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“Escaping from the place we were locked into?” Matthew asked. “I don’t think we’ll be faulted for that. Now hush. I have to focus.”

Winnie clamped her mouth shut, watching in silence as he tested the strength of the branch by pulling it up and down. It hardly moved an inch, even with his pressure.

“All right, here we go,” he mumbled, as if to hype himself up.

Finally, he jumped up, grabbed onto the branch more securely above him with both hands, then shifted his way slowly over the wall.

Winnie fought the urge to close her eyes, not wanting to see him fall, but needing to ensure his safety.

In what seemed like years, but in reality was mere moments, Matthew finally reached far enough away from the wall to drop toward the ground.

As he did so, she gasped, peering over the edge and holding her hands over her mouth in horror before seeing him land on his feet. He teetered slightly back and forth, but in the end, remained upright.

“Are you sure you’d not rather be a gymnast than a knight?” she called down to him. “You stuck that landing perfectly.”

He grinned up at her. “Your turn.”

All humor was lost to her at that point. “Maybe I’ll just camp out up here until morning.”

“Nope. Come on, you can do it. I’ll catch you if you fall. Trust me.”

“Trust you? I barely know you,” she said pointedly—albeit untruthfully.

“That’s not entirely true,” Matthew said. “You know more about me than most people do. Besides, you almost just kissed me back up there, so don’t give me that, ‘I don’t know you’ business.”

Her cheeks burned. What was with this guy being so blunt? Why couldn’t he be more normal like the rest of the world—never mentioning awkward moments aloud and pretending they just didn’t happen?

“Now,” he continued, “stop stalling and throw me your beloved pumps.”

“I don’t wear pumps,” she mumbled, relenting and removing her heels, tossing them down to him one by one. “Keep them safe.”

Matthew caught each one, then set them on the grass beside him before waving her down. “Now, come on.”

Her bare feet were cold against the stone, though she would have kept them there, frozen until the turn of the century, to avoid doing what was required of her. Still, she had no choice but to follow Matthew down.

Carefully, she mimicked his movements, climbing up the wall and steadying herself on the lower-hanging branches.

“Steady now,” cooed Matthew from below.

She braced her bare feet apart atop the wall, grateful she’d had the foresight to wear her short leggings beneath her dress, even though the darkness around them would have prevented her showing anyone anything.

She stared down at Matthew, his arms up, already ready to catch her as soon as she dropped, but the height difference from the top of the wall was much different than what she’d been expecting.

It was a good thing she wasn’t afraid of heights. Really, this wasn’t too different than being bucked off a horse and shot fifteen feet into the air.

Her brain clicked. That was it. She’d just pretend she was riding a horse. A surge of confidence burst through her, and she leapt up to grasp hold of the thick tree branch above.

“There you go,” Matthew said, his pride for her clear in his tone. “Now just shimmy your way toward me, and we’ll be out of this pickle for good. Just remember, I’m right here to catch you if you fall.”

Winnie nodded, drawing steady breaths and groaning only occasionally as her hands pinched painfully into the thick branch.

“How did you make this look so easy?” she asked with a grunt.

“Because of my manly strength,” he joked.

She smiled, but as her fingers started to weaken, she knew she couldn’t hold on much longer. “I think I’m gonna fall,” she squeaked out, her smile vanishing.

“That’s all right,” Matthew reassured her. “I’m right here, remember?”