“Nearly back where we started.”
“I see that now.”
They crossed the little bridge over the narrow stream, and the trail opened up to the ropes course.
She spotted Liam carting a couple of harnesses over to a bench.
“Good hike?” he called out as they crossed to him.
“It was wonderful. Waterfalls and vistas and bears. No takers this afternoon?” she asked as she scanned the empty course above.
“We’re booked for a private run.”
He held out a harness.
“What?” Nell clasped her hands behind her back. “No.”
“Just the thing to cap off a hike.”
“No, it’s not. It’s just the thing to make you squeal like a five-year-old or curl into a ball and whimper for your mommy.”
“You’re not afraid of heights.” Miles picked up a harness, began to strap it on. “Not the way you stood up at the lookout.”
“No, I’m not afraid of heights, but—”
“If you were, we’d skip this.”
“I’m not afraid of heights, but I have a healthy respect for gravity.”
“You won’t fall. See this?” Liam held up the harness, showed her the carabiner on the belay system. “You clip this on, and it locks. It can’t unlock until you physically unlock it. You’ll always have at least one safety line attached at all times, even when you’re standing on a platform.”
“I question why I’d stand on a platform up there.”
“It’s fun!”
“If she’s afraid…” Miles let than hang, started to remove his harness.
“‘Afraid’ is a strong word.” And one she knew he’d used on purpose. “Wary. I prefer ‘wary.’”
“What’re you going to do when the zombies swarm?” Miles asked her.
“Die a horrible death, then spend the rest of my zombie existence eating brains. Damn it, this is an ambush.” She grabbed the harness. “Show me how this thing works.”
As he hooked it on her, Liam smiled into her eyes. “This’ll hold easily three times your weight. We’re both going to be up there with you, but first, I’m going to go over the basics right here on the ground.”
“I like the ground.”
Liam was thorough, and the basics didn’t seem too complicated.
“What about Howl?”
Miles hooked his leash to the leg of the bench, set out water and a chew stick. “He’s fine,” he said, and handed her a safety helmet.
She wasn’t that competitive, she thought, but found herself climbing to the first platform behind Liam with Miles behind her. On the platform, with Howl far below, Liam went over the belay and safety system again.
“The bridge will sway some as you step on those wood crosses, but you’re hooked on.”
“You go first.”
“Sure. I’ll wait on the next platform.”
He might as well have walked across a solid stone bridge two feet above a lazy stream, Morgan thought as she watched him.
“You’re fine,” Miles said from behind her.
She spared him one dubious look, held her breath, stepped off the platform.
It swayed all right, but she kept her eyes on the second platform, even when Howl howled from below.
She didn’t fall, and didn’t end up dangling in humiliation.
“You did great! Want to go across first this time?”
“No, second’s fine with me.”
“Remember what to do?”
“Yeah, I’ve got the not-falling part down solid.”
She watched Liam walk over vertical logs that seemed unnecessarily narrow and spaced unnecessarily wide, then glanced back to see Miles cross the bridge with the same ease as his brother.
Show-offs, she decided, and carefully unlocked her first carabiner, switched it to the next wire, gave it a nice testing tug before she did the second.
The logs swayed, too, but the idea of freezing halfway across kept her moving, kept her stretching a leg out to step from one to the next. The fact she swallowed a couple of squeals before they sounded boosted her confidence.
There were narrow wood swings that swayed, a rope net to traverse.
Liam let out a hoot of approval as she managed them. “You’ve got it! We could sign you up on crew!”
No, she thought as she made her careful way over a long vertical log, then what was, essentially, a tightrope. Definitely no to that.
She climbed a rope ladder, felt her abs sing as she swayed and balanced over the course of tires.