Chapter Ten
Rockfall. A natural phenomenon where chunks of rock break free and plummet along the face of a cliff. There are no warning signs, and it cannot be predicted.
That’s what was happening at Code for Verity, which was out near Curry Village. The rockfall on Code for Verity wasn’t big—more like gravel—but even the smallest of rocks falling from Yosemite Valley heights could crack a helmet in two. And, according to Theo, “You never know when a stream of gravel could spit out a suitcase-size killer.” She shivered just thinking about it.
She had stayed back at the van to log some footage, but with filming canceled for the day, the guys had insisted she join them for some top roping at Celery Slabs, a popular band of short cliffs not far from the campground. Being midday, the cliffs were striped with neon climbing ropes and bustling with people of all ages, speaking many different languages.
Madigan showed April how to put on a harness, and then they all sat around waiting for a group to finish a pair of climbs that Theo promised were the easiest ones at Celery Slabs. She was surprised—and pleased—with herself for going along with this so easily. The way Theo had explained it made it seem like top roping was no different from climbing at an indoor rock-climbing gym, and once they arrived, there were a reassuring number of obvious novices on the rock.
Once the group they were waiting on was done, Theo and Ernesto—one of the contractors Danny had hired for the Code for Verity sequence—climbed the cliffs to get the ropes set up on top, with Danny and Madigan belaying them from the ground. Neither Theo nor Ernesto had the fluid grace Josh had when he climbed. Theo put obvious muscle into the rock as he reached and stretched, lunged and balanced. Ernesto moved robotically at a turtle’s pace, always scanning ahead for his next move.
Beside her on the pile of rocks where she was sitting, there was a heap of rock-climbing gear. She picked up one of the gadgets, which was surprisingly light considering it was made of metal. Each of the six half-circle discs had teeth on the spine, like bike gears, and they were offset from the center so that when she pulled on the wire tail attached to them, they compressed to a fraction of the width.
“You put that in a crack, and when it expands, it’s as bomber as a bolt.”
April turned to find Josh next to her. His clothes were rumpled, and his smile was large and genuine.
His friend Lars was with him.
“It’s a cam,” Josh said, nodding toward the gear in her hand. “A Camalot. Or camming device, if you want to get technical.”
She looked at him and nodded. Celery Slabs didn’t seem like Josh’s kind of scene, and she was surprised that he was here. He grabbed a much smaller cam from the pile, pulled the tail to make it narrower, and then slipped it into a gap between two of the rocks in the pile. He released the lever and the device stayed locked in place.
“Pull on it,” he said.
She pulled. It didn’t budge.
“Harder,” he said.
She yanked. It still didn’t budge.
“It’s one of Esplanade’s newest. It can hold sixteen hundred pounds of force,” he said. “An eighty-foot whipper, no problem.”
He hooked his pinky finger through the webbing on the end, then leaned back with his full weight. April couldn’t decide if she was more impressed by the tiny cam or the strength in Josh’s finger.
“Hey, dude, that’s Rolf Ruiz over there,” Lars said.
Josh pulled himself back to vertical. The two of them looked over at a gray-haired man in purple spandex leggings on the cliff. Lars went over to talk to Rolf’s belayer, but Josh stayed with her.
“Rolf’s one of the old greats,” Josh said. “He used to climb with Vic.”
Josh perched on the pile of rocks next to her, and they watched Rolf climb. She was hyperaware of how close Josh was. Madigan kept glancing back over his shoulder at them, making her feel guilty, like she was not supposed to be talking to the talent outside of an interview. She hoped Madigan knew it was Josh who had joined her and not the other way around.
“Did you fly yesterday?” April asked.
“No. They needed the helicopter for a rescue, thankfully. It was cool to see behind the scenes at their base, though.”
“I’m sure it will help you out for your speech at the gala.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“You mean you’re not excited?” April was already counting down the days. It was a two-night, three-day vacation from the tent. A whole weekend of being clean, wearing normal clothes, having privacy, and good cell phone reception. Not to mention a real bathroom and a soft bed!
Josh shrugged. “I am looking forward to it, kind of. But I would really rather not give a speech.”
“Are you nervous about it?”
“It depends. Are we on or off the record?” he asked.
“I’m not a reporter, you know.”
He raised an eyebrow, and she couldn’t help smiling.
“If it was anyone but Vera putting this on, there’s no way I’d do it,” he said. “HSSR is a really important cause.” His face was serious, but not in the hardened way she was more used to seeing it. “It’s the same with the film, you know. I would never let you guys tag along if it weren’t a tribute to Vic.”
How ironic. He and Danny felt the same way about him being in the film.
“I thought you were doing the Sorcerer because of the film,” April said.
“No. I was supposed to do it last fall, actually, but the weather never lined up before winter set in.”
A small weight lifted from her shoulders. She was relieved Walkabout wasn’t the reason Josh was doing this insane feat.
“You’re all geared up,” he said. “Are you going to climb?”
“I’m going to try.”
“Ever been before?” he asked.
“Never.”
“You’ll do well. You’re strong.”
