It was far from simple, but it was a pretty ingenious, as well as ambitious, plan. But it would be all for nothing if we couldn’t find the combination to the door lock.
“Let’s do it,” I said with resolve. “But first, everyone look for a series of numbers that could be the combination.”
Wally, Mike, and Kira were already examining the gym equipment for strings of numbers or some kind of code. Jax, Frankie, and I walked around the gym looking for some clue to jump out at us, while Bo and Hala worked out their part of the plan.
Once again, it was Frankie who saved us.
“Hey, what’s that up there?” she said squinting at something high on the wall to the left of the door.
I followed her gaze. It was a dark shape sticking out from the wall. It was barely visible at that height and in that dark corner. Jax joined me, and we strained our eyes to see what it was. I decided to put some light on it, so on my instruction, Jax and Wally reoriented the mirror toward that corner. The light revealed a thin black metal shape of unknown significance that didn’t appear to yield any clues. Disappointed, I was just about to tell Jax to put down the mirror when Frankie shouted at me.
“Angel, wait. Look at the shadow the shape casts.”
Frowning, my gaze moved from the shape itself to its shadow. I saw at once why she was so excited. The shadow clearly resembled the Greek letter pi.
And just like that, we had the combination.
Chapter Forty-Eight
ANGEL SINCLAIR
Hala tied one of the ropes to the top rung of the ladder and connected two more together to make a long enough rope to lower her down by her ankles so she could reach the door. Bo and Jax carefully positioned the ladder between the moat and the small red square and lowered the ladder against the wall. Propping their feet against the ladder feet to keep it from slipping, they grabbed the other ends of the ropes.
Hala started to climb, stopping just short of the wall.
I watched her, not realizing I was holding my breath until I suddenly gasped for air. My nerves were at a breaking point. The timer showed 27. I wasn’t sure that would be enough time to execute the plan.
Showing remarkable calm and poise, Hala tied the ropes around her ankles and then carefully slipped through the rungs until she was hanging underneath the ladder.
“Hold on tight, guys,” she warned as she arched her back and let go.
Bo and Jax grimaced when the rope swung and ladder slid slightly under her weight.
“Whoa,” Mike shouted as they almost lost control of the ladder. The rest of us tried to help Bo and Jax by steadying the ladder the best we could on either side, but Hala swung back and forth wildly, banging into the wall.
“You okay there, Hala?” Jax called. I could see the strain on his face from holding the rope and keeping the ladder in place with his feet. Bo said nothing, but his face was red, and his biceps bulged from the effort.
“I’m okay,” she called back. “Just lower me a little bit more.”
Slowly, they lowered her until she could reach the door.
“I can reach it,” she called out. “Give me the numbers.”
Just as I started to give her the digits of pi, Bo sneezed and his grip on the rope slipped. Hala started to fall and instinctively shot out her hand to protect her head, her fingers lightly touching the floor in the red zone.
The voice over the intercom boomed, “Miss Youseff, you have incurred a five-minute penalty.”
Everyone automatically looked at the timer. 22.
“Dang it. I’m sorry, Hala,” Bo said. I could tell he was really upset with himself, but Jax kept him and us focused.
“Shake it off, Bo,” he said. “Keep your heads in the game, everyone. Pull her up and let’s start over.”
Working together, we pulled Hala back up to the door while I recited the numbers of pi for her. “Three, one, four, one, five, nine, two, six.”
As she punched in the number six, the door abruptly swung open to sunlight.
We cheered, but it was half-hearted. The challenge was far from over.
Jax and Bo quickly pulled Hala up, and she removed the ropes from her ankles, adeptly scrambling down the ladder.
“Okay, Bo, we need to get me across first,” Hala said. “After that, throw the weights over as soon as I get out of the way.”
Nodding, Bo positioned himself at the edge of the red zone in front of the now open door and bent down, interlacing his fingers. “I’m not going to fail you this time, Hala,” he said grimly.
She smiled at him. “You didn’t fail me, Bo. Don’t worry, we’re going to finish this.”
She backed up to get a running start and raced forward, stepping precisely into his hands. Bo straightened and boosted her over. She flew through the door but landed awkwardly on the other side. She was slow to get up and limped a little.
“Hala, tell me you’re okay,” Bo called out.
“I’m fine. Send over those weights now. I’m getting out of the way.”
Bo waited until she disappeared before heaving a weight across the red zone. Jax threw one, and Bo hurled one more. Thankfully none of them landed in the red zone, incurring any more penalties.
“Perfect,” Frankie said, clapping her hands.
“That should do it,” Hala cried, coming back into view.
While we raised the ladder again, Hala arranged the weights by the door. On her command, we slid the ladder carefully down the wall. She caught her end and helped guide it onto the weights.
Kira, Mike, Frankie, and Wally helped slide the weights under the ladder on our side, and voilà, we had a ladder bridge right across the red zone with nothing touching. Exactly as Hala had envisioned.
“Who wants to be first?” Jax asked.
“I’ll do it,” Kira volunteered.
She walked carefully across the ladder, making it easily to the other side. “Come on,” she shouted. “It’s easy.”
