Escape to Canamith

by Richard Friedman

  Mathis shook his head, “Fifty, sixty feet or so.”

  “Now what do we do?” asked Lila.

  “Not much. It’s up to them to help us. We’re the ones up in the air. We can’t jump from here, that’s for sure. We’d kill ourselves from this distance. I don’t think even dad has a Plan B for this one.”

  Lila disagreed. “This is Rex Templeton you’re talking about.”

  “True, the man does have a plan. Let’s let him know we’re here.”

  “Mathis, I haven’t seen him in years. What if he doesn’t want us here?”

  “Lila, give him a chance.”

  Mathis had no idea what her reception would be, but this was not the time to think of that. First things first: they had to get down there.

  “Let me handle this,” said Mathis.

  Mathis maneuvered back to the end of the tunnel path. From down below he heard voices. Mathis dislodged a small stone from the edge of the tunnel path and it fell down, hit one of the tables, bounced eight feet off the ground, and landed harmlessly on the ground. Rex stopped cold in his tracks and looked down to the area where the stone landed. He tried to figure out the stones origin based on the trajectory. He used his finger to follow the sight line he had imagined in his head and when he reached the spot at the top of the old tunnel entrance, he saw the outline of a human head. Mathis stuck his head over the opening and yelled down at the assembled group.

  “Hey, Dad, are we too late for dinner?”

  A gasp ran through the crowd. Rex raised his hands and hushed the crowd. He cupped his hands around his mouth and said loud enough for all to hear. “Mathis, my boy, you certainly know how to make a grand entrance!”

  CHAPTER 45

  When they realized their beloved Mathis had returned home, almost everyone cheered with excitement.

  Rex stood in front of the crowd, no longer concerned with laundry, food, or the impending destruction of the world. He focused on the people located above the conference room.

  “Hang on a minute, Mathis. I’m tossing around a few ideas in my head to get you down. Is my granddaughter up there with you?”

  “Yes, Dad, Sophie’s here,” shouted Mathis.

  Rex didn’t respond. He knew that if Sophie was there, the other two people with his son must be J.J. and Lila. That excited him, but he went into crisis management mode and told one of the Elders to go his dwelling and bring back the large green box in the corner of the bedroom closet.

  He returned within minutes with the large container.

  “What’s in the box?” asked Buck.

  “Rope. That’s our family up there and I’m going to get them down and you’re going to help me.”

  Rex opened the box and brought out the beginning section of a long rope ladder. The rope was several inches thick. Brown in color, it was a gift from General Taft years ago. Taft thought Rex should have it in case anyone had to escape out of a window. When Rex told him there were no windows in the tunnels, Taft laughed and told him to keep it anyway.

  Three questions remained unanswered. Was the rope long enough to reach the ceiling? Was the rope strong enough to withstand the weight of the people trying to use it? And lastly, was there a spot strong enough in the secondary tunnel path to affix the rope to?

  The same men who retrieved the box prepared the rope for the first part of the plan. They began making a knot strong enough to withstand the pressure that would be placed on the rope while the people were descending from the ceiling.

  “Rex, we’re ready to give it a try,” said one robed man. Rex grabbed the rope and did his own inspection. He made minor adjustments to the rope and gave the knot a final tug.

  “Looks good to me,” Rex declared.

  “Dad, I can reach them. Let me do it,” said Buck.

  Lucas White had inched up to the front of the group and announced to anyone that would listen, “My arm is stronger and more accurate. Let me do it.”

  Ethan pushed through the crowd with reckless abandon and grabbed his son by the collar. Lucas pushed his father away with the ease.

  “Dad, what are you doing?”

  Ethan’s wrath was apparent to those close to the scene. Bulging eyes, a single large vein engorged with blood protruded on the right side of his neck.

  “What am I doing? Don’t you have any pride? How many times are you going to be embarrassed by those Templeton kids? You might be able to stand there and take the humiliation, but I can try and stop it. That girl disgraced you. We don’t need her back here. If she’s so smart, let the fancy scientist figure out a way to get down here on her own. I’m not here to help and you shouldn’t either if you had any sense. Now come with me back to our room.”

