Now, P.J. sat on his haunches with his arms wrapped around Juliet’s torso, his hat on her head, and his leather jacket draped over her shoulders. He held on to her tight, kissed the top of her head and murmured reassurances. P.J was doing his best to keep Juliet as warm and as calm as possible.
“Juliet.” He repeated low into her ear. “I have to go get us some help. I have some rope in the house, I need to go…”
“No! No!” She wrapped both her thin arms in a tight hold around his neck. “P.J. please. I can do it. We can do it! I’ll try harder, I will! We can do this! JUST DON’T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!” Juliet begged P.J. in a terror filled scream that was loud enough to rival the storm. “PLEASE DON’T GO!”
P.J. felt it like a punch in the gut when he had to peel Juliet’s arms from his neck.
But when he had to kick off the hand that held his ankle in a death grip?
That, P.J. felt in his heart.
Juliet thought she might be dying. After suffering the pain of what felt like a thousand needles, now she couldn’t feel her legs. She was a lump of mud in the middle of a rising pool. The smell was terrible… mold, muck, decay, and now urine. Juliet thought idly that she must have peed her pants.
He had left her. P.J. had left her there all alone.
Juliet just prayed that he hadn’t left her there to die.
Juliet tried to keep her eyes glued to the path where P.J. had disappeared, but the force of the wind and the rain made it almost impossible to keep her head up. Juliet listened though. To every howl, to every creak, to every snap that might signal P.J.’s return. Her head hurt with an intensity that made her vomit in long, gasping shudders. Juliet’s belly burned with every heaving wretch. Her eyes became heavy, her brain was beginning to shut down. Juliet knew that she had begun to move in and out of consciousness.
“Juliet? Juliet? Damn it! Juliet, wake up!” She heard P.J.’s sharp tone. And Juliet wanted to respond to him, she did. She was just so tired. Through the haze, she heard the tinkling sound of glass breaking. It was a pleasant noise…like windchimes or…
Wham!
Juliet felt the sudden snap of her neck as it was pulled back. All at once, the powerful smell of ammonia crashed through the sensitive membranes of Juliet’s nostrils and rampaged through her lungs. She reflexively breathed in sharply. Her eyes watered, her face flushed. Juliet felt as though she had been kicked in the face by a donkey.
“Smelling salts.” P.J. explained abruptly, as he quickly unscrewed the thermos he held in his hands. “Two hour old coffee laced with whiskey. