Pru found shoe prints in the dirt.

Lucky had hoped to catch her young cousin along the path, but by the time they got to the place where the footprints faded into the first ridge of boulders, Oliver was nowhere in sight.

The kids all scanned the higher rocks, while Lucky warned them, “Be careful. Those rocks can slip and cause an avalanche.” As she said it, two small stones came tumbling down from a place high on the ridge.

“There!” Julian called out. “I see him.” His brother was a speck clinging to a high rock. The top of the outcrop loomed high above him. He’d made it about halfway up the large pile of stones. “Oliver!”

“Ollie!” Snips called.

“Oliver… Ollie…” the hills echoed.

Lucky sprang forward with Spirit, but each step that Spirit made dislodged more stones.

“Stop,” Pru ordered.

“We’ll get crushed if you go up that way,” Abigail said, pushing the campers back a safe distance.

Julian dismounted from Malu and started on foot up the way Oliver had gone. He also sent rocks falling with every step.

“You can’t go that way,” Lucky told him, pulling Spirit back to the bottom of the hill.

Suddenly, Oliver’s voice echoed down the hillside. “Help! Julian! Help!”

He’d seen them all below.

And from where they were, they all could see him, too. Feet dangling, Oliver was clinging to a large, ragged rock. Several medium-size stones rolled down from where he was, and the group had to move back farther to avoid being hit as the rocks tumbled fast and crashed into the brush.

“Oliver!” Julian cried.

Oliver managed to swing himself to a safe place, but he was clutching the boulder like a spider, unable either to climb farther up or slide back down.

“This is all my fault,” Julian said, starting forward again. “I’ll go up there and get him.”

“No you won’t,” Lucky said. “You’ll start an avalanche, and we’ll all be in danger.”

She gathered with Pru and Abigail. “What do we do?”

“There’s a horse path to the top,” Abigail said. “It’s pretty safe that way, but we need to lead the horses carefully. If they knock one stone, it might hit another and another and… kaboom!” She used her hands to show the damage an avalanche would cause. Booming, like an explosion.

“We don’t want a kaboom,” Julian said, joining them.

“So here’s what we’ll do.” Lucky spelled it out. “Pru, Abigail, and I are going to ride up the ridge and rescue Oliver.”

“I’m going, too,” Julian insisted.

“Nope.” Pru put up a hand. “To avoid a kaboom, we need the most experienced riders on this. That’s not you.” She eyed the kids. “Someone has to keep the campers safe.”

“Oh, the irony,” Abigail said. “The guy who wanted to lead them into danger now has to protect them.” She looked to her friends. “Do we trust him?”

Another small rock slide scattered down the hills from above them, and they all heard Oliver grunt.

“He can’t hold on long,” Lucky told Julian. “Do you agree to stay with the campers or not?”

He didn’t hesitate. “I’ll stay.”

“If even one of them gets a pebble in their shoe,” Lucky said, “I’m telling Aunt Cora everything.”

Julian frowned. “I’ll stay. Don’t worry. I’ll entertain them.” He moved Malu back to be with the campers. “Who wants to hear a story about my greatest adventures? I’ve been on so many… Where to even start?”

Lucky nodded at Pru and Abigail. “I hope he has a lot of interesting stories,” she said.

“We’d better hurry,” Abigail said.

Chica Linda, Boomerang, and Spirit took off toward the small path that wove around to the top of the outcrop.

“Oliver, hang on,” Lucky shouted as the horses neared the top edge of the canyon. The slightest misstep would cause rocks to fall from the top, raining down onto Oliver’s head. If he let go, he’d be swept into an avalanche of heavy stones.

“I can’t wait much longer,” Oliver whined, his voice echoing against the rocks. “My hands are slipping.”

“We have to work fast,” Pru told Abigail as she unwound a thick rope from Chica Linda’s saddle. Abigail took the end of the rope and tied it around her waist, then handed the loose end to Lucky.

“I’ll stay here and hold on like an anchor,” Abigail said, wrapping her arms around the nearest tree. “You get the rope to Oliver, and he can pull himself up.”

Lucky liked that idea. She tied the loose end of the rope around her own waist. “Okay, I’m going down to get him,” she said.

