She nodded. “I trust you.”
Having her faith was a double-edged sword. While it filled him with a tender ache and deeper affection for her, he also saw it as an honor that bore the highest responsibility and gravest consequences. He could not, would not betray the trust she’d placed in him.
He moved the backpack to a boulder, out of the path of the rising water. Their safety harnesses were already attached to the climb ropes, and he unhooked them and handed her one, showing her how to wear it around her legs and seat it at her hips. Then, wrapping the main climb rope around his hand, he pulled hard, adding more and more of his body weight as he leaned back, testing the anchors. He favored his good arm, knowing that during his ascent he’d have no option but to put stress and weight on his injured shoulder. He shoved that thought down. He’d work through the pain. Deal with what came up. He had no choice. Tugging as hard as he could on the ropes with one hand, he grunted with exertion, wishing he could give the rope a fuller test before Kate started climbing.
Without his asking, Kate stepped in front of him, grabbed onto the rope and added her strength to the test pull. As if she’d read his thoughts. As if she understood him and his needs before he spoke them.
Don’t be stupidly sentimental, man. She was just doing the obvious thing to help.
But he still felt a twinge of gratitude, a deepening bond with her. A sense of teamwork and connection. A feeling of... He shook his head. Focus, McCall. You can get poetic and mushy after you get her back home safely.
Even with both of them pulling, leaning to put their combined body weight into the tension on the rope, the anchors, fixed in a three-point redundant system, held.
Thank God. Finally something went right.
But Josh wanted to make doubly sure everything was functioning. “I’m gonna go up a little ways and come back down, just to be extra sure everything’s working right.”
She shivered, a nonverbal reminder to him that they needed to hurry, then bobbed a nod of agreement.
As he prepped for his test climb, he showed her the Grigri, carabiners and belay loop on his harness. He clipped on all the gear and explained her job as the belayer for his climb. A drysack with climbing gloves of various sizes had been hung ready for use with the harnesses, and he found a pair that would fit her hands.
“It’s essential that you keep your brake hand on the dead rope at all times.” He demonstrated the method by which she’d pull in the slack from the live rope as he ascended, then tugged the rope through the Grigri while maintaining her grip with her brake hand.
“What happens if you fall?” she asked, her eyes dark with worry. “I’m not strong enough to hold your weight.”
“I’m not going up very far. Just enough to test that the anchors will hold, that no one’s loosened them. Just pull in the slack.”
He could see in her eyes that his answer hadn’t told her what she wanted to know, that she suspected he was keeping something from her. But telling her she’d be lifted off the ground if he fell would only make her more nervous. And he really was only going a short way to test the ropes for trouble.
As part of their preparation for the trip guests, he and Zane had spray-painted the best handhold and foothold spots. The bright blue and neon-orange markings stood out against the gray gloom of the rainy day. But Josh had climbed this rock so many times he figured he could probably do it blindfolded.
“On belay?” he asked.
“What?”
So much for traditional terminology. “I’m ready to climb. Are you ready?”
She braced her legs and flexed her grip on the rope. “Yeah.”
He leaned over and smacked a kiss on her mouth. “For luck.”
She blinked, then closed the distance between them. With a hand behind his head, she dragged him in for a long, serious lip-lock. One full of heart and meaning. Or at least that’s how he chose to interpret the heat behind the kiss. She’d come to mean more to him than just a guest of his fledgling business. His protection of her had become personal. Possessive.
When she finally pulled back, she said in a low voice he could barely hear over the rush of the water, “If we’re looking for luck, no need to shirk. Right? We need all the luck we can get.”
“True.”
She pressed her mouth against his one more time, and he could have gone on kissing her for hours. But a loud rumble, a crack and splash drew their attention to the river. A powerful, muddy wave of water roared toward them. The wave was heavily cluttered with large branches and other debris.
“What the...?”
“Probably an obstruction, a dam of deadfall gave way upstream,” he said.