One by one everyone followed, except for Bo and me.
“You go next, Bo,” I said. “You’re heavier and I can hold it steady on this side for you.”
Nodding, he crossed and I followed. I was almost across when one of the weights slid a little. Panicked, I jumped the rest of the way, ducking through the door just as the timer above my head flipped to thirteen minutes.
Chapter Forty-Nine
ANGEL SINCLAIR
We dashed into an outdoor, walled courtyard with a white wall about ten feet high.
I did a 360-degree turn, examining the layout. In front of the wall were eight giant 3-D wooden puzzle pieces. The pieces were made out of square wooden blocks with some of the pieces two and three blocks long. I got closer to one of the pieces, I saw the puzzle piece was painted red with only one visible white side. Each piece appeared to have two indented white areas with small metal bars that were obviously designed so the blocks could be picked up and moved. I was still figuring out what we needed to do with the puzzle pieces when Mike spoke up.
He was way ahead of me.
“We have to assemble the puzzle and use it to climb over the wall,” he said, walking around the pieces. “We can’t touch the red sides, but each piece has at least one white side and two handles. It shouldn’t be too hard to drag and lift them into the position we want. I assume all the white sides all go on the same side so we can climb on the white side and have a white top to stand on to get over. Come on, everyone help me assemble them.”
Everyone started pulling pieces together when Hala collapsed on the ground. “My ankle,” she said ruefully. “I injured it when I jumped.”
I expected an evaluator to swoop in and get her, but Kira knelt next to Hala, whipping off her shirt. She’d worn an extra tank underneath, which was brilliant since the last time the girls had to give up our shirts, we had only sports bras underneath. “I’ll stabilize it,” she said. “Don’t worry. Hala. We’ll get you over that wall. Everyone is going to finish this.”
“Don’t bother,” Hala said.
“It’s too late for me anyway. I’ll never make it over in time.”
“Yes, you will,” Kira said, carefully removing Hala’s shoe and expertly wrapping her shirt around her ankle. “We’re all going to finish this.”
“We need to figure out where to assemble that puzzle,” Bo called out. “There has to be something on the other side of that wall. Kira, you’re tall. Come over here. While the rest of the team assembles the puzzle, let’s take a look at the other side, so we know what’s there and if we need to get the puzzle situated in a particular place.”
Kira firmly tied the final knot around Hala’s ankle and stood. “She’s good to go, and so am I.”
Bo held out his hands and crouched down. With surprising ease, Kira took his hands and stepped on his shoulders, bracing herself against the wall. With an impressive chin-up, she pulled herself up onto the wall until she could flip a leg over the ledge.
She lay there, looking over the other side. “Guys, there’s a giant inflatable slide on the other side, this way.” She started crawling along the top of the wall, then stopped. “Line up the puzzle up right here. When you get to the top, you can just slide down. It looks like the finish line is just beyond that. All we have to do is slide down and cross the finish line. Woo-hoo!”
She suddenly disappeared, presumably down the slide. “Kira?” Wally shouted, but was met by silence. He tried again. “Kira!”
“Give it up,” I said to Wally. “She’s already down the slide and across the finish line by now. Good for her. Come on, let’s finish getting this puzzle assembled so the rest of us can get over.”
A loud voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Mr. Drummond and Miss Youseff, your time has expired. However, participants may continue to the finish line if they’re able and so desire. Individuals who elect to complete the course may receive some small extra credit over those who don’t finish at all. Anyone who wishes to leave the competition at this point needs only to let us know.
For a minute, we paused, staring stricken at each other. We looked at Hala, who lifted her chin. “I want to finish it.”
Jax nodded in agreement. “Me, too. Like Kira said, let’s all finish this.”
We madly pulled the puzzle pieces into place. When we were done, Bo lifted Frankie up to the top of the puzzle. She heaved herself onto the top of the wall and, with a cheerful wave, disappeared down the slide. Bo lifted me next to the top of the puzzle. However, instead of going over the wall, I reached down stretched out a hand to help Mike up.
“Red, what are you doing?” Jax demanded.
“It’ll go faster with someone up here helping,” I said. “Just send everyone up quickly.”
Mike grabbed my hand, and I pulled him up the last little bit, shoving him toward the wall. “Go, go, go,” I yelled.
He disappeared over the wall as Wally came next. I pushed him toward the wall, too.
“No, you go next, Angel,” Wally said puffing.
“I’ll follow in a second. Just go.” He looked indecisive but teetered for a moment atop the wall ledge and then disappeared with an oomph.
“Red, get out of here,” Jax shouted at me.
He and Bo were holding Hala between them, carrying her toward the puzzle. My heart, already a wreck with the adrenaline, stumbled in my chest. Bo wouldn’t finish on time if he stayed behind to help Hala.
“Bo, you’re running out of time,” I warned.
“So are you. Go on, Angel. We’ll help Hala. It’s all right.”
I understood now. He didn’t intend to finish on time. Apparently, he’d made his peace with that. He was sacrificing his time to ensure they all finished. Unfortunately, I didn’t see how that would happen. Getting Hala on top of the puzzle without banging her ankle, and possibly injuring it worse, would be difficult without one more person to help them out.
