Escaping Trepidation

Chapter 4

"Shit," Mr. Kidd mouthed as he stared at the vacant hole before him. His partner, Mr. Mcrae, had a similar distraught look upon his face as well. They had left early from Inverness that morning in order to grab the girl they had abducted three days ago only to find the hole completely empty, save for the spider that crawled on the floor. In an attempt to recollect himself, Mr. Kidd shifted his gaze from the hole to observe the ground around it. Several footprints tattooed the dirt allowing him to examine which direction the perpetrators had come from, and most importantly, where headed. He kneeled down to scrutinize them further.

"Do you think it was the police?" Mr. Mcrae asked. He glared at his partner as if he were responsible the girl's disappearance.

Mr. Kidd shook his head in disagreement. "No. I think a group of experienced hikers happened upon the girl. Come here and see for yourself." He waited until his companion loomed above him before continuing. "We made sure to hide the girl away from any marked trails, and, we had hoped that the early season would deter hikers, but apparently we had made a mistake."

"Correction, you made the mistake of burying her here," Mr. Mcrae growled.

His partner dismissed the statement and said, "Regardless, the group who discovered the girl had experience in mountain climbing and had split up, another indication that it was not the police." He pointed at the junction proving his point.

"What do you have in mind then?"

Instead of answering his question, Mr. Kidd stood up and brushed the dirt off his khaki pants. He strolled around, following a set of tracks and scowled. "It looks like two members of the group are headed towards Devil's Drop."

"What does that mean?" Mr. Mcrae crossed his arms in frustration.

"Do you have your rifles?"

"Of course. I placed them in the back of the truck, just in case."

"Good, 'cause we will need them. The two are headed towards the village, and the closest route is to climb down Devil's Drop. We need to stop them." Mr. Kidd released a sly smile.

"What about the other group? I am assuming that they have the girl."

"We will track them after." Mr. Kidd said, matter-of-factly.

"You plan to hunt them down?"

"Aye." He paused for a moment to rework his plan, and then said, "Mcrae, I want you to head back to the truck to retrieve the rifles. Meet me back here once you have them. I will be tracking the two who headed off towards the cliff." He took out his utility knife. "I will make sure that they drop. Oh yes, they will drop." Mr. Kidd chuckled, the evil sound startling a nearby bird that had been perched on a tree branch.

"Right, then let's get to it." He brushed past his partner, who tested his knife against one of his fingers sending a trickle of blood down his palm.

Relief spread across Alison's face as she beheld the massive cliff. "We managed to cover all that terrain in only two and a half hours; I think that is a record."

Rob gulped down some water, wiping the sweat off his brow afterward. "Let's see if we can get down this cliff in record time," he said, keeping up their spirits. He swung his backpack off and placed it upon the jagged ground they were standing upon and began to take out their climbing gear.

Taking a moment to observe their surroundings, Alison carefully stepped towards the ledge and peered down. Devil's Drop certainly held its reputation as her stomach churned. "Are you sure we can do this?"

"We have to for Anna's sake." He stood up and walked next to her. "Look, those are the Belasian Steps which will be our first belay point." He was pointing at a group of rocks about a hundred feet down that stuck out further than the rest of the cliff at uneven intervals making them look like stairs. "If we take it slow and steady, we will be fine." Beyond the steps, the rock curved inward a little and was smoother.

"So much for climbing down in record time," she joked to calm her nerves.

Rob smiled and returned back to his pack. He grabbed some rope and began to untangle it while Alison looked over the ledge again. Five hundred feet below, the raging Isola River flowed carelessly. The river bed was not very large, but it was enough room for the two to land upon. From there they would walk a short ways to the nearest crossing toward the shore on the other side.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before turning to help Rob. Within twenty minutes, they had the rope all set up and ready to go. "Do you want to go down first?" Rob asked.

Unwilling to display more of her nerves, she nodded and walked over to the ledge again. Before she began to descend, she checked her harness, rope, and carabineer for any mistakes. Finding none, she looked over her shoulder and walked backwards, slowly bending her knees in the process. With a few careful steps, she hung successfully off the cliff. In small increments, she began to trek her way down.

When she reached the Belasian Steps, she called up to Rob. After confirmation, she began to descend towards the second belay point, which was a hundred feet below her. Knowing that there were no more great footholds, Alison made her way down at a much slower pace. Everything was going fine until she made a grave discovery. Dangling a little over three hundred feet above the ground, she yelled, "Rob there's no more rope!"

Her heart began to race as she looked for a better way down. "Fuck," she said to herself as she found nothing but smooth rock for five feet. At the five foot mark, she noticed a sharp piece of rock that protruded from the cliff.

