hawke says, making my pulse skyrocket.

Scarlett turns around in her seat again, smiling widely as she says, “I’ll see you all a bit later when ground support catches up to you. Take care, and have a great time!”

I’m increasingly doubtful about the last part, especially as we remove our aviation headsets and the roaring of the blades smacks into my eardrums all over again.

I only hear Zander because he’s yelling straight into my ear now as he bellows, “On three!” He presses his hand to my brow, drawing my head back until it’s supported against his shoulder, holding it in place long enough for me to know to leave it there.

“One!”

Everything buzzes within me, a previously unknown cocktail of numbness and adrenaline?—

“Two!”

—mixed with exhilaration and terror?—

“Three!”

—and then the only thing I’m feeling is weightless, because Zander has flung us out of the helicopter, and we’re freefalling through the sky.

A scream erupts from my mouth, drowned out by the thunder of air pummeling me as we spin and twist uncontrollably. Everything is a blur of blue and green and blue and green and blue and?—

Suddenly, we’re not flipping anymore. We’re still freefalling, but the ground is beneath us now, the sky above us, and Zander’s hands are loosening the death grip I have on my harness so he can stretch our arms out to the side. The moment I capitulate, I feel like I’m flying; like I’m Superman soaring through the air. It’s as if I’m on the world’s scariest rollercoaster and I’ve finally let go of the safety railing, yielding my fear to embrace the thrill.

I feel...

I feel...

I feelalive.

Tears hit my eyes behind my goggles, but I blink them back, since I don’t want to miss a moment of this.

And then, just as I begin to worry about how quickly the forested mountains are approaching, a violent tug yanks us upward as the parachute catches.

At first, the only thing I feel is overwhelming, immeasurable relief. But then I hear it: absolutely nothing.

The silence is unlike anything I’ve ever known. It’s as if I’m alone in the world—we’realone in the world—and an unexpected peace settles upon me as we glide slowly downward.

“Wow,” I whisper, feeling strangely humbled as I marvel at the view, realizing how small and insignificant I am against the vast sense of... oflifestretching out before me.

“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Zander’s voice is soft, reverent, as if he’s caught in the same spell. “Up here, there’s nothing but freedom.”

Freedom. It’s the perfect word, and it causes my eyes to prickle again. My throat is clogged enough that I can’t reply, but I don’t think he expects me to. It’s almost like he was saying it to himself, like he’s feeling everything I am, like heunderstands—though I can’t imagine how that might be true.

We say nothing as we glide down to the earth, silently agreeing to experience the journey without distraction. Hawke and Bentley soar near us, the latter pointing a small camera in our direction, but I choose to ignore him—and whoever might end up watching this—to instead sink into the moment.

All too soon, we approach our drop zone, and I see that Hawke’s “ledge” is even narrower than I feared, bordered on one side by a rising, tree-covered mountain, and on the other by a plunging cliff steep enough to steal my breath. If Zander’s steering is off by just a little, if the air currents from the mountain range cause an unexpected updraft, if we overshoot or undershoot or?—

“Legs up,” Zander tells me, his confident tone yanking me from my escalating dread.

I lift my lower half as high as I can, praying we’re not about to go tumbling off the side of the mountain, our adventure ending before it begins.

But I needn’t have worried, because from one minute to the next, we’re landing on the rocky shelf, crumpling to the ground as gravity takes effect, with me once again in Zander’s lap.

“We’re alive,” I gasp, somewhat stunned, as Hawke and Bentley land gracefully a few feet away.

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