Bitter Wild (11 page)

The boy
held his gaze for a moment, then nodded once more, this time with more
confidence. He turned back to Casey. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know
you won’t.”

Casey
produced a pair of backpacks and filled them with everything they needed. She
handed Jack one of them, then shrugged the other one onto her own shoulders.
She fastened the snaps to keep it in place, then turned to the boy.

“Take
it slow and easy going down the ridge, Jesse.”

He
nodded. “I will.”

She
held the reins of her horse as the boy climbed into the saddle. Then she tied
the other horse’s lead to the saddle horn, leaving it plenty of room to maneuver
on the steep trail. The boy turned the horse around and Casey watched him for a
few seconds before turning to face Jack.

“Let’s
go.”

The
ascent went faster this time since they weren’t constantly stopping to make
sure they weren’t walking into a trap. Even so, by the time they reached the
bridge the blue sky was gone and the wind was blowing hard enough that they
both took off their hats and stuffed them into their backpacks. Casey stared at
the bridge and felt her gut clench. It was swaying back and forth with the
wind. The bridge was anything but modern. There had been talk of replacing it
for years, but nothing had ever been settled on. Everyone agreed that something
more structurally sound needed to be put in, but no one could agree what sort of
bridge ought to be built. Meanwhile, this structure just kept getting older.
Jack had stopped beside her. She glanced up at him as he posed a question.

“Is
that thing going to hold up?”

“They
check it regularly to make sure the ropes aren’t fraying.”

He looked
down at her. “That’s not exactly the answer I was hoping for.”

She
shrugged, then called to the dog. She pulled a harness out of her backpack then
set about putting it on the animal. That done she used a length of rope to
attach the dog to herself. Jack frowned at her.

“Do you
really think that’s a good idea? He’s what, a hundred and twenty pounds? If he
goes over he’ll pull you down with him.”

Casey
lifted her eyes to Jack. “You worry about getting yourself across. Chance and I
will be fine.”

She turned
back to the bridge and slowly began to move toward it. It was barely more than
two feet wide. The main ropes that bore most of the weight ran up through a
pair of supports and then down to anchors that had been driven into the ground.
Casey had crossed this bridge a number of times in her life, though she’d never
done so in this kind of wind. It was risky, to say the least. She turned back
to face Jack.

“Chance
and I will go across first. Keep your hands on the ropes at all times. Don’t
let go for any reason. It’s going to be tough to cross in this wind. From here
it doesn’t look like the bridge is moving all that much. Once you get out to
the middle, though, you’ll see just how bad it is. Be careful.”

Jack
nodded. “You, too.”

She
leaned down and patted the dog’s head. “Okay, Chance. Slow and easy.”

The dog
stepped out onto the bridge without the hesitation that Jack would have
expected. It walked slowly toward the other side with Casey just a few feet
behind. Jack found himself holding his breath as they reached the middle. The
wind seemed to be getting stronger by the minute. He expected to see the dog
slip off the narrow path at any moment. Finally, though, they made it to the
other side. Casey gave the dog a hug, then turned to wave at him before shrugging
out of her pack so she could put up the rope and harness. Jack carefully moved
forward, trying not to look down at the water racing by more than five hundred
feet below him.

He’d
never been afraid of heights before, but this situation made him hesitate for a
few seconds. He lifted his gaze to find Casey watching him. She motioned for
him to come across and he nodded, then swallowed his fear and stepped out onto
the bridge. He gripped the large ropes that ran on either side of him. The
entire bridge was vibrating. It felt like it was alive. He took another step
and then another, slowly working his way toward the other side. The closer he
got to the middle, the slower he moved. Out here, the wind was even more violent.
The bridge seemed to undulate beneath him, as if it resented his weight and
wanted to toss him off. Twice he nearly lost his footing. He breathed a sigh of
relief as he finally passed the midpoint. That sigh came to an abrupt end as he
felt a sudden vibration shudder along the left side of the bridge.

Casey
blinked as the bridge seemed to tremble. In the wind, it made sense for it to
move, but this was different, somehow. She caught a flash of movement out of
the corner of her eye and turned just in time to see one of the strands of the
rope snap and begin to unravel. For a moment she was frozen with shock. Then
she screamed at Jack to run as she rushed to take hold of the rope.

Jack
heard Casey scream and looked up. She grabbed hold of the rope with both hands.
He felt something close to raw terror clutch him as he realized what was
happening. He started running as the rope on the other side of the bridge
suddenly began to fray as well. He was going to die. There was no way he’d
reach the other side before the ropes broke.

Casey
saw the other side start to go and knew that in a matter of seconds, both ropes
would snap. She looked up and met Jack’s gaze as he ran toward her. He wasn’t
going to make it. Not unless she did something to help him. She felt panic
threatening to choke her, but refused to give in to it. Instead she spotted
Chance’s harness lying across her backpack. She’d left it there when she
realized Jack was hesitating on the other side of the bridge. She grabbed the
rope she’d unhooked from the harness and ran for the edge of the bridge.

“Jack,
stop!”

It went
against every fiber of his being to obey her demand. He took another step and
managed to force himself to come to a halt. She had the rope gathered in a
series of loose loops and swung it over her head.

“Catch
it and tie yourself on.”

She let
the rope go and he somehow found the strength to reach out to catch it as it
arced toward him. He wrapped it around himself as he felt the bridge shudder
again. He’d just gotten the rope knotted when he heard Casey scream at him to
hold on. The bridge gave a wild heave and the right hand support rope snapped.
Jack instinctively grabbed hold of the other rope and looked up in time to see
Casey wrap the rope tied to him around herself. He felt his gut clench when he
realized what she was doing. He shook his head.

