Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(30)

The stately old tree that had provided most of the shade over the patio had taken a mortal blow. It had been pushed over the edge of the cliff by the blast. The tree’s roots were ripped from the ground, destabilizing the surrounding earth. As it fell, it had had destroyed that corner of the courtyard. The weakened ground gave way beneath the tiles. Only, with such an extensive root system, the tree was not completely torn from the earth. It leaned over the cliff like a monster’s railway crossing boom, close to horizontal.

As Calli peered over the edge, little rocks and pebbles cascading from her movements, the tree gave another deep groan and shuddered. The immense weight of the trunk and branches strained the injured root system. Soon, it would give away.

Another small gasping cry, below her, echoed the shudder of the tree. She looked down.

Minnie crouched on a tiny shelf, her arms outspread against the cliff for balance, her head turned into the cliff.

“Minnie!” Calli called.

She twisted her head to look. “Calli! Quickly! You must help Duardo! Hurry!” Minnie nodded toward the tree.

Calli lifted her head and looked at the tree. It took a moment for her to see Duardo. He hung amongst the vines and leaves trailing from the end of the tree. In the dying daylight she could see his eyes were closed. His head rested against his arm. He was not unconscious, or his grip would have given way.

“Calli, you have to hurry. He was talking at first. I think he’s fading. If he passes out...oh God, hurry, Calli!”

For a tiny moment Calli lay there, flummoxed. How do I do this? Duardo would be no lightweight. One thing seemed clear, though. She would have to go out onto the tree. It was the only way she could get close to him.

“Are you going to be all right for a while?” she said to Minnie.

“Yes, yes. Go!”

Calli wriggled her way over to the upended tiles and broken ground where the tree had stood for so long. The root system thrust high into the air, the long tendrils, once buried in the earth, now stretched like threads. The bottom half of the tree still held the earth, while the center of the trunk had split like kindling. Calli jumped and snagged the base of a root. She hung for a second. The root, a foot in diameter, ran like a tent rope down to the earth, disappearing under the edges of the tiling. She drew herself up and kicked with her feet to find footholds on the base of the tree. The heels of the shoes caught at projections and snags, giving her a foothold.

Calli pushed herself up above the root, supporting herself on the broad beam like a gymnast. She worked her way over the sharp slope down to the trunk of the tree itself. It wasn’t as straightforward as walking across a log, yet the multiple stems created ruts and runnels that gave her footing, until she reached the first of the major branches. She got down on her stomach and studied the way ahead.

She lay well out over open air now. The ground dropped thirty-five vertical feet. Duardo hung only two feet away, yet six feet below her. She would have to climb down into the branches to reach him.

“How you doing, Minnie?” she called.

“Just shut up and get him!” Minnie yelled back.

“Working on it. Is there a branch right below me?”

“Yes.”

“Big?”

“As big as your butt.”

“That’ll do,” Calli murmured. She would have to slide over the side of the trunk and find the branch and grab it before gravity took her the rest of the way down.

Fear shuddered through her.

“Duardo! Can you hear me?” she called out.

No movement. No sound.

“Just don’t let go, Duardo. I’m coming to get you.” She couldn’t think of any Spanish. She took a deep breath. “Here I go.” She slid over the sharp ridge of the trunk, her knee and hand trailing to give her purchase. She reached underneath for the branch Minnie told her was there. It was further than she’d thought. For one breathless, faint moment of panic, she hung in mid-air, unsupported anywhere. She curled her left arm around the big branch and slithered onto it, her legs clutching hard.

Her heart hammered. She forced herself to keep moving. She wriggled up the branch, closer and closer. Duardo’s hands gripped a handful of vines and whip-thin branches right beneath her. Calli stretched out her fingers. She couldn’t reach his head. Instead she patted his arm. “Duardo!” she called. “Duardo!”

The glossy black hair, covered in wood chips and twigs, moved. He stirred and looked up at her. Calli caught her breath at his unfocused gaze. Even as she watched, his eyes rolled up.

“No!” she yelled. She shot out her hand as his fingers loosened and the vines slid through his grip. She had no idea what she intended to do beyond holding him. She grasped his wrist and brought her other hand around the branch to grip beneath her fingers.

Minnie screamed.

Duardo’s full weight pulled on Calli’s arms. The branch she laid upon drove into her chest. She gasped, pain ripping through her shoulders, as Duardo dangled from her hands, a complete deadweight. He had passed out.

She drew a few slow breaths. The branch mashed against her chest hampered her breathing. Yet she could breathe—shallow as it was—and that was enough for now. She turned her head toward the hill where she could see Minnie hugging the earth, the broken tiles a few feet above her head. Calli lay lower than the tiles and couldn’t see the remains of the house or anyone on the courtyard. There was a lot of shouting, strident voices and the crackle of flames. The fire still climbed and she could see the tips of the flames licking the trees.