by Jake Maddox
“Okay,” Amir said. “Thanks for everything.”
Amir, William, and Officer Roberts spent the next hour walking around the store. Officer Roberts wanted to pick up some tennis balls, and they looked at fishing and camping gear, too.
Soon, it was time to head back to the city. On their way out, Amir, William, and Officer Roberts stopped at the climbing wall.
“Here, take this,” Ben said. He handed a colorful piece of paper to Amir. “We’re having a climbing camp this summer,” Ben went on. “It’s here at the store, eight hours a day for a week. The price includes all the gear you need. You guys would love it. Lots of rock climbing!”
“Awesome!” William said, looking at the piece of paper. “I really want to go.”
“Me too,” Amir said.
* * *
When Amir got home that night, he had forgotten about being disappointed that he hadn’t reached the top. He found his mom in the kitchen.
He told her about climbing the wall, and how he had almost reached the top. He told her what a great climber William was. He asked if he could go back with Officer Roberts again someday.
Finally, he told her about the climbing camp. He nervously handed his mom the piece of paper.
Amir’s mom looked at the paper. “It looks fun, but it’s a lot of money,” she said. She looked at Amir and saw the excitement in his eyes.
“Mom, I’ll earn money to pay for half of it myself,” Amir said. “And I’ll get all my homework done without having to be asked. And I’ll keep my room clean. And—”
Finally, his mom smiled. “Okay, okay,” she said. “We’ll figure out a way to pay for it.”
Amir leaped in the air.
CHAPTER 6
CHANGE OF PLANS
The three months before climbing camp started seemed like the longest three months of Amir’s life. But he stayed pretty busy, keeping all the promises he’d made to his mom.
He earned some money by running errands for other families in his building after school and on weekends. Sometimes he had to go to the grocery store for them, or pick up laundry at the laundromat.
He did his homework every night after dinner. In fact, his grades even improved. And he kept his room clean most of the time.
William was going to camp too. He and Amir kept in touch online. They made plans to ride to the store together every day for camp, and talked about all the things they’d learn.
Amir had never been so excited. He couldn’t wait for climbing camp.
About a month before camp started, Amir ran into Officer Roberts outside his apartment building.
“Hi, Amir. Well, I guess you heard the bad news about William,” Officer Roberts said.
“What do you mean?” Amir asked.
“Oh, I thought he told you,” Officer Roberts said. “William is not going to be able to go to climbing camp with you.”
Amir was shocked. “I just got a text message from him yesterday!” he said. “He didn’t tell me anything was wrong.”
“Well, it seems like William is doing some dangerous climbing, just like you used to,” the officer said. “He got caught trying to free climb some big rock out by his house. He fell and almost broke his neck. He’s fine, but his parents grounded him for six months. Including climbing camp.”
Widowmaker, Amir thought. His heart sank.
Amir sent William a text message on his way home, but William didn’t respond.
Three weeks went by, and Amir didn’t hear anything from his friend. Finally, the night before the first day of camp, Amir got a text message.
“Have fun,” was all it said.
Amir replied, but William didn’t say anything else.
* * *
Camp was amazing.
Every day, Officer Roberts or Amir’s mom drove him to the outdoor store. There, Amir and ten other guys his age learned everything there was to learn about rock climbing.
By the end of the first day, Amir had reached the top of the rock wall and rung the bell.
On the last day of camp, the instructors brought all the students to a real climbing cliff an hour out of town. Real climbers regularly climbed the cliff, so there were climbing bolts already in place.
Climbing the cliff was one of the scariest times of Amir’s life, but when he reached the top, he felt great.
The class had a picnic on the top of the giant rock. Then they rappelled down the cliff and headed home.
Amir didn’t hear from William until summer was almost over. Then, one afternoon, they were both online at the same time. Amir sent William an instant message.
AMIRCLIMBER: Long time no talk!
ROCKWALLWILLIAM: Yeah, busy.
AMIRCLIMBER: Too bad you couldn’t come to camp. It was so cool. Plus now I have my own rock-climbing gear!
ROCKWALLWILLIAM: Big deal. Free climbing is better.
AMIRCLIMBER: With this equipment and me belaying, you could climb Widowmaker no problem.
ROCKWALLWILLIAM: I don’t need equipment to climb.
AMIRCLIMBER: r u going to free climb it again?
AMIRCLIMBER: r u?
AMIRCLIMBER: R U???
ROCKWALLWILLIAM has signed off.
CHAPTER 7
MISSING WILLIAM
Amir couldn’t believe it. William was climbing Widowmaker with no safety gear.
He knew he should tell Officer Roberts, but he didn’t want to. William might get into trouble. Amir didn’t want that to happen. But if William climbed the cliff, he could seriously hurt himself.
Amir couldn’t sleep that night. Every time he dozed off, he started thinking about William climbing Widowmaker.
Amir remembered the feeling he had the first time he went to the climbing wall, when he slipped off. That horrible feeling of falling ended when the belay rope was pulled. But when a person free climbed, there was no rope to save them.