  Lucas held his ground.

  “Dad, this had gone on far too long. Those were your battles, not mine. I’m not humiliated or disgraced. I thought Lila and I had something, but we didn’t. I’m married to a wonderful woman. You must let it go, Dad. All of it.”

  Ethan wasn’t ready for that. He took Lucas by the shirt, pulled him close, hesitated, and then pushed his son away in disgust and turned back towards the rear of the room, heading to his living area.

  “Rex, I’m sorry you had to hear that,” said Lucas.

  “It’s okay. Your dad’s dealing with a lot of issues right now. Why don’t you go and be with him? We’ll get them down.”

  “I want to help.”

  “Fine, then let’s get to work. The end of the rope is secure. We don’t know if there is a spot for them to secure the rope on their side.”

  Rex cupped his hands around his mouth and gazed up at the waiting quartet. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yeah. What’s the plan?”

  “Do you have a place you can attach the rope on your end that will support your weight?”

  “I don’t know, let me check. It’s dark up here. Give me a minute.”

  A few minutes later, Mathis called down.

  “Dad, I think we’ve got it.”

  Rex looked at Lucas and nodded. He knew nobody else in the village had the strength to toss the rope that high. Lucas spent a moment stretching his shoulder muscles. He swung his arms wildly in big circular motions, as if he was a helicopter turned sideways. Small beads of sweat began to pepper his forehead.

  “I’m ready,” said Lucas.He grabbed the knotted end of the rope with his right hand. The knot would provide weight at the end of the rope and allow him to propel the rope high enough for Mathis to catch it. “Just like when we were kids,” shouted Lucas.

  Mathis found that funny. A small nervous laugh popped out of his mouth. “Give it your best. I’ll catch it if you can get it close.”

  Lucas swung the rope around his head a few times and before he let go, the rope nearly came out of his hand.

  Elder Braham interrupted. “Folks, take a step back, give him room.”

  The second heave was better. Lucas launched the rope high into the air, but the weight at the end of the rope brought the twine too far to the left of the Mathis, who tried in vain to catch it, but had no chance at the errant toss.

  “That was better, Luke, the next one ought to do it,” said Mathis, trying to instill confidence in his old pal.

  The force of the throw had given Lucas a sharp pain that ran through the tip of his right shoulder and spread to his elbow. He had grimaced in pain when he released the rope, but everyone was watching the brown twisted hemp soar upward and nobody noticed the young man’s discomfort.

  Lucas knew he had one more toss remaining in his arm. He rubbed his elbow vigorously in an attempt to relieve the soreness.

  “Are you all right? asked Rex.

  Before Lucas could answer, a chunk of the wall that Mathis had been leaning on gave way and sent a wave of debris hurdling toward the crowd below. The people scattered and barely avoided being hit by the largest piece that had fallen.

  Mathis moved his hands backwards quickly as he felt the wall give way. Rex saw what was happening and didn’t like the odds. He t
urned to Lucas and said, “Can you do it? If not, we’ll figure out another way.”

  “I can do it,” said Lucas. He moved back a few feet from the spot where his first two attempts had failed. He eyed the spot where he wanted the rope to go, and took several running steps to help build his momentum. He stopped short again, measuring his angles, speed, and release point. He gave Rex a wink with his left eye. He retreated to the spot where he had started a moment ago and repeated his efforts, but this time he released the rope. Lucas screamed in pain as the knotted end of the rope sailed upwards and carried higher and higher, appearing to defy the laws of gravity.

  Mathis reached his right hand out with all of his length to meet the rope as it hung at its apex for a split second. His fingers mishandled the twine at first, but he recovered and grabbed it before it fell back down.

  A huge cheer rose from below as Mathis slid backwards and found solid footing.

