Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(72)

“Sean!” She yelled, looking behind in case she fell.

They felt a moment of teetering before Bob grabbed Sean and steadied them. It wasn’t the place for foreplay. Krista pinched Sean to get that across.

His almond shaped eyes bored into hers, intense, but also playful. He smiled briefly before he was headed for the rope.

One by one they all swung over. They were careful to always catch the rope, and had a scare when Bob came barreling at them, a giant wrecking ball against a few bowling pins. Thankfully, he was strong enough to hang on, but with that much mass traveling directly for you at high speeds, Krista would later freely admit she hid behind Sean. So would Donald.

After Bob made it across and was stopped by a brave Sean and Georgie, and after Krista laughed so hard she nearly wet herself (everyone else was trying to keep from laughing, except Bob who was really mad), they moved off to the next challenge.

As they walked, Georgie and Donald were Krista’s shadows. It wasn’t friendly. Something was a bit off; they acted more like bodyguards. She got the distinct impression there was a faction in the small group, and Krista was the cause of it.

Luckily, Krista didn’t much care at that moment. She had bigger issues. Like her returning headache.

“Okay,” the ref said, stopping in front of a vertical, disarrayed spider web. There were two erect posts. Between those posts were strands of rope. There was no decoration or pattern, just a criss-cross of ropes strung between two wooden poles.

“The goal of this is similar to the last. Get from one side to the other.”

Easy. Climb the rope strands, go over the top, drop down. No brainer.

“The rules to this one are simple,” the ref continued. “You can only go through each hole once, and you can’t touch the rope.”

Krista looked harder. There were big gaps in the ropes at the bottom. One at ground level, one a little higher up. The holes got smaller as they went in the air. The top hole was about seven feet up, and guess who would be crawling through that one?…

Krista suddenly decided she didn’t need that $500 all that much.

“Alright, suggestions?” Sean asked as he looked around.

“I’m a good anchor. I’ll go through the bottom one.” Bob spoke up immediately.

“Sean, you should probably go through the next biggest one,” Dean said.

That started everyone picking holes. When they were all done deciding, Sean telling Krista she got the top one, of course, they got into position. That was when she decided to throw a stick in their spokes.

“Sean should go through the second highest one, like Donald said.” Krista crossed her arms. Her power position was ruined when she then leaned against the nearest tree.

“We already decided,” Bob retorted.

“That you were going through the biggest hole, I know. You get going while the grown-ups talk,” Krista muttered.

“You aren’t acting like a grown up, Krista,” Sean returned quietly.

“I am P.M.S.’ing, then. Or I have women’s disease of a small brain. Regardless, I agree with what Donald has been saying. Sean is the strongest of us. But he is not the heaviest. Besides me, he is probably the only one who can torque his body enough to get to that top one. And he surfs—he’s got excellent balance.”

“I didn’t know he surfed. That does help my cause.” Donald stepped a fraction closer to Krista.

“I’m not convinced,” Sean said. “Dean is smaller and lighter. He’d be easier to get up there.” Sean scanned the holes at the top.

“Okay, how about this,” Krista said, looking at that daunting top hole, “Sean, you stay on this side. Bob, on that side. Those are two big bases. Let’s get Georgie through. I’ll go and we can see how hard it will be to get me through. Then we’ll have an idea of the fitness and strength required. If Dean has it, awesome. If not, Sean goes. That work?”

“What makes you think you have the strength?” Bob spat.

“Robert, did you not notice me holding my body straight with my stomach muscles? Well, my whole body is that strong. Plus, no one else is small enough, so I have no choice.”

Bob muttered as he got in position to get through his hole. The hole was plenty big, but he was a big ox of a man. He breathed heavy as he crawled through, his butt in the air and his legs doing a poor job of supporting his weight. When he was finally on the other side, they got Georgie through next. He got a smaller hole about three feet up to the side and made it through easily. He had a few extra pounds, but he was an athlete once, which was obvious.

Krista’s turn.

Sean made sure everyone was in position. He judged the height, and then the man-power. It was a dangerous stunt with the people they had to execute it. Sean didn’t want any accidents. Everyone waited for him to say go—except Krista who was waiting to throw up.

“Okay,” Sean said, motioning Krista over.

Krista walked toward the ropes, not really worried—she was too poisoned. Sean and Donald filed in next to her, ready to figure out how to go about the obstacle. Donald was wary about touching her.

“I would like to make an announcement,” Krista said suddenly, Donald’s nervousness infiltrating her brain. “If anyone touches me inappropriately,” she looked hard at Bob, “then I reserve the right to sucker punch you in your ball sack.”