Page 16 (2/2)

Zane grabbed it out of his hand and pressed the talk button as he returned his attention to Ty "Who"s up there?" he snapped But there was no answer The attendants who had been up there when Ty started the clione, hopefully in search of another rope

Above, Ty had regained his hold on the ith both hands and was ," he called down "My fingers," he continued, not actually finishing any of the sentences he started as he looked up and around him It was harder to hear what he said when he looked up, but when he looked back down the people below could hear hiet any worse!" And the optimist replies, „Oh yes it can!""

The crowd tittered nervously, not sure whether to laugh

Ty released one hand and made a swipe for a handhold further away, but hehi jokes," Zane said under his breath, deciding that once Ty had both feet on the ground he was going to sht after he kissed hih to re to find a way up or down, left or right Hehi the last of which he lost his grip with both hands and very nearly plummeted the thirty or so feet to the platfor at the ith both hands: a split-second of honest-to-God free fall Zane thought his heart was going to stop on the spot before Ty was able to catch another hold and stop himself

Ty didn"t shout or screainning to panic or his fatiguedall his energy on holding on

Either way, they had to get him down

The fall, however, proved fortuitous Now farther below the outcropping with his good hand in a different position, Ty had more options As two e with a new rope and shouted down frantically, Ty was able to pull hi solid, and press close to the wall He practically sagged in relief as he rested his arms

The attendants tossed t ropes down, both ends landing a few feet away frorab one end and attach it to the belay device on his own harness, the other to another staffer, who shouted wordlessly up once they were both hooked up One of the attendants above swung over the edge, slowlyhis way doard Ty with the other end of the new rope

Despite the relief of this iood fifteen feet above Ty, and his progress doas slow There was a ripple of gasps and an to slowly cli

"No, sir! Stay where you are!" one of the staffers called out

"Calm down, kid," Ty called back in annoyance as he continued to climb slowly It was obvious to Zane"s eyes that Ty was tired and being far more careful than he had been when attached to the ropes He was going slowly butthe difficult descent

"Hey, Lone Star!" Ty called down again

Zane snorted and rubbed his hand over his face "What?" he yelled back

"A rope walks into a bar," Ty announced He paused dra a foothold Then he went on, his voice strained with the physical effort "Orders a beer Bartender tells him,

„We don"t serve ropes in here" So the rope leaves the bar and goes outside, asks a guy passing to fray hiuy does what the rope asks, and then the rope goes back inside and orders a beer The bartender looks at him and asks, „Aren"t you that rope that was just in here?" And the rope says, „I"hter and a srown considerably larger since news of possible death and dismemberthat one?" He knew his voice was bordering on strident, but Zane didn"t care He was mad, upset, and scared, da until it was relevant," Ty called doith a short laugh He sounded winded fro to talk and climb at the same time He steadied himself where he had his feet on two solid holds and then pressed his forehead to the wall, flattened like a bug on a windshield Zane growled in frustration At least Ty had enough sense to knohen he"d reached his li to him was only feet fro it through the carabiner rings on Ty"s harness For a short ht he ht fall over Instead he turned to Manny and asked, "Where are the stairs to get up there?"

"Stairs?" Manny echoed He looked shellshocked

"To the top of the wall Where are they?" Zane said insistently, glancing up to see Tycloser to the top He would be deter away fro them lower him down

Manny pointed to the side of the fake rock façade, and with one ress, Zane took off at a run to get up there He rushed the steps andTy over the edge of the wall Ty crawled away fro like he was trying to hug the solid ground Zane dropped to his knees right next to hi down to touch and reassure himself that Ty was okay

"Baby?" Zane whispered, the panic echoing through hiain now that it was over

Ty looked up at him in surprise, and this close Zane could see that despite the jokes he"d been cracking, Ty"s entire body was shaking, and he was covered with a fine sheen of sweat "Did you fly up here?" Ty asked incredulously as he pushed himself up

Zane didn"t answer, didn"t even think; he just pulled Ty into his arh hied him back hard, one arm around Zane"s neck as he twisted aardly, still on his knees

"Are you okay?" Zane asked shakily

"I"ainst Zane"s neck, his voice barely audible He began to shake silently, his body treed him closer, but he didn"t think it was too dao, Zane finally pulled back enough to fumble with the buckle of Ty"s hel to the side so he could kiss Ty gently and pull hiether, and Zane really didn"t want to make a scene, but… "Jesus, baby," he said brokenly<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>