Page 166 of In the Pursuit of Haven
Scrooby went next. Finding an old weathered book, he grappled with it. The chain reaction following that also brought him up to the rigging with us. He let out a whoop at the adrenaline-filled ride. “You’ve been holding out on me, Jessie.” His feet scrambled for a hold against the netting. “Is this a day in the life of a treasure hunter?”
Jessie grimaced, tugging against the rope that he still hadn’t managed to cut through. “Yeah, not if I can help it.”
We were almost done with this challenge, which only made me feel prickly and stiff, since I dreaded whatever came after us next.
Luther and Hunter found their chosen items below us, both keeping their sharp attention on the other, neither moving until Bette Ann let out a heavy sigh and said, “At the count of three—one, two, three.”
And still they waited.
“Go, you cowards!” Bette Ann hollered.
The men clasped the treasures at the same time she found a mermaid sculpture made of dark mahogany set on a ladder. She didn’t wait even a second after they went traveling up the rigging to follow.
Nine of us had passed through the challenge.
Now what?
The newcomers barely had time to situate themselves against the rigging before the nets that kept us in place dropped.
It worked! We were free!Oh no, we’re free…
Without anything holding me, I fell against the platform of the crow’s nest, ripping my knee through my jeans when I hit the splintered wood. Next to me, I saw the others scrambling for perch. They’d fall to their deaths if they didn’t hang on tight.
A cry above me made me look up.
Hunter had lost his grip above me. His shout turned into a scream. He was falling straight for me. I stumbled back into the rigging to get out of the way. He landed against the crow’s nest with a heavy thump. His leg rammed into my stomach and I tipped over the side. The rigging caught my foot, holding me suspended in midair. Gasping, I turned, seeing Hunter was struggling to find something to hold onto. He’d fall right off the crow’s nest and splatter against the deck below.
I grabbed at him.
“No!” Jessie shouted out. “You’ll go down with him.”
He was right! I swiped at Hunter’s arm anyway, crying out as I tried to hold him in place. He scrambled up and over the side and snatched my leg. Letting out a strangled grunt, he dragged me with him to safety. He met my eyes while trying to catch his breath. “Thanks…” That was all he could get out.
For once, he was out of words.
My gaze went to Jessie, who clung to a mast to the side of us. A choking sound of relief left his mouth, even as he shook his head in shock. Yes, I’d put my life in danger for this loudmouthed creep, but I couldn’t let Hunter fall to his death if I could do something about it.
Luther yelled over at us, and I swung around, seeing he was only a few feet away from our crow’s nest. “What about the Relics?” He inched closer through the rigging.
Hunter’s quaking hand scraped over his backpack where he kept all the priceless artifacts we’d painstakingly gathered these past few days. “They’re still with me,” he got out.
I’d forgotten about that. Of course, that was probably why he thought I’d saved him.
And it didn’t matter. We needed to figure out what to do next to survive this.
A loud, sucking noise with the bluster of a tornado was already filling the cavern. I hesitated, trying to figure out the source of the noise, even as its screeching made my hair stand up straight. One glance below and I knew exactly what was happening. The fire that had been previously redirected to the walls was now flowing inward, and as far as I could see it was going to consume the ship below us like waves.
The fire of betrayal was about to consume the treasure… but we’d done nothing wrong! We’d followed the instructions, hadn’t we?
That’s when I caught sight of the people standing beneath us. It couldn’t be! Zak was here… and my grandfather! They must’ve come in with Bette Ann and stayed hidden until they could help. Was there anyone else? The entrance was completely blocked. That meant the only way out was above with us. The exit glowed from the depth of those tunnels to the side of us—the safety of sunlight was so close.
I screamed down at them, “Get up here!” Zak and my grandfather could climb up the rigging, but would they be fast enough? Robert had a limp. He’d need help!
“Grab one of the hanging treasures,” Jessie shouted down at them. Yes, yes, that might get them up faster, but would the pulley system work now that the nine were already up?
Nodding, Zack was the first to try it. He tugged at a swinging clock, but nothing happened. The pulley system was dead.
“Climb!” I shouted. Zak’s hand landed on the rigging.
