by Terry Spear
Nick tried again, slamming the ax at the top of the snowbridge, finally getting some purchase and trying his weight on it. The ax held. But he wasn’t out of danger yet. He tried to dig in with the ice pick, but the way he hit the top of the bridge, it didn’t look like he’d used enough driving force to make it secure enough. He started to pull himself up to the point where he could reach his left hand up and over the bridge, but Aidan was afraid he couldn’t support himself with an injured wrist. Then Ted had hold of Nick’s arm and was pulling him over the lip. Aidan and Holly were practically holding their breaths.
And then the nightmare renewed.
The ice cracked underneath the snowbridge with the men’s weight.
Immediately, Aidan held Holly closer to the ice wall, fearing the ice could hit them and injure them badly, praying Nick would be pulled to safety before the bridge gave way and that Ted wouldn’t be pulled into the crevasse if Nick fell.
As soon as Nick scrambled out of the crevasse with Ted pulling him hard, the rest of the ice bridge fell with a grating sound, hitting the wall of the crevasse and bouncing off. Aidan pulled Holly down against the shelf and covered her body with his, holding her and the rope tight, praying the falling debris didn’t kill them outright, knock them off the ledge, or break it loose.
A chunk of ice slammed into the ledge and broke it off. Holly screamed, he gasped, and they fell.
Chapter 13
Holly was freezing, scared to death Nick wouldn’t make it. When he did and sent the snowbridge careering in her and Aidan’s direction, she was afraid this was going to be the end of them. They fell onto a shelf covered in snow, and Aidan jammed the spare ice pick into the wall next to them, holding tight to her before they slid any farther into the abyss. They were safe enough for the moment, their hearts drumming hard.
She looked up, her eyes misty with tears as the snow fluttered down around them. She was thankful she’d still been in her human form. She wouldn’t have made it as a wolf.
“Are you all right?” Aidan asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay. You? You took the brunt of the snowbridge when it fell.”
“Yeah, some bruises, but they’ll be gone before you know it. Besides, most of the ice hit the shelf we were on, which caused it to break. Mostly just snow hit me. Thankfully, you grabbed the backpack, which had the ice pick and ice screws we need. If it hadn’t been for you, we would be in a worse situation.” Aidan took her gloved hand and placed it on the ice pick. “Hold on to that. I’m going to use an ice screw to tie us to the wall, but it wouldn’t have helped with that last fall.”
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt badly. I hoped the backpack would come in handy. You had hold of me and the rope. I had to do something.”
“You were protecting Nick when you were running from the elk.”
“I should have been more careful. When he started to slip in, I grabbed for the rough of his neck with my teeth, and he pulled me in with him. It was just a natural reaction for me, but it was foolish. Now, I endanger both of us by being down here, and my action didn’t help Nick either.”
“Yeah, but you meant to save him, and that’s all that matters. No one else was close enough to have made a difference.”
She glanced up at the opening. It was wider now that the ice bridge had torn away. “Oh good. We can make it up that way easier now.”
Aidan stopped twisting the ice screw into the wall and looked up. “Hell yeah. I was worried about trying to make it over the snowbridge from underneath it.”
“With carrying me, you mean. You would have made it on your own. No problem at all.”
“Hey, you all right down there?” Ted hollered down to them.
“Yeah, Ted. We fell…maybe another ten feet by the looks of it. But we’re staying put for the moment, and we’re okay,” Aidan shouted up to him. “Is Nick all right?”
“Yeah, he’s a trouper. Damn sorry for what happened.”
“You and Nick got rid of the obstacle in our path, so good job, you two.”
Holly admired Aidan for turning the near disaster into praise. She knew Nick and Ted had to feel awful about it, but she wouldn’t have thought to say what Aidan did.
“Hell, Doc.” Ted didn’t say anything for a moment, sounding a bit choked up. “Yeah, that was the plan. Glad it worked.”
“It’s just a solid ice-and-snow wall now,” Aidan said. “We can go straight up it. Much less dangerous.”
Not that any of this was a piece of cake. Aidan carrying her out on his back? Holly had to admit she was afraid he wouldn’t have the strength. Not unless he was an Olympic weight lifter. She was also afraid that if he slipped and fell, she could lose her grip on him and fall. She wasn’t sure the three men could hold them with the rope.
She finally glanced down at the section of snow they were sitting on, sort of. “Terra firma, for now.” At least it seemed solid enough, covered in snow but sloping dangerously down into the abyss. If they slid any farther, she couldn’t tell where they’d end up. Another shelf? Or would it be the end of them the next time?
“We’re lowering the ice ax, cleats, and helmet to you,” Ted yelled. “Nick’s making a harness for Holly, in case carrying her doesn’t seem like it’s going to work. Nick said there were a few ledges where he could rest a bit. You probably noticed them when Nick was climbing up here.”
“Yeah, good show. We’ve got the other ice pick, and if we need them, the ice screws, so we’ll use them too.”
“Okay.”
Holly knew poor Nick had to hurt when he was trying to use his left hand to make a harness for her, but she also knew Ted and Mike would be busy holding on to the rope to ensure they didn’t lose her and Aidan.