After tossing and turning for hours, Amir finally fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he suddenly knew exactly what he needed to do. He needed to help William.
As he brushed his teeth, he heard a knock at the front door. He swung the door open. Officer Roberts was standing there. He looked upset.
“Amir, I need your help,” the officer said. “It’s William. He’s missing.”
“Missing?” Amir said.
“Yes,” Officer Roberts replied. “His mother said he wasn’t home when she woke up this morning. And he’s been gone all day.”
Amir took a deep breath. “I think I might know where he is,” he said. “Do you know where that big cliff is that he climbs?”
Officer Roberts nodded. “I think so, yes,” he said. “But William knows he is not to go near that. He got in so much trouble last time he was there. Plus, he could have died. I don’t think he’d go back.”
“I do,” Amir said. “If you take me there, I think I can help.”
CHAPTER 8
TO THE RESCUE
Amir quickly went to his room. He put all of his climbing gear into a bag. He wrote a note to his mom, telling her what was happening and where he would be. Then he and Officer Roberts left.
Officer Roberts turned on the lights on his police car. They drove out to the town where William lived. It was about thirty minutes away from Amir’s apartment building.
On the way, Amir told the officer about the instant messages from William the night before. Officer Roberts looked worried.
“I’m pretty sure he’s trying to climb Widowmaker,” Amir said. “And I know he’s doing it without equipment.”
Officer Roberts sighed. “It sure sounds like it,” he said. “I just hope we can make it in time.”
Soon, Officer Roberts parked his squad car at the base of a steep cliff. Amir couldn’t believe his eyes. The cliff had no slope at all — it was a sheer wall of rock that stretched up for what seemed like miles.
There were some rocks sticking out that a person could use to free climb, but Amir didn’t think there were enough.
Plus
, the cliff was hard and rough. Any fall down the side of the cliff, even just sliding down the rough surface, could hurt someone.
Amir walked around the base of the cliff, looking up.
“What are you doing?” Officer Roberts asked.
“I’m looking for something,” Amir said.
“Looking for what?” Officer Roberts asked.
“William told me about a crack in the cliff,” Amir said. “He said it was big enough to hide in. There! There it is!”
Amir pointed up. Officer Roberts looked up the side of the cliff. He saw a large crack in the side of the rock, about halfway up.
“That’s where he is, I bet,” Amir said.
“All the way up there?” Officer Roberts said quietly. “That’s so dangerous.”
“William!” Amir yelled. “Are you up there?”
A soft voice called back. “That was him,” Officer Roberts said. “I’m sure of it.” He headed toward his squad car. “I’m calling the fire department,” he said.
“Wait! What’s that?” Amir asked. He pointed at the side of the rocky cliff, about ten feet above their heads. “Is that what I think it is?”
Officer Roberts asked, “What is it?”
Without another word, Amir ran to the squad car and grabbed his climbing equipment. Then he started getting into his harness.
Before long, he was all strapped up, with ropes attached, and wearing his helmet.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Officer Roberts asked. “I don’t need two of you crazy kids stuck up there. There’s no way I’m letting you do this, Amir.”
Amir stopped. He stared at Officer Roberts. “Officer Roberts,” he said politely, “here’s the deal. No fire truck’s ladder can reach that high. And that thing right there, sticking out from the cliff? That’s a bolt. A climbing bolt. Do you know what that means?”
Officer Roberts’s frown turned into a smile. “Yes, I do,” he said. “It means that real climbers use this cliff.”
“Exactly,” Amir said. “And they do it the right way. That’s what I’m going to do.”
Officer Roberts quickly called for an ambulance and the fire department to help them.
“You should tell them to bring an extra harness,” Amir said. “I have an extra one, but you need to wear it so that we can attach my rope to you.”
“Got it,” Officer Roberts said.
“Just make sure to keep the rope tight,” Amir added. “With each climb I make, you’ll have to pull a little bit, to make sure the rope will hold me if I fall. And I have an extra rope, so we can help William get down.”
“Okay,” Officer Roberts said.
Amir started up the side of the rock. He left one end of the rope for Officer Roberts to use to belay for him.
As he climbed, Amir moved from one bolt to another. At each new bolt, he hooked up the belay rope. After only a few minutes, he had reached the huge crack in the side of the rock.
CHAPTER 9
BOLTED
William had described an opening big enough to set up camp in. But the crack only went back a few feet. It was barely big enough to sit in. Amir couldn’t imagine anyone sleeping in there. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
But William was inside. He was sitting back against the rock. His eyes were huge. Amir could tell that he was scared out of his mind.
Amir reached for his friend. “Come on,” Amir said. “Let’s go back down.”
Instead of reaching back, William clung tighter to the rock. “No!” William shouted.
Amir frowned. “Come on, William,” he said. “It’s not safe up here.”
