"You know, when I signed up for this study abroad program, I really thought it was going to be more engaging than this," River muttered, adjusting her backpack so it didn't dig so deeply into her shoulders.
"How is this not engaging?" Jordan asked, "You are standing on one of the most impressive feats of architecture in the history of humankind. It took hundreds of years to create this one wall."
"If you had been paying attention to the lecture that might also take hundreds of years to finish, you would know that it actually isn't one wall. It is apparently the Great Walls and Fortifications and Other Stuff of China."
Jordan laughed.
"I've heard this lecture before. I promise it doesn't take hundreds of years. Just a few decades."
River took a few more steps along the top of the wall and gazed out over the view. It truly was beautiful. The trees and rolling hills seemed to stretch out into eternity, an image that stood in stark contrast to what many people envision when they think of China.
"If you've heard this lecture before, why did you come back to listen to it again?"
Jordan shrugged.
"I've been studying abroad for two years now and, technically, I’ve already completed all of the program requirements. I'm just not ready to go home yet."
River sighed.
"This is the last thing I need to complete my Master's degree. I'm not even entirely sure I chose China."
"You don't like it here?"
"No. I mean, I do like it here, that's not it. It's just…." she trailed off as she tried to come up with the right words, "I feel like they are so intensive with the courses and lectures, explaining every single tiny little detail of everything, that it has kind of taken some of the wonder and mystery out of it."
"You want wonder and mystery?"
River looked at Jordan, watching his startling blue eyes sparkle in the late afternoon sunlight. She hadn't stopped thinking about those eyes since she first saw them when she arrived for her study abroad program, and the enticing sparkle wasn't helping.
"Yes."
He took her by her hand and pulled her over to the side of the wall. Leaning over slightly, he pointed down toward the base.
"How about that?"
River looked down, but didn't see anything particularly wonderful or mysterious beneath them.
"What are you pointing at?"
Jordan leaned further until River was concerned he might tip over the edge and the excitement of her trip would have to be attempting to rescue him, or recovering his body after it rolled down one of the hills. He pointed with more insistence.
"Do you see those guards?"
River noticed a dip in the wall that seemed to curve in with a bend in the land so that it wasn't clearly visible from their vantage point. Two guards stood on either side of the curve, and a third stood several feet in front. They were motionless, their eyes fixed on something in the distance. River had the strangest feeling that she was seeing something that wasn't really there, as if she was glancing back in time.
"I don't understand."
"Exactly. Why would they be standing down there all alone? I've been here more times than I can count in the last two years, and they are always there. Three guards, never moving, never saying anything. Don't you wonder why they're there and what they could be guarding?"
"They never move?"
Jordan shook his head.
"They stand there all day and all night. There is one two-minute window in the afternoon and in the morning when the guards change, but other than that, they never move. There isn't any ceremony or anything when the guards change. They just step out of position and walk away, and then the others get into place."
River felt a tingle of excitement roll through her. She looked at Jordan over her shoulder.
"And you have no idea why they're there or what they are guarding?"
Jordan shook his head slowly, a mischievous smile curving his lips. River glanced back at the guards, bit her bottom lip, and looked back at him.
"I wonder if we could find out."
She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper as they stepped forward to follow the rest of the student group that had already moved a few yards ahead of them. They passed by a guard tower built into the wall and River felt Jordan grab her by the wrist and tug her into the doorway.
River pressed a hand over her mouth to muffle a laugh as Jordan pushed them further into the doorway so that her back was to the wall and he stood just inches away. She was suddenly aware of his body near her and met his eyes.
"The guards are about to change," he whispered.
River took a breath and nodded, relieved he had broken the tension, even if only slightly. He peered around the edge of the doorway and then came back into the space.
"We will only have a few minutes to get down there and not get caught by the guards. Are you ready?"
River smiled and Jordan took her hand again. A second later, he ducked out of the doorway and started running in the opposite direction of the tour group. Suddenly he climbed up on the edge of the wall and glanced down at her.
"Come on."
"What are you doing?" River asked, nervousness making her voice high and thin.
"You're going to have to trust me," he said and gave her a gentle pull to get her up onto the wall beside him.
She could hear the shouts of people who saw them, but before she had a chance to react, Jordan tugged her hand and they jumped from the edge of the wall. River gave a short scream as she fell through the air, but a moment later she landed.
"Side wall," Jordan whispered.
River shook her head at him and they scrambled to their feet, running a short distance down the side wall until they reached a section close to the top of a nearby hill. They jumped again and this time, River felt herself hit grass, lose her balance, and tumble down to the base of the wall.
"This is definitely an adventure," she said as Jordan helped her up.
He laughed softly and put a finger to his lips to quiet her.
"One minute," he whispered.
They pressed to the wall, hunkering together close to the ground so that they could hide from the people leaning over the edge of the wall to see them. River eased closer to the corner and peered back at the main wall. The guards were only a few feet away, but didn't seem to have noticed them.
Without any notice, the guards standing near the wall suddenly stepped forward to get in line with the one in front of them, turned their backs to River and Jordan, and marched away in silence.
"Go!" Jordan hissed and started running toward the place where the guards had stood.
River followed, watching as Jordan disappeared into the wall.