Stars and Water

Chapter Three

The next day Maria was jogging down a winding road through corn fields. This seemed to be the main scenery around Smallville and she liked the wide open feeling of looking miles to the horizon with no buildings in sight.

Maria was filled with anxiety about her Mother but there was nothing she could do. The talk they had last night should have reassured her but it felt wrong somehow. Her Mom had told her everything was okay but she could tell by the way she quickly changed the subject that something was bothering her. Clark's warning and the fear that had run cold fingers up her spine still lingered in her mind. So did the memory of his smile and her reaction to his touch. Unable to ignore her whirlwind emotions she decided to go for a run to work out her jittery feelings. It felt good to move but the day was hotter than she expected and sweat was running down her face and ran stinging into her eyes.

She heard a river up ahead and saw the bridge. Relief was in sight! She sped up hoping to be able to go for a swim. Maria stopped at the bridge and looked down at the swirling river below. Okay, not a place to swim, she thought, as she looked at the swift current and large rocks. Well, at least she could sit on a rock and cool her feet.

Maria scrambled down a trail to the river bank. The roar of the river filled her head and she breathed in the cooler air and felt the spray on her face from where the water splashed against rocks and sent a fine mist into the air. Maria took off her shoes and socks and climbed out onto a flat rock jutting into the current. She sat down and stuck her feet into the water. Man that's like ice, she thought, as she kicked her feet around. The water felt good but she didn't think she'd keep her feet in long. Maria reached forward to splash water on her sweaty face.

Clark stood tall and stretched his back as he looked proudly down the long, straight line of fence he had built. The air was hot but that didn't bother him, he was comfortable in his jeans and a red T-shirt. No sweat was on his brow or in his curling dark hair. He turned to face the slight breeze and inhaled the sweet scent of warm grass. Looking up he saw a hawk soaring over the field. Focusing his vision to zoom in on the bird he saw it was a young Red-tailed hawk, the wind ruffled its feathers and its eyes were scanning the ground below for prey.

He watched as the bird changed direction with the slightest movement of its wings and he found himself imagining flying and being able to soar above the earth like the hawk. Lately he had had more dreams about flying and he wondered if he was coming close to developing that ability. He found the thought frightening but not just because of his fear of heights. It seemed like such an inhuman ability to be able to break the law of gravity. Of course frying things with your eyes rated right up there too but he had achieved such perfect control of his heat vision that it felt natural. Clark wondered if flying would ever feel that way, like the hawk, natural and free. Clark listened to the wind, enjoying the quiet and letting his thoughts drift.

Maria lost her balance as she leaned forward and the current grabbed her feet and pulled her into the powerful flow. She screamed and scrabbled at the rock but there was nothing to hold onto and Maria gasped as the icy river closed over her head. She struggled frantically to the surface, gasping for air as the cold took her breath away. She was a strong swimmer but this was no swimming pool.

The river pushed her under, tossed her around, slammed her into rocks, and occasionally allowed her to get a breath. When she came up she screamed for help, even though she didn't think anyone was near.

Maria was pulled under again and for what seemed like an eternity she looked up through the water and could see the light and air but couldn't reach it. She fought with all she had and finally her head broke the surface again.

Clark thought he heard a scream in the distance and focused his hearing in that direction. The scream was repeated and now Clark had an idea of where it came from. He became a red and blue blur as he sped in the direction of the river. When he got to the bank he was filled with horror to see Maria struggling in the white water, desperately trying to cling to a rock.

A sick feeling washed over him, and a faint ache in his bones reminded him that Chloe called this river "a known source of our favorite green stuff " He knew somewhere in that water was death and his instincts were screaming at him to keep away.

Maria saw a man standing on the bank and she recognized him. "Clark!" she screamed as the river slammed her into another rock and she struggled to hang on. Clark looked at the river, then at her. He looked frightened and he hesitated for the barest of moments before he dove into the raging current.

She saw him swimming powerfully through the river to her, cutting through the turbulent water with ease. In no time he was by her side and she felt his arm holding her head up. Clark turned and swam for shore, using one arm and powerful kicks. Maria kicked too, trying to avoid being a limp weight dragging on him. They slammed into rocks but when they did she noticed he turned his body to take the brunt of it, shielding her from the blows the river was dealing out.

