Cameron of the Skies

2: The Climb-2

BANJO TURNED HIS ATTENTION to his pack, rummaged through his climbing gear and proceeded to get changed, apparently oblivious to her presence. With his back turned, he dropped his pants unceremoniously, revealing a pair of white boxer shorts and well-defined pins which Andy gamely ogled at. He put on a pair of flex pants made of stretchy, lightweight, synthetic fabric. Then, he laced up a pair of Scarpa Rapid LT hybrid shoes on his feet.

He elected to keep the top he had on, a long sleeved blue Swiss military tee. He tucked a climbing helmet under his arm and was ready to go. He turned around to find Andy observing him with a smirk on her face.

‘Ready?’ she asked nonchalantly.

He appraised her for a second without answering. The brunette with light brown eyes was on her toes, her arms over her head stretching, revealing washboard abs through a mid-ribbed length sports tee. She wore a sensible pair of gym capri pants that were comfortable and stretchy.

In his opinion, they were flattering to her curves. The wide waistband had a slimming effect, not that she needed help.

On her part, she hadn’t chosen it for its flattering design but because the waistband kept the pants in place. They never slipped down—with a harness or without. A small gusset in the crotch also prevented any surprise rips, even after deep lunges and high steps.

She wasn’t what Banjo had expected. He’d expected a bloke for one thing, with hairy armpits and all. But this was a pleasant surprise. The fact she was curvaceous was a definite plus; he never fancied women who were skin and bones. But what really gripped him was the pair of deep-set light brown eyes, with long dark natural lashes and lips that reminded him of Scarlett Johansson.

‘Ready?’ the pig-tailed beauty asked again.

He answered in the affirmative.

She led the way to her beat up Pajero then they divided the gear between them. They each clipped a harness around their waist, then attached a number of carabiners, belay devices, and chalk bags to it.

He carried the sixty-metre dry rope across his chest.

She slung a pack of provisions over her right shoulder.

He wordlessly extended a hand to carry the pack.

She raised her eyebrow and said as if he needed assuring, ‘It’s okay.’

He replied in a natural manner, ‘It will upset my mother.’

She laughed, ‘Did you bring her with you?’

‘She has superpowers. She can see halfway around the world.’

‘Suits me,’ she said and shrugged the backpack off and gave it to him.

They simultaneously put on their shades. Then Banjo stepped aside and said, ‘After you.’

She led the way to the pinnacles of Lake Arrowhead, a group of small, granite peaks northwest of the San Bernardino Mountains. Local climbers compare the quality of the rocks here to that of Joshua tree, another world-famous California national park made even more famous by U2’s cover album of the same name. He surveyed the challenge and studied its elevation. Easy peasy.

The chaparral, a heathland plant; and manzanitas, a kind of evergreen shrubs or small trees, surrounded and covered the Pinnacles. For many climbers, these were the greatest deterrent to accessing some of the more remote walls and formations.

A trail led to the beautiful meadow, which Andy informed him was referred to by the locals as “The Centre of the Universe”.

He looked at her with those blue-green eyes and teasingly said, ‘Are you talking about yourself?’

Taken aback, she huffed and carried on.

He was getting on her nerves, his easy laughter and self-assured cockiness boring dangerously into her soul. He chuckled and followed her with his eyes, enjoying the view of her hips swaying left and right as she stomped away.

They walked in silence for a while, with just the sound of crunching scrub underfoot disturbing the peace.

There were at least five walls or groups of outcroppings that were bolted, the area itself has more than fifty routes in Lake Arrowhead to the pinnacles.

She stopped abruptly to offer him a choice, ‘Easy or hard?’

‘Hard,’ he replied.

She led them towards a route called Razor Tips, rated the most difficult of the five walls.

‘How long have you been rock climbing?’ she asked, keen to eliminate the suffocating silence between them.

‘Since I was ten. I have four older brothers who used to take turns taking me along.’

‘Lucky you,’ she said. ‘I was an only child.’

‘You must have been a difficult child,’ he replied teasingly.

‘Excuse me?’ she said, his comment triggering a reaction.

He laughed.

She felt a tingle in her spine, hearing him chuckle like that.

‘How long have you been climbing?’ he asked, once he stopped laughing.

‘Just over ten years. A friend got me hooked.’

They kept hiking until they reached the main pinnacle ridge located on what’s called the Skull formation. They followed the trail heading north, walking around the Skull’s west side.

‘What got you hooked? The company or the view?’

‘The challenge, actually. I liked that it’s a thinking person’s sport.’

