IT LOOKED LIKE the next problem was a maze. At least, that’s what Kerry thought it was, seeing the multitude of wooden paths that wound among each other. The paths were about six inches wide and reminded her of balance beams, which had always been a bane of hers.

”Now what?” She glanced at the paths, puzzled.

”We have to get there.” Steven pointed to a low platform about a hundred yards away. ”Just a matter of picking the right path.” He studied the choices. ”I think this is the right one.”

”Why?” José disagreed, kicking the one nearest him with a toe.

”Why not this one?”

”Or this one?” Duks was investigating one that went around the perimeter.


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”Look, this one goes directly across to there. It’s closer,” Steven argued. ”That one there goes all the way over to that side and zig zags, and the other one goes around the edges.”

”Well, but wouldn’t they tend to not make the right one the most direct?” Mariana asked, reasonably. ”What would be the challenge, otherwise?” She watched Mary Lou approach yet another path. ”Not that it’s... I mean, we can just try each one until we find the right one, I suppose.”

”Wouldn’t it be faster if we each tried one and whoever figures out the right one first tells everyone, and then everyone else can just get on that path?” Kerry inquired, peering over the paths. Each wooden walkway was suspended over a coral grotto of pits and slopes, filled with impassable bushes and rock walls. ”What is this thing, anyway?”

Dar stepped up behind her, and turned in a full circle. ”My guess is it used to be a lake,” she stated. ”See how the land slopes up around here?” She pointed. ”So that used to be the bottom of it, soft coral and limestone shaped by the water.”

”Would you can the Discovery Channel, please?” Steven rolled his eyes. ”Let’s get this over with.” He stepped out on his chosen path.

”You all can do what you want. I’m heading over there.”

”This is foolish,” Eleanor muttered. ”They’re going to get a huge piece of my mind when I get back to Miami.” She put a hesitant foot on a board. ”Jesu...if I fall off this, I’m suing.”

Dar was the last one to choose. She waited for everyone else to pick a path, then she stood on the edge of the puzzle and gazed across. Kerry was off to her left and she considered it, then picked a path most likely to intersect with the one Kerry was on. It wasn’t particularly hard, the board being eight inches or so across, you just had to be careful of your step. Falling wouldn’t be painful, just embarrassing, unless you were a guy and fell straight down or you chose to take a dive off the planks and hit your head on the coral.

”See? I told you,” Steven yelled in triumph as his path wound closer to the platform. ”You guys better start backtracking.”

Dar bounced on her feet twice and regarded his planks. ”Maybe,”

she was forced to agree, giving Kerry a wry look as the blonde woman glanced her way. ”I don’t...” She stopped as a faint tremor ran through her legs. ”Did you feel that?”

Kerry concentrated. ”Feel what?” She looked puzzled.

”Like a...a shudder or something.” Dar waited, but the feeling wasn’t repeated. ”No? Must be me, then.” She shook her head, then continued on a bit, watching Duks and Eleanor’s paths come close to each other. Then she felt it again. ”There, did you feel that?”

”Feel what?” Mark had circled around away from the perimeter.

”Dar, are you all right?”

The tall, dark haired woman stopped still and concentrated. ”Yeah.

I think I...” Now it was stronger. ”There...tell me you didn’t feel that, Hurricane Watch

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like a truck going by on the freeway.”

”I felt it,” Kerry acknowledged, looking around nervously. ”Is it an earthquake?”

”Earthquake!” Eleanor heard her. ”What are you saying? Don’t be foolish. There are no earthquakes in Florida.”

Dar's brow creased. ”She’s right.

The entire state’s built on

limestone over a water base. There’s nothing to quake. It’d just turn to sand and—” Abruptly her footing lurched under her. ”Hey!”

”What the—” José wavered back and forth. ”This is some piece of shit trick. Goddamn these people.” He flailed his arms for balance.

”Jesu!”

Dar saw the crack. ”Oh shit.” Her eyes went wide in shock. ”Hang on!” Instinctively, she dove in Kerry’s direction as the entire grotto collapsed under them, in a rumble of rock and splintering wood.

She fell, they all did, with dirt and coral and trees tumbling after them, screams going up as the earth dropped out from under their feet, crumbling and diving down into a sudden, gaping, widening well. Dar covered her head as she dropped, trying to fend off branches with her other hand, and she remained upright until a rock hit her mid fall, knocking her sideways and into the collapsing earth rim.

