Rise An Eve Novel

Headmistress Burns’s gravelly voice.
    It was the closest thing to a joke I’d heard in days. I would’ve laughed, but Pip was beside her, her steps unsteady. She walked slowly, the exhaustion taking hold. When I’d told Beatrice I was staying, she hadn’t argued as I had believed she would. She seemed to agree that Pip needed rest, that it was best for her to be here until she gave birth—something we’d navigate together, as best we could, with the small amount of information Beatrice had given me. With Califia still nearly three hundred miles off, it was possible we’d get stranded somewhere along the way. If she wanted to stay, who was I to force her to go?
    They came down to the water’s edge, watching the girls as they stood in their shorts and T-shirts, some already shivering from the cold. “The first step is to go under,” I said, moving in, closer to Bette and Kit. “Like this.” I pinched my nose and let my legs give out, plunging beneath the surface, the rush of water sounding in my ears. I opened my eyes, watching the bubbles rise to the surface as I exhaled. When the breath throbbed in my lungs, my heartbeat in my ears, I finally came up for air. Only Sarah had gone under, her wet hair clinging to her cheeks.
    Bette was watching Benny and Silas, who swam farther out, floating on their backs, their puffed bellies rising above the surface of the water. “Not too far,” I yelled, signaling to the birch tree that had fallen into the lake—the marker the boys had once used to keep them close to the beach. Benny lifted his head, as if he heard me, then disappeared again, flipping back below the water.
    “I’ll watch them. Don’t worry,” Beatrice said, dropping three tattered shirts in the shallows. She pounded the fabric against the rocks, cleaning them as a few more girls went under. Bette stopped at her neck, wincing as she slowly slipped into the lake.
    I pulled the wet sweater away from my body, but it still clung to me. Instead I sunk down, submerging myself up to my chest, letting the lake hide me. I looked out again at Benny and Silas, who were spitting mouthfuls of water at each other. Beatrice kept her eyes on them, as she said she would, making sure they didn’t go too far. “You’re designed to float. Just flip onto your back,” I said, moving to Sarah. She laid down and I adjusted her shoulders, helped her legs so she was in a perfect T. “Now fill your lungs. Keep your arms out, and keep looking up.” I removed my hand from under her back and she dipped down an inch or so but remained on the surface. Her face broke into a smile.
    Clara weaved through the girls, helping them float. “See?” she said. “People drown when they panic. Just try to relax—you can always float.” She moved to Bette, pressing her hand on her back. I watched her, wondering how long it would be until we saw each other again, if she’d come back once she was settled in Califia. She’d spent the past two days acclimating the girls to the horses, teaching them the basics of riding. We used the rope we had to create makeshift stirrups, tying one end around the horse’s shoulder and letting the other hang over its back, the loop just big enough for one foot to slip through. All the supplies had been jarred, the duffels packed and waiting for the morning’s trip. By this time tomorrow, Ruby, Pip, and I would be alone.
    I tried not to think about it, instead focusing on what was right in front of me—the afternoon, this lesson. That was the only way it felt manageable.
    “How did you do that?” Sarah stood, moving her arms out in front of her. “Show me how you were swimming in the tunnel.”
    “You have to go under,” I said, glancing around. Most of the other girls were still easing themselves into the water, barely able to stay afloat. “You’ll want to push off the bottom, moving out and forward. Then you use your arms and legs at the same time, almost like a frog.”
    I took a deep breath and slipped under. The world felt far away, the girls’ voices blending into one. I caught sight of Clara’s legs as she stepped around Kit, trying to help her stay afloat. Sarah’s skin looked whiter beneath the surface. She cupped the lake in her hands.
    When the screaming started, it was hard to recognize at first. The panicked yells came from somewhere beyond me. As I broke the surface, Beatrice’s voice filled the air, squeezing all the breath from my body. “Let me through,” she