He was in total agreement with her. Rock climbing isn’t just about scrambling over rocks, scaling up and jumping down. It is a mental game as much as it is physical. The brain is always calculating, gauging the access, thinking two steps ahead. Climbing rocks is like playing with a real-life puzzle, with your life hanging in the balance helped by surges of adrenalin rush.

‘Here we are.’

The imposing vertical rock of Razor Tips towered over them, making them feel insignificant as they stood at its base. It wasn’t the largest, highest or most challenging he had climbed. He had conquered many, his homeland of Australia and its neighbouring country New Zealand being home to some of the most difficult rock climbs in the world. But this was his first on the North American continent.

Andy had to belay for Banjo, although she was at least seventeen kilos lighter than the Australian pilot.

He watched her create an anchor point before he commenced the climb, giving him confidence that his climbing partner knew what she was doing. An anchor point doesn’t prevent a fall. It prevents the falling climber from counterbalancing the belayer during a fall, causing what’s called a take-off, a situation where the belayer launches into the air or towards the rock.

She watched him search and grope for crags on the surface of the natural features of the rock, then hoist himself up, using mainly his leg muscles. Soon he was scaling up the rock face like Spider-Man on steroids, sure-footed as a mountain goat.

Once he reached the top, he belayed for Andy, who was as adept at climbing as him, although he could teach her a thing or two.

Sitting atop the rock, looking down at a scene of remarkable beauty, they squatted to enjoy refreshments of sandwiches and bottled water. He quietly watched her eat. There was something about her that was appealing. She wasn’t stunning. Not like Caroline, his first love, who could literally stop traffic without batting an eyelash.

Andy was no doubt pretty, but at first glance, she was just easy on the eyes. And yet, the longer he looked at her, the more beautiful she became. Magnetic was the word he was looking for.

‘How long have you lived here?’ he asked by way of more conversation.

She smiled self-consciously.

‘I haven’t always lived here. In fact, I spent the first fifteen years of my life in Australia.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, my Dad’s Aussie, my Mom’s American. When Dad passed away, she moved us back to Texas.’

‘That’s a surprise. You don’t have a Texan drawl.’

She pulled her legs close to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

‘I used to have an Aussie twang, having grown up in Perth, but I lost that, too. Now, my accent is neither here nor there.’

‘Would you go back Down Under?’

‘Not possible,’ she said.

‘Why not?’

‘I’m committed here.’ She didn’t elaborate on what she was committed to because it was classified.

‘What about you? What are you doing here besides climbing rocks?’

He couldn’t tell her because it was classified, so he just said, ‘Training.’

‘Training for what?’

‘This and that.’

She laughed.

He laughed.

It was a ridiculous dance they were doing, but the mystery merely heightened the unwanted attraction between them.

He mentally applied a handbrake: he wasn’t prepared for a fall; not this time, not when he had just recovered from a twice-over heartache with Caroline. They changed the topic and compared notes on rocks they’ve climbed instead.

‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ he asked, though he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to spend more time with her, considering why he was here in the first place. But heck! Who said he couldn’t enjoy the company and friendship of a female?

‘Nothing much,’ she said. ‘Bumming around. I’m on leave.’

‘I am, too. Care to be my tour guide?’

‘No problem,’ she said.

‘Good.’

Hours later, they clambered up some more rocks. At one point, they had to look for a stemming opportunity to relieve their fingers and forearms. Banjo found a pocket of rock and entered; Andy followed. To rest, they wrapped their instep over the rock edge, then squatted onto that foot, with the other leg extended out on the opposite wall.

They were rested like that, side by side. Back against the rock, one foot resting on the opposite wall. They turned to each other and smiled. In that tight rock pocket, an electrical surge threatened to engulf them. Andy looked away; conscious how close they were to each other in this tight space. She attempted to create more room between them, but as she repositioned herself, she slipped on her bum.

Instinctively, Banjo cried out, ‘Hand.’

In a split second, Andy reached for him and managed to grab hold of his fingers. So, there they were, gripping each other with just their fingertips. Their eyes locked. At that instant, they both thought: Wow, that’s some amazing reaction time.

‘Thanks,’ she whispered to him, her heart thumping in her chest rapidly.

He had to pull her up to him, with one arm around her waist, he asked, ‘You okay?’

‘Yeah, I am.’ But she decided she wouldn’t be if they don’t get a move on.

‘Let’s go.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yeah, lead the way.’

He released her from his embrace and waited until she was properly braced against the rock. Then they scrambled down and at a certain point jumped down to make the descent. They traced their steps back to their vehicles without many conversations, conscious of the growing attraction between them.

Sitting in his four-wheel drive, he watched in his rear-view mirror as she drove off. Eventually, she disappeared entirely. He waited for a moment, exhaled and said, ‘Bugger’ to no-one in particular.