Damsels and Danger

by Kelly Wood

  The trail dead ended at a cliff. Gray and I stopped and looked both directions. A rope bridge stretched across the river about a hundred yards down, giving us another option.

  “Which way do you want to go?” Gray asked.

  “Across the bridge,” I said.

  “Of course, you do,” Gray replied.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” My irritation was evident in my tone.

  “The bridge looks like it’s hanging on by a thread, and you want to cross it. A storm is rolling in, on top of it, and you pick the most dangerous direction.”

  “I was ready to back to the hostel. You’re the one who wanted to join the search party,” I shot back.

  “This is just a walk. I thought it’d be nice.”

  “Oh, please, call it what it is. You wanted to help. You always want to help, even when it’s not welcome.” I stomped my way to the bridge as I vented my anger. “You have a complex, Gray.”

  “A complex?” Gray asked. “Puh-lease.”

  “Yes, a complex. You want to be the hero. You,” I pointed over my shoulder at him, “want to save everyone.”

  “Not everyone. Just you, usually. You are a walking calamity.”

  I held onto both sides of the rope bridge as I started to cross. Since my hands were occupied, I threw my head back in disgust and snorted.

  “Are you saying I’m some damsel who needs to be saved from danger?” I said. As if.

  “Yes, I am,” Gray retorted.

  “Like when? Name one time!” I shot my finger in the air, pointed high.

  “I’ll name one time, today. When you slipped on the path down to the falls.”

  “I didn’t need saving. I would’ve just fallen in the water. I can swim, ya know.”

  “You would’ve fallen into the water, at the bottom of a waterfall! Do you know what’s under the water there? Rocks and boulders. You might’ve broken your neck. It’s a full-time job watching out for you.”

  I got to the other side and kept on walking. Stomping, really. I had no idea which direction I was going. I just plunged farther into the trees. I felt the first raindrop hit my forehead. I wiped it away and kept going.

  “Nobody asked you to watch out for me,” I said clearly. Under my breath, I followed it up. “Or buy me a necklace.”

  “That’s what this is about? A necklace? A gift?” Gray grabbed my arm to stop me from walking farther into the woods.

  The sky joined in the argument. Thunder rolled overhead, an exclamation point to Gray’s outrage.

  Chapter Eight

  The skies opened and the rain poured down on us, but it didn’t faze me. Hair plastered to my face instantly as the water ran down in rivulets. I circled Gray like a tiger. I felt like a tiger. An angry beast ready to swipe my paw and roar.

  “Are we going to have this out now?” Gray asked, his palms to the sky. “Right now? Really?” While the storm riled me even further, it seemed to calm Gray a little.

  His shirt clung to his chest, but even the sight of his chiseled pecs couldn’t sway me. I was itching for a fight and, rain or not, it was happening. We were already wet from the waterfall, so what was a little more water?

  “We’re doing this. Why, Gray? Why did you have to buy me the necklace?”

  “Let’s go with the obvious. I wanted to do something nice for you. Why is that so hard for you to understand?” Gray’s temper spiked again in response. His eyes narrowed at me and his nostrils flared. I might be a tiger, but he was a bull. Ready to charge.

  “I could’ve bought the necklace myself. If I’d wanted it,” I yelled. My brattiness on full display.

  “Of course, you could’ve. It was a gift. A sign of affection. Not a snub that I have money and you don’t.”

  “I have money! Some,” I added on, almost as an afterthought. My fingernails dug into my palms as I clenched my fists at my sides. I barely stopped myself from stomping my foot like a child.

  “You know what I mean, Regan. Come on.” His frustration was clear as he threw his hands in the air and turned away from me. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I reached for his arm to pull him back into the argument. I wasn’t done, yet. I felt myself teetering on the edge of sanity before plunging off into the abyss.

  “I can buy myself a necklace, if I want it. I can carry my own bags. I’m not some weak, whimpering little 1950’s housewife. I don’t need a man to do those things for me.” Part of me wanted to stop myself from going down this rabbit hole. Some part was yelling “Shut up!” at me. The adult in me wanted to reel the fight back in and have a mature conversation about my feelings.

