Deadly Falls

DEADLY FALLS “Help me! Help!” Clinging to a post at the edge of the lookout, her body dangling over the side of the cliff, Charlotte Dean knew it was an almost sheer drop. And if she was lucky to miss the jutting rocks on the way down, the river would do little to cushion her fall. She willed her aching fingers to stay gripped, but they hurt. Her shoulders screamed from holding her weight. Think. Charlotte looked up to her hands around the metal post. It was bolted into concrete and wasn’t about to come loose. Could she lift herself enough to get an arm around the post? She sucked in air and tightened the muscles in her forearms. Up. Her gaze picked a spot above her hands. That’s where she had to be. Up. Fire in her arms. One. Big. Chin-up. Pounding heart. All she could hear. Or was it the waterfall behind? Her eyes levelled with the ground of the lookout. Her bag was there, its contents strewn across the lookout. Rain began. Her fingers slipping again, she forced her muscles to work harder than they’d ever worked. One elbow was over the edge, then the other. She rested on them for a long moment. If she let go one hand, she’d fall. She leaned all her body weight forward and kicked the air. Just enough to get half her body to safety. Don’t let go. Not yet. From the waist up, she was on solid ground again. “Aaah!” She dragged one leg, then the other to the top. Forcing her fingers to the bottom of the post, she lay on her side. “Well, what have we got here?” No. Not you. Charlotte released the post and rolled under the rail, back to the relative safety of the lookout. On all fours she crawled away from the edge through mud. “Looks like you’ve got yourself on the wrong side of the railing, missy.” Sid stood cross-armed at the entrance to the path. To safety. “Couldn’t believe my ears when I heard a cry for help.” “Keep…away.” Charlotte blinked the rain from her eyes, scanning the ground for a stick. Or anything. Any weapon. “You don’t want to do that.” Sid sneered as he uncrossed his arms and put one hand on the police belt. On the holster of his gun. “Time to finish what we started.”