“What about me?” Jason wailed. He staggered to his feet.
“Help him!” Mano struggled with Leilani in his arms. They couldn’t leave Jason here to die. Annie grabbed Jason’s arm, and they began to move over the rough lava rock. Leilani was small, but the extra burden of her weight was no small matter as Mano struggled to find enough oxygen in the hot, sulfuric air. Ash began to rain down around him. He heard several thuds and turned to see the volcano spewing rocks as well as lava.
“It’s an explosive event,” Annie panted, still hanging onto Jason. “We all knew it might come. Pray we don’t get a pyroclastic surge. This way.” She led the way down the slope toward the ocean.
They stood on a cliff and looked down into the water. Rocks were raining down behind them with more fury now. The ash cloud that billowed from the volcano blocked the bright moonlight. One boulder landed only two feet from them and lay smoldering. The water was twenty feet below, and there was no path down. “Now what? Is there a better access point?” He wasn’t sure of this plan. If the lava reached the water, it was sure to parboil them.
“There’s a ledge right down there.” She pointed. “We can climb down to it and jump.”
“Jump?” Was she nuts? He stared down at the whitecaps. “We don’t even know how deep it is here.”
“I can’t jump,” Jason howled.
“I’ve dived here. It’s deep enough.” She shoved Jason toward the edge. “Go, or you’ll burn!”
Jason moaned but did as she said, slinging his wounded leg over the edge. He slid to the rock shelf below. Annie followed him.
Full of misgivings, Mano waited until she was down, then lowered Leilani to the ledge. The younger woman was finally beginning to awaken. Once Annie had Leilani, he joined them. The racket above them increased until it was almost impossible to be heard.
Annie pointed down. She leaned toward him and put her lips against his ear. “I’ll go first so I can get to Leilani.”
He nodded. Looking into her eyes, he wanted to say something profound and loving, but he couldn’t think with the explosions going off.
Annie pressed her lips to his. “I love you,” she said. Then she pulled Wilson from her shirt, turned, and they both plunged over the side.
Mano leaned over to watch and saw the splash that she made. Then her head bobbed up in the hazy moonlight. He saw Wilson swimming beside her.
Leilani backed away, shaking her head. She was awake enough now to be frightened.
There was no time to reassure her. He grabbed her and flung her over the side. Leaning over, he watched her fall into the sea. Annie was by her side in moments.
“You next,” he told Jason. He didn’t wait for a response from the young man. Giving him a shove, Mano sent Jason sailing over the edge. He saw him splash into the water.
A huge boulder came rolling toward him. It was still sizzling. He dove over the side of the ledge just a moment before it reached him.
Twenty-seven
The water was already hot. Off to her left, Annie could see lava dripping into the sea like a bloody fountain. The hiss and crackle as it hit the waves was deafening. Ash rained everywhere. She tried to support her sister, but Leilani was thrashing about in the water and wailing.
“Hush,” Annie said. “We’ve got to swim.” She released her sister and made sure she was swimming, then looked around. Mano was just to her right with Jason. She pointed down the coast. “There’s a landing about a mile down that way,” she called. A mile. She didn’t know if she could make it. Her foot throbbed.
She reached under the waves and struggled to undo her wet laces. The heavy boots weighed her down, and she gulped in a mouthful of seawater mixed with ash. Trying again, she finally kicked free of them. Wilson paddled nearby. He loved a swim, but even he seemed to realize the danger that threatened them. Annie’s head went under the water again. The heat of the water was beginning to get uncomfortable.
Steep rocky cliffs rose straight up from the water. There was no safe place to come ashore. They began to swim toward a speck of light in the distance. Annie knew there was a house on the hill near the landing she had in mind. It seemed so far away. She didn’t see how they could make it. The wind blew tiny fragments of ash, cinders, and Pele’s hair—lava so fine it was like spun glass—onto her head. Called tephra, the various forms of lava was a sign to Annie that the volcanic eruption was shooting fountains of lava high into the wind.
Mano and Jason came alongside Leilani and Annie. “You doing okay?” Mano panted.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it,” Leilani whispered. “Go on without me.”
“If only Nani was around,” Mano said.