Sahar jumped off of Lasair, the mud suckingat her boots.“Thank you, Ratter,” she murmured as she grabbed therope from her saddle.She glanced up and down the shoreline,searching frantically until she found a rock heavy enough to anchorthe rope.
“Thank you, Father,” she said as she tied therope to the rock, recalling his stories of how he would climb treesin his youth by tossing a rock tied to a rope over a high branch,her mother’s faint blushes every time he told the story.Plantingher feet as firmly as possible in the mud, she started swinging therock in a circle.
“Thank you, Brother,” she said as the rockgained speed and momentum, for the many games they’d thrown rocks,ropes, and sticks as children, honing her arm and her aim.
She swung the rock out and let the rope slidethrough her palms, but it fell short of Aleksandr and was instantlycarried downstream by the river’s current.She hauled the ropeback, sodden and heavy with rain and river water, blew out herbreath, squared her shoulders, and began to swing it around andaround until she could hold it no longer and let it fly.The rocksplashed into the river right in front of Aleksandr, but the rocksunk before he could reach the rope.Her arms were tiring, but shegritted her teeth and hauled the sodden rope back onto the shore asMunir’s head sagged on Aleksandr’s shoulder.
“No.Nononono.”Her heart was pounding in herears and her belly was in her throat.“Not again.”
“Sahar.”She focused on Aleksandr’s face.“You can do this,” he yelled over the raging river.“You can dothis.”
Munir came to from the yelling, and she tooka deep breath in and blew it out.Then another.She swung the rockuntil it started to pull away from her with its own force, and thenshe hurled it with all her might, skipping forward on her tiptoesas the rock hurtled out over the water and the rope uncoiled,taking chunks of her skin with it.She focused on what she waswatching.The rock landed and Aleksandr reached out and grabbed itas the current took it right to him.
“Thank you, Mother,” she said, “for teachingme never to give up.You as well, Aleksandr,” she whispered as hewrapped the rope around his chest and Munir’s back, “for havingfaith in me, for giving me faith in myself.”
She held her end of the rope, fighting tokeep it out of the water and as taut as they needed it whileAleksandr labored to remove the rock from its knot and tie the ropeat his belly.It was slow going, and he slipped and stumbledseveral times, causing her to bite her lower lip to keep fromcrying out and distracting him.He managed to keep his footing andafter what seemed like a long time, he signaled, and she quicklytied her end of the rope to Lasair’s saddle.
“Ready?”she yelled.
“Ready,” Aleksandr called.
She started to walk the mare backward andAleksandr pushed off the rocks.He and Munir both disappeared underthe rushing water and Sahar sucked in her breath as she kept Lasairmoving.The rope remained taut, and Sahar counted to seven beforeAleksandr’s and Munir’s heads finally popped up, coughing andspitting.They went under and popped up two more times before theyreached the river’s bank, which was as steep and high as a man wastall.Lasair had run out of room to maneuver, her rump pressingagainst a hedge of bushes.
“Stay, Lasair,” Sahar commanded.“Stay.”
She clopped through the sucking mud as fastas she could and wrapped the slackening rope around both of herwrists and braced her feet.
“On three,” she said to Aleksandr.“I’ll pulland you’ll climb.”
“On,” Aleksandr coughed and gasped,“three.”
She looked to Munir, who nodded feebly andunwound his legs from around Aleksandr’s waist.
“One.”She dug her boots in.“Two.”She benther knees and took a deep breath.“Three.”She blew out her breathand tugged with all her might, leaning back against the weight ofthe men as they climbed the muddy bank until she fell flat on herback.She started to slide toward the bank, and dug her feet ineven deeper.The rope was cutting into her wrists, but she didn’tlet go, even when it felt as if her shoulders would be pulled fromtheir sockets.
Then the rope went slack.
She lifted her head.Aleksandr and Munir werelying in the mud at her feet.
She burst into tears.
Thankfully, her tears blended into the rainrunning down her cheeks as she rolled onto her hands and knees andcrawled over to them.They were both gasping and sucking in air,but they were alive.She helped Aleksandr untie the rope fromaround them, and tossed it aside before he grabbed her and pulledher down onto his chest.Holding her face in his big hands, hekissed her hard, stealing her breath and warming her blood.
“Thank you, my tigress,” he rumbled.Then helet go his hold of her and rolled over onto his hands and knees,hanging his head low as water flowed freely from his nostrils.
Her head was still reeling from Aleksandr’skiss, as she scooted over to Munir, who lay groaning on his back.His eyes flew open as he started coughing up water.She rolled himonto his side, and then helped him to his hands and knees, where heretched up river water and what was left of his morning meal.
“Kedar,” he said when he finally stoppedretching.“I must find Kedar.”
Aleksandr pushed himself back onto his heels.“You rest,” he said.“I’ll find him.”
“Neither of you are in any condition to doanything but sit and regain your strength,” she said.“I’llgo.”
Another coughing spasm overtook Munir.
Aleksandr stood on legs that swayed and shooklike river reeds.“You stay here with Munir,” he said.“I’llgo.”
“You can barely stand,” she pointed out, thennarrowed her eyes.“You cannot tell me what to do.”
