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“Ye not seriously thinking of climbing up that?”
“Good guess.”
She went rigid. “Untie me.”
He ignored her and placed his foot in another notch on the rocky surface and pulled himself up. The ropes around Ivy’s wrists tugged, yanking her arms forward. Panic gurgled in her throat.
“Ye have to untie me. I can’t be climbing up there.”
“You have no choice,” he said. “We need to find shelter soon before it gets too dark.”
Shelter? Out here? Oh God, she felt herself wanting to vomit again. She lifted her chin and watched him gain another footing higher into the wall. “Why up there? Why not down here?”
“Because the ground is too damp down there. It’s best we reach higher ground where it’s drier.”
“But I can’t make it up there.”
“Start climbing, Ms. McGregor.”
As he climbed higher, the ropes forced her closer to the rock surface. There was no way she would be able to climb. Perhaps it hadn’t been so wise to hide her disability. If she climbed the wall, she was s
ure to fall to her death. And bring Sam Michalski down with her.
“That’s impossible with me hands tied.”
He sighed and glanced down at her. Then, surprisingly, made his way back down to her side. Ivy sighed with relief. He had changed his mind.
But she was wrong. He simply untied the rope secured around her wrists and tied it around her waist instead.
“Are ye insane? I can’t climb.”
“You’re climbing, Ms. McGregor.”
Anxiety grabbed hold of her as her eyes peered up the steep wall. She had never climbed anything before in her life. Sam had unlocked the handcuffs and slipped them off her wrists. She was relieved to be rid of the blistering restraints. Automatically, she rubbed the raw skin where the cuffs had scorched her. To her surprise, Sam snatched them back and turned them over to look at. His chin snapped up.
“Why didn’t you tell me they were too tight?”
“Would it have made a difference?”
He sighed angrily and dropped her wrists to turn abruptly away. With the rope now looped securely about her midriff, he gave it a tug and told her, “Start climbing.”
He waited for her to go first, to ensure, no doubt, she did not attempt to run. Even if she had wanted to, Ivy didn’t think she would have gotten far, seeing how exhausted she was. The hillside was fairly steep, thus forcing her to crawl up on her hands and knees. Her wrists throbbed, her frozen fingers felt useless as she tried to grip the rocky surface. More than once her foot slipped and she grabbed on to the edge of the wall for dear life. A quick glance over her shoulder indicated she had reached higher ground than she realized.
Just below her, Sam was not far behind, but on the contrary, was having no difficulties with the climb and was making better progress. She knew she was holding him up, but didn’t care.
The top came into sight at last, and Ivy released a sigh of relief a moment before her boot lost its footing. Instinctively, she reached for something to grab hold, and found nothing. The wall was flat sheer rock.
Then, to her horror, she felt her body begin to slip. Her other boot scrambled trying desperately to maintain its foothold. But it was no use. She screamed as her body began sliding downward.
“Grab on to something!” Sam shouted just below.
She tried, but it was useless. The wall slid between her fingers as easily as lard on a warm summer day. Then, unexpectedly, the rope around her midriff tightened and her body gave a violent but sudden lurch. She gasped, her breath feeling as if it had been punched from her lungs.
“Ivy?”
Blinking, she stared at the jagged face of the earth directly beneath her cheek. It dawned on her that Sam’s voice had come from above her, not below. With effort she raised her chin and realized he somehow climbed past her and reached the top safely.
In a flash, a memory of her dangling from a rope such as she was now resurfaced. Her vision blurred with white panic. It circled her stomach, then spiraled upward.