  Too late. The brat in me was in control now. She was driving this car Thelma-and-Louise style right into the Grand Canyon. I picked up right where I left off.

  “I don’t need anyone. Did you know I could change the oil in my car? Ya know, if I wanted to? I choose to take my car into the shop. I choose not to get dirt and grease under my nails. Are you listening? Choose, not need.” The storm ratcheted up in its fury, keeping pace with mine. Thunder rumbled around us. Lightning flashed in the distance. All clear signs that we should hustle back to safety that I ignored.

  “Are you done?” Gray asked.

  “If I choose to be!” My neck spasmed each time I said the word.

  Gray took two big steps until he was standing right in front of me. I tilted my neck up to look him in the eye. I mustered all of my defiance into my face.

  “Let me tell you something. I choose you. You, in all of your moods. You, growling and mean first thing in the morning. You, laughing. You. Got it? Just you.” He started to walk away, but he changed his mind. Apparently, he wasn’t done either.

  “And let’s get this straight. Do you know why I carry your bags? Because I can. Because I love you and I want to ease your burden. Sometimes, that’s something as little as carrying a heavy bag for you. Sometimes, it’s giving you a shoulder to cry on and an ear for listening. Sometimes, it’s nudging you in the right direction to reach your full potential. Sometimes, it’s nothing more than buying you a present just to see you smile. You can try and lie to yourself that you didn’t really want that necklace, but I saw the way you looked at it. You loved it, so I bought it.

  “I’ll willingly put up with your moods and your crazy need to pick a fight over nothing, but that means you need to give in sometimes, too. And that looks like letting me do things for you. That looks like you, being secure enough in who you are that you allow a man to carry your suitcase or buy you lunch. Because I love you. We are in this together, get over it so we can move on.”

  Thunder boomed at the end of his lecture, putting an exclamation point on his tirade. Even the storm was on his side. We stood frozen. Locked in time, staring into one another’s eyes. Neither willing to submit just yet. The storm calmed and went quiet, but I wasn’t fooled. It wasn’t over. We were just in the eye of the storm. The small window of calm before it flared up again.

  “Hellllooooo!”

  Chapter Nine

  “Hellllooooo!”

  SOMEONE CALLED OUT to us again. Gray and I turned in the direction of the sound. It was faint, but there. Someone was calling out to us.

  “Hello?” I called back, tentatively. Part of me was afraid I’d finally snapped and was hearing voices. The rest of me was mad at being interrupted.

  “Help!” The voice was louder and stronger with the reply. Gray plunged into the woods, calling out and following the sound of the replies. I stayed right on his heels. Like the storm, our fight was paused. It would rear its ugly head again, but right now we had a more pressing focus.

  I collided with Gray’s arm and fell on my back. Air whooshed out of my lungs when I landed with an “oof” Gray stood on the edge of a cliff with him arm out next to him. His arm had stopped me from running right over the edge. God only knows how he stopped himself.

  “Hello?” Gray called again.

  “Help me!” The voice was much clearer now even as it was carried of
f by the wind.

  Gray dropped down to one knee to look over the edge while I rolled to my belly and then crawled forward. Katherine, I presumed, lay on a small outcropping of rock about fifteen feet below. Tree branches sprouted up from below, blocking anyone from seeing her during the search until you were right on top of her. On the other hand, the tree probably helped save her life when she fell, preventing her from rolling off the rock shelf. I shrugged at the irony.

  Katherine was on her back, lying face up towards us. Half her face was covered in blood from a gash on her forehead. It still oozed even though she clumsily tried to staunch it with her coat sleeve. Her hair was streaked with mud, only flashes of red showing through. Her hiking clothes were torn and ripped and filthy from her fall. She looked a fright.

  “Are you alright?” I asked before mentally head slapping myself at the obvious answer. Rain started to splatter again around us, but not as hard as before. My fingers sank into the mud as I held up my weight.

