Free Climb

by Jake Maddox

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: Climbing the Walls

  CHAPTER 2: Something to Do

  CHAPTER 3: Opportunity

  CHAPTER 4: The First Climb

  CHAPTER 5: The Fall

  CHAPTER 6: Change of Plans

  CHAPTER 7: Missing William

  CHAPTER 8: To the Rescue

  CHAPTER 9: Bolted

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  Glossary

  More About Rock Climbing

  Discussion Questions

  Writing Prompts

  Other Books By Jake Maddox

  Internet Sites

  Copyright

  Back Cover

  CHAPTER 1

  CLIMBING THE WALLS

  Amir leaned against the cold, hard surface. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead, slid down his cheek, and dripped off the end of his chin. Amir’s eyes darted down. He watched the bead of sweat fall to the ground far below.

  Suddenly, Amir was beginning to feel like he might lose his grip at any moment. It didn’t help that the surface he was climbing was completely vertical.

  There was no place to rest. There wasn’t even a way to pause to wiggle his hands or feet to keep them from hurting.

  Amir felt his breathing pick up. He was trying hard to keep control of his muscles. After all, he was just a few feet away from climbing higher than he had ever reached before.

  If he reached the point he was seeking, it would be incredible. But if he failed, Amir would fall. To make matters worse, if he did fall, the ground below was solid and hard. It would not be a soft landing.

  It was not his first free climb. Amir did have experience climbing without any ropes, but he had never climbed this high before.

  Amir paused for as long as he could.

  Slowly, he looked up, trying to find something to hold on to. He had to figure out something that he could hold on to next. Just a few inches above his right hand, he saw it. There was a nice gripping point that he could hold on to.

  He looked down below for a place to adjust his feet. There was a better hold for his right foot. Amir knew that he’d have to release his right-handed grip and his right foot at the same time to move without falling.

  That wasn’t the way an experienced climber would do it. A real free climber moved slowly and carefully. He or she moved one step at a time, never taking any unnecessary risks. But Amir didn’t think that he had a choice. The only other thing he could do would be to climb back down.

  Amir paused to gather his strength. He looked up, then down again. He got ready for the challenge.

  After a few seconds, he went for it. Amir stepped off with his right foot and moved it up to the new hold. At the same time, he reached his right hand high above his head, trying to grab for another hold.

  His foot landed, but his hand did not. His fingers were sore from holding on so tightly. They were too stiff to grab the hold. As his hand slipped off, Amir leaned harder into the side of the wall. A rush of fear ran through his body.

  He knew exactly what was happening. He was losing his balance. His hand slid down the side of the wall. His fingers dug into the wall until his fingernails began to tear.

  Still, Amir gripped tighter. The harder he tried to find something to hold, the more his fingers hurt. His fingertips were bleeding. Finally, Amir made one last reach for the hold.

  This time, he got it. He grabbed on hard. He let out a big sigh. He was safe.

  Just then, he felt something touch his left ankle. Amir looked down and saw a hand gripping his leg.

  Amir closed his eyes. Great, he thought angrily.

  CHAPTER 2

  SOMETHING TO DO

  Amir knew that hand, and that grip, very well. It was Officer Roberts, the police officer who worked in Amir’s neighborhood during the week.

  “I don’t know how many times I need to tell you. You cannot climb the side of this building,” came the officer’s voice from below. “When are you going to get some sense? One of these times, you are going to get yourself hurt. Or worse!”

  If only I had climbed a little higher, Amir thought. Then he wouldn’t have been able to reach me this time.

  But he couldn’t do anything about that now. Officer Roberts was not going to let go of his leg unless Amir said he was climbing down.

  “Okay, Officer Roberts,” Amir said. “I’m coming down.”

  Officer Roberts let go of Amir’s ankle. He stood close by so he could help if Amir started to fall. But coming down from the side of the building was always easier than going up.

  Amir got within a few feet of the ground and jumped the rest of the way down. He brushed the dust off his pants. Finally, he looked up at the police officer.

  “So tell me, young man, why do you keep trying to climb this building?” Officer Roberts asked.

  Amir glanced at the wall beside them. It was a red brick building, just two stories tall. Some of the bricks on the side of the building stuck out. That’s what made it a good building to climb.

  “I don’t know why I like climbing the building,” Amir said. “It’s just something to do. There’s nothing else to do around here.”

  He and the officer looked around. There were tall apartment buildings everywhere.

  The building Amir tried to climb had stores on the first level. Most of the stores were empty. There were apartments above the stores. One of the apartments had broken windows.

  Officer Roberts nodded. “I understand,” he said. “But I can’t let you climb that building. It’s too dangerous.”

  Amir nodded. “I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  Amir was bored a lot of the time. He spent most of his days trying to find things to do. He had to make his own fun.

  To Amir, there was nothing more thrilling than climbing that wall.

  Officer Roberts noticed the sad look on Amir’s face.

  “You know what?” the officer said. “You should try to find a place to do some real rock climbing. I think it would be fun for you. Plus, you’re good at it.”