They waited for Ted and Mike to lower the equipment using another rope.
“Hell, I was complaining to myself that Nick had way too much camping equipment with him, but I’m damn glad he had all this stuff,” Ted said.
“You and me both,” Aidan said.
“I never thought I’d be using it to get myself out of real trouble,” Nick said.
The rope tied to the ice ax and harness slid down the ice wall, and Aidan grabbed it. Holly was holding on to his belt with one hand, the ice pick with the other, not trusting he wouldn’t just slide off their “safe” spot, even though he’d attached the rope to the ice screw secured to the wall.
“Are you ready to do this?” Aidan asked her, crouching beside her, the ax driven into the wall, the cleats on the boots, and the helmet secured to his head. He was preparing to put the harness on her.
“Yeah.” She wasn’t really. But she had to be brave like Nick. She might not have the upper body strength of the men, but she was damned determined to do this. Before their last fall, she had been feeling a lot more confident.
Aidan stood, helping her to stand, and she was shivering from the cold and nervousness, when it wasn’t like her to be nervous about much of anything. This was the ultimate test of a person’s fortitude.
He helped her climb into the harness, then attached it to the rope and himself. “I don’t trust it to be secure enough to have them pull you up by it, but it’ll give us a little more security while I climb. Let’s get out of here before Nick changes his mind about giving me some of his blood.”
“Even after all this, you’re still thinking about your research?” she teased.
“Yeah, it takes my mind off this.”
“You two okay down there?” Ted asked.
“Yeah, we’re coming.” Aidan turned his back to Holly. “I want you to climb on my back and hang on tight. I’ll climb a couple of feet to that point right there. And we’ll keep inching our way up that way. If you feel like you can’t hold on, let me know right away. I’ll try to find another safe spot to stop. Don’t wait until you’re desperate. We’ll take as long as we need to make the climb safely.” He twisted the ice scr
ew until he’d freed it and stuck it in his pocket.
“Okay. We can do this. Only I wish you’d let me try on my own.”
“Later, we can go practice climbing. Not here. I won’t risk losing you. Climb on. We need to get out of here and on our way.”
As soon as she was settled on his back, he began to climb. Under any circumstance, it would be a job, but carrying her, it was ten times worse. Using the ice ax, he struck the ice wall and yanked—and the ax held. Holly realized she was holding her breath, and he hadn’t even begun the climb.
Aidan dug the toe of his boot into the snow piled above him against the ice wall and took a tentative step up, then swung his arm up with the ice pick and jammed it into the ice wall a foot away from the other and up higher. And that’s how he began the climb, holding tight to the ice pick, freeing the ax, climbing higher using the cleats on the boots, and slamming the ice ax higher. Then he was freeing the ice pick and beginning again until they reached the first of the ledges he felt was safe enough for both of them to sit on.
“Are you sure the harness won’t work for me?”
He slid his arm around her shoulders and held her close, then kissed her cheek. “If it was a regulated harness made just for that purpose, sure. But not a makeshift one. Don’t you trust that I can make it up the rest of the way with you?” He was asking in a serious way, not joking with her.
“It’s a long way up there still.”
“We’ll keep going. So far, I’ve got this. And as long as you feel safe enough, we’ll keep doing it this way.”
“All right.” She let it be his decision when he was ready to move again. She was afraid it would be dark before they made it to the top and worried that without being able to see the lay of the land, they’d get themselves into more trouble.
“If we don’t make it out by the time it’s dark,” he said as if he’d read her mind, “we’ll head for the trees. It will be a longer way around, but no crevasses there.”
“Good idea. Hopefully, it won’t take us that long.” She regretted saying that as soon as the words left her mouth. “Forget I said that. We’ll take it slow and easy.”
He chuckled. “Come on. Let’s take it one step at a time.”
When they stopped the next time, they were still about two feet below where they’d been on the ice shelf initially.
“We’re making good progress,” he said, holding her tight again on the next ledge.
She rested against him, trying not to show how anxious she was and trying to get warmer.
“I think we’re going to need two steaks apiece after this. I hope we bought enough for everyone. Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Did you hear my stomach rumbling?”
He chuckled. “I thought it was mine.”
She wondered how he could hear it over her drumming heartbeat. She climbed on his back, and he began again. She didn’t talk to him while he was climbing, not wanting to distract him. Everyone was quiet from up above too. She looked up. Ted was watching them, holding on to the rope, waiting for them to make the next move.
Aidan paused on another small ledge. “Would it be too early to seriously ask you to date me?” Aidan carefully rose and helped her up.
“I think we’ve already had a first couple of dates, at least as wolves. So no, it’s not too early. In fact, I think all these adventures have gotten us further along than most wolves who are courting.”
He smiled. “I was thinking more like dinners out or candlelight dinners in. A movie. Dance hall. Something a little less—”
“Adventurous? I like adventurous. Um, maybe not quite this much of a high adventure, but you know what I mean. In my work, I don’t do much that’s all that exciting.”
“This has got to top the list.”
“For you too?”
“Even for me. Ready?”
