There were harnesses, but they’d been well used, and time hadn’t been kind to them.Straps were frayed, some were in tatters.
“Looks like critters got in here.”Kayla frowned.“Are the harnesses safe?”
I glanced behind us.The sky had a sickening orange glow.I tugged on the straps, growing increasingly frustrated as the material disintegrated in my grip.
“We’ve got two I think will work,” I said as I brought them over to the line.
Kayla raised a brow.“You think?”
“I’ve got bear strength no matter what form I’m in.I couldn’t pull them apart.”
“Okay.”Kayla didn’t sound as confident in my assessment.
“Let me get you strapped up.”I handed her the harness and waited for her to step into it.I made sure the fasteners were secure and hooked the carabiner in.
“Shit.”
“That is not what I want to hear you say right now, Beau.”
“It ripped.Take it off, let’s try the other one.”I practically tore it away from her body.
“How is this one going to be better?”she asked.
It was a good question.“This one’s in better condition.”
I handed it to her, but she didn’t take it right away.
“What are you gonna do?”she asked.
“Hold on real tight.”I picked up Gigi.“I’m gonna tie her leash around your waist and hook it to your jeans, and then I’m gonna fasten the harness around you both.”
“You’re trusting me to take Gigi?”she asked, like she didn’t trust herself.
“I know you won’t do her wrong.”I stole a moment to press my lips against Kayla’s.“I can’t grip the handle and hold her with no harness.”
“I’ll get her there safe,” she promised.
My heart thundered in my chest.Nothing about this move was guaranteed, and it could be even riskier to give them this false sense of security.
“Hang onto the bar with one hand,” I instructed.“We’re gonna take a couple steps and I’m gonna push you to get you going.”
She let out a long exhale.“Okay.”
“One, two, three.”Our steps were awkward, clumsy, and the cable groaned under their weight.Pushing them away was the scariest thing I’d ever done.
Kayla screamed, and her body swung around.My heart dropped into my stomach.I was terrified that the cable was too deteriorated to hold them.She screamed again as the cable dropped, but I’d ridden enough of these to know that was normal.When I heard that familiar whirring sound, I finally let myself exhale.
There was no telling what was ahead.I prayed to any deity willing to listen that they made it to the other side safely.
With my hands on the rusty handle, I waited.I weighed more than Kayla and I’d move faster.A collision could be fatal.
Doubting everything, I took a running jump into the abyss.The wind whistled in my ears, drowning out everything else.I told myself not being able to hear Kayla and Gigi was a good thing, as I sailed over the river.My arms burned, and my body felt like it was a rag doll.
Things were going smoothly.I hoped Kayla had already landed.She might not be able to unclip the carabiners on her own, but the only thing that mattered was that she made it to solid ground.We could figure everything else out.
The pulley shrieked, and a violent jolt felt like I’d slammed into a brick wall.The handles stopped but my body kept going, and my left hand slipped off the handle, leaving me swinging moon knew how many feet above a river.My body swung as I reached for the handle, but it was just out of reach.
Pins and needles went down my right arm.Under normal circumstances, I’d be totally capable of pulling myself up with one arm.But nothing about this day had been normal.We’d been in a car accident, Sawtooth Forest was on fire, and there was no telling if I’d sent my mate and my dog to a certain death.