William shook his head. “I can’t move,” he said quietly.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Amir asked. He leaned over to see if William was bleeding.
“I’m not hurt,” William said. “I got up here last night, and when I saw that there wasn’t a cave, I just freaked out. Now I’m too scared to go down.”
“I got you, bud,” Amir said. “Guess what? This rock’s bolted!”
Amir leaned out of the crack. Emergency workers were gathered below. “Send up another harness,” Amir called. He dropped one end of his extra rope down.
Soon, Amir pulled up a harness for William. William slipped it on without standing up.
While William got ready, Amir ran his extra rope through a bolt in the rock. Then he clipped it to William’s harness.
Amir leaned out of the crack again. He dropped the other end of the rope down to one of the firefighters.
“There,” Amir said. “You’re all set. The big guys are down at the bottom. They’re ready to help us get down. All you need to do is rappel down, just like at the climbing wall.”
“Okay,” William said nervously. Then he asked, “Is this what you learned at climbing camp?”
“Yeah,” Amir said. “And if you ever stop climbing things you shouldn’t be climbing, you can learn that stuff too.”
Both boys laughed. As they got ready to head down the cliff, William looked over at Amir. “Next year,” he said, “I’m there.”
Then they slowly headed onto the face of the cliff.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Temple lives in Rosemount, Minnesota, with his wife and three children. He has written more than thirty books for children. Over the years, he has coached more than twenty kids’ soccer, basketball, and baseball teams. He also loves visiting classrooms to talk about his writing.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
When Sean Tiffany was growing up, he lived on a small island off the coast of Maine. Every day, from sixth grade until he graduated from high school, he had to take a boat to get to school. When Sean isn’t working on his art, he works on a multimedia project called “OilCan Drive,” which combines music and art. He has a pet cactus named Jim.
GLOSSARY
belay (buh-LAY)—in climbing, to secure a rope to the climber and to a person on the ground so that the climber does not fall
equipment (i-KWIP-muhnt)—the tools needed for a particular purpose
experience (ek-SPEER-ee-uhnss)—skill or knowledge
harness (HAR-niss)—an arrangement of straps worn around the body to keep someone safe
hold (HOHLD)—something that is grabbed or held on to for support
muscles (MUHSS-uhlz)—the parts of your body that produce movement
rappel (rah-PEL)—to climb down a vertical surface using a rope
surface (SUR-fiss)—the outside or outermost layer of something
unnecessary (uhn-NESS-uh-ser-ee)—not needed
vertical (VER-tuh-kuhl)—upright, or straight up and down
MORE ABOUT ROCK CLIMBING
Rock climbing looks like lots of fun, but it can be extremely dangerous. Just like Amir and William learned, you should never try to climb a cliff or rock without proper training and equipment. You should be able to find rock climbing classes in your area by looking on the Internet. Of course, be sure to have adult permission before signing up for any classes.
There are many different types of rock climbing. Here are some examples:
* Ice Climbing: Instead of climbing a rock, climbers use picks, special shoes, and axes to help them climb giant walls of ice.
* Indoor Climbing: Climbing on a man-made wall inside a building. It’s a great way to learn how to climb from experts.
* Solo Climbing: Free climbing all alone, with no ropes or protection. It’s the most dangerous type of climbing.
* Traditional Climbing: Climbers usually go in groups or pairs, with each climber having another person belay for them. In traditional climbing, there are no permanent holds for the climber to use. They must insert and secure all of their own holds on the climb, or use natural holds on the rock’s surface to help them.
* Sport Climbing: Just like traditional climbing, except climbers use holds that are permanently attached to the surface of the rock (like the bolts Amir found on Widowmaker in this story).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
&n
bsp; Was it wrong for William to climb Widowmaker without equipment?
Why did Officer Roberts offer to take Amir to the climbing wall in the beginning of this book?
Did Amir do the right thing when he told Officer Roberts that he thought William was at Widowmaker?
WRITING PROMPTS
Pretend that you’re Amir. Write a journal entry about your experience at climbing camp.
In this book, William broke the rules when he climbed Widowmaker, and he almost got badly hurt. Have you ever broken the rules and put yourself in danger? Write about it. What happened?
In the beginning of this book, Amir climbed buildings because he was bored. What do you do when you’re bored?
OTHER BOOKS BY JAKE MADDOX
On a hunt with his dad, Ethan discovers some dead deer left in the woods. A poacher is killing the animals for fun. Ethan knows that’s against the Hunter’s Code — after all, he broke that rule himself.
Nick has always loved camping, but his cousins don’t listen to his warnings about campfires and bears, and they make fun of everything Nick does. When Devin finds himself in real danger, can Nick save him in time?
INTERNET SITES
Do you want to know more about subjects related to this book? Or are you interested in learning about other topics? Then check out FactHound, a fun, easy way to find Internet sites.
Our investigative staff has already sniffed out great sites for you!
Here’s how to use FactHound:
1. Visit www.facthound.com
2. Select your grade level.