Me.
A sense of calm descended. It suddenly didn’t matter if I finished or not. Sometimes, there were more important things in life than a test.
“Hand her up to me,” I said. Hala glanced up in surprise, pain and anxiety etched on her face.
“Are you crazy, Red?” Jax said, his face flushed from exertion. “Get out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said firmly. “Everyone here is taking one for the team. Why should I be the exception? Stop arguing and hand her up to me.”
Perhaps realizing he wasn’t going to change my mind, Jax finally nodded. Bo helped him get halfway up the puzzle, and Jax clung to the side of a block with one hand, while the other stayed under Hala’s injured ankle, protecting it, as Bo lifted her. I grabbed Hala by both hands when she held them up, pulling her onto the top of the puzzle just as a klaxon split the air, indicating the trial had come to an end.
We’d run out of time.
“Candidates, the time limit for this trial has been reached,” said the voice from the loudspeaker. “I will repeat that participants may continue to the finish line if they desire. If you complete the course, you’ll receive extra credit over those who don’t finish at all.”
Jax climbed the rest of the way up and joined us atop the puzzle piece. We looked down at Bo. With no one to help him, Bo decided to tackle the wall instead. He jogged backward and then took a running jump at the wall. He leaped high, his fingers curling over the side of the wall. He pulled himself up to the ledge and swung a leg over it.
“What?” he said in alarm when he saw us staring at him.
“Are you kidding me?” I said. “You could have done that at any time. The second we left the gym and you saw the wall, you could have jumped over it and finished the trial. You could have been in first place. Bo, why didn’t you go for it?”
He shifted his weight on the ledge. “For the same reason you stayed and helped the others over the wall, Jax stepped on that block to give us the information we needed to solve the puzzle, and Hala hung upside down by her ankles on a rope to open a door for the rest of us. It’s what was needed. Now, shall we finish?”
We nodded at him. I’d never been so honored to be a part of the team.
“Good.” He adjusted his position on the wall so his knees were on the ledge. “I’ll slide down first. Hala, if you’re okay with it, Jax will go down with you so he can protect your ankle from any further bumps.”
“I’m okay with it,” Hala said.
“Perfect. I’ll be there waiting at the bottom to catch you guys. See you in minute.” He crawled along the ledge until he was above the slide, saluted us, and slid down.
Jax settled himself on the ledge, his feet propped up by the inflatable slide. I helped Hala get situated onto his lap, her injured ankle resting atop his leg.
“We’re going to slide down together as carefully as possible,” Jax assured her. “Bo will be at the bottom to slow us. We’ve got this.”
“Okay. Thanks, Jax.” She looked back over her shoulder at me. “And thank you, Angel, for staying behind to help me. You didn’t have to do it, but I’m grateful you did.”
“You didn’t have to risk yourself for us hanging upside down on the ladder to punch the code in or leap across a gym, but you did,” I answered. “Bo is right. This was a group effort.”
Jax smiled at me before he pushed off, holding Hala securely in his lap.
After another minute or so, I figured it was safe enough for me to go down. I hopped up on the edge of the wall and slid down the long, inflatable slide. When I got to the bottom, Jax and Bo were there waiting. They each grabbed a hand, pulling me onto my feet before my bottom had even left the slide.
As I straightened, I looked around, my mouth falling open in astonishment. Everyone stood there waiting for me, including Kira.
What the heck was going on?
“Why is everyone here?” I said in disbelief. “Why didn’t anyone cross the finish line?”
Kira stepped forward. “We started this trial as a team. We’re going to finish as a team. Together.”
Smiling, she held out an elbow. Wally linked his wit
h her, Mike with him, and Frankie slid her arm inside Mike’s. Bo and Jax lifted Hala between them, her arms stretched across their shoulders to relieve any weight from her ankle. Jax held out his elbow to me.
“You ready, Red?” he asked.
Swallowing the lump of emotion in my throat, I nodded and slid my arm into his. “I’m ready.”
Arm in arm, the eight of us crossed the finish line as one.
Chapter Fifty
ANGEL SINCLAIR
Saturday morning we were invited to attend a special evening ceremony to learn the results of our UTOP candidacy. The ceremony would take place in the gym at 7:00 p.m. sharp. While I seriously doubted I would be one of the two candidates passing through to UTOP, I was at peace with myself and my actions. The trials had been an amazing experience and had taught me a lot about myself. I didn’t regret one minute of it.
“So, who’s going into town?” I asked as I pulled a dark-blue sweater over my head. “It’s Saturday, after all.”
“Me,” Frankie said cheerfully.
“Me, too,” Kira said.
“Me and my boot,” Hala said, lifting her leg. She’d suffered a mild sprain in her ankle after her leap across the gym. Last night she’d been fitted with an ankle boot and would have to wear it for a couple of weeks. At least she could walk on her own without crutches. We were all grateful she was going to be okay.
We gave each other a high five and smiled. How things had changed in just four weeks.
Not surprisingly, I was the first to be ready. While the others were getting dressed, I announced I’d wait out front for them. I was the only one there until Mr. Donovan walked up, apparently heading inside.
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