Jude skidded to a halt, kicking up a patch of moss. He scanned the ground. “There has to be a way. Let me think. Let me think. Just let me—”
He was panicking.
“I’m here with you, Jude. You’re okay. We just need to get up this slope.”
Jude almost stared right through her, but he found his focus and nodded, letting her know he was calm. He searched the immediate area, grabbing sticks and tossing them aside, picking up stones and examining them. Ashley didn’t see how any of it was helpful, but there was no point denying that Jude was smarter than her. If there was a solution, he was most likely to find it. So she waited.
After a few minutes, Jude made an excited sound. He grabbed a thick branch buried in a bush and pulled it free. It had fallen from a nearby tree. He hunted a moment more and found a second thick branch of a similar length. He handed it to Ashley.
She shrugged. “What do I do with this?”
“Let me show you.” He took his branch over to the bottom of the slope and held it in both hands. Then, as if he were catching trout in a river, he speared the branch into the mud. The ground was firm, but the branch was sharp enough to plant itself. Jude used it to steady himself and clambered up the steep incline. Once he was in line with the branch, he dug in the toes of his trainers and yanked it free. He repeated the process two more times, planting the branch higher and higher. He looked back at Ashley and grinned. “It’s easy.”
Witnessing the effectiveness of Jude’s method, Ashley hurried forward and planted her branch into the slope. Jude was already ten feet up. She didn’t intend to get left behind, so she moved as fast as she could. While it hadn’t rained in a few days, the mud was wet in places where the thick tree canopy had obviously blocked the sun from making it onto the slope. Once she realised that, she made rapid progress.
Kiss my arse, Devil’s Ditch.
She looked up and realised Jude was about to reach the top of the slope. Happy to know that at least one of them was safe, she held onto her branch and took a breather. She waited until Jude made it up onto the flat ground above and then gave a muted cheer.
Then he disappeared from sight.
Ashley waited.
Then she worried.
“Jude? Jude, what are you doing up there?”
For a moment, she feared he’d run off without her, which would have been unlike him. One down, two down; they always had each other’s back. To prove her point, Jude reappeared, peering down at her and waving. “I was just checking for Ricky and Lily. I was worried they might still be up here. There’s no sign of them, though.”
“Good, because I’m in no mood for their shit.”
Jude clapped his hands together, then wagged a finger in a beckoning gesture. Ashley suddenly realised she was hanging from a branch ten feet in the air, so she got moving again. She planted the branch in some wet mud a little higher up and clambered upwards. Twice more, and she was at the top of the slope.
God, I can’t wait to get out of this ditch.
Jude stretched out an arm. “Grab my hand. I’ll pull you up.”
Ashley nodded. She held onto the branch with her right hand, reached out with her left.
Crack!
The branch snapped in the middle, and suddenly she was standing on the steep incline with no support. Gravity seized her, begging her to fall backwards. She yelled out, knowing that whatever happened next was going to hurt. Her eyes met Jude’s. His mouth was as wide open as hers.
Their hands met.
Jude grabbed her, barely in time to stop her falling. He yanked her up over the crest and onto the flat ground. Ashley collapsed onto her knees, panting, while he patted her back. “I got you,” he said. “You’re fine.”
“That would have sucked so bad.” She looked up to thank him but noticed his hand was bloody. There was blood all over her wrist, too, but it wasn’t hers. “Shit! Jude, your hand! You used it to grab me.”
Jude examined his bleeding palm. “Huh… It was instinct. It doesn’t hurt that bad anymore. Come on, let’s go.”
Ashley got to her feet and the two of them took off. They headed through more snarled undergrowth and nigh impenetrable bushes, but at least this time they knew the way ahead was going to get easier. Soon enough, they reached the lighter part of the woods.
They decelerated and walked for a couple more minutes, catching their breath and avoiding the pratfalls that running entailed. It felt good to be back in the world they knew, not far from the footpath. Ten minutes and they would be home. Then they could call the police and let somebody else deal with this – a grown-up. For the first time in a long time, Ashley was glad to be a kid.
She put a hand on Jude’s back and sighed. “This is so messed up.” She laughed at the absurdity of it. The ordeal had only happened fifteen minutes ago, but it already felt like a dream. No way could there be a forgotten old farmhouse that nobody knew about. No way could there be a naked woman chained to the floor.
No way.
Chains right through her goddamn hands and ankles.
For fuck’s sake. Did that actually just happen?
Jude chuckled, too, although it was high-pitched with anxiety. “This is going to blow up,” he said. “As soon as the police find that woman, things will explode.”
Ashley hadn’t thought about it, but she realised he was right. There would be a massive investigation, as well as a manhunt for the sicko responsible. Ashley and Jude would probably end up in the papers, or even on TV. Maybe they would get called