She edged backward, closer to the rock wall as the river gushed up and swallowed their feet. Her anxious expression echoed his own concern for their need for haste.
“Right, then,” he said. “Here I go. Ready?” He faced the bluff, looking for his first handhold.
“Josh, look!”
He turned, following the direction of her pointing finger. Something small and brown was in the water, coming their way. Flailing, scrabbling to get onto a swirling bit of drifting limb. His heart squeezed for the woodland creature caught by the turbulent water, but the flooded river was too swift, too dangerous. They could do nothing to save—
But Kate was staggering into the deeper water, her intention obvious.
“Kate, no!” Josh shouted, his voice panicked. Clipped in for the climb, he could only move a few feet toward her before the rope grew taut and brought him up short. “Kate, come back!”
She wobbled, fighting for balance against the current. His cowboy hat tumbled off her head and washed downstream as she fought for balance on the slick rocks. Then, in a matter of seconds, the animal reached her. She scooped it into her arms and tucked it against her body. Immediately she turned, folding the tail of her shirt into a pouch around the animal, and waded back to him, with the trembling animal snuggled against her.
He grabbed her shoulders. “Are you crazy?”
“I couldn’t let it drown!” she cried.
Josh wanted to both shake her for her recklessness and kiss her for her courage. He opted to hug her in relief that she was safely out of the fastest part of the current. “Geez, woman. You scared the hell outta me!”
“I’m sorry about your hat. I’ll g-get you a new one.”
He held her closer. “Forget it. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
She pulled back, and they both stared down at the tiny creature in her arms. A rabbit. The poor thing was breathing hard, too tired from its swim to do more than lie limp in her arms and shiver.
“You are one damn lucky bunny, dude.” Raising his gaze to hers, he asked, “Now what do you plan to do with it?”
“I—I don’t...” Clearly she hadn’t thought it through. She’d simply acted, tossed practical sense out the window and followed her compassion for the waterborne animal in need. And reckless as it was, he admired her for her act of humanity.
Kate squared her shoulders. “We’ll put it in the backpack until we can get to the top. Then...warm it up and release it?”
Her idea was as good as any he had with no time to spare, so he snagged the backpack from the boulder and unzipped it. He took out some items they no longer needed, and they wrapped the rabbit in one of her dirty shirts before tucking it in the main compartment of the pack and zipping it closed.
“Okay, Bugs is secure,” he said, resuming his position, ready to climb. “Let’s get on with this.” When she signaled she was ready, he reached for the first handhold and shoved his toe into a notch in the rock to begin his climb. Hand, foot, hand—he grimaced when he pulled himself up using his injured shoulder. Fiery sensations shot through his shoulder, his arm trembled, and his grip slipped. He gritted his teeth against the throbbing and swallowed the groan that swelled in his throat. Quickly
he found his next foothold and pushed up, easing the tension on his bad arm. Josh paused and caught his breath before he moved higher. Strong hand, foot, weak hand, pull—the weakened tendons in his shoulder gave out. Lightning streaked down his arm. He shouted in pain. Lost his hold on the rock wall. Fell.
Kate’s scream rang in his ears just before he crashed on his backside in about a foot of swirling water. The landing shuddered through his bones. The icy water stole his breath. But the impact shoved his loosened shoulder back in the socket. The searing ache subsided, but his head was muzzy. Shock. He didn’t move for a moment. Needed to assess.
“Josh!” Kate was at his side in an instant. “Oh, my God! I’m so sorry. I tried to brake, but when I got pulled up... I didn’t... I—” Her voice caught, and she sucked in a deep breath. “Are you hurt?”
He slowly sat up. Moved one foot, then the other. Rolled to his knees. He was sore, but felt no significant damage. He shook his head. “I’m okay.”
More than a test of the top anchors—which passed—the short climb had proved a test of his ability to scale the rock wall. And he’d failed.
