White Cave Escape by Jennifer McGrath Kent

Author:Jennifer McGrath Kent [Kent, Jennifer McGrath]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, JUV001010
ISBN: 9781551097114
Google: Wk1bPgAACAAJ
Amazon: 1551097117
Barnesnoble: 1551097117
Goodreads: 7127780
Publisher: Nimbus Publishing
Published: 2009-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

chapter

15

Climb for Your Life!

“Hurry, Shawn!”

Craig was waving frantically at his brother from across the valley. He and the others had already scrambled on top of a pile of boulders heaped at the bottom of the cliff. Shawn sprinted across the clearing towards them. Behind him, he could hear the snickering of the flames as they chewed their way through the dry grass.

When he reached the clutter of rocks, Petra stretched out her hand. Taking it, Shawn swung himself up onto the boulder beside her. “Glad you could make it,” she said, with a tense smile.

“Oh, you know me,” panted Shawn. “I wouldn’t miss a good time like this.”

“But are you up for that?” asked Tony, jerking his thumb at the cliff rising above them.

“There’s a path,” said Craig, pulling at Shawn’s sleeve and pointing. “There. See?”

Shawn ran his eyes over the rugged rock wall and finally spotted what Craig was optimistically calling a path. A narrow ledge of crumbling rock ran diagonally up the rock on a sharp incline.

“It’s, um, pretty narrow,” said Shawn.

“It’s wide enough for a sneaker,” argued Craig. “In most places.”

“We should have rock-climbing gear, man,” said Tony, shaking his head. “You know, ropes and helmets and stuff. We’d be crazy to tackle a climb like that without proper equipment!”

“We’ll be dead if we don’t,” said Shawn grimly. It was true. The fire was mowing its way across the grass towards them. Soon, very soon, this stone-walled valley would be a cauldron of fire. And the only way out was up.

Pressing themselves flat against the cliff face, the five young people inched their way along the treacherous path. Rocks rolled away beneath their sneakers and went rattling and bouncing down into the valley below. Shawn was leading. Craig had argued, saying that since he saw the path, he should be the one to go first. But Shawn had vetoed this, pointing out that his longer arms and legs made it easier for him to feel out the safest route, checking for the best handholds and footholds. A brief headlock convinced Craig that Shawn was right, and he followed behind his big brother with only a minimal amount of grumbling. Petra came after Craig, with Colin behind her. Tony brought up the rear.

The smoke wound itself around their necks and limbs as if it was trying to pluck them off the cliff. Shawn blinked his stinging eyes and reached for a tree root protruding from a crevice. He gave it a cautious tug. It held. He gripped it firmly, and pulled himself across yet another gap in the ledge.

“There’s a break in the path there,” he called back to the others. “Use the tree root to help you get across.”

Craig swung himself quickly across the gap, and edged along the ledge to where Shawn was waiting. Petra came next. She grabbed the tree root, but just as she shifted her weight to step over the gap, the tree root came loose, slithering out of the crevice like a snake.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.