IS IT SAFE TO LOOK AT THE MOON?

Long Ago, In the Mountains (continued)

Grace saw Martin through tearful eyes and felt the kiss he planted on her cheek. When he bundled Jess in his arms, she knew her little girl was going to be well cared for. She stayed crouched on the ground, praying for Jess and for Martin as they sped to the village hospital.

Ana and her Mom came upon Grace at that minute. They helped her off the ground and led her back toward home. Lita and Jo followed behind in silence, afraid to start a conversation. Their faces were pale against the afternoon sunlight.

"Here we are, Grace, please go and rest in your bedroom," Ana's Mom said.

Grace, as if awakened from a deep sleep, looked up and saw Lita, Jo and Ana staring, their eyes dulled by the accident and their lips were closed tight.

"How can you do this to Jess, girls? How and why didn't you stop her climb the tree?"

She didn't wait for their reply. She began to sob, her heart was breaking, her cries were deep in her breast. The girls just stared at their feet, as if their lips were clamped tight and the guilt in their faces kept them humbled.

Ana's Mom, Martha, took hold of Grace's arm and led her to her room. She closed the door behind her and stayed with Grace for a long while. When she came out, she found the three girls still huddled together, consoling each other. She took pity on them and led them to the kitchen, where she gave them lemonade.

"I want to know what happened out there, Ana," Martha said as the girls took their drink.

"It's not my fault, Mom," Ana said. "Nor it's Lita's and Jo's."

"All right, all right. I didn't say it's any of your faults. I just want to know what happened."

Lita, Ana and Jo eyed each other, deciding who should speak first.

"We tried to stop Jess from climbing the tree," Lita said. "But she did it anyhow. We couldn't stop her because we were asleep."

"What?" Martha did not want to believe what she heard. "You fell asleep... how?"

"We had our picnic and it got hot, so we all laid on the blanket and fell asleep." Jo was quick to answer.

"And while we were asleep, Jess must have gotten up and climbed the tree," Ana added.

"Jess woke us up but she was already up in the tree," Lita said.

"We asked her to come down. At first she didn't want to, then she started to climb down. And that's when it happened." Lita shivered, covered her face with both hands, remembering the sound of the branch breaking and Jess falling down to the ground.

"There was a very loud snap of the branch when Jess stepped on it. All we could do was watch as she crashed, face down, to the ground." Jo started to cry.

Martha was wide-eyed, her mouth opened to say something but she didn't. Instead she felt her knees wobble and she gave in and slumped on the floor.

"We thought she was dead, there was a lot of blood coming out of her mouth and nose," Ana said.

(to be continued)