She grabbed at a limb, but the weight of the earth pressed her onward and she found herself slipping down a moving slope, with rocks and sticks pelting her painfully. ”Kerry!” she yelled, just before a sizable chunk of coral smacked her in the head and knocked her into a dark fog for a long, frightening moment. Then she hit bottom and felt the impact of what seemed like half the world dropping on top of her.

Kerry had screamed as the wood disintegrated beneath her feet, but she’d managed to grab hold of the supports as she dropped and swung over to the side of the falling pit, scraping along the edges and trying to get a grip on anything to stop her slide. Around her, she could hear the others screaming and she ducked a branch, then got her feet under her and managed to slow her descent for a moment.

Not long enough, though, as the earth ledge she’d been bracing against collapsed and she found herself tumbling head over heels towards a pile of coral. ”Jesus!” She managed to shove away from them, but got caught by a falling tree which she grabbed and clung to as it rushed downward. She felt a tremendous jolt as it hit bottom and she went flying through the air.

Luck put her down in a pile of earth and small rocks, instead of anything harder and she crawled out of the way of some falling limbs and huddled under a tree trunk as the collapse roared around her. She heard her name called and she lifted her head, peering through the branches towards the sound. She spotted Dar’s falling body, then saw it crumble in mid air and land, with rocks and dirt on top of her. ”Dar!”

Kerry didn’t wait for anything else. She dug out from her hiding spot and dashed across the still moving earth, through clouds of dust 84

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and shredded leaves, dodging the odd rolling boulder. ”D... oh god.”

She saw the arm sticking out from the dirt and scrambled over the last obstacle. Kerry jumped down next to where her lover had fallen and started frantically throwing debris off her. ”Dar? Hey!” She shoved dirt away from Dar’s head and was rewarded by a groan. ”Hey, hey, come on.” ”Okay, okay, take it easy,” Dar mumbled, getting her arms under her and pushing away from the dirt a little. She felt rocks and earth roll off her back, aided by Kerry’s hands ”Whoa, watch that last step.” She managed to joke faintly as she succeeded in sitting up, reaching to rub her head with a wince. ”Goddamn it.”

Kerry got into the dirt next to her and brushed her off gently.

”Jesus. Are you all right?” She checked Dar’s head anxiously. ”What happened? I thought you said there were no earthquakes in Florida?”

”Calm down.” Dar caught her hands and chafed them, feeling the tremors. ”It wasn’t an earthquake.” She looked around them as the rumble eased, and the dust settled, hearing the cries of their companions. ”It’s a sinkhole.”

”A sinkhole?” Kerry sank down next to her and leaned against her shoulder, sliding an arm around Dar’s waist. ”A sinkhole. Okay, so this is not part of the test, right?”

”No.” Dar gazed at her. ”Are you okay?”

”What? Oh sure. I’m fine. Absolutely,” Kerry assured her. ”Just a few bumps.”

”You’re sure?” Her lover gently inquired.

”Yes. I am,” Kerry stated.

”Okay. Well, you might want to let up on my arm, then. I’m losing feeling in my fingers.” Dar’s eyes twinkled a little.

Kerry stared down at her own hand, clenched around Dar’s wrist in a white knuckled death grip. ”Oh.” She loosened her hold. ”Sorry.” She took several breaths, then studied her companion. ”You’re bleeding.”

Dar glanced at her shoulder ”No. I’m all right. It’s just a scratch.”

A soft, knowing chuckle. ”Where have I heard that before?” Kerry replied as she checked the wound. ”Looks like a branch poked in here.”

She sighed and looked over her shoulder. ”Guess we’d better go find everyone.

”Yeah.” Dar stood, then winced as her weight came down on one knee. ”Oh, shit.” Her face twisted in pain and she sat back down, holding her breath until the jolts of pain subsided. ”Son of a bitch.”

”What?” Kerry grabbed her anxiously. ”Take it easy.” She gently straightened Dar’s leg out. ”What is it?”

”My knee,” Dar exhaled. ”I think the cap is dislocated.” She gingerly felt the front of her leg. ”Yeah, feel that.”

Kerry laid hesitant fingers over the denim covered surface and felt an ominous bulge. ”Ow, Jesus, Dar that must hurt like crazy.”

It was making her nauseous, in fact. ”Yeah...um...” Dar took a deep Hurricane Watch

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breath. ”Listen, could you just, um, kind of twist that, and move it towards the inside of my leg?”

Wide green eyes stared at her. ”What?” Kerry yelped. ”You want me to do what?”