“No. It got away again,” David admitted. “But I think Michael and I will catch it tomorrow. Whatever it is, we’re going into the caves. I need to know what’s inside Bowl Top Mountain, Christy.”

Christy nodded. “Benny and I will hold a safety line for you and Michael when they get here. It’ll keep you from falling all the way down those dark holes.” She gave him a small, reassuring smile.

Christy had already made coffee for both of them, ready to enjoy the Bowl Top Mountain sunrise together.

“How many sugars would you like, David?” she asked.

David blinked, still waking up, a smile stretching from ear to ear. “Just make it a bittersweet cup for me,” he said. “That sounds perfect, my love.”

He took a sip and added, “And Christy… those cinnamon muffins you made were excellent. The fresh butter on them was amazing.”

Christy’s face lit up. “I love baking for you, David. It’s just a little goodness I can give back.”

“You risk your life looking for things in this mountain, David,” Christy said, her hands trembling. “That screeching sound that woke us… it gave me chills.”

David nodded, steady but thoughtful. “I know. And I’m planning to fill the lantern before we go back down. It felt darker in there today, Christy much darker.”

David set his cup in the sink, then turned back to Christy. “Thank you for a beautiful morning with you,” he said. “I’m going to see if the sheep are out with Michael and Benny. I can barely see from here in Skyland, but it’s good enough.”

Christy followed him out onto the ledge, her excitement bubbling up. “Wow… I can see my house from here too! It’s small, but I can see it!”

David jumped onto the ledge beside her, startled by how quickly she’d come after him, but ever so  grateful he hadn’t slipped when she surprised him.

He had put on his pants and shoes, but he still hadn’t strapped on his glowstone pack. “It’s dangerous for us without wings to fly,” David said to Christy. 

“Speaking of your Mama and Papa seeing the red ribbon… they don’t know it’s a signal inviting them here to Skyland to be with us,” David said. “If that red ribbon comes back, Christy you know like that shooting star did we’ll make it a signal for everyone you know.”

“That’s perfect,” Christy said. “But for my mom and dad to come, it would be a long trip. At least sixty miles from Boontown.”

David nodded. “I’m planning to build a special wagon that can travel back and forth from Smallville to Boontown. People could trade their goods and jewelry there. Your mama loves jewelry… and there’s no jeweler here in Smallville yet.”

Christy smiled softly. Maybe God broke the mold with this one, she thought. This man sure knows me well.

Suddenly, Christy spotted the red ribbon flying over Smallville, heading south toward Boontown at a steady, determined speed.

“It looks like a sideways sign as it moves,” David said, watching it cut through the sky.

Christy grabbed his arm, excitement rising. “David, do you think it’ll come back here like the shooting star did?”

David stayed quiet, puzzled all over again by how this strange red ribbon kept appearing and flying in ways no ribbon should.

Hand in hand, they walked back toward the Pentagon and slipped into the small closet near the front entrance. David reached for the pack he’d used before.

“Christy, let me put this glowstone pack on and show you how it’s supposed to work,” he said. He opened the glowstones to the daylight, their light dimming as he did.

“Why does that make them weaker?” Christy asked and then her eyes lit up. “Oh! I remember… the glowstones gain power when they reach the open darkness.”

David smiled at her. “You’re a very good learner,” he said to his precious student.

David, now tied off, looked at Christy and said, “I’m feeling light when I jump. A person should only go about five feet high.”

He bent his knees and leapt only to shoot straight up nearly thirty feet before Christy, quick‑thinking, caught the rope in her hands. She yanked hard, pulling him back down toward her before he drifted any higher.

When David’s boots hit the ground again, he shook his head. “Christy… I’ve lost spring weight. I’m going to have to remove a glowstone and put it back. Once I balance it right, the flight will be steady.” 

“David… Do you have a glowstone pack for me?” Christy asked.

“Sure,” David said. He reached back into the closet and felt the gemstones he had embedded into Christy’s anti‑gravity pack. “Here it is.”

Christy’s eyes sparkled when she saw the gemstones glowing inside her pack. She turned around so David could strap it on. He asked her to wait while he tied the rope to the rail he had no idea what might happen once she stepped out.

“Okay, Christy… step out of the doorway,” David said.

She did and immediately floated straight toward him. David caught her in his arms, holding her steady.

“A few too many glowstones,” he said with a laugh. “Let’s put two of them away and try to balance you.”

Christy smiled. “Alright, David. But I noticed something… when you pulled me to you, you were smiling ear to ear again.”

David grinned. “My Emerald Moment is on the way.”

After removing two glowstones, Christy could finally stand and jump about five feet.

“That’s perfect,” David told her.

For the next several hours, the two of them wandered out into Skyland’s orchard to practice jumping and picking fruit. Christy was getting very good with her special pack, rising just high enough to reach the branches without drifting away.