“Yeah.” She was this time. He was being ultra-careful. She knew he had to be tired, his arms wearied beyond measure, but he was still pushing himself to get them to safety. Nearer the top, Nick had made it look easier. She was hoping it would be that way for them too.
They had climbed about two feet when Mike called out, “Hey, where’s Greg?”
“If he went to get help, he’ll be in so much trouble,” Nick said.
“He’s just worried about Holly and Aidan,” Ted said.
What a mess that would be. She could just see him racing back to the cabins and causing all kinds of havoc. Her family would be horrified. Ronald and Jared and his other men would be ready to string the lot of them up after they rescued her.
She prayed they’d be out of the crevasse before anyone arrived.
A few minutes later, Mike said, “Forget it. He was just taking a leak.”
Aidan managed a chuckle. He sounded as relieved as she was. She had no intention of telling her family how serious this had been. Yes, she’d have to tell them she and Nick had fallen into the crevasse, but not any of the details. Greg hadn’t actually seen them. At least she hadn’t thought he had. She hoped he stayed far away from the crevasse.
At the next rest spot, Aidan held her tight and closed his eyes. She couldn’t, afraid he’d fall asleep and roll off the narrow shelf they were resting against. At least they were only about twenty feet from the top now.
Ted peered down at them. “You’re halfway here.”
Without opening his eyes, Aidan said, “Over halfway there.”
She chuckled. “Glass half-full kind of guy, eh?”
“Over halfway full. Yeah.” He glanced over the edge and looked down. “Besides, we are over halfway there.”
She looked down but couldn’t tell. “If you say so.”
“I do.” He took a longer break, because they were “over” halfway there. Then they began the climb again.
“How long is this going to take?” Greg asked. “I mean, what if one of you guys went down to carry my sister up? Aidan’s got to be worn out. I know if I had to carry her, I’d have died twenty feet earlier.”
“There’s no place for anyone else to climb down to another ledge. Where we were standing broke off. It’s gone. Everything else is either a one-man shelf or two,” Nick said. “Aidan will get her up here. She may have to doctor him when he reaches the top, but he’ll make it.”
Holly loved Nick. He was always good with people, which made it so tragic that Ronald had banished him. Greg was a top-notch brother too, though his comment about how carrying her would kill him before he even got started on the climb? She’d have to remember to get him back for that.
She clung tighter to Aidan. She would give him a good muscle rubdown when they reached the cabin.
Aidan paused, clinging to the ice with the pick and ax, cleats dug in. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, worried you…were losing…your grip. Glad…to know…you just wanted…to hug me…tighter.”
She chuckled. “Yes, that’s what I wanted. After all these dates we’re having.”
He chuckled. “Good progress.”
Dating?
“Dating,” he clarified.
She smiled against his back.
They stopped again after ten feet to rest, and she looked up at the last ten feet they had to navigate. “Nick moved pretty fast up that last section. Are you sure you can’t just drag me up by the ropes the last of the way after you climb to the top?”
“No. You’re right. Nick did well the last few feet. We’ll do this together. We’re almost there.”
She didn’t think Aidan would make it up that section as easily as Nick did, not while carrying her. But she was thankful the snowbridge was gone. She was sure Aidan would never have made it up there with her.
“Hey, they’ve got to be dehydrated,” Nick said. “Send them a couple bottles of this water.”
Within a few minutes, Ted had low
ered the water to them.
“Thanks, guys,” Aidan said.
Holly untied the water bottles from the rope while Aidan kept hold of her and the ax dug into the wall. Then they sat down together to snuggle and drink the water. Once they were done, they started the last leg of their journey. Footholds were available going up, but there wasn’t a shelf to rest on. Not any large enough for both of them anyway. Nick had rested against the wall several times while he was climbing up to the snowbridge. And then he’d had an awful time trying to navigate that. Holly had been so afraid he’d fall that she hadn’t considered the bridge could break loose.
“You’re almost there,” Ted said. “Just another couple of feet.”
Aidan had to keep taking breaks against the wall. He was exhausted. They were so close. She wished she could help, but all she could do was cling tight to him.
“Okay, another foot, Doc. You’ve nearly got it,” Ted encouraged him.
Aidan moved up to the next foothold, and then the next, and finally, he used the ice ax to dig into the top of the crevasse.
Suddenly, Mike was on his belly, reaching out to grab Aidan. Or maybe her. Ted was on the other side, letting Aidan get his footing. Trying to pull both of them up at one time would most likely be a disaster. He had to get a little higher.
The next thing she knew, they were pulling him over the edge, or at least Ted and Greg were. Nick and Mike were grabbing for her, knowing she couldn’t hold on to Aidan as they pulled him up.
“We gotcha,” Mike said. “Let go of Aidan. We’re not going to lose you.”
Praying they really did have her, she released her hold on Aidan—and swung free and slammed her body against the ice wall.
“We’ve gotcha. You’re a lightweight.” Mike quickly pulled her over the edge with Nick’s help.
“Yeah, but don’t tell Aidan that. He probably believes I weigh a ton.” She was lying on her back on the snow, looking up at everyone, except for Aidan.