Rob peered over the ledged and saw his friend struggle with the rope. "Can you make it?"

"I'm not sure." She stopped fidgeting to loop up at Rob's distance face.

Rob cursed under his breath. He did not want to give up on their endeavor, but he also had to make sure that they were safe.

Alison craned her neck to look at the small rock that stuck out and began to carefully untie her rope giving her a little more slack. Even with the additional inches of rope she had a hard time reaching her destination. Still, she was determined after making it that far. She closed her eyes and thought about Anna. A flood of energy rushed through her veins at an image of the little girl entered her mind. "For you," she whispered before opening her eyes.

"Alison?" Rob was becoming impatient.

"I think I can make it" she said shouting so he could hear.

"All right, but I'm coming down. How is it?"

"Fucking scary, Rob. You be careful okay. Once you get to this point, there will not be another foothold for another five feet." He acknowledged her caution and started to climb down.

Meanwhile, Alison managed to creep along the cliff until her foot rested securely upon the small protruding rock. At this point, she no longer had any support from the rope. Taking some deep breaths, she scanned around the area for her next foothold. A large crack in the rock caught her attention. It was roughly three feet below her and cut lengthwise across the rock for nearly fifteen feet.

Again, she successfully shifted herself towards the crack allowing her feet to be supported once more. With cautious precision, she descended about fifty feet before she looked up to see how Rob was holding up. He was already a few feet past the steps making her feel much better. Soon, he would be traversing the same path she had mapped out, and with her help, they should be able to descend the rest of the mountain.

A lot of her tension was released when she angled herself towards several trees that grew out of the side of the rock. The trees covered a good fifty to sixty feet of the cliff, leaving them with only seventy feet left once they emerged out of the trees. From what she could see, the rock look more jagged past the trees, but she was not entirely sure.

A sudden twang interrupted her thoughts. Before she had a chance to look up, a figure flew past her. It took her a moment to realize that the figure was Rob. She froze, clinging tightly to the cliff as she screamed in pure terror. With a distant thud, Rob landed on a pile of rocks, dead. All alone, Alison began to hyperventilate, bitter tears begging to stream down her cheeks.

She had to force herself to look down to believe that he was actually gone. What baffled her is that he fell in silence; not a single sound erupted from his lips as gravity pulled him towards the ground. Scared for her life, Alison, stood there for several minutes crying until she convinced herself that tears would not help her climb down the rest of the mountain.

With renewed vigor, she calmed herself and started to climb down again. She took her time and made it ten feet before another eerie sound captured her attention. Immediately, she looked up and saw a small boulder falling towards her. Panic swelled within her once more as she frantically tried to find a foothold that would take her out of the boulder's path. To her dismay, she found none.

With nothing else to do, she pressed herself closer to the rock and prayed. As if on cue, the boulder slammed into the cliff causing it to rebound and soar over Alison. She heaved a huge sigh of relief but she was still frightened. Glancing back at the top of the cliff she barely caught the silhouette of a man. He had walked away from the ledge the moment she looked up, but she was certain she saw someone.

In that moment, she realized that it must be the kidnapper, else why would he try to kill her? Her thoughts strayed back to Rob. If her conclusion was correct, his rope had to have been cut. Since she was not dangling from the rope, the kidnapper was using another method to get rid of her.

Another boulder came barreling down the side eliminating any doubts she had. This time, the stone veered too much to the right and fell less than ten feet away from her. Alison clung to the cliff for dear life, turning her knuckles white from the pressure. A third boulder breezed past her making her grateful that the man's aim was terrible. The moment after the pleasant thought crossed her mind, a fourth boulder descended towards her.

Seconds later she felt the stone impact her chest making her lose her balance. The unwanted sensation of free fall enveloped her entire body as she soared through the air. As she fell, she finally understood why Rob did not scream; there was no point. Her body was cutting through the air and there was nothing she could do except recall her life seconds before her life would end.

Thunk! Alison lost her breath and heard a crack come from her back as she collided with a thick tree branch. Intense pain ensued afterward, but she had no time to cry out as branch after branch hit her. She desperately tried to grab hold, but she moved too quickly for her limbs to work properly. All she managed to accomplish were several cuts on her hand.

The last branch collided with back signaling that she would hit the ground in a few moments. Defeated, she closed her eyes and reviewed her life, wishing that she could say goodbye to her family and friends. She felt a rush of ice cold water surround her body. Long seconds past before she realized that she was still alive. With all the force she could muster, she swam over to the river bank where Rob lay in a puddle of blood.

Panting, she crawled onto the dry land. The last thing she remembered before she blacked out was the sound of rushing river beside her.