Page 51 of Stuck With Mr. Frosty

“That’s why we ask you to leave us the plan,” I say, trying to keep calm as I unhook the sled from my body and drop the rescue bag to the ground.

My fingers are numb as I pull out the climbing harness and the rope, attaching it to one of the trees. I tie the tightest knot I can while Honey sits at the edge of the cliff, wagging her tail. As I hook myself into the harness and then onto the line, my hands shake. The third body isn’t moving.

“Who’s on the ground not moving?” I ask as I inch my way toward the edge of the cliff.

“Luke.” Her voice breaks as she looks down at him.

The other man, Tyler, nods. “He hit his head on the way down. We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t have a first aid kit with us.”

Becky glares. “I told you we should’ve brought a first aid kit.”

I lower myself over the edge of the cliff. It’s not a far drop, but it’s one I want to be hooked in for. However, the line starts to move, and all of a sudden, the rope springs free.

My body plummets. Pain shoots through my back as I hit the ground, but I can get to my feet. Even though I’m a little wobbly, it’s better than nothing. I pat my pockets. I don’t have my radio. And I didn’t radio this call in. A pit opens in the bottom of mystomach. Calling in an emergency is the first step of a rescue. If I had done that when I was supposed to, backup would be on their way. They would be able to get me and the other three out of here even with my rope snapped. Instead, I’m going to have to climb up the face of the cliff.

I try to focus on one thing, crawling over to Luke and checking him over. Though there’s blood on his head, I don’t think there’s an immediate emergency. His pulse is strong.

“Becky?” I try to keep my tone as calm as possible. “Are you good at climbing?”

Becky nods, her hands shaky. “I think so. I used to do some rock climbing when I was in college. It’s been a few years, though.”

I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, taking a deep breath. I’m going to be like the people who couldn’t get to my father in time. Luke needs help getting up. He’s unconscious, his chest rising and falling though the breaths are shallow. There’s no way of knowing what trauma was done to his head. He could die out here just like my father died, except this time it would be my fault. My job is to save him, but I don’t know if I can do that right now.

I’ve been too distracted with everything else going on in my life. Even on the ride over here, I was thinking about Mia and maybe skipping out of work to go down to the party and talk to her. Carter said he’d cover for me.

Guilt eats at me as I open my eyes and look at Becky with a broad smile, giving her encouragement as I guide her toward the edge of the cliff.

“Okay, Becky, you and I are going to climb this together. You’re going to go first, and if anything happens, I’ll be right here to help you.”

She clenches her jaw shut and gives me a determined look, but fear shines in her eyes and a tear slips down her cheek. She reaches out and wipes the tear away like it was never there to begin with.

“You can do this,” Tyler says.

Becky walks over and gives him a tight hug. “Make sure Luke’s okay.”

Becky goes to the cliff, and she fits her fingers into a handhold and her feet into little footholds. She starts climbing slowly, and I wait until she’s several feet off the ground before beginning my climb after her. It’s been a long time since I went climbing, and though I try to stay in shape in case situations like these arise, the rocks are slippery with the ice that came down last night.

Becky tilts back, and my hand shoots out, pressing against the small of her back and shoving her into the rocks. She lets out a shaky breath and nods, taking a moment before continuing her climb.

It seems like an eternity passes, but we haul ourselves over the edge of the cliff and onto flat ground.

“Okay, Becky,” I say as I get up, shaking out my hands and stretching my fingers. “I’m going to tie a rope to the tree, and I’m going to hook my harness up. And I’m going to do a better job at that this time.”

She laughs, but there’s still a nervous look in her eyes. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to get them up? I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

I grab the radio from my bag and call in the code to Carter. “Backup is on its way. I’m going to go down there, and Tyler is going to come up. Tyler will stay with you until help arrives, and I’m going to stay down there with Luke.”

Becky nods, tears shining in her eyes. I leave her and tie the rope to the tree, hooking it in tight and connecting my harness to it. After giving it a hard tug, I make sure that it’s not going anywhere and lower myself down the cliff.

“All right, Tyler.” I step out of my harness and show him how to put it on. “You’re going to climb up. I’ll hold the rope down here, so all you need to focus on is getting up the side.”

Tyler takes a deep breath and nods.

After Tyler gets to the top, I drop to my knees beside Luke and check him over again. He’s still stable.

In the distance I can hear the hum of other snowmobiles as they draw closer. They get louder and louder as I stay beside Luke and wait for them to arrive. The longer I stay with him, the more I get to thinking that life is too short to waste not going after what I want.

Mia is what I want.

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