Outlanders: Part 5

By MARGARET BEAMES, Illustrator SAM WHEELER

There are two ways to do it: on an elastic rope attached to a harness, or you can free fall. That's even more scary. You jump into space and fall into this weird, hollow silence and just as you think you're dead for sure, you hear the air jets cut in. The air blasts up and cushions your fall. It's not enough to keep you bouncing like a ball on a water jet but sort of lowers you gently to the floor. Of course there's always the thought in the back of your mind that this time they'll get it wrong and you'll be mashed when you land. I know! I speak from experience. Shay made me take the plunge.

I'll say this for her; it did work Ð for a while. I was so scared that for several days all I wanted was a quiet, safe life with my feet on the ground.

"That's the whole idea," she said. But it didn't last. Not for me, anyway. Within a week I was as bad as ever and getting into trouble with Phineas.

Publisher: Scholastic, $13.95

Age group: 11 + years