“No,
Casey! You can’t possibly hold me. I’ll pull you over.”

She
didn’t even bother to argue with him. “It’s going!”

When
the right main support snapped it caused the bridge to pitch in that direction.
Almost immediately the smaller ropes that supported the wooden planks began to
unravel as well. They were for stabilization. They were never meant to hold the
weight of the bridge, much less him. He felt the wood shudder once, then twice
as the bridge was put under more strain than it could bear. A moment later it
finally gave way in one great rip. The main support of the left side of the
bridge snapped and the ropes that held the planks in place broke almost at the
same instant. He felt the planks drop completely away and he couldn’t keep from
screaming as he fell. The rope around his waist pulled tight and he heard Casey
scream. Then he slammed into the cliff wall so hard it knocked the breath out
of his lungs. He gasped for air, then began to claw at the rocks as he felt
himself sliding downward. Casey couldn’t hold his weight. If he didn’t find
some kind of hold he was going to pull her to her death. The cliff was worn
smooth by rain and wind and he was no rock climber. He couldn’t find purchase
anywhere. Then, just as he thought they were both about to die, he came to a
stop.

He held
his breath as he swung there for several moments. He carefully lifted his head
to look up. All he could see was the sheer cliff and the rope disappearing over
the side. He closed his eyes as he released his breath. He wasn’t dead.
Somehow, Casey had managed to hold him. He breathed a silent prayer, then
opened his eyes and focused on the rock wall directly in front of his face.
Casey might be holding him, but there was no way in the world she’d be able to pull
him up. He was going to have to climb.

He
reached out and ran his hand over the rock. Now that he wasn’t falling through
space he could see and feel that the wall wasn’t nearly as smooth as he’d
thought. There were countless little crags and crevices that might give him
enough grip to haul himself upward. He looked up again. He was a good
twenty-five or so feet below the edge of the cliff. It wasn’t going to be easy
to climb that far. He focused on the rock and reached out to bury his fingers
in a small crack. He’d never make it if he didn’t get started. The climb was
long and slow. It took him several minutes just to move far enough to take some
of the slack off the rope connecting him to Casey. He’d managed to move no more
than three feet when he felt the slack in the rope tighten. He’d have called
out to Casey if he hadn’t been using every ounce of strength he had to hang on.
He paused a moment to catch his breath, then looked up when he heard Casey’s
voice.

“Jack,
I’m going to try to keep tension on your line. At least if you slip you won’t
lose the ground you’ve gained.”

He
couldn’t see her, but then he wouldn’t expect to. She’d have had to lean far
out over the edge for him to catch sight of her. He spent a few more seconds
resting, then again began the slow ascent. He had no idea how long it took him
to make the climb. He’d stopped to rest several times, but even with the short
breaks he was sure his strength would give out long before he reached the top.
If Casey hadn’t kept calling out to him every few minutes, urging him on,
demanding that he not give up, he would never have made it. By the time he did
finally reach up to close his hand around the top edge of the cliff he was too
exhausted to haul himself up over the edge.

He
heard Casey. “Hold on, Jack. Let me tie your rope off.”

A
moment later he felt her hand close around his wrist. “I’m going to put all my
weight into it on the count of three.”

She
counted off and he used every last ounce of strength he possessed to push when
she reached three. For one instant he seemed to hover just on the edge. Then he
was falling forward. Casey landed on her back and groaned, then grunted as he
landed on top of her. Jack sucked air into his lungs as his arms and legs
trembled from the exertion he’d put on them. After a long moment, he managed to
roll off Casey. They lay there, side by side, both of them breathing hard. Jack
could barely believe he’d made it. He should have been dead. He would have been
if it wasn’t for the woman beside him. He turned his head to stare at her. That
was when he saw the tears streaming from her eyes. He forgot the weakness in
his arms and legs. He ignored the aching in his hands. He sat up and leaned
toward her, reaching out to touch her face.

“Are
you okay?”

She
shook her head. “I think my shoulder is dislocated.”

He
stared down at her and finally saw that she wasn’t using her left arm at all.
It lay limp beside her and even through the thick layers of her jacket and
clothes he could see that the shoulder wasn’t seated in its natural position.
He lifted his gaze to hers. “What do you want me to do?”

She
fixed her brilliant amber eyes on him. “Put it back in place.”

Jack
had taken all the standard first aid classes. He could perform CPR and all the
other traditional life-saving techniques. This, however, wasn’t something he’d
been trained to do.

“I
don’t know how to do that, Casey.”

She
closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and focused on him once more.
“Help me sit up.”

She
sucked in a sharp breath as he pulled her upright, but otherwise said nothing.
After taking a few breaths she told him exactly what she wanted him to do. It
took him two tries to get the shoulder back in a normal position. By the time
it was done she was crying freely and Jack wanted to hit something. Instead he
carefully put his arms around her and held her against his chest. They stayed
that way for a long while. Jack didn’t let her go, in fact, until he felt a
cold, wet nose pressing itself against his cheek. He looked up to find himself
face to muzzle with her monster dog. Jack wondered if the animal was trying to
push him aside. Then he blinked in surprise as the dog suddenly planted a wet
tongue on his cheek. It backed away, then dropped to its haunches. Jack leaned
back from Casey, dropping his gaze to her face.

“Are
you going to be okay?”

Casey
nodded. Her tears had stopped falling, though her lashes were still wet. He
wanted to kiss her so badly that he ached. She’d held him in spite of a
dislocated shoulder. He could only imagine the pain it must have caused her.
She could have let him go. No one in the world would ever have blamed her if
she had. Not even him. But she had endured the pain until he’d managed to start
climbing and then she’d made sure he wouldn’t fall. He didn’t believe he’d ever
known anyone with her courage.