Twenty-Four
For one kick-heart moment, I thought I’d forgotten the way down. My fingers clung paralysed to the first ledge as I heard the Land Rover coming closer. Heard it stop. It wouldn’t take them long to come to the edge. To look over and see me hanging a couple of feet from the top. Easy enough to lean down and grab me. Easy enough to reach down and kick me loose.
I forced myself to push the panic away. With my eyes shut I let my body feel the rock. I knew this climb. It was fixed in the memory of my muscles from the countless times Pa had made Kit and me climb up and down the face. Every bit of me thanked him for making us downclimb it instead of rapping down on ropes. As the panic receded, my left foot moved automatically towards the ledge that was the first foothold and my hands
