CHAPTER 6

ON SOLID GROUND

Nita dangled there in her harness, terrified, swinging on the rope. For a second she forgot the ropes were there and panicked, scrambling to grab the ice.

“Stop panicking!” cried Sohail. “Stay calm! The anchor’s secure! Just rappel down!”

“You try staying calm!” Nita cried.

“You can do this!” Sohail said. “You don’t even need your axes to go down!”

Nita tried to listen to his voice rather than her own fear. She lowered herself the rest of the way down.

When she finally got down to the snowy beach, she collapsed. Sweat was pouring down her face.

“I can’t believe I made it,” Nita gasped.

Up above, Sohail cheered. He unhooked the rope from the anchor and threw it down. Then he hooked his own harness to the anchor.

“Coming!” he called.

Nita watched her partner rappel over the side. She held her breath until he made it all the way down.

Once they were both on solid ground, Nita and Sohail let out identical cheers of relief. Their voices echoed off the glacier wall.

“I kind of never want to see a glacier again,” Nita said.

“I know how you feel,” Sohail said, unhooking the rope from his harness. He glanced up with a sad expression. “We’ll have to leave the anchor up there.”

“That’s OK,” Nita said. “Let’s just find our kayak!”

Now that they were on the beach, Nita was thinking about the prize money again. Maybe the fog slowed everybody else down too, she thought. We might have a chance!

Nita and Sohail hurryed down the shore along the river, looking for the kayak.

“I think I see it. Up there!” Sohail said, pointing.

Nita squinted. Sure enough, she could see something long and bright yellow moored on the shore up ahead. But before they’d made it much farther, a clap of thunder shook the air.

Both kids looked up and frowned. Clouds scudded over the sky again. But this time it wasn’t fog. A storm was coming!