Have Spacecat, Will Travel: And Other Tails by John Hartness (top ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Gwen’s heart broke as she saw the hope bloom in the woman’s eyes, and knew she had to do something. Without any further thought, she vaulted the railing, lay down on her belly, and wrapped her hands around the post holding the decorative fence up. Gwen slid her body around, letting first her feet, then her whole body dangle over the side of the overlook. She closed her eyes, held her breath, and dropped.

Her sneakers slapped into the stone outcropping a few feet down, and she knelt beside the little boy. He looked up at her, tears welling in his eyes. “My arm hurts. It hurts real bad.”

She looked at the child’s arm, twisted at an unnatural angle, and knew it was broken.

“Ouch,” Gwen said. “That looks like it really hurts. You’re being super-brave down here. You didn’t move at all, just like I asked you to. That’s really good. Can you be really still for another minute while I figure out how to get us back up to your mommy?”

Tommy nodded, and Gwen turned to assess their situation. It wasn’t great, although they seemed to be in no immediate danger. The shelf of rock they stood upon jutted about three feet out from the edge of the cliff and was about eight feet wide. So there was plenty of room for the trim girl and the little boy, but not enough for anyone else. They could likely just wait right there until the rangers rappelled down to rescue them, as long as she could keep Tommy still and quiet.

“My back hurts, too,” the boy said, rolling over onto his side. So much for waiting, Gwen thought. There was a six-inch tree branch sticking out of the child’s torso. If he didn’t get medical attention, and fast, he wasn’t going to make it off that mountain.

“Mr. M.?” Gwen called up to her teacher.

“Yes, Miss Dimont?” Murden’s head appeared over the guard rail, a scowl on his face. “Your actions this morning have been exceptionally imprudent, but I believe this particular decision may, in fact, be one for the record books.”

“We kinda need to wait a little while for the scolding, if that’s okay. Tommy has a broken arm, and he fell on a branch. It stuck him in the side, and I really need to get him back up to you. Now. Any ideas?”

Murden’s head disappeared, then popped back a few seconds later. “I have nothing here that will aid in such an endeavor. Tommy’s mother is calling the park rangers, who can be here soon with climbing and rescue apparatus. She says that she is a nurse, so perhaps she can be of assistance.”

“She really doesn’t need to see this, I don’t think,” Gwen called up. “Crap,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I need…I need a rope, or something. Anything! It’s barely eight feet, but it might as well be a mile. I’m just not strong…wait. I’m not strong enough. But I know someone who is. Mr. Murden!” she called up.

The teacher’s face, which had vanished from the edge, reappeared. “Yes, Gwen?”

“Do you think you could pull me up if I got close enough? I can’t carry Tommy and climb; I won’t have enough hands.”

Another head appeared next to Murden’s at the guard rail. It was Jared, and he looked a little green as he glanced past the narrow ledge at the drop behind her. “Wow, G. You really got yourself in a good one this time, didn’t you?”

“I don’t have time for your shit, Jared. There’s a little boy down here, and he’s hurt.”

“I know,” Jared replied. “That’s why I’m here. Remember when we used to play basketball in middle school?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Your vertical leap was the bomb. It’s ‘cause you’re so skinny. Well, that’s about to come in real handy.”

Jared’s head disappeared, then popped back over the edge, this time under the guardrail. He was obviously lying on his stomach to get closer to her. He held out an odd bundle of straps, then dropped them down to her. The straps, Gwen could now see, were leather belts fastened together to make a rope. The belts fell down the cliff face a few feet, but still dangled a couple of feet above Gwen’s head.

“You gotta jump up and grab the belts. I’ll pull you up,” Jared said.

“Can you pull me?” Gwen asked. “I’m not as skinny as I look. And I’ll be carrying a kid with me.”

“Scott’s here, and with him and Mr. Murden, we can totally haul your narrow butt up a few feet. You just gotta hold on.” He gave her a hard look, and she nodded.

Gwen knelt beside Tommy and said, “Okay, buddy. You’ve been super-brave, and really tough so far. Just one more thing, and I’ll get you back up there with your mom and she can get your arm all fixed up. Okay?” Tommy nodded, and Gwen said, “I’m going to need you to hug me real tight around my chest, okay?”

Tommy got up, walked over to her, and wrapped his good arm around her neck. Gwen took her own belt out of the first three loops on her jeans, then threaded it through Tommy’s belt loops and fastened it back to itself, tying the boy to her. She could only hope that the loops would hold if the child’s grip couldn’t.

“Okay,” she said, crouching down to spring upward. But with the added weight of the child, she could only hop a few inches, nowhere near high enough to reach the makeshift rope dangling over her head. She tried again, and got higher, but still nowhere near the end of the lower belt.

“Come on, Gwen!” Jared shouted. “I thought you were some badass ninja chick or something. Weren’t you going to kick Scott’s ass all by yourself half an hour ago?”

I wasn’t, but not all by myself, Gwen thought, reaching out with her mind, through the mists of time, feeling the power of Sir Gawain, the Green Knight, course through her muscles and