  Rex went over to Lucas and patted him on the back shouting, “You did it! You did it!” With each slap, Lucas winced and shrank away. When Rex realized Lucas was hurt, he pulled back and looked for the doctor, who had observed the last toss and immediately saw the problem. Doctor Leber motioned his assistant to retrieve a bag of ice.

  “Great toss, buddy!” shouted Mathis.

  Lucas got to his knees and said, “You owe me big time for this!”

  CHAPTER 46

  J.J. fastened the rope to an outcropping in the wall. It was the first thing that had gone without a hitch in two days.

  J.J. gave the rope a tug and felt it hold firm to the wall. “It’s solid,” said J.J.

  Mathis grabbed the rope. “Lila, you go first, and then J.J. will help Sophie down. If that rope loosens at all, I don’t want it to happen when the two of you are on it.” Sophie started to cry.

  “No, Mommy, I’m too scared! It’s too high! I don’t want to die. Please, don’t make me, Mommy, please!”

  “Sweetheart, I’m afraid it’s the only way down. Daddy will carry you, it’ll be all right.”

  Lila knew that if J.J. was going to lower himself down the rope and carry his daughter at the same time, he would need Sophie’s cooperation. J.J. couldn’t climb down the rope with a struggling and frenetic daughter tugging at his side or grabbing his neck in fear.

  Sophie continued to whimper.

  “Honey, please, calm down,” JJ soothed. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Haven’t I told you that we’re going to be okay? Remember when I promised you’d see Mommy again?”

  Sophie nodded.

  “Then I won’t let anything happen to you now.”

  Sophie calmed a little, but she wasn’t convinced that descending from the ceiling on a rope was an easy task. “Daddy, that doesn’t make sense. What does before have to do with climbing down the rope?”

  Lila finished the explanation. “What your dad is trying to say is that he will protect you. Being scared is rational, but you don’t need to be frightened. That’s a different thing. Just like at home; remember our big words, Sophie?”

  “Yes, Mommy: all things can be explained.”

  “That’s right dear, and this is an example of mass, gravity, tension, and various other scientific principles mixed together to get us down to the ground. I’m a bit anxious to get started. What do you think?”

  “I think you’re nuts. Scientific principles?” said Mathis.

  “I’m scared, Mommy.”

  “I understand, but I promise Daddy will keep you safe. J.J., you should go first with Sophie. The rope is going to the strongest at the beginning and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to hold Sophie. If you go first, then at least Sophie will be safe and sound.”

  “Don’t worry,” said J.J., “you’ll be great. Stop trying to ascertain the probability of the rope breaking. Hold on the rope, go slow, and hold Sophie tight. You have to go slow or you’ll start an uncontrolled spin.”

  “Thanks for the confidence,” Lila said sarcastically.

  “I’m serious. Take it slow. Come on, you can do this.”

  Mathis stood by the wall anchor, and prepared to use whatever strength he had left to relieve any tension on the rope when the Lila and Sophie were climbing down.

  J.J. went back to the opening and glanced down one more time to the hushed crowd. Dozens of bed pillows and mattresses had been positioned at the anticipated drop zone. Even if the climbers could stay on the rope, the rope would only get them within twenty-five feet of the floor. This new “mountain” of bedding continued to grow and now reached six or seven feet high. If the climbers fell from thirty feet, they might suffer serious injuries.

  Lila was ready to go. Sophie was terrified, but it was time to move. Lila grabbed her backpack and pulled out a hat and a pair of gloves. She strolled over to her daughter and caressed her hair. Lila second-guessed every decision she had made in the last two days. What have I gotten my daughter into with this crazy idea?

  “Sophie, my sweet girl, I don’t know what is going to happen when we get down there. I know for a fact we can’t stay up here, and we can’t go out the way we came in. That means our only choice is to go down. I’m going to go down the rope with you. There are a couple of things we need to talk about. I know you’re scared. Everybody gets scared. Even mommies get scared. Did you know I hate snakes? Sometimes at work I have to touch them and I don’t like those days. While we’re on our way down to the ground, I don’t want you to look down. In fact, I want you to use this hat that I brought with me to cover your eyes.”

