I grabbed the first swing by the ropes and stepped onto the board. It swung more than I thought it would. I had to keep the momentum going and transfer to the next swing. There wasn't any time to think (a problem I usually had), so I swung forward to the next swing and grabbed it with my feet.
Somehow, I managed to grab one of the ropes then the other. I was two steps ahead as my pursuer's head came up over the platform. I swung across to the third swing and caught it, pulling myself onto it.
The figure watched me for a few minutes as I crossed two more. My heart was racing, and I was panting. I wasn't cut out for something like this without the usual security of a harness or a gun. If I'd been hooked up, I could miss a step and not fall.
I made it to the sixth swing and looked back as I dangled dangerously high in the air. Nancy Drew wouldn't have forgotten a harness. I guess I wasn't as smart as her after all.
Swinging back and forth, it was hard to get a read on my assailant. Did he have a harness? That would just figure. But, although it would make him safer, would it make him faster? Or maybe he just needed to scare me into making a mistake and plunging to a gruesome and messy end down below. At least I didn't think he had a gun, because he could've shot me by now.
I made it to the seventh swing as I spotted the figure stepping onto the first one. He had the grace of a mountain goat and seemed unnervingly steady on his feet as he hopped over to the second swing. Well, that sucked.
Turning my attention to the task at hand, I forced all panic from my chest and made for the eighth swing. There were ten in all. Once I grabbed hold of the ropes for the ninth swing, I risked a look back.
He'd made good time. He was only two swings behind me. It really bothered me that I didn't have time to see his face. But that wasn't the priority. The priority was to stay alive by making it to the other side.
I had only myself to rely on as I took the tenth swing.
"Who are you?" I growled. Maybe I could goad him into giving himself away by talking.
The figure didn't respond. He just lightly skipped to the eighth swing. Something glinted on his belt.
Dammit. He had a knife. I didn't have a knife. Not even the pocketknife I usually took camping.
I dove for the tenth swing, narrowly missing the rope. The swing whirled violently as my hand groped for the rope. At the last second, I grabbed it and pulled myself across. This was ridiculous. I was going to do the job for him by being stupid and panicking.
Something raked against my back, and I turned to see my attacker on the swing behind me. He'd reached out again to grab me, but I swung away at the right moment. There was no time to turn around. I made an attempt for the last swing.
I'd like to say that I gracefully skipped over it to the next platform. But I didn't. My foot held the tenth swing in front of me, but as I reached for the right-side rope with my right hand, my left hand slipped from the left rope on the ninth swing, and I started to fall.
Landing on my butt on the tenth swing seemed promising, but I couldn't grab the ropes. Soon I was dangling by my knees as they gripped the board, hanging upside down way too high over the ground.
There was that cold laugh again.
"I don't suppose you want to talk about this?" I asked.
He shook his head. He was wearing a ski mask, black hoodie, and loose, black turtleneck and pants. There was no way to determine his exact shape. I could swear he was smiling, but since I was upside down, I wasn't sure. I tried to swing for the platform and managed to get a little momentum. Hopefully, I could grab it and somehow pull myself up.
A plan formed in my mind. If I could grab the platform, it was possible I could knock him off his swing. I was just raking my fingertips across the platform when I was jerked back toward the ninth swing.
The figure had hold of the rope on my right. In his other hand was the knife. For a split second, I was sure he was going to stab me in the thigh. But then he started to saw on the rope that held up the right side of the plank that I was currently dangling from.
And I really needed that rope to stay intact.
My assailant (because now that he was directly threatening me, I could call him that) was standing on the swing behind me, holding on to the right rope attached to the tenth swing and sawing through that rope just above his other hand.
It was dangerous for him, but maybe he hadn't realized that. He just focused on his work. I started moving my body back and forth, trying to get the rope out of his reach, but he held tight. He even growled a little.
To be honest, I couldn't tell 100% if it was a man or a woman. Hanging upside down in the dark can do that.
My thighs were burning as they struggled to grip the plank. Either the rope or my legs would give first, and neither one was an option I particularly liked. I was facing him as I dangled. With all of my strength, I brought my torso up and grabbed the plank of the swing he was standing on.
It was something and gave me a little hope. Now
