“But how will we get down? There is no ladder. There is nothing and no one to save us.” Her words ended on a shrill note.
The basket swayed. Her nostrils flared, and she flung out her arm as an anchor. Clearly she needed some sort of rousing speech to rally.
“Listen, Eva.” Bah! What to say? He was much more fit to inspire a group of sweaty college lads than a frightened woman. “This ... this is not the first time I have had to rely on God alone. And I daresay it is not yours either. So how about you pull yourself together and have a little faith, hmm?”
“Since when are you such a preacher?”
“Whenever I face death.”
The whites of her eyes grew impossibly large. “Arewe going to die?”
Blast. Poor choice, that. He forced a merry chuckle. “Not if I can help it. Sit tight. I shall have us down in no time.”
Rising, he tipped his face to the burner above. The best way to make Eva feel better was to land this thing. How hard could it be?
The basket shifted, and he cut a glance her way. She stood, gripping the edge, her back to the drop below. No longer did she hunch over nor lift shaky fingers to her mouth. She still looked like a lost little girl with her tiara askew and pieces of hair straggling over her brow, but there was a definite change to the gleam in her eyes.
“If we are going to go down, I want to do so being a help, not a hindrance.” She lifted her chin. “Tell me what to do.”
Well. This was new. The Eva he remembered would have continued crying in the bottom of the basket. Evidently the strength he’d seen in her of late went deeper than he knew.
He scanned the basket, mind racing for a solution. Reducing the heat was the best way to land this thing, but what else? Nothing, really. But he had to give her something other to do than panic.
He faced Eva. “I will adjust the flame. You haul in the tether and hold tightly to it.” He aimed his finger at the dangling rope. “See it?”
“Yes, but what will that accomplish?”
“There is no time to explain now. Just do it.”
Thankfully, she did as he’d instructed because honestly, he had nothing else to keep her busy. Leastwise for now.
He studied the burner mechanism, searching for the—Ah, there it was. Ever so gradually, he turned the control valve counterclockwise, decreasing the flow of fuel. The more the fire shrank, the more its hiss gentled to a shush. He glanced out over the nighttime scenery, the black outlines of trees lifting toward the basket—or more like the basket lowered toward them.
“We’re descending!” Eva gathered the length of rope to her chest, hugging it with a smile. “How brilliant!”
Indeed. He turned back to the control valve. If he lessenedit a bit more, they’d drop even faster, then he could search for a grassy knoll in which to land.
“Bram?”
“Hmm?” He eased the valve a bit more.
“We’re going too fast.”
He glanced away from the now-tiny flame. Blast! She was right. They plummeted toward the dark ground.
“Do something!” Eva cried.
He snapped his gaze back to the pilot light, a mere sputter of blue and yellow. Sweat popped on his brow. If that fire went out, there’d be no controlling their descent whatsoever. Desperate, he fiddled with the control valve.
And still the balloon picked up speed.
So this was it? Her body thrown to the ground like a discarded rag doll. Every bone shattered. And there’d be no saying good-bye to Penny. Eva dragged in a shuddering breath as she clutched the bundle of rope for dear life. Oh, sweet mercy. What would happen to Penny without her? Why did God not smile upon her?
A great sob stuck in her throat. No, things couldn’t end like this. They wouldn’t!
Trying hard to ignore the drop in her stomach as they plummeted earthward, she turned to Bram. “What should I do?”
He didn’t so much as glance at her as he fiddled with the burner. “Crouch down and do not let go of that rope.”