They were near the shore and she could tell he was touching the bottom when she noticed a change. His grip on her weakened, his breathing seemed desperate and he began gasping for air. She thought he was probably tiring, and no wonder, considering what he had just pulled her out of. "We're almost there Clark!" She yelled and she kicked as hard as she could to help.

Clark could feel that he was close to Kryptonite from the grinding pain and nausea that swept over him. He pushed through it and kept on swimming as fast as he could. Then he felt his foot touch bottom and the pain shot through him like fire in his veins. He gasped and struggled to breathe as the familiar weakness and agony swept over him and the world became a place of distant shadows. He dimly heard Maria call out to him and he tried to respond but when they hit another rock his head slammed hard into it and the darkness closed in.

Maria heard a crack and Clark groaned from the pain. He went limp in the water and his arm slid away from her as he was pulled under. "No!" she screamed and she grabbed for him. Wrapping her arm around his chin she held his head up as she kicked frantically for shore reaching with her other arm and heaving herself forward.

Maria touched the bottom and she felt rocks scrape her feet and ankles hard as she was dragged along it. She finally managed to get her feet under her and was wading to shore when she slipped and fell in the waist deep water. Clark's heavy body shifted out of her grasp and spun down river into the current.

Maria looked frantically for Clark as her scrambling feet gained purchase on the rocks. She hauled herself out of the river, so exhausted she could only go forward by crawling. Her body ached and she felt heavy and numb with cold.

Once free of the water her fear for Clark yanked her upright and forced her legs into a stumbling run. She heard the note of the river change as she rounded a bend and looked on in horror at a waterfall plummeting fifty feet into a canyon.

Maria stared into the pool at the bottom of the falls searching for any sign of Clark's body as she ran for the trail that led downhill. She caught sight of a flash of red and realized it was his shirt.

Maria charged straight down the slope, ignoring the switchbacks in the trail. She slid in the soft dirt and pine needles, got slapped across the face by brush and blackberry brambles, and at one point, had to grab a tree branch to keep herself from plunging headfirst to the bottom. Her bare feet were being ripped to shreds, tears flowed down her cheeks, and she was praying over and over like a chant, "Please God, let him be alive." It horrified her that this young man might have died trying to save her.

At last she reached the sandy shore and staggered to the edge of the pool. Maria saw his limp form floating face down in the water and gently moving with the current. She choked back a sob and waded in, caught his arm turning him face up, and pulled him to shore. She didn't notice the glowing green rocks in the water under the falls or how the glow went out of them as she pulled Clark away.

Maria propped his head against her chest, wrapped her hands under his shoulders and lifted with all her strength as she backed up, wresting him from the river's grasp. He was so heavy she couldn't hold his shoulders up for long and she fell backward with him on top of her, crashing her into the sand and gravel on the bank.

Most of his body was out of the water as she scrambled around to his side, ignoring her fresh bruises and gently cradling his face in her hand. "Clark," she called desperately, "Clark, can you hear me?" He lay unmoving; his body cold and limp on the bank.

Maria felt for a pulse at his throat and her heart leaped for joy as she felt a weak but steady bump under her fingertips. She checked to see if he was breathing but he lay completely still.

Maria quickly cleared his airway, tilted his head back and sealed her lips over his mouth, grateful she had paid attention in the First Aid class in school last year. All she could think was, don't die, please don't die, as she blew into his lungs. She repeated the breaths three more times when suddenly Clark heaved up, coughing and gagging as water flowed out of his mouth. Maria sat and watched with joy and relief as he lay back, breathing in huge breaths of sweet air. "You're going to be okay, Clark." she said, soothing his face with her hand, pushing his wet curls out of his eyes with trembling fingers.

Clark looked up, saw Maria's face, smiled and said "Maria" with a mixture of relief and amazement in his voice. "I'm glad you're safe." He shut his eyes for a moment and sighed, letting the warm sun give much needed energy to his body. The pain was gone and its absence felt wonderful. His strength was flowing back but he still felt a little dizzy as he tried to sit up.

"You saved my life," Clark said, looking into her eyes with open admiration, "Thank you."

Maria grinned at him. This guy was really something special, it hadn't escaped her notice that his first thought was for her safety. "I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done Clark, you wouldn't have been in any danger at all if you hadn't been busy saving me, so I guess we're even."

To be continued…