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She hadn’t brought a lot of clothes Clean underwear and socks, a shirt for each day and a spare pair of jeans For pajaa pants and a soft T-shirt At ho situation she shouldin the tent was harder than she would have thought There wasn’t a lot of headroo, which was set on top of an airsome kind of shado on the side of the tent, she flicked off her flashlight and changed in the dark Only it was really dark and she couldn’t see what she was doing

"Someone needs to explain to me what about this is fun," she a pants

She decided that the T-shirt she earing would be fine for the night and that she would take off her bra later She turned on her flashlight and unzipped her tent, then crawled out

The rain had turned steadier and the terees She shivered as she ran to Angel’s tent

The other girls were all there, except for Olivia, who ca flashlights and looking expectantly at Angel Taryn tried not to do the sa experience

"We’re going to tell stories," he said when they were settled

"Scary ones?" Taryn asked She wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with eight little girls ere too frightened to sleep

"Can they be scary?" Charlotte’s eyes widened "Really scary?"

Soreement, but a few of the others didn’t look as excited at the prospect

"Not scary," he told them "I’ll start Once upon a tian told him "My mom read me all the Lonely Bunny books when I was little Lonely Bunny Finds a Friend, Lonely Bunny Takes a Trip Lonely Bunny and the Severed Hand"

Taryn tensed "What? There’s a children’s book about a severed hand?"

Regan giggled "No, I was kidding about that"

"Good to know," Taryn el knew about the Lonely Bunny books at all Had he read theo? A question she would wait to ask, she thought, then realized the rain had gotten a lot harder It pounded on the tent like a druh the fabric, but wasn’t that going to happen eventually?

Before she could ask Angel, one of the other Grove Keepers unzipped the front of the tent

"We just checked the weather," the woht The front that was supposed to go north of us has dropped south and parked overhead Apparently it’s been pouring up in the el asked, careful to keep his voice calm Because the strea on where the rain was falling, the stream would start to rise The question was how fast that would happen

The other Grove Keeper shrugged "I’irls and get the, and learning to deal with the eleirls were young and forHe didn’t want the rain to be the only thing they reue both sides," she told him "Yes, it would be nice if the weather were better, but that will never be a guarantee"

The girls listened but didn’t offer an opinion

The other Grove Keeper said, "I’ll talk to the rest of the groves and see what they have to say Then we’ll el said

The woman stood and started to pull the zipper closed As she did, there was a screah the opening and shifting the other Grove Keeper aside before the sound had finished echoing off the trees He’d left on his boots, so he h his shirt and stung his eyes as he searched through the darkness to find the source of the proble fast"

He headed toward the woirls joined hi by the benches were they’d eaten dinner a few hours before Only what had been an open area and a gentle slope down to a strea river

"I don’t understand," one of the wo the mention of rain in theup fast We have to get out of here" The other three stared at hiet back to your cars Keep a head count Don’t leave anyone behind"

Aware of his girls waiting for hiot everyone else So for the trail He circled back to his tent and found Taryn waiting in the rain Water dripped down her face and she was shivering

"The strea through Get the girls and head for the trail You’ll be safe once you reach the cars"

"What are you going to do?"

"Check that everyone else got out, then join you by the cars" He grabbed her upper aret there"

She nodded

He squatted down and opened the tent flap Eight pairs of eyes stared at hi out now Taryn is going to lead you up the trail while I check to ot out Everybody pair up You leave in pairs and you arrive in pairs No one gets left behind"

He felt their fear In his head, a voice kept re him that while he could save the world, he hadn’t been able to protect his own That these girls were just like Marcus, and Marcus was dead

"You’re ready for this," he told theently "I have faith in you We’ll meet at the top by the cars Everybody ready?"

They nodded soleel waited until they were all out of the tent, then pulled the poles so it collapsed He would do the same with the other tents, the easiest way to make sure no one snuck back inside to hide Helot and then went back toward the swirling water

He’d been gone less than ten minutes, but in that time, the water had risen at least six feet Several of the tents were already half underwater by the time he reached the lowest campsites The roar of the water echoed off thethe cold clutching at his midsection He checked each of the tents, then hurried up to the next site

At the third one he found a girl as maybe eleven or twelve She was crouched at the base of a tree, crying Angel took her by the arm and pulled her to hiet out of here," he told her

The girl shook her head "I can’t swi away from the water is the best plan"

She treue anymore He picked her up in his arms and carried her to the