Page 52 of When the Ice Melts

Thank goodness for the carabiners. This was when they did their job.

And then Addisyn was sliding down the rock, half rolling, half skidding. Her arms flailed wildly at the slick rock face as she screamed again in panic. Finally she landed on a narrow ledge a hundred feet off the trail.

For a moment Darius felt numb, frozen to the rock where he stood. His eyes were fastened to the back of her bright pink jacket. A cold sickness twisted his stomach.

“Addisyn!” Nothing. And more nothing.

“Addisyn!”The word sounded more like a howl than any word from a man.

There was no time to waste. He grabbed the rungs and began his way down—far faster than he had ever known he could go.

AIR. SHE NEEDEDair. Addisyn gasped, her vision fading in and out. Something blurry was preventing her from seeing.

Gradually her mind cleared. She had fallen. She had unhooked those stupid carabiners and she had fallen. Was she dead?

She reached frantically for her eyes. Why couldn’t she see? Her fingers found her goggles, ripping them off.

Relief washed over her soul. That was better. The goggles had been foggy with humidity. She blinked against the pelting rain.

Groggily she rolled onto her side and tried to get up—then froze.

She was lying on a tiny rock ledge—a heartbeat away from a sharp drop-off. One wrong move now, and she’d plummet over the edge. She squeezed her eyes shut as sweat prickled all over her body.

What was that? It was Darius, bellowing her name in a tone of panic so desperate she almost didn’t recognize his voice.“Addisyn!”

“Darius!” Her own voice was ragged, stretched thin and tearing from the fear. “Help me!”

“I’m coming! Lie still!”

Addisyn closed her eyes. The rain was loud on the plastic helmet. If only it weren’t so cold. And if only she had left those silly carabiners hooked to the cable.

Her teeth were chattering. She kept her eyes closed and tried to relax, tried not to envision that gaping hole right behind her, waiting to engulf her. Unbidden, an image of her sister floated through her mind.Avery...

“Addisyn!” Thank goodness, it was Darius. His hands were on her shoulders. Addisyn looked up and was shocked to see that he had left the rungs and clambered directly across the rock face. How far had she fallen anyway? And how was Darius managing to keep his balance on the slick rocks?

“Are you okay?” His words rose above the gush of the rain.

“Y-yes.” Addisyn tried to be stoic, but suddenly the panic, the cold, and the exhaustion were all too much. Tears mingled with the rain on her cheeks.

Darius must have noticed, because the expression in his eyes gentled. He had also removed his goggles, Addisyn noticed. “Here.”

Slowly, expertly, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from the edge. “Now get on my back.”

“What?” Addisyn was trying not to start crying as hysterically as she wanted to.

“Get on my back!” Awkwardly, he crouched on the rock slope while Addisyn scrambled onto his broad shoulders. “Okay, now hang on.”

Addisyn almost lost her grip when he straightened and began working his way across the rock—back toward the rungs. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and gripped his sides with her knees, hardly daring to breathe as he inched his way along the incline. He was using the tiniest foot- and handholds that made the rungs look like a smooth stairway by comparison. Addisyn burrowed her head into the back of his shoulders and berated herself again for ever ignoring Darius’s warning about the carabiners. What if he fell now? They would both die, thanks to nothing more than her carelessness.

When Darius’s foot slipped off a wet ledge with a squeaking sound and he barely caught himself, Addisyn decided to close her eyes the rest of the way. So it was a relief when she heard Darius say, as if from a long way away—“Okay. We’re okay.”

She opened her eyes. Yes, there they were, in a large flat area—apparently the one Darius had mentioned earlier. He knelt and gently helped her off his back.

“Th-thank you.” Addisyn’s legs were shuddering uncontrollably. She sank onto the ground and stared at Darius as he plopped down beside her, rain beading up on his beard and dripping off the brim of his helmet. He ran one arm across his shiny wet face.

“That was close.” His shaky grin showed how much he’d felt the tension.

Addisyn just nodded. “Darius, I’m sorry.” She swallowed hard and focused on the ground. “I took the carabiners off because it was wasting time moving them at each joint. I wanted to catch up with you.”