As Miss Edmunds car pulled away from the house Jess peeked back to see if his Mother was watching. She wasn't, or at least he couldn't see her through the rain. He was sure she was going to let him have it when he got home, but a chance like this was worth it. He lay his head back against the seat and dared to look over at Miss Edmunds. She was humming a song. He didn't recognize it but it was now his favorite tune. Everything she did made him wonder if she was sent to this earth just to make him happy. He'd heard some of the other boys at school talking about having a crush on her, but here he was going to spend the day with her.
"You eat a good breakfast before I picked you up?", she asked.
"Yes'm", he lied, feeling a bit guilty. He couldn't tell her he had just sat by the door and waited for her in silence so nobody would wake up and try to stop him.
"Good", she said. "It's raining so hard I think the drive to Washington will take longer than normal."
She turned on the radio, but it was coming down so hard Jess had trouble making out the words over the pounding of the rain on the roof of the car.
"I'm not sure I've ever driven in rain like this", Miss Edmunds shouted.
Jess was so absorbed in the moment that the feeling of weightlessness took longer than it should have to register in his brain.
When he finally realized something was wrong the car was already sideways, and as he looked out the front window he saw the ground above him approaching quickly.
There was mud everywhere. And water…so much water. Then Jess felt the pain. His arm was broken. There was something trickling off his eyebrow and dripping into the mud and water filled car. He arched his head back and saw the blood swirling in the liquid mess that had filled the front seat. He wasn't stuck so he dragged himself out the broken side window and looked back at the car. Then he realized Miss Edmunds was gone.
He stumbled over to the driver's side and knelt down beside the inverted car. The top was crushed down so far it was amazing he wasn't killed.
"Miss Edmunds!", he called. The rain kept coming. He heard a groan.
"Miss Edmunds?", Jess wasn't sure about what he was seeing.
About fifty feet from the car there was a crumpled pile of arms and legs all covered in mud and blood. There was so much blood. He ran to her. Then he stopped abruptly. The beauty of Miss Edmunds was hard to perceive as she lay tangled on the ground. Her long brown hair was plastered to her face and her eyes were closed. She could tell he was standing there though.
"I'm sorry Jess." She managed. "Are you hurt?"
"No", he lied.
"Just a bit shaken up."
"I'll go get help!" He choked on the words because when he said them he realized she might not survive if he didn't get the help quickly. Miss Edmunds' life was in his hands now.
"I won't do anything fun while you're gone", she quipped. But he beautiful smile didn't appear as she struggled to take a breath.
"I'll be so fast you won't even know I'm gone", Jess promised.
He turned to figure out if he knew where to go. A moment later he had his bearings. They had only been driving a few minutes and her recognized the field they'd landed in. He could cut through the field, the woods, and make his way to Leslie's house.
Then he was running. All those mornings racing around the yard to be the fastest kid in school, all those races he'd run during recess, he'd been preparing for this moment. Now was the time to fearlessly let go and run like it was his last race.
The mud made him slow. He fell and got up. Fell again, and recovered. Over and over he dragged himself out of the spring mud until finally he reached the edge of the field and entered the woods. On a regular day Jess slowly entered into these woods, but today he was surging through the pines, jumping logs, looking for landmarks.
Then he saw it. He was in Terabithia. He was running through the darkness of the pines, the sacred place he and Leslie only traveled to in times of great sadness or joy. Then as the trees thinned he saw her.
Leslie was wearing her raincoat and PT was at her heals. She was backing up with the rope and preparing to win over the swollen creek.
As Jesse broke into the open his heart and lungs were on fire. He couldn't even yell to Leslie. Then he couldn't believe what he saw. Leslie ran and with the rope in her hands swung out over the creek, then she was gone! The rope had broken and she was gone!
Jess got to the creek a moment later. PT was in a frenzy on the other bank, barking and circling. Jess scanned the brown water.
Then a flash of Leslie's rain jacket caught his eye and he plunged into the water. He hit his broken arm on a rock and the searing pain almost made him black out. She was pinned up against a log and he tried to pull her out against the current but it was too strong. He found her head and yanked it above the water. Her eyes were wide! She was alive!
"How did you find me?" she sputtered.
"I'll explain later, help me push this log out of the way."
"I can't, my arms are stuck", Leslie sobbed.
"Go get help, I'll keep my head up."
Jess hesitated, then pushed across the creek and began running again.
How could he possibly help them both? Miss Edmunds and Leslie both needed him.