“Wait, I meant I could pull up only Oliver. I don’t think I can hold the two of you,” Abigail said, moving away from the tree. “Oliver is little. No offense, Lucky, but him plus you equals more than me.”

“I can hold you back,” Pru suggested, wrapping her arms around Abigail’s waist, and then the two of them held the tree. Even so, the unstable ground was brittle under their feet. One slip could send Lucky and Oliver and Abigail and Pru down to the canyon floor far below!

They came up with a third plan, which was to wrap the rope around the steady tree. That worked even better.

Lucky smiled at her friends and said, “I’ll be right back.” She carefully moved to the edge of the path. A small pebble skidded from under her foot and bounced its way down the rocks, narrowly missing Oliver’s right hand.

“Oliver,” Lucky said, “I’m coming down. Do not move.”

“I’m not moving,” he promised. “But hurry. My hands are very slippery.”

Lucky stepped down onto a boulder, testing the stability before putting all her weight down. Pru and Abigail held the rope tight around the tree.

She moved down another stone, and a few more, until there were about ten big stones between her and Oliver.

To keep him focused, Lucky counted them as she moved, slowly, methodically testing each rock before setting her feet firmly on it. “Three. Four. Five. Hang on, Oliver…”

“I don’t think I can much longer, Lucky,” Oliver said. “My hands really hurt.”

“Six,” Lucky said. “Don’t think about it. That’s seven. I’m almost there.”

“I can’t—”

“Want to hear the story of how I learned to ride Spirit?” Lucky suggested. She stepped to a rock just to the side of where Oliver was still hanging on for his life. “See, it started when my dad learned he was needed in Miradero.…”

As she lowered herself onto the rock next to him, which would have brought her side by side, the big stone creaked and began to slide out from under her feet. Lucky shouted to Pru and Abigail. “Hold the rope!” They pulled the rope firm and held her until she could find another place to steady her weight.

Then Lucky cried out to Julian below, “Move the kids back!” She couldn’t look to see whether he’d done it.

That one rock hit the one below it, and on and on until a rock slide formed. Lucky knew this was going to be bad. “Oliver,” she said, “grab my hand.” She reached out her palm toward him while rocks banged and crashed below them.

Oliver screamed. “I’m scared.”

Lucky looked him in the eye and said, “Me too.” She stretched her hand even closer to him.

Oliver reached out so he was clinging to the boulder with only one hand. “I can’t stay… Lucky…” Oliver shrieked as his other hand slipped and he began to fall.

Lucky swung herself forward and grabbed Oliver around the waist. She held him tight. They were both hanging off the side of the rocks. “Pull us up!” Lucky called to her friends.

“Uh, problem,” Abigail replied. Suddenly, it felt as if the rope had been loosed and they were going to plummet to the ground below, but an instant later, the rope went taut.

“Problem solved.” Abigail stuck her head over the edge and gave a small thumbs-up.

“Who’s holding the rope?” Lucky asked, trying desperately to hang on to Oliver.

There was a loud sound of hooves, and suddenly Lucky and Oliver began to rise toward the top of the outcrop, where the path was sturdy.

“Spirit,” Lucky breathed. Of course, it was Spirit!

Small pebbles fell forward, but Spirit continued to pull.

Oliver closed his eyes and put his head against Lucky’s neck.

She continued to hold tight to him as they rose slowly toward the top.

One last tug, and they made it over the top onto solid land.

Lucky looked around. The tree where Pru and Abigail had tied the rope had uprooted and tipped over. That was why the rope hadn’t held. Spirit had saved them both.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Pru said, dashing forward to hug Lucky. She looked at Oliver and frowned. “Oliver, how could you be so reckless?”

Lucky put out a hand to help him up. “He just wanted some adventure… and to be like Julian.”

“But he almost got you both killed!” Pru protested.

Oliver rose, dusted himself off, and faced Pru, Abigail, and Lucky. “I’m sorry, Lucky. I was mixed up,” he said. “I didn’t mean to get anyone hurt.”

Lucky squeezed his shoulder. “I know, Oliver.”

“Maybe all adventures don’t have to be dangerous like Julian said. Maybe… maybe we can have adventures like you and Pru and Abigail do. Can I come back to PALs Adventure Camp?”

“You know what, Oliver?” Lucky asked with a small chuckle, “I think that sounds great, too.”