David held a bucket instead of a ladder, steadying it beneath her as she picked the fresh fruit one by one. It became their rhythm Christy floating lightly, David catching each piece she handed down, both of them laughing in the quiet orchard.

David said, “Hang on, Christy,” just before he jumped straight up fifty feet at least. As he rose, he looked around, scanning the land below.

On his way down, he spotted Benny with Michael behind him, both heading toward Bowl Top Mountain. David landed in a burst of static and called out, “Christy, they’re coming! They’re almost here. I see them the red ribbon works!”

Christy’s face lit up. She threw her arms around him and hugged him hard.

“Now I’ll grab the extra‑heavy glowstone pack so Benny and Michael can both come up here, Christy,” David said.

He took the last glowstone pack from the closet and gathered several weighted stones, preparing the powerful pack so he could bring it down to the visitors.

Christy sat and watched him work, amazed at how carefully he planned every detail to lift the Bowl Top Mountain visitors up to Skyland.

Then suddenly without warning David jumped off the ledge where they sat at sunset.

Christy gasped and ran to the edge, looking over.

David was already standing beside Michael and Benny below, as if the fall had been nothing more than a step down.

Benny jumped up the moment he saw David, grabbing him and holding him down while licking his face.

Michael hugged him next. “Mama is making dinner Sunday,” he said, “and she wants you and Christy there for dinner and dance.”

David blinked, surprised. What’s gotten into Mama? She’s happy… feeling better. I see.

“We’d love to,” David said as he strapped the two‑person glowstone pack onto Michael. With it, Michael and Benny could rise together up to Skyland, where Christy was waiting to help pull them safely down to the ledge.

Benny sat there, strapped in like a person ready to fly.

“He’s ready,” David said.

“Let’s do it!” Michael shouted as he jumped with Benny. Without any weight‑rocks, the two of them shot upward way over the top of Bowl Top Mountain waving at Christy as they sailed past Skyland’s ledge.

David leapt after them, rising fast to meet them as they began descending. He guided their fall with a gentle push, steering them toward Christy so they would land safely beside her.

They touched down perfectly, and Benny immediately jumped up on Christy, tail wagging wildly. Christy laughed as she pulled David toward the ledge to land beside them.

“This is what I planned,” David said. “You guys saw the red ribbon.”

Michael nodded. “Yes, we did all right. It flew by and hit us! The darn seahawk, I think, was moving.”

David paused, the pieces finally clicking together in his mind Christy’s shooting star, the red ribbon, the strange screech. “A bird,” he said slowly.

“Yes, a fast one,” Michael replied. “He screeched so loudly Benny climbed into a stump he found.”

“Must’ve been loud,” Christy said.

“Well, I’ll say we got the message, David,” Michael added.

The four of them walked back toward the Pentagon to put their anti‑gravity packs away for the night. David stepped inside, crossed the room, and lit the fireplace its warm glow filling the space and adding a soft, steady light to their conversation.

Christy decided to make some of her famous hot chocolate for the guests and for David. Benny went straight for the warm milk, lapping it up and then looking at Christy with a hopeful grin, clearly asking for more.

Michael smiled at her. “It’s nice to see you again, Christy.”

She returned the smile. “Me too, Michael. How have you been?”

“Good,” Michael said. “Just living with Mama and Papa at the house, looking after the sheep I love.”

David nodded and told him, “I’ve got a cot that will fit in the kitchen. You can sleep there tonight and keep watch for the intruder the one who was here last night eating Christy’s ham sandwiches.”

As the fire crackled, David began talking again about the shooting star and the strange incident he and Christy had witnessed.

Michael shook his head. “David… a star never turns around and comes back. It’s going to be something else.”

Suddenly, the outside lit up bright as day for a single second then dropped into pitch‑black darkness again.

David’s eyes went wide. “It’s back… whatever it is,” he whispered to Michael.

Michael swallowed hard. Now he understood exactly why David had hung the red ribbon as a signal. This is real, he thought. And it’s close.

Benny lay by the front door of the Pentagon, ears perked, guarding the entrance. David felt more secure tonight with Benny there, and with Michael close by.

Christy sat near the fireplace, watching David, then glancing over at her pillow. David felt a quiet relief knowing Papa was watching over the herd while Michael and Benny were here visiting.

Christy sighed softly. “Don’t mind me… I’m exhausted. I’ll just be lying down and listening to my way to sleep. You guys keep talking,” said the tired maiden.

The men continued discussing their plan for tomorrow how they would find the Predator that lived somewhere inside Bowl Top Mountain. It was David’s main concern. If I can’t find it… I might have to move, he thought uneasily.

Michael faded off to sleep first, just like Benny.

David sat back, staring into the fire. He thanked God for bringing his family to him right when he needed them most to help him find the Beast that had come into his mountain.

Slowly, David nodded off to sleep too.