She wasn’t sure how he’d know that, but perhaps all the pull-ups she’d done last term had shown when she wore the jog top at the lake.
Madigan was staring at them blatantly now. “It must be my turn,” April said.
“Can’t be,” Josh said. “Theo’s still on the rope.”
Madigan wasn’t the only person looking at them. A huddle of teen boys were as well. All at once they stopped whispering and walked over to Josh.
“Oh, great,” Josh said, looking like he wanted to sprint into the trees.
“It’s cute,” April said. “You have a fan club. They love you!”
“But I don’t love them when they take pictures and post them on the internet.”
“I bet your sponsors do.”
April hopped off the rock as the boys moved in. “Good luck,” she mouthed to him. After this, he’d probably bolt, which was fantastic for her. She’d rather not have a professional climber and the star of their film watching her blunder all over the rock.
“You ready for this?” Madigan asked.
“No,” she replied.
“Don’t worry. I’ll help you.”
He stepped in close and showed her how to tie the climbing rope through her harness.
“That’s it?” she asked.
“That’s it. Go for it!”
She stepped up to the cliff. She reached out, and her fingers hesitated. From this view, puny Celery Slabs looked as tall as Flying Sheep Buttress. It was as if having the intention to climb the thing transformed it into something alive and unwelcoming. Go ahead. Just try to climb me. I dare you.
She lifted her hands to the rock. Just like the big boulder in camp, there was nothing to hold on to.
Madigan laughed and tapped on a minuscule ledge near her knee. It was six inches long and no more than two millimeters wide. “Put your left foot there, and then you’ll be able to reach this big knob with your right foot,” he said, patting a knot of rock near her elbow.
Theo came over to help, but Madigan shooed him away. He pointed to a spot above her head. “There’s where you p
ut your hands.” She stood on her toes and felt around. Sure enough, there were two bulbs that she hadn’t been able to see.
“Okay,” she said. “Here goes nothing.”
Madigan stepped back and pulled the rope tight. She gripped the handholds and pressed her foot onto the hairline ledge. Like a miracle—and thanks to the grippy rubber shoes—her foot stuck. She stood up on that leg, but her hands were too low to support her, and she slipped. She gasped, but the rope caught her almost before she knew anything was wrong. With embarrassment, she noted her feet were only a few inches off the ground.
She started over, managing not to slip on the first move, only to find herself in another precarious position as soon as she got past the knobs. Her heart raced. She was only six feet up, but it sure seemed like a lot when all her weight was on a single hand that was moments from giving out.
Frantically, she patted the rock overhead for another handhold.
“Match your hands,” Madigan called up to her.
“What?”
“Put your left hand next to your right hand.”
Sure enough, both hands fit on the handhold. She worked her feet onto good footholds. Rock climbing was definitely a lot harder than guys like Josh made it look.
She found the next handhold on her own. It was a ledge so thin she had to curl her hands and grip it with just her fingertips. Inch by inch she climbed higher. Every move was a puzzle, with each foot gained a victory, until she reached a place that was completely impassable.
She tried not to think about the fact that she was higher than the treetops. This time, she didn’t have a hand free to feel around for more holds. The foot she was standing on started to jackhammer.
She yelled down for a suggestion. Madigan pointed to a handhold, but it was way too far to reach.
“That’s the crux,” Theo yelled. “Just get past this and you’re golden.”
“What?”
“The crux. The hardest part. You’re going to have to stand on those nubs to reach it.”
“Where?”
Her heart was racing, and she could hardly breathe. Was her harness on tight enough? Would Madigan really be able to stop her fall this high up?
“They’re all over the place,” Theo yelled. “Smear your shoe on one of them.”
He was right; there were little bumps all over the place, but they were only as big as gumballs. The small kind of gumball.
“You’re going to have to trust your feet, Hollywood,” Theo yelled.
Her forearms burned, and she was a breath away from slipping off. She really, really didn’t want to fall.
This was a beginner climb, she reminded herself. Josh climbed stuff infinitely harder, and with a camera crew in his face.
April scraped at one of the nubs with her unweighted foot.
“Are you sure they’ll hold me?” she yelled to Theo.
“You’re on top rope. Nothing to be afraid of!”
“Get out of here! You’re not helping,” Madigan said to Theo. “I’ve got you, April. Go for it!”
She had to make a move. And soon.
She breathed calmness into her jackhammering foot and then hooked the toe of her shoe across a gumball. Pressing her thigh into the wall, she put her weight on the gumball and stood.
Suddenly, the handhold was in reach. She lunged for it.
It wasn’t a good hold. Her hand was slipping off it. She threw her foot over to a higher gumball, and before she knew it, her foot was on a solid ledge and her hands gripped a nice, deep pocket.
Down below, Danny, Madigan, Theo, and Ernesto were cheering. She glowed with her accomplishment.
She rocketed up the final section of the route and then sat back in her harness and Madigan lowered her down.
She’d done it! There were high fives and cheers all around when she reached the ground.
The knot through the front of her harness had tightened in on itself from being lowered. Her fingers shook with fatigue, and she couldn’t get it to budge. Madigan helped her loosen it. “Take a rest, and then I’ll teach you how to belay.”
