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“Well, to be fair . . . I wasn’t expecting it to be this heavy.”
She reaches out and slaps my arm. Taken by surprise, I chuckle.
She swats me again. “Stop laughing! You had me up a cliff in the middle of the worst downpour I’ve ever experienced! You should be on your knees begging forgiveness, or even better, leading me somewhere we can shelter from this bloody rain!”
“Aye, shelter, good point.”
She’s so cute when she’s angry, but I try not to be distracted by that. I focus on untying her.
“It’s a twenty-minute walk back to the car, but there’s somewhere closer we can shelter, and it’ll give me a chance to clean the anchor. Follow me.”
“What do you mean, ‘clean the an—’”
Emily stops abruptly when I grab her hand. She wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t expecting it either. I didn’t think it through—it just happened—but I don’t question it now. Instead, I lead her along at a brisk pace, both of us bracing ourselves against the rain. I guide us onto a path that takes us up the cliff.
“We’re going up? I just came from up there! And surely the higher up we are, the more exposed we’ll be?”
“You said you trusted me, remember? There’s somewhere up here we can shelter. I promise.”
“When I said I trusted you, the rain hadn’t started yet,” Emily grumbles.
But she follows me to the top, where I set a safety anchor. I tell her to stay well clear then approach the cliff edge and lean over it.
“What the hell are you doing?” she calls over the rain.
“Cleaning the anchor, which means taking away my rope and carabiners. We can’t leave them here for some kids to play with and get themselves killed.”
It’s not fun leaning over the edge of a cliff in the middle of a downpour, but the safety anchor is there in case I overbalance. I work quickly, retrieving all my equipment, and then—back on my feet—I grin at Emily.
“It’s pretty fucking miserable in this rain, isn’t it? I promised you shelter. Let’s go!”
“I doubt I can get any more wet now anyway,” she gripes.
I take a hold of her hand again and hurry along the marshy grass, pulling her with me. Our hands are slippery, forcing me to grip her palm even tighter.
Suddenly, Emily shrieks, losing her balance, but I catch her with my other hand and hold her steady. She looks at me, and I back at her, and then . . . she bursts into wild laughter. It’s infectious. Soon, I’m laughing too.
“This is crazy!” she says. “I’m soaked and shivering, and yet . . . I’m laughing. Why am I laughing?”
“Because you’re having a great time and I’m an excellent instructor?”
“No, it’s definitely not that.” She giggles. “All right, where the hell is this shelter?”
“Over there! You can see it now.”
She follows the direction of my finger to the old castle I’m pointing at.
“Isn’t that a ruin? Is that really going to protect us from the rain?”
“I bet we find the perfect spot. Come on!”
We run on, and I can’t stop myself from giving her hand a squeeze. To my delight, she squeezes mine back.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
EMILY
The castle walls are more or less intact, as are bits of the roof. Ally leads me to a spot where we’re protected from the rain, although by now we’re both already soaked through.
