The Hole in the Wall - Lisa Rowe Fraustino [77]
The magic glasses made the colors in the gore even more intense, like in the adrium mother lode. They also showed me something I hadn’t noticed before, a swirl of colors flying up toward Kettle Ridge like a swarm of butterflies. It was pretty incredible. I watched the adrium swarm approach until suddenly Jed let out a yelp and fell onto his back. He rolled over and clawed at the weeds that dotted the roadside, yet somehow he was sliding backward, toward the gore, his fingers scraping the ground.
“Heeellllp!” he howled.
And then I realized what was happening: the adrium inside his legs was dragging him! Like Celery and the rock had flown me! I leaned down to grab Jed’s hands and pulled as hard as I could. Ma’s arms went around my waist and she pulled on me. But the adrium was too strong for us. Jed’s hands slipped free, and I tumbled to the ground with Ma.
When I hopped back to my feet and wiped the dirt out of my eyes, Jed was belly up to the guardrail, his legs beneath it poking into the gore, with Barbie holding him by his belt. I was terrified he’d get yanked in. Why weren’t those big goons trying to help, for Pete’s sake? They were still turned around talking on their ear phones, that’s why, with their fingers in their free ears to block out all the noise.
I ran at them flailing and screaming to get their attention. When they turned and saw what was happening to Jed, they immediately lunged to the rescue. They each took an arm, dug in their heels, and held him back.
Then I leaned over the edge for a closer look at Jed’s predicament. He was so terrified, his mouth was frozen open without any scream coming out. But his legs were—amazing! Sticking straight out into the air, with colors swirling all around them! The adrium in his legs was leaving to join the swarm.
Pretty soon Jed’s screaming transformed into a goofy grin. His knees flopped and he dangled his legs over the edge, kicking his feet like he was sitting on a dock splashing in the water.
“Thanks, fellas, I think you can let go now.”
“No problem,” the goons said, and stepped back. Grum applauded. “Well done, boys.” Barbie and Ma clapped, too. I wolf whistled.
Jed pulled his legs out from under the guardrail and leaned his back against it with a deep breath. Then he grinned down at his braces. Slowly he unbuckled them and set them aside. Then he crisscrossed his legs and slowly wobbled to his feet.
Ma ran to put her arm around him. “Let’s get you away from that edge, huh?”
He took a step forward and his legs folded under him. So he was back on the ground, but still goofy grinning.
Ma smiled, too. “My baby’s learning to walk.”
I reached out to give Jed a hand. “C’mon, you big baby.” Barbie took his other hand. We yanked him up again, and this time he stood firm.
He took one step, then another. We let him go.
“How do you feel?” Ma asked.
“So glad I didn’t let Stan give me bionic legs,” Jed said through his grin. He just couldn’t stop grinning. He walked all the way to the SUV and sat on the bumper, rubbing his thighs. The SUV was still vibrating with Pa’s snores.
Pa!
How could he have slept through all this? After all he’d been through, he must be exhausted. But I couldn’t let him snooze away this chance to be cured like Jed! I ran to the door and slid it open.
Pa fell straight out onto the ground in a backward somersault, as if he’d been leaning hard against the door. “What the . . . ” He yelled all the usual cusses. But I didn’t care what he called me. I just cared that a bunch of colors came butter-flying out along with him. It was like they’d been waiting at the door. They circled away and disappeared over the edge of the cliff.
Pa’s eyes just about filled his face, he looked so surprised. He stopped hollering and hopped to his feet with a big smile. He did a squat and then a lunge and then started lifting me by the waist to put me on his shoulders, like he used to when I was little. Except I was almost as tall as him now,