The rock-climbing shoes were pinching like lobster claws, and she couldn’t wait to get them off. She grabbed her running shoes from the base of the cliff and started toward the rock pile to put them on.
And there was Josh, sitting on top of the pile.
She continued toward the rocks like it was no big deal. Had he been there the entire time?
He grinned and gave her a high five. She couldn’t help grinning back.
“Hollywood, huh?” he said. “That’s your nickname?”
“Not by choice.”
“I thought you went to UCLA.”
“Yeah. The two are totally different things. Theo likes to pretend he doesn’t know that.”
She pried the climbing shoes off her hot and clammy feet. Worried they smelled, she hurried to get her running shoes back on.
“How’d you like climbing?” Josh asked.
Their eyes met, and the sensation was a little like falling, only euphoric instead of scary.
“It was really hard,” she said. “But fun.”
“That was a five-eight,” he said. “Not bad for your first climb.”
She looked down and tied her shoes to hide her blush. The rock pile wasn’t very wide, and she was sitting quite close to Josh. Surprisingly, it felt natural. Preferable. She wouldn’t mind being around him like this a lot more.
April looked up, and Madigan was watching her with a disapproving look, like she was a schoolgirl caught doodling a boy’s initials in her notebook.
“Hey, Josh,” Madigan yelled over. “Do you have a second so we can talk about tomorrow?”
April forced herself not to look at Josh as he got off the rocks. Did Madigan actually need to talk to Josh, or was he just trying to rescue her from her faux pas—being too familiar with the talent?
She forced her eyes over to Danny, who was climbing the route she had just finished, but her mind remained on Josh. Surely he had better things to do than hang around here and watch mortals scrape their way up the cliff. Was it possible he had known the Walkabout crew was coming here this afternoon and his being here was not a coincidence?
Mostly, though, she replayed their high five. Unless it was her imagination—or wishful thinking—Josh had squeezed her hand a smidge longer and tighter than everyone else.
Chapter Eleven
When perpetually hyperactive Danny asked April to join him on one of his morning runs, she knew it wasn’t just a run but some sort of business meeting on the go. About what, she didn’t know, and he wasn’t coming right out with it.
They were on the asphalt tourist path at the base of Yosemite Falls. It was still early, but there was a solid stream of camera-wielding visitors making the pilgrimage to the falls. She had worried at first that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Danny, who regularly ran half marathons, but he was older and stockier, and she wasn’t having any trouble keeping pace.
Since he wasn’t bringing anything up, she gave him updates on gala plans: his wife’s flight to Sacramento, the VIP brunch on Saturday morning, and Josh’s speech and tux.
“Sounds like you’ve got it handled,” he said.
“I think so.”
They stopped to stretch at a falls overlook. The power thundering off the waterfall was tangible, and the air was heavy with mist. It was invigorating in a way coffee could never be, especially with the beautiful symphony of birds all around them and the sun lighting the sky from behind the valley walls.
Danny dipped into a lunge. “I’ve been wanting to tell you that I’ve been impressed with your work so far. You’re knowledgeable, professional, and you definitely have an artist’s eye. You’re doing really well keeping up on cataloging the footage and getting everything scheduled for when the other climbers arrive.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it,” she said.
He didn’t say anything else, which made her wonder if the compliment was just a prelude to ba
d news.
You’re doing great, but your lack of climbing knowledge has not turned out to be an asset to this film after all.
You’re doing great, but Madigan thinks you might have a crush on our star and we just can’t have that.
“Ready?” Danny asked, and they started jogging again. “Your footage at Flying Sheep Lake was remarkable, by the way.”
She’d done a trial cut of Josh jumping in the lake, and it came out exactly as she’d hoped.
“I have to ask, how in the world did you get him to cooperate for that?”
“It was his idea, actually. I was just ready with the camera.” Danny didn’t need to know about her jumping in, too.
“Well, we will definitely use it in the film. Remind me to have him wear the same shirt when we refilm that climb.”
April glowed. Maybe there was a place for her in the documentary film industry after all! They rounded a corner that brought them onto a path along the shoulder of the main road.
“There’s something I want to discuss with you,” he said. “But first, I want you to know that it’s perfectly okay for you to say no.”
What? Another gala to escort Josh to?
“I’d like to invite you to join our Sorcerer team,” he said.
The Sorcerer? She eyed its sharp apex looming over the treetops to their left.
“I’d hate for you to finish your internship without getting into the core of camera work on a film like this. It’s not easy, but now that I’ve seen you on the rock, I’m confident you can handle it. It didn’t seem like you were afraid of heights.”
She didn’t know what to say. It was such a compliment and an incredible opportunity, but she thought immediately of the guy drinking on the roof at that party. To have a front-row seat for Josh’s ropeless feat? She did not have the nerve for this sort of thing.
“We use a lot of the same equipment as climbers when we’re up there,” Danny continued. “You’ll have to learn the rope system, but there’s still plenty of time for that. You’d be at the highest position on the Sorcerer, which is the easiest to get to. You just walk up the trail and do a quick rappel down to your spot.”
Lessons In Gravity Page 9