Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(69)

Tree-climbing wasn’t as hard as she thought it’d be. There was a kind of logic to the way branches grew out of a pine tree. They were easy enough to reach for, and she didn’t need as much arm strength as she thought to move from one branch to the other. Granted, her course didn’t take her straight up the tree, but rather around it as she shifted to avoid branches blocking her from directly above.

Within a few minutes, the branches were beginning to get smaller, and the sky seemed closer. She risked pulling her gaze away from the trunk and branches and looked out through the forest and the landscape below.

“It’s kind of pretty up here,” she called down to Will, her voice only a little shaky. “There’s a lot to see too.”

“Like what?”

She climbed a few more branches before taking another long look outward.

“Oh! I can see buildings.” The excitement of the discovery had her heart soaring and a laugh trembling in her throat. “I can see a hunting lodge with a couple of those cute little cabins clustered around it. There’s a ton of those places up here. I bet that’s where—”

“How far?” Will’s voice came from a long way down, refocusing her.

“Not far at all. We could probably get there in an hour or so.” She moved higher.

“How’s your ankle holding up?”

“It’s fine.” In fact, she’d hardly noticed it at all that morning. Or maybe the high altitude of the treetop was making her giddy.

She laughed at that silly thought, but stopped dead as she spotted movement through the trees. From the height she’d reached, she could see that the forest began to clear just a few hundred yards away from them. She named that direction forward, then focused on the movement, which was a hundred or so yards off to her left. She had to squint to be sure, but as soon as Katrina and Ed moved into a slight clearing, she knew they were on the move. Worse still, they were moving fast and headed right toward the finish line.

“Shoot.”

Without really thinking, Melody started to reverse course and climb down the tree. She looked down to find a place to put her feet, saw just how far below her Will and the forest floor was, and stopped with a low moan.

“What? What’s wrong?” Will called up to her.

Melody swallowed hard, gripping the branches around her for dear life. “It’s them,” she croaked, swallowed again, and repeated, “It’s them. Katrina and Ed. They’re getting ahead of us. And the finish line is just over there.”

She would have pointed, but the last thing she wanted to do right then was let go of the branch. It felt like the only thing in the world that was keeping her from tumbling to a nasty demise.

“Okay,” Will said, his tone of voice extra gentle. “Come back down. One branch at a time. You can do it.”

“Um,” she squeaked. “I’m not sure I can.”

“Look at the trunk, not the ground.”

Melody made a pained noise, but tried to do as he said. She inched down three times slower than she had shot up the tree.

“You can do it,” Will called up to her. He paused, then said, “Do you really want to let Ed and Katrina win because your fear got the better of you?”

That did it. “No.” Mustering everything she had in her, she climbed down, one branch at a time. Each step down was a little easier, but after one near slip, she started singing “My Darling Clementine” in shaky, off-key tones to keep her mind where it should be.

The distraction worked.

“You’re almost down. I’m right here, right under you.” Will’s voice was so much closer that she nearly sighed with relief.

“Clementine, just you wait until you’re under me good and proper. You won’t know what hit you.” She laughed. Okay, so apparently she wasn’t above using flirting as a means of keeping herself from dissolving into panic.

It was a testament to Will’s powers of focus that he didn’t make any comments about her on top. “You’re almost there. Almost. Good. Just a few more branches.”

When she reached the last branch and started to let herself down the last drop, Will grabbed her, sliding her into his arms. Melody squeezed him tightly and stole a big kiss before it dawned on her that helping her down had probably seriously hurt his hand.

“Oh, sorry. How is your burn?”

“Never mind.” He shook his head, drawing her away from the tree. “Where did you see Ed and Katrina, and how far away is the resort?”

The blaze of competition was back in Will’s eyes as fiercely as it had been that first day. It was contagious. Relief over being on the ground snapped into excitement for the end of the challenge. “Katrina and Ed were about a hundred yards that way.” She hesitated, then pointed off in the direction she was almost certain they were. “And the resort is farther on that way.” She shifted to point about forty-five degrees to the right.

“Then let’s go.” Will grabbed her hand with his good one and started jogging through the undergrowth.

“Wait, wait, what about the camp?” Melody asked as they zipped right past their pile of sleeping bags and the campfire, which appeared to have been put out.

“Leave it. Someone can come back and get everything later.”

“Really?” She could hardly believe she was hearing that from Will.