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“Again, you were making choices for me. Do you know why I work for myself? Because I was sick to death of everyone thinking they knew what was right and always telling me I was wrong or crazy or insane. I’ll admit it I take risks, but they’re calculated risks. I don’t go bungee jumping without something strapped to my feet. I don’t go climbing without a rope. I’m not suicidal so why don’t we just cool the crappy intervention and get some rest? The next part of the climb gets worse.”
“How the hell can anything be worse than that jumble up there?” Joel inquired gently rubbing her shoulder to calm her down.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she chuckled with a smile that chilled his need to kiss her.
“Paige, what do you know about this mountain that I don’t?”
“Let’s just say it might look whole but it’s not. Get some sleep, we’ll need it,” she said closing her eyes and ignoring their attempts to talk. She dozed for a bit and woke as the sky began to lighten far in the distance. She slipped out of their cave with her things and scouted the area. She’d only been up the mountain one other time and she needed to reassure herself that the climb was as difficult as she remembered.
The last climb had been emotional too, Jesse had conned her into coming with him hoping something would happen between them, but she knew it wouldn’t. They’d been working together for two years and despite her friendship with him, he didn’t know about her past. They’d been working on the section they were now about to go down when he broached the subject of whether she was seeing someone.
When he wouldn’t stop, she’d finally spilled her secrets to him, one by one as her hands and feet constantly moved upwards one over the other as they negotiated the pass. She hadn’t realized she was crying until they got to the top of it, and he’d pulled her into his arms wiping them away.
She was still staring down the section when a noise behind her made her flip around.
“Told you she’d try and ditch us,” Jesse said with a stifled yawn.
“Going somewhere?” Joel questioned with a glare.
“Just scouting the climb while you two slept. Ready to get to it?” she inquired nodding towards the twisted garble of rocks laid out below them.
“Jesus Christ…you did this climb for fun?”
“For my sanity I’d say,” Paige told him with a smile towards Jesse who dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
“Care to explain that?”
“Not right now, ask me once we’re home and I’ll think about it,” she sighed glancing around the burning forest. Flames licked the sky as far as she could see and when she looked down, she could see the fires had started to climb higher on the mountain. “We should get moving before this fire decides to spread any faster.”
“Let me go down first Paige,” Jesse suggested, “you follow, and Joel can guide you from up here.”
“I’m not a newbie here remember?”
“No but the last time we did this you were pretty emotional. How you managed it I don’t know but I’m not going to risk you falling. So back up and let me go first,” he stated moving her back into Joel’s arms while he prepared his ropes.
It was nearly afternoon before they got to the location Tami and Nicole had indicated during their call. She was hot and sweaty, the heat from the fires made it hard to breathe comfortably and she wondered how they could have lasted two days in this.
“I don’t see anything Paige,” Jesse said as he searched the area. “Maybe they went lower?”
“No, she would have followed the light to try to get away from the fire. Tami knows how to take care of herself, and she’d never let anything happen to Nicole,” Paige said glancing around them. She saw a path nearly obscured by the overgrown bushes dotting the ground. “There…she wouldn’t risk climbing if she though the fires were going to jump but she’d get to higher ground all the same.”
They followed her up the path as it twisted inward and away from the blazing heat. It snaked between two large rock walls and the coolness hit her sending goosebumps up and down her flesh. They came out the other side and saw the small lean-to type of rocks structure.
“Tami…Nicole,” she shouted praying for an answer. “Tami…Nicole!”
“Auntie Paige?” a tiny voice wavered a bit higher, and she looked up as relief hit her.
“Nicole, oh sweetie…” She nearly cried hurrying up the lean-to and towards her. The little girl launched herself into her arms as tears began to stream down her face.
“Shh,” she whispered over and over as she stroked her hair. “Aw sweetie, you don’t know how glad I am to see you. Where’s Mom?”
“She got hurt. We were going back down when the fires burst through. She was okay yesterday but now…she can’t stay awake, Auntie Paige.”
“Well, who’s the best around of waking people up?” Paige asked tweaking her nose as she cast worried glances at the two men.
Nicole led them to another lean-to and she was happy to find the air was clearer, at least they hadn’t been breathing in the heaviest of the smoke. She took one look at Tami and her heart sank. A fiery red mark ran down the length of her arms and a small cut above her eye told her something heavy and hot had hit her.
“Nic, this is Joel, he’s a friend of mine and he’s got some water and food. Why don’t you two sit out here while I check on Mom?” she suggested kissing the girl’s forehead in reassurance she didn’t feel.