  “I don’t know. My leg hurts, but I think I’m okay overall,” Katherine said.

  “Stay there.” Duh. I was on a roll. “What are we going to do?” I asked Gray in a quieter voice. He squatted next to me, already digging around in his emergency backpack. He pulled out a length of rope and quickly tied a large loop in one end.

  “Katherine?” Gray called.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m tossing a rope down. Slide it up your body until it’s under your armpits. Tug the knot until it’s snug. I’m going to help pull you up while you try to climb.” Gray’s face was hard with concentration.

  I stayed where I was, still lying on the ground so I could keep an eye on Katherine. She hadn’t moved. Ha ha, I crack myself up.

  Gray stood up to tie the other end of the rope around his waist. After winding the rope around a thick tree, he lowered the looped end to Katherine.

  I watched as she tried to work the rope over her feet. Her face contorted in pain and she cried out against it.

  “You can do it!” I encouraged her. But, after a few more attempts, it was clear she couldn’t. She even tried sliding it over her head, but pain stopped her from getting it in place.

  “If she can’t even get the rope around her, how is she going to climb?” I asked Gray. I watched as Katherine gave up. She covered her eyes with her arm and cried. Her shoulders shook as the frustration seeped out of her. To finally have someone see you, but not be able to help you would be overwhelming.

  Lightning drew Gray’s attention away from Katherine. He watched the storm build again as he thought the situation over. I reached up and brushed his hair off his forehead to the sound of thunder.

  “I could go for help while you stayed here,” I suggested.

  “We don’t have time. It’s not safe here. We’re surrounded by trees with a lightning storm coming up on us. Plus, it’s the raining season here, flash flooding is a concern, too. We need to get Katherine and get out of here.” Gray looked down at Katherine.

  “Can you go down to her?” I asked.

  Gray eyed the rock shelf and shook his head. “No. I’m too big and you’re not strong enough to pull us up.”

  “Then how?” I asked. Gray’s eyes met mine.

  “Do you trust me?” Gray asked.

  Yesterday, I wouldn’t have hesitated to answer that question with a resounding Yes! Today, with my feelings all jumbled up from our fight and still raging, the answer didn’t come as quickly.

  He may play the chivalrous role in the meaningless day-to-day stuff, but it was because that’s who Gray is. He’ll always be the man who wants to carry my suitcase for me or buy me dinner. He’ll always be the guy who would willingly give up his day to look for a missing hiker. He’ll never be able to walk by without helping the damsel in distress. Even if the damsel would rather give him the finger and open her own door. I knew deep in my gut what the answer was.

  “Yes.” I never looked away from him as I answered.

  “Good.” Gray flashed his grin at me before stealing a quick kiss. It was over before I’d realized it had begun.

  “Katherine? I’m gonna pull up the rope. We’re sending down some help.”

  Chapter Ten

  The ‘help’ we were sending down was me. Eek. I kept my hands from shaking by using them to push in my stomach as I watched Gray work the rope around my waist and legs.

  Gray showed me three times how to wind the rope around Katherine’s body to create a seat for her. Gray had more confidence in the plan than I did. Trust or not, I was the one going over the edge.

  “You’ll need to talk to me while you’re climbing down. I won’t be able to see you since I cut the rope. Tell me how far you’ve gone and how many feet until you get to her.”

  “Okay. Talk. Got it.” I tugged on the rope around my waist. “You’re sure I’ll have enough to get to her?”

  “I promise.” Gray chucked my chin with his finger. “Hey, what happened to my fearless girl?”

  “Fearless is still in my suitcase. I forgot to put it on today.” I smiled at my weak attempt at humor.

  “Let’s rock and roll, then.” Gray walked around a tree with the rope for leverage. He planted his feet and pulled the rope taut. “I’ll feed out enough line for you as you go.”

