Page 69 of Knight Moves

I glanced at Bo and he looked at the group. “Are we in agreement that Angel should ask the question?”

Everyone nodded, so he swept out his hand toward Mr. Donovan. “Ask away.”

I walked over to Mr. Donovan, who was watching us from the shade of a tree, his arms crossed against his chest.

“Mr. Donovan?” I said. “We have our one question ready.”

“Go ahead, Ms. Sinclair.”

“How is the object we’re supposed to retrieve from atop the pole attached?”

Mr. Donovan smiled. “It’s snapped in and rotated once.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Satisfied?” Bo asked me.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

One by one, we climbed up on top of each other, a human pyramid of sorts. Those of us who were climbing last helped get everyone below us in place. Climbing last had its advantages, as I could watch how everyone else did it before me. When it was my turn, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Still, I watched where I stepped and didn’t look down even once.

Climbing up Hala was the hardest, because she was so small. She crouched the best she could, and I carefully put each of my feet on her shoulders. She steadied my ankles with her hands as I stretched myself up. I was trembling. My fingers nearly touched the top, but I was still a few inches too short.

“I’m just shy of reaching it,” I announced.

A collective groan came from below me. I inadvertently glanced down and saw a crew had blown up and arranged the mats closer around us, presumably to protect us if we fell. I looked straight ahead as my stomach flipped in anxiety.

I leaned slightly against the pole to steady myself, but it was greased, even up this high up. I had to be careful not to put too much of my weight against the pole for fear of slipping off.

“Don’t worry. I have an idea.” I carefully removed the rope from my shoulder and began forming a knot. “I’m going to tie a noose with the rope and slip it over the object. I’m close enough to do that. I think. Then I’ll tighten it and pull. Hopefully, it will pop off.”

“Hurry up,” Mike called up. “We have eleven minutes.”

I fought the urge to rush. Rushing meant mistakes, and we didn’t have time for even one. I drew in slow, careful breaths as I tied the knot, eyeballing the opening to ensure it was smaller than the pole so it wouldn’t slide down.

“Okay, knot is tied,” I yelled. “Stand by.”

I reached up, carefully pushing the noose up to the top of the pole. Using my arm to toss or throw it was out of the question, as the movement could topple me off. I’d have to use my wrist to flick it as hard as I could over the object.

When I had gone as far as I could reach, I flicked my wrist and gently pulled. The noose came right back to me, landing on my back. It hadn’t gone over the object.

I tried twice more, but no success. Sweat dripped down my temples and blurred my vision. My shoulders and back were screaming from the strain. I could hear whimpers from Hala below and knew my weight had to be digging into her shoulders.

I closed my eyes, took a breath.

“How’s it going, Angel?” Bo shouted up.

“Stand by,” I answered, reaching up and giving the noose another wrist flick. This time when I pulled, the noose didn’t come back. I carefully tightened it. I pulled as hard as I could, but I wasn’t at the right angle to twist it.

“Guys, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is I’ve got the noose around the object. I’ve pulled, but from my vantage point, I can’t rotate it enough to pop it off.”

More groans came from below.

“We’ve got only one option,” Bo called up. “We’re going to have to move.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

ANGEL SINCLAIR

---