As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t depend on his left arm for the climb. He forced his dazed brain to work, to figure out his next step, the plan B.
Holding his injured arm close to his body, he pushed to his feet. Swayed.
Kate wedged her shoulder under his armpit and slipped an arm around his waist. “Easy there. Take a minute.”
He exhaled and braced a hand on the cold rock bluff. “We don’t have a minute.” Slow breath. “It’s going to get harder and harder to fight this current. The logs and debris are dangerous.” He placed his hand on her cheek, and met her wide-eyed gaze. “You need to go up. Now.”
He felt her shiver, but rather than balk, she straightened her back, held his stare and nodded.
“Right.” Her eyes brightened, and her fingers curled into his soaked shirt. “If there is a vehicle up there waiting for us, maybe I can use it to pull you up.”
His cheek twitched in a weak grin. She was thinking of him, how she would rescue him. Was this the same person who’d started this trip? The terrified woman he’d held while she shook and cried after her near miss? Somehow, at some point in the last two days, she’d shed the fears that hampered her and found her inner strength. Found that something that compelled her to save drowning rabbits and put her doubts aside to figure out how to help him scale the bluff with his injured arm.
Tipping her chin up, he kissed her again. “Kate Carrington, you are amazing.”
His assessment earned a smile, and the warmth of it filled her face and burrowed deep inside him.
A chunk of wood hit his leg, jarring him back into action. “Pulling me up with a vehicle is one option. But just in case there’s no truck up there, here’s what you’ll need to do.”
As quickly as he could, he talked her through tying off to a fixed anchor—a tree or boulder—and showed her as best he could the rope configuration, use of the Grigri and technique to belay him from the top. The current pushed her against him, her feet slipping as the water rose higher, flowed faster. At an alarming rate.
Get her up top. Now! “Look,” he said as calmly as he could, “if we’re going to escape this flood, you have to hurry.”
Her jaw tightened, and her chin lifted. “Right. I can do this. I will get you out. Somehow.”
She startled him with another long kiss and a lingering stare into his eyes. “Josh, I lo—”
Another piece of debris clipped their legs, and whatever she was going to say was lost in her yelp of pain.
“Go!” He thrust her toward the rock wall and tightened his grip on the belay rope. “The best foot-and handholds are marked in orange paint.”
She nodded, took a deep breath, and began her climb. He used his weaker left hand to pull in the slack, his right hand for the brake grip. Josh gritted his teeth and set his feet to do his job. Belaying Kate would hurt his injured arm, but he’d let the rope rip his damn arm off before he’d let her fall.
Chapter 13
“You can do this. You can do this,” Kate muttered softly to herself as she fumbled and groped for each foothold and handgrip. Pulled herself a little higher, then a little more. Not looking down. Not letting herself think about anything except the next few inches up...and Josh. She had to do this. For Josh. He was depending on her to get them both out of the floodwater and up the cliff. “You can do this. You have to do this.”
The cold water had sapped her energy and her strength. Her muscles quivered as she pulled herself up, stepped, pushed higher. Her fingers were icy and numb as she searched for each next rock knob or ledge.
She paused once, sending a quick glance up to measure her progress, and was so dismayed by her surprising lack of progress, she resolved not to look again. Just keep moving.
“That’s it! You’re doing great!” Josh called from below, his voice barely audible over the roar of the raging river. Who knew water could be so loud?
The violent pounding of her heart, taxed by exertion, made her wonder how far she could push herself before the organ simply burst like an overblown balloon.
You have to hurry.
Faster. Go faster.
Hand, foot, push and pull. Hand, foot, push—
Her hand slipped, and she gasped as she lost her grip. The harness jerked as the belay rope tightened.
Josh shouted something that was drowned by the thundering water and the rush of blood in her ears.
Scrabbling for a grip, Kate panted for a breath and swallowed the panicked mewl that rose in her throat. Her stiff fingers closed over the lip of a thin ledge, and she clung to it as she calmed her tremors. Don’t think about it. Just...do.