  I nodded understanding and moved to crawl over the side. “Wait!” I grabbed Gray’s backpack and slung it over my shoulders. I squatted down and clutched onto the lip of the cliff with all my might as I eased my legs over the side. My heart pounded in my ears as I felt around with my toe for a spot to put my weight.

  I inched my way down. Slowly moving my feet and hands. Fear sweat mixed with the rain on my face. This was much scarier than climbing a rock wall at the gym. I longed for a real harness and cushioned floor in case I fell. Instead, I had an old rope and my boyfriend hugging a tree.

  “How are you doing?” Gray’s words barely reached me through the wind. I looked down and felt my world sway. I pressed the side of my face against the cold rock to steady me.

  “Regan?”

  “I need a minute. Just a minute.” I doubt he heard the last words. I’d whispered them more to myself than to him. I lowered my foot and searched out a new post with the toe of my tennis shoe. “One step at a time. I can do this.”

  “I’m almost there,” I yelled up to Gray. I hoped it was true.

  Many prayers and curse words later, I felt Katherine grab my foot and guide it to rest next to her body. I lowered the other foot and took a deep breath.

  “I made it!” I called up to Gray. I was standing with my feet planted on either side of Katherine. I scooted back and helped her into a sitting position. I eased off Gray’s backpack.

  I gave Katherine four ibuprofen and a bottle of water. She took them gratefully before devouring an energy bar, too. I inspected her legs while she ate. Her left shin was badly bruised and she cried out when I touched it. I apologized and stopped poking her.

  “You want the good news or the bad news?” I asked.

  “Bad news.”

  “It’s going to hurt like crazy when I help you stand up.”

  “What’s the good news?”

  “The storm is beating down on us and we need to hurry,” I said.

  “That’s good news?” Katherine asked incredulously.

  “Not really. It’ll be over soon.” I looked down over the edge. My head swayed at the distance. “One way or another,” I said under my breath. I held out my hand. “Come on.”

  Both of us groaned and cursed and sent up prayers as we moved into a standing position. The rock ledge only gave a foot width-wise. It made any movement dangerous. Either of us could topple over the edge at the slightest nudge. I had some security in the rope around my waist. Unless a mountain lion came and ate Gray, I would have someone at the other end of the rope to catch me if I fell. Katherine would stay untethered until I could get her up and the other rope around her. I held onto her with all my might until I could get her secured. Our situation was precarious
at best. Plus, I now had the added worry of a wild beast coming along and taking Gray.

  I called up to Gray, and he sent down the other rope. We had two now that he’d cut the rope in half. I looped the rope under my armpits and tied a knot. As far as safety went, it was subpar. But it was all we could do with the rope we had left. It was too short to make another harness seat.

  I unwound the rope from around my legs and tried to remember what Gray had shown me. I wrapped it around Katherine’s waist as she balanced on one foot. She used the rock wall for support. Tears streamed down her face. I felt for her. This was about to suck. Even after we made it up the rock wall, our journey wasn’t over. We had a solid mile, at least, back to the main road, with no way to contact Garcia or the others who were out looking for her.

  I tugged on the rope around Katherine to test it. It seemed to hold. “Ready?” I asked her. At her nod, I called up to Gray.

  The plan was for Gray to pull her up. Hopefully, with some help from Katherine climbing with her hands and one foot. Her other foot hung down from the rope sling uselessly as she moved upward. The downside of our plan was that I had to stand on the tiny rock shelf until it was my turn to be pulled up.

  I pushed the wet hair out of my face. My bun was failing miserably after the long day of hiking and rain. I tried to watch Katherine’s progress, but the raindrops blinded me when they fell in my eyes. I kept myself pressed against the rock wall and willed myself not to look down.

  “Regan! You’re up,” Gray called down.

  “Woo hoo,” I said to myself. I pulled on the backpack and double-checked the knot. It took me longer than normal since I refused to let go of the wall with both hands at the same time. I took a deep breath, calming my brain and pushing my fear aside, before finding my handholds. I felt Gray pull the rope until it was snug between us.