The bad guy paid no attention to the fact that I was holding on to his swing. He probably figured that by cutting the rope, my weight would drop and I'd lose my hold and fall to my death. And if I didn't, he could just step on my hands until I let go.
But he was taking a risk too. His body was leaning over the open ground as he held on to my rope while keeping his feet on the board. Maybe I could use his weight against him, like he was trying to use mine against me.
I yanked on his board with all of my might, bringing it toward the board my legs hung on to.
He grunted and seemed to lose his footing for a moment. But then he went back to sawing, much faster this time, on my rope. It was hard to see, but I strained my eyes. Was he really sawing the rope above his hand? He couldn't be that stupid, could he?
When it broke, he would fall with it. Now I had a dilemma. Wait and let him figure it out, hoping I could hold on that long? My fingers slipped a little as I thought this. My grip wasn't solid.
Or should I let go with my legs the minute the rope started to break so that the momentum of my hips wouldn't pull me off the board I held on to so precariously?
Decisions…decisions…
My legs felt the rope starting to give way, and I made the call, putting all my weight on my arms as I brought my knees toward myself and off the plank.
Two things happened. The man started to fall and fell off the plank I was holding on to, and I reached my right hand up until I curled my fingers around the rope.
He didn't fall completely. He managed to grab hold of the plank that now dangled from only one rope beneath me. I didn't fall either. With all of my power, I managed to slowly pull myself up onto the ninth swing. It felt like it took years.
My attacker was silent as he started to climb the rope. With shaking legs and arms that would much rather be relaxing in bed, I made my way back the way I'd come. I didn't look back, just focused on the task at hand.
I didn't hear anyone behind me. I made sure my hands and feet were in contact with something at all times. It was agony, worrying that my attacker would at any moment plunge a knife into my back, but I couldn't think of that.
Finally, the platform was in reach. I stepped onto it and reached for the pole. There was a poof of smoke, and Betty appeared on the platform. Because I was startled, I started to fall backward until the girl grabbed the front of my T-shirt with one hand, the pole with the other, and pulled me onto the safety of the platform.
"Number one," I shouted, "stop doing that! Number two, thank you. Number three, go!" I pushed her to the ladder.
"Why didn't you have a harness?" She pointed to the one she was wearing.
"That guy…" I breathed.
Betty looked around me. "What guy?"
I put my back to the pole and looked. The tenth swing dangled in the air, but there was nobody beneath it on the ground.
"I just saved your life again!" Betty shrieked before launching into a little jig.
The platform wobbled, and I wrapped my arms around the pole, closing my eyes until I felt myself start to relax.
"Merry?" Rex called from down below.
"Oh, hi, honey." I tried to steady my voice. "We're coming down now."
"I'm all harnessed in. I can go after him!" Betty tried to fasten the carabiner and cord that was attached to her harness to the zip line.
"No!" I shouted. "We have to get down now!"
She scowled. "You're no fun anymore."
"Seriously! He could grab you! What would you do then?"
She rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. I'd do this."
A plume of smoke erupted again, and the girl was gone, halfway down the pole, where Rex was waiting at the bottom.
Once I landed on terra firma, my legs went all wobbly, and Rex reached out to steady me.
"What happened?" His concerned eyes searched my face.
"I saved Mrs. Wrath's life. Again." Betty shrugged before turning and heading back to the lodge.
"Did she?" Rex asked. "Again?"
I didn't answer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After I filled him in on what happened, Rex spent the next hour scouring the camp. When he found nothing, we locked the doors to the lodge and called it a night. I knew that guy was long gone. I'd like to think I'd scared him off, but it could've been the appearance of Betty and Rex that made him run off.
The next morning, we got a few phone calls from parents who suddenly realized that their daughters were gone for an undetermined amount of time. Kelly assured them that we'd all be leaving the very next day. That seemed to placate them.
"We only have one more day here," she said after getting off the phone with Betty's mom.
"Good," I said. "That means today is make or break on this case. We've got to give it our all."
"I think we should have a solid breakfast. Eggs, bacon, the works," Kelly said.
As good as that sounded, I wanted to hit the ground running. "Can you handle this? I thought I'd run by the house."
"We have to go to the post office first," Rex said. "I'm going with you."
Kelly waved us off. "Go on. The girls know how to make this stuff. We'll meet up later."
Rex and I walked into the post office. The building was a little less run down on the outside than its neighboring buildings and on the inside appeared to be a
