“My condition?” Jesse smirked at me. “Rowen, I’ve had so many broken bones, I’ve spent as much time in casts and splints as I have without them.”
I gave him an unamused look.
“I’m a cowboy, remember? I’ve got steel running through my veins.”
“And hippie in your heart,” I shot back.
“That’s right,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s why I need the rope.”
I was glad he thought the situation was amusing, because I sure as hell didn’t.
“I just qualified for the senior discount up here!” Garth yelled down at us. “Is anyone planning on coming up? This decade?”
Jesse lifted his eyebrows and waited for me.
I sighed. “I am!”
“Ready when you are, princess!” Garth replied. “I’ve been ready.”
Jesse hoisted himself up and came toward me. “Let’s get that rope around you and get out of here.” I grabbed the rope and handed it to him. “I’m ready to crawl into a warm bed with you.”
Jesse was right. He really could tie a rope one handed. “In case you’ve forgotten you have bones inside your body that are broken,” I said as he cinched the rope tight around my waist, “the only warm bed we’ll be cuddling in is a hospital bed.”
“Sounds perfect. Sign me up. You. Me. Bed. Whatever kind of bed.” He gave the rope one final check. “She’s ready, Garth!”
“It’s about damn time,” Garth said.
“Oh, and Black?” Jesse said, lifting his face up at the light. “I’m putting Rowen in your hands. I’m trusting you.” Jesse swallowed. “Take care of her, okay?”
Garth didn’t snap back with his standard smartass remark. Eventually, it sounded like he was clearing his throat before he said, “I’ll take care of her, Jess.”
My mouth dropped open and I gave Jesse a look. “Did you guys just have a moment?”
Jesse looked as confused as I did. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll figure it out later. Right now, I want you to focus on getting to the top of that ridge safely.”
“Hey,” I said, “I’ve got a rope.”
Jesse tried giving me a stern look. He sucked at that, too.
“See you at the top,” he said, grabbing my face with one hand before pressing his mouth to my forehead.
“See you there,” I replied. I turned to the muddy, rocky face I’d just come down and lifted a hand and foot to it.
“She’s coming up, Garth!” Jesse hollered.
“For real this time?” Garth threw back sarcastically before the rope went taut.
Then with the help of the rope, and my hands and feet aiding in the journey, I made it up the wall. I glanced back once at Jesse. He watched me without blinking, almost without breathing. As I moved higher and the dark swallowed him up, I stopped breathing, too.
In at least a fourth of the time it had taken me to get down, I crested over the ridge. I curled over the edge and hoisted myself higher.
“Whoa, boy,” Garth said, rushing around the side of his horse toward me. He kneeled in front of me and held out his hand. I took it and let him help me the rest of the way up.
We sat in the middle of the trail for a minute, catching our breaths. Garth tilted his head at me. “Good job, Rowen. Good job.”
I nodded, too breathless to reply.
“She’s up, Jess!” Garth shouted over the ridge. “She’s safe.”
He was a long way down, and there was a lot of space between us, but I could have sworn I heard him sigh in relief.
“Let’s get this back down there.” Garth worked the knot around my waist free before standing up and winding the rope between his elbow and hand. “Step back, Jess! The rope’s on its way down!” Garth glanced over at me, a small smirk in place. “Not that it would do much damage if it did clock him in the head.”
I swatted his arm and sighed. “Where’s your flashlight?” I asked, looking around for it. “I’ll hold it for you.”
Garth smiled at me sheepishly. “The batteries died.”
“The batteries died,” I repeated and crossed my arms. “And you don’t have any spares?”
He continued wrapping the rope around his arm. “I will next time.”
The “next time” better not involve Jesse and broken bones.
I clicked my headlamp back on. It didn’t produce near the amount of light Garth’s flashlight had, but it was better than pitch black. After Garth had circled the rope back up, he heaved it behind him before tossing it out over the ridge.
“Got it!” Jesse called up.
While Jesse tied up the calf, or while I guessed he was tying up the calf since I couldn’t see since someone’s batteries had died, I took a closer look at what Garth had rigged up. His big black horse was a little ways down the trail from us. The other end of the rope was tied to the saddle horn. From there, the rope was wrapped once around a young pine tree growing up the side of the ridge. It looked incredibly jimmy-rigged to me, but what did I know? For all I knew, that could be the way to pull both man and mammal up a steep dirt face.
“Where’s Sunny?” I’d wandered a good ways down in the ravine before I’d found Jesse, but I wasn’t sure if I’d wandered to the right or left of where I’d left Sunny.
Garth titled his head to the left. “A little that way,” he said, “but don’t worry. As soon as Jesse’s up here, that horse will be right here, practically panting and waving his tail at him. That damn horse thinks it’s a dog when it comes to Jesse.”