If she let her thoughts distract her, she’d be paralyzed. Keep moving.
Hand, foot. Hand, foot, push and pull. Rain dripped in her eyes as she tipped her head back to look for the next painted handhold guide.
The climb seemed to take forever. Her breath sawed from her, and her limbs moved only because of sheer will. Finally, she hoisted herself over the top edge of the cliff and rolled onto her back. Her muscles trembled, completely depleted. Tears of relief spilled onto her cheeks. She was able to discern them from spattering rain only because her tears were warm and made her eyes sting.
Josh.
She had no time to savor her relief or rest her aching body. She had to get Josh up the cliff. Rolling to her hands and knees, she swept the top of the cliff with her gaze. And spotted an old pickup truck.
The windows were spotted with rain and heavily fogged, but she thought she could make out a person inside. Her pulse bumped harder. Help.
“Hey!” She waved her arms, then tipped sideways with fatigue and had to catch her balance before she fell over. No one stirred at the truck, and she began to doubt her eyes. Was there anyone inside or...?
Person or not, the truck provided the power to haul Josh out of the river and up the cliff before the floodwaters overtook him. Swiping her soaked hair back from her face, she crawled close to the edge of the cliff and shouted down.
“Josh!”
She heard a muted reply.
“There’s a truck here! Hang on! I’ll be right back!”
Without knowing if he understood or not, she stumbled to her feet and staggered over to the truck. As she neared the vehicle, she could better see that, yes, a man was inside. But although she shouted and knocked on the driver’s window, the man didn’t move. He was either asleep...or dead.
Bile rushed up her throat at the notion. Why had such a terrifying possibility occurred to her? Maybe because the vandal who’d been attacking the McCall family had almost killed her with the zip-line sabotage? Or because the man’s preternatural stillness seemed all the more frightening on this dreary, wet day?
She tested the door handle. Locked.
Damn it!
“Hey! Open the door!” She banged on the window again, and when she still received no response, she circled the truck to the passenger side. The rear bumper had a worn-out Double M Ranch bumper sticker. At least she knew the truck belonged to the McCalls.
The passenger side handle worked when she tried it, and she prayed that when she opened the door, she wasn’t swamped by the smells of a decaying body. Swallowing hard, she pulled and was hit by an overwhelming stench...of alcohol. She spied the bottle that had spilled when the man had lost his grip on it. The back seat of the extended cab had empty beer cans littering the floor.
She focused on the man slumped over in the driver’s seat and heard a light snuffling snore.
Clenching her back teeth in irritation, she poked the man’s arm. “Hey! Wake up! I need your help to get Josh up the cliff.”
With a grunt, the man raised his head, and she studied his craggy face. She remembered being introduced to the older man, the foreman at the Double M, and dug in her memory for his name. Brady’s father... Summers... Ray? No, Roy.
“Mr. Summers?” She grabbed his sleeve and shook him. “Wake up. Mr. Summers?” Then finally yelling, “Roy, wake up!”
His eyes opened, and he jerked a bleary gaze toward her. “Huh? Who’re you?” Then, looking around him and rubbing his eyes, he mumbled, “Where...” His sentence trailed off in a mumble she couldn’t make out.
Anger flashed in her. The man Josh’s family had sent to pick them up was drunk. As a skunk. And he smelled almost as bad. She shook his arm again, shouting, “Roy, I need your help! Josh is hurt and can’t climb up here. We have to use the truck to get him out of the river water.” Another hard shake of his sleeve. “Do you understand?”
“Josh’s...hurt?” Roy looked confused. “Naw...they said he wuz ’kay.”
“He hurt his shoulder yesterday. A bear—” She stopped herself. No point explaining it all to him now. “Look, can you help me or not? I need the truck to pull him up. I’m not strong enough and...well, you’re not sober enough.”
Rancher's High-Stakes Rescue Page 17