Sam’s feet wedged beneath the two enormous boulders that lay perched on the edge of the cliff in front of him. He heaved back into the rope he had tied around his waist and then looped around the nearby tree. Sam pulled back hard. He repositioned his one foot as the uneven terrain threatened to throw him off balance. The squeaky sound coming from the rope rubbing against the rugged trunk had him worried. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. The Cambodian jungle was hot and humid, but the sweat on his face was evidence of something far more concerning.
He glanced at the rope chafing against the tree and watched as a single strand unraveled. Beneath his chest his heart thumped hard. He gripped the rope tighter around his hands preparing for the worst and groaned as the scruffy threads of the strained rope sliced into the flesh of his bare hands.
Five-hundred feet below the sheer cliff edge, at the other end of the rope, Alex searched the rock wall behind the cascade of water falling from above her head. Rappelling had never appealed to her, but she could hardly hold Sam’s weight over the steep thousand feet waterfall, so the duty lay on her to descend the steep cliff. The icy cold spray from the water had her drenched, and her feet slipped against the smooth, wet surface of the cliff side. Masses of water poured down from the waterfall’s edge above her head. What was she thinking? She hated heights, she doubted, reasoning that perhaps she shouldn’t have looked down into the frothy white water that smashed into the rocks below. Alex shut her eyes tight as she battled to control her breathing, frustrated over the fact that she thought her agoraphobia was under control, especially considering everything she had been through chasing after Rhapta. Recalling how far she’d come, she finally opened her eyes again and looked straight ahead into the side of the cliff.
Conscious of her harness cutting into her groin as it carried her entire weight, she allowed her hands to glide against the stone wall in search of an opening. The century-old map handed to them by the police commissioner showed there was supposed to be ancient tunnels to a hidden temple in the rock face behind the waterfall.
“There’s nothing, Sam! Just solid rock surface and water!”
Lots, the thought echoed in her head.
Then, without warning, she suddenly plunged several feet before coming to a dead halt, bashing her shoulder hard against the wall.
“SAM!” she screamed upwards toward the top of the cliff.
Out of her eyesight Sam found himself lying face down in the dirt, his hands gripping the rope for dear life. His cheek was on fire where the cord had slapped him across his face when the last strand broke free from the tree behind him. Somehow, he had managed to catch the end of the rope just before it had a chance to disappear over the cliff and consequently plunging Alex into a watery death. It now took every bit of his physical and mental strength to hold on.
“Sam! Pull me up!” Alex shouted while she frantically searched the entirely smooth wall with her hands for something to grab onto. Strands of wet hair lay across her face, making it nearly impossible to see anything. Why wasn’t he answering? she thought.
“S-A-M! What’s happening up there? Pull me up!”
“I - I’m try-ing.” He forced out a soft, barely audible shout under the immense strain of her pendulous weight.
Sam eventually released enough tension in the rope to allow his wrist around it twice and managed to do the same with his other hand. Having been in a standing position just about took all he had, but lying face down had him in an awkward position of having to rely on the strength of his arms alone, even with a firmer grip.
Alex faced certain death. He shut his eyes and tugged hard at the rope using its leverage to get on his knees and slowly back onto his feet. Once up, he twisted his body around the rope and once again found his footing against the boulders.
“Alex! You okay?” finally able to speak loud enough for her to hear.
“Sure! I’m admiring the view while you take your time pulling me up!” she said annoyed. She was oblivious to the dire circumstances that unraveled on the cliff’s edge high above her dangling body.
Sam ignored her sarcastic stab and remained focussed on the straining rope cutting into his flesh.
“Do you have any footing?” he asked.
“No, nothing!”
It wasn’t the answer he had hoped to hear. Sam’s eyes remained pinned on the three untangled strands of cord now eroding against the sharp edge of the cliff in front of him. He instantly regretted giving in to her. Not that he would have convinced her otherwise. Alex was relentless in pursuing a challenge, no matter the cost.
“You’re going to have to keep the rope steady on your side, okay? Try not to move too much and find something to grab onto!” Sam shouted.
His feet pushed down firmly on the ground as he heaved, prayer the rope would hold up. Another cord snapped, and he found himself wondering how many strings the rope had. Eight? Twelve? He pushed the threatening negative thoughts from his mind and continued gently working at pulling her up. What felt like an eternity, his eyes eventually caught sight of Alex’s hands as the tip of her fingers appeared over the edge of the rocky cliff.
The victory had been short-lived when another cord suddenly snapped just as he spotted the top of her head above the cliff’s edge. He swore under his strained breathing.
“Climb, Alex! I’m not sure the rope is going to hold!” he heaved.
As reality suddenly dawned on her, the anguished look in her eyes was enough to have Sam risk it all and give one final hard pull. The remaining threads in the rope instantly snapped and deposited Sam flat on his back in the dirt.
“Alex!” he scrambled to the cliff’s edge where Alex clung for dear life off the side of the rock face.
“Help me, Sam! I can’t hold on any longer.”
She was barely within Sam’s reach but managed to grab hold of a thin vine root about three feet down the side of the cliff. Closing her hand tighter onto the root that wasn’t long enough for her other hand to grab onto much less strong enough to hold her full weight, Alex fought to gain control of the situation.
“Look at me, Alex! I’ve got you. Give me your hand.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can!”
Sam wasn’t all too sure he would ever forget the look of desperation in Alex’s eyes that had already pooled with tears.
“Alex, you’re going to have to give me your free hand. I’ll catch you, I promise.”
“I don’t know if I can. Please don’t let me fall,” she started a faint sob, her eyes pinned on his outstretched hand.
“Alex, look at me. I’m not going to let you fall. We have a relic to find, and an entire country is depending on you. You’re going to grab my hand when I count it down, and I’m going to pull you up, okay? You can do this. I’m not letting you die here today, you hear me?”
She barely nodded, her teary eyes remaining locked with his. Sam had curled his one foot around a watermelon-sized rock in the hope that it would sustain both their weights. He stretched both hands out toward Alex’s hand as far as his body would allow it. His fingertips just about touched her knuckles where she still gripped the root. There simply wasn’t any room for error, Sam reminded himself, concealing the fear and doubt in his eyes as he started the countdown.
“Three…two…one!”
Alex let go of the root and propelled her lean body upward as she stretched both her hands toward Sam’s. Her one hand firmly latched onto his but, failing to swing her body high enough for the other hand to fully grab hold of his, yielded Sam’s fingertips barely hooking underneath her own. Sam groaned under the strain of his outstretched body. It felt as if all the tendons in his arm were ripping from his shoulder bones.
“Sam, my fingers are slipping.” Her hands were still wet from the water spray. “I can’t hold on.”
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