  “How can you tell?” Amir asked.

  “Well, in all the years I’ve been working here, I’ve never seen anyone try to climb the side of that building,” Officer Roberts said. “It’s just too hard. Those bricks don’t stick out very far, and they aren’t very close together. You must be really good to be able to get up higher than my head.”

  A small grin crossed Amir’s face. “Thanks,” he said. “I wish there was someplace close I could do it.”

  Officer Roberts smiled. “I might be able to help you out with that,” he said.

  CHAPTER 3

  OPPORTUNITY

  “Look, Amir, you’re a good kid,” Officer Roberts said. “You’re one of the few good ones around here. I’d like to see you stay that way.”

  Amir smiled.

  “I know a place for climbing,” Officer Roberts told him. “There is a giant climbing wall inside a store not far from here. They have some one-day classes, and some weeklong classes.”

  “Where is it?” Amir asked hopefully.

  “Woodland Outfitters. It’s a huge store right outside the city,” Officer Roberts said. “They hook you up with all the right climbing gear, and they help you learn how to climb.”

  “Oh,” Amir said. His head drooped. He knew he’d never be able to go out to the suburbs to a store like that. His mom worked two jobs, and they didn’t have a lot of free time together.

  “I don’t think that will work,” Amir said quietly. “My mom won’t have time to bring me there.”

  Officer Roberts smiled. Then he said, “If your mom says it’s okay, I’d like to take you out to the store one day this weekend,” he said.

  Amir looked up at the policeman. “R
eally?” he asked. “Are you serious? You’d really take me?”

  “If your mom says it’s okay,” the officer said. “I’ll stop by after I get done with work and talk to her. But you should warn her that I’m coming. I don’t want her to freak out when a policeman shows up at the door!”

  They both laughed. “Okay, I will,” Amir said. “See you then!”

  Amir took off down the street. As he ran home, he got more and more excited. A real climbing wall, with real equipment? It was a dream come true!

  He couldn’t have been more excited. And he wanted to make sure that his mom would let him do it.

  So Amir headed straight home. He got all of his homework done before his mom got home. He even cleaned up his room a bit, too.

  When his mom came home, Amir told her what had happened. He had to tell her why he was talking to Officer Roberts in the first place. His mom wasn’t too happy to hear that part of the story. But she saw how excited Amir was about climbing the rock wall in the store.

  So, when Officer Roberts showed up, Amir’s mom agreed to let him go on Saturday.

  “My nephew, William, is going to come with us,” Officer Roberts said. “He’s about the same age as Amir, and he wants to learn how to climb too. So they should get along great.”

  “Cool,” Amir said. He smiled at Officer Roberts. Then he remembered that he wanted to ask the officer some questions.

  Amir took a deep breath and asked, “What should I wear? What do I need to bring? How much time will we have there?” The questions came rushing out of him one after another.

  Officer Roberts and Amir’s mom burst out laughing.

  “Relax, Amir,” Officer Roberts said. “You can wear whatever you will be comfortable in. You just make sure you stay off that wall on the side of the building, and I’ll make sure that Woodland Outfitters has everything all set up for us. See you Saturday.”

  CHAPTER 4

  THE FIRST CLIMB

  Officer Roberts showed up right on time at 10 o’clock on Saturday morning. His nephew, William, was with him. William looked as excited as Amir felt about climbing the rock wall.

  “This is William,” Officer Roberts said. “William, this is Amir.”

  Amir nervously stretched out his hand to shake William’s.

  William smiled. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “Is this your first time climbing?”

  Amir shot Officer Roberts a glance. “Well . . .” Amir began. “Actually, I’ve been climbing the side of a building a couple of blocks from here. But I’ve never done real climbing before.”

  “Really?” William said. “Cool.”

  They got into Officer Roberts’s car. William went on, “There’s this huge cliff near my house. They call it Widowmaker. There’s a crack about halfway up the side that’s big enough to set up camp in.”

  “That sounds awesome,” Amir said.

  “I’m going to climb it and camp there sometime,” William whispered.

  “Wow,” Amir said. “That’s really cool.”

  The drive to Woodland Outfitters took about twenty minutes. Finally, Officer Roberts pulled into the store’s parking lot and turned the car’s engine off.

  The store was huge. A big, glass area stuck out from the front of the building. It was almost four stories tall. The largest rock that Amir had ever seen was inside. It was lit up by a thousand lights.

  Officer Roberts, Amir, and William walked into the store. The store was packed with outdoor gear. It sold everything from canoes and paddles to badminton sets to snowpants to hunting equipment. But Amir wasn’t interested in seeing any of that stuff.

  They headed directly for the climbing wall. Officer Roberts went up to the counter. “We’re here for climbing lessons,” he said, smiling at the man behind the counter.

  “Yes,” the man said. “Two guys climbing today, right?”

  Officer Roberts nodded. “That’s right. They’re both fourteen,” he said.

  “Well, we’re all ready for you,” the man behind the counter said. “And actually, you’re in luck. There aren’t many people out here today, so you guys can take your time.”

  “Cool!” William said.