  Lila demonstrated how she wanted Sophie to use the hat like a blindfold, preventing the girl from seeing how far from the ground they were.

  “I want you to face me while we go down, and I’ll be talking to you the entire way. I’ll be right with you. You’ll wrap your legs around my waist, and hold on to my back real tight. You should be able to wrap yourself around me and then I want you to link your hands together like you do when you and daddy do when you cross the street. Do you think you can do that for me?”

  “Uh-huh,” Sophie said quietly.

  “That’s my big girl.”

  J.J. peeked over the high drop and gave the thumbs up signal to the crowd below.

  “She’s ready,” yelled J.J.

  Lila positioned herself on the top rung of the rope ladder. She tried not to think about how much weight she would be putting on the rope as she descended. Lila waited at the top of the rope while J.J. escorted his child towards her mother. When J.J. placed her on the rope with Lila, she did as instructed and pulled the hat down as far as it would go over her head. She wrapped her hands around her mother’s back and then with the help of her father, she took her right leg and moved it around her mother’s left side and rested her foot on Lila’s backside. The she did the same thing with her left leg.

  Sophie had locked on to Lila with such force that the tips of her fingers were white from the pressure. Lila didn’t dare say a word about relaxing her grip.

  “I’m going to say ‘one, two, three’, and then I’m going to take the first step.”

  Sophie nodded, but was too scared to speak.

  The rope was steady as Lila counted off the numbers and then away they went. The first two steps were uneventful as mother and daughter were linked as one.

  The third step for Lila was ill measured, and her foot missed the cross bar of the rope and the pressure on the side of the rope forced the rope to sway to the right. Lila quickly adjusted her foot and found the toehold and steadied the rope. Mathis was lying on his back, feet pushed hard against the side of the wall, and his hands were trying to take the brunt of the weight that was starting to mount on the support piece sticking out from the wall. So far, so good, and Mathis was not wilting from the strain.

  Lila was able to step down twelve rungs before her next mishap. This one wasn’t her fault. She had planted her right leg down on the rope and as she lifted her left leg from the rope above the right one, the crossbar gave way and went limp to the side of the rope. The
crowd gasped as Lila slid down to the next support piece and she landed on it with enough force to force all parties to stop for a minute and wait. Would the rope hold?

  “Careful!” yelled J.J.

  Lila felt her daughter’s heart pounding through her shirt. “Easy, baby; Mommy is doing fine. I couldn’t have ever done this without you. You’re so brave. I’m proud of you.”

  Sophie was motionless as Lila reached the halfway point. More panic set in when another crossbar piece broke a few steps later. This time, Sophie landed on Lila with a jolt, and when Sophie adjusted her arms to re-tighten her grip on Lila, she bumped off the hat, and it fell harmlessly the ground. A little boy picked it up and started to put it on, but his mother grabbed from her son and stuffed it in her back pocket for safekeeping.

  Sophie let out a sharp scream that startled Lila. She instinctively tried to turn and check on the girl, but her quick movement had forced the rope to twist. First to the left, and then slowly back to the right. Lila and Sophie were far from the top and J.J. couldn’t help them. They were too far away to get any assistance from below. Lila was going to have to fix this on her own. All she could do was to try and keep moving lower as slowly as she could. She didn’t want to spend any extra time elevated off the ground with her daughter than she needed to. She quickened her pace and in another minute, she had traversed the last of the ladder-rope and stood patiently as she waited for instructions from her rescuers.

  “Lila, we’re ready. I think you should help Sophie jump first,” she heard Lucas say. “If you fall together, you could end up landing on top of her.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” She turned to Sophie and said, “Sophie, now you have to do one last thing and then you’ll never have to do anything like this ever again. I want you to jump off and land on all that padding. Pretend you’re jumping on the bed and this time we’re telling you it’s okay.”

  Sophie, her head buried far into her mother’s breast, wasn’t buying that plan. “You tell me that if I keep jumping around on the bed that I’m going to hurt myself. This is a lot higher than the bed.”