“It’s okay, Ethan.” Erin fought for calm. At this height on the tether, her survival was likely while his untethered was fifty percent. If she could clip him to her safety belt, his survival improved significantly.
She set down the harness and pulled out a safety belt attached to her belt. “Here’s what we’ll do. I want you to reach out and get my hand. Think you can do that?”
“Maybe, but I’m scared.”
“I know you are, Ethan. Once you get to me, I can put this belt on you so you can’t fall because it’s hooked to me, and I’m hooked to the tree. No falling.”
“I think I can.” Ethan sounded better.
“Wait for me.” Erin tugged on her line for extra slack. She clicked her radio to signal and avoided taking any dizzying downward glances. “I am going to get the rescue. Radio silence, please.”
She gripped the branch above her head and balanced one foot in front of the other for a few more feet. “Okay, Ethan, get my hand.”
She stretched out with her left hand, keeping her right on the branch. He leaned and twisted to reach his hand out. They made contact. She had enough time to get a solid grip before he lurched forward. Tightening her right arm and his shoulders, she steadied them. The branch creaked with the addition of his sixty pounds to her one twenty-five.
“Good job.” She led him carefully to a safer section of the tree—if such a thing existed.
He grabbed her around the waist, almost overbalancing them again. She held his trembling body until he felt more secure. Erin supported herself with her right hand and wrapped the safety hook around his waist, hooking it to the other side of her belt with a small amount of contortion. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ve got you. Let me loop this belt around your waist. You just keep holding me. Ground command, this is Hudgens. Ethan is belted to me.”
There were sighs of relief audible through the channel. She had her safety line so if the worst happened, they would fall together. The belt should slow him enough to keep ahold of him, and her line could save her.
“We’re hooked together now. You can’t fall. Can you put your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist like a spider monkey?”
He obeyed, holding her in a child’s version of a death grip. The branch creaked again with the redistribution of the weight to a higher center of gravity. She forced out words. “I’m moving us back to the center of the tree and your harness. In a few more minutes, we’ll be down on the ground.”
It took a couple of seconds for her to perform a slow partial pivot and inch her way back to the origin of her line. Once she was there, she spent thirty seconds reassuring herself that she was back at the sturdier center of the tree.
“Time to let go enough to get your harness on. You’ll get your own rope. It’s the safest way to get you down.”
“No!” he cried. “Just get me down! Just get me down! I can’t. I can’t. I can’t let go!”
Erin spoke to her open radio channel. “This is Hudgens in the tree with Ethan. Requesting permission to descend without the harness. The safety belt is in place.”
“Negative,” Williams said. “He’s not in the harness. Your harness is rigged for one.”
“Captain, I think the risk is greater than the benefit. He has a solid grip, and together, we don’t weigh two hundred pounds.” Erin reminded him the harness was rated for much higher weight limits. She was regularly trusted to carry full-grown adults down ladders while wearing an additional forty pounds of gear. A scrawny elementary schooler wasn’t nearly a challenge in comparison.
There was a hushed discussion ongoing by the command post. “Standby,” Williams said.
“They’re figuring out the best way to get us down. Remember, we can’t fall.” Erin was concerned Ethan would panic should she try to harness him.
It was Williams again. “Rescue says you can bring him down on a single rope. Signal your readiness.”
“They are going to start lowering us. I’m going to use my hands and feet to push away from the tree. All you have to do is hold on tight. Can you do that?” His head was very close to hers, and he hid his face in her shoulder.
“I think so.”
“Pretend we’re Spiderman, and we are lowering ourselves on a piece of webbing.” An idea occurred to Erin. “I have a friend who looks like Mary Jane. Want to get your picture taken with her?”
“Mary Jane, really?” He sounded doubtful.
“It’s close. She has red hair and blue eyes.” Erin decided to skip any mention of Vanessa’s comic book-worthy curves as she retested her line. “Hudgens and Ethan are ready.”
“Ready down here,” Luna answered. Erin didn’t spare a thought to where Williams had gone.
“One, two, three, go.” Erin kicked away from the tree and was weightlessness briefly before dropping a few inches. The rope line caught and held. They made slow progress down, winched foot by foot to solid ground.
Erin kept her eyes straight ahead on the trunk, guiding with her feet and left hand while she kept her right hand on Ethan. He stayed motionless except for his breathing.