  Two instructors came over. Amir’s instructor smiled at him. “I’m Ben,” he said. “Let’s get you into your safety equipment.”

  Amir stepped into a harness, which was kind of like a belt. It went around Amir’s waist and around each of his legs. Ben made sure it was tight.

  “We’ll attach ropes here,” he said, pointing to a large clip in front of Amir’s belly. “That’s so if you let go of the wall, you won’t fall.”

  “I get it,” Amir said. “Cool.”

  “How much do you weigh?” Ben asked. “I need to know which rope to use to belay for you.”

  “Belay?” Amir said. “What’s that?”

  “It really takes two people to climb,” Ben said. “One person climbs, and one belays.”

  “What does the belayer do?” Amir asked.

  Ben said, “The person who’s belaying stays down below the climber and holds tight to the rope. Then the climber doesn’t have to worry about falling. All they have to worry about is climbing.”

  Ben pointed up to the top of the climbing wall. A rope ran through a large metal clip at the top of the wall.

  “The rope will run from your harness, up through that clip, and back down to me,” Ben said. “I’ll attach it to my harness and wrap it around me so that I can belay you. Your goal is to reach the top. When you get there, you’ll see a bell. Ring it, so that everyone knows you made it!”

  “You got it,” Amir said. “I’m ready!”

  William was ready too. He and Amir stood at the bottom of the wall.

  “You ready?” William asked.

  “Totally,” Amir said. “Let’s go!”

  There were plastic holds spaced all along the side of the wall. There were also a few places along the wall where they could stand.

  For the first ten feet or so, the holds were close enough together that the climbing was easy. Amir and William darted up the side of the wall. They raced each other as they went.

  With each step Amir took, he could feel Ben pulling in a little of the rope. That way, he wouldn’t fall far if he let go of the wall.

  About halfway up the wall, the climb got steeper. The holds were farther apart. Amir realized that he had to slow down and think about which way to climb. Sweat beaded up on his forehead as he tried to decide what to do next.

  Amir moved a few holds to his right, and William moved to his left. As they got closer together, Amir saw that they were both heading for the same hold.

  “Go ahead,” Amir told William. “I’ll stop here for a second and head up after you.” He was being nice, but he also wanted a break to catch his breath.

  William smiled and nodded. “Thanks!” he said. He moved for the hold and pulled himself up. He was a little taller than Amir, so the holds were easier for him to get to.

  He’s so lucky to be tall, Amir thought.

  Once William had cleared the hold, Amir continued his climb. The higher he climbed, the more tired he became. His heart pounded and he was sweating.

  Finally, Amir was ten feet from the top. His arms and legs were beginning to shake. He was starting to worry that he wouldn’t make it.

  Down below, Ben was watching.

  “Don’t worry about climbing down, Amir,” Ben yelled up. “Just get to the top. Then I’ll teach you how to rappel your way down. It’s easy.”

  Amir frowned. Just then, he heard a noise. It was coming from the top of the rock wall.

  Ding! Ding! Ding!

  William had beaten him to the top.

  CHAPTER 5

  THE FALL

  Amir’s heart sank. He didn’t really care that he hadn’t beat William to the top. After all, he had let William go ahead of him. He had almost expected William to reach the top first.

  The problem was, he suddenly felt like he couldn’t make it, like he couldn’t go
on. It was the same feeling he’d had when he climbed the building and felt Officer Roberts’s hand grab his ankle.

  Suddenly, Amir’s grip slipped. Since he wasn’t holding anything, he slid away from the climbing wall. As he began to free-fall, he let out a yell.

  Before he could really scream, the rope attached to his harness went tight. Ben’s belaying worked perfectly.

  Amir hung in the air, a few feet away from the climbing wall. He felt his face get hot. It seemed like the whole world was staring at him.

  Slowly, Ben let out the rope. Amir gently dropped down, closer and closer to the ground.

  He glanced over to the other side of the wall. There, William was slowly rappelling down the wall. His instructor was telling him he’d done a great job.

  Amir couldn’t believe it. He felt like a terrible climber. The day had been a total waste.

  Amir reached the ground. He unclipped himself from the belay rope.

  “That was great, Amir!” Officer Roberts said. “You almost made it.”

  “Yeah,” Amir said. He looked at the ground and repeated, “Almost.” Then he stepped back and watched William rappel down the wall.

  “Aren’t you going to try again?” Ben asked. “Most kids don’t make it as high as you did on their first try.”

  Amir just shrugged. William got to the bottom of the wall and unhooked himself from the rope. He started to take off his harness.

  “You should go again,” William said. “You can do it. I didn’t make it my first time.”

  “What do you mean?” Amir asked. “This wasn’t your first time?”

  “No,” William said. “My uncle brings me here whenever I want. I’ve been up there a bunch of times. You really should try again. I bet you’ll make it!”

  “I’m too tired,” Amir said. “Maybe next time.”

  Ben walked over, smiling. “That was a great first day, Amir,” he said. “I hope you can come back sometime. Before you leave, stop back by the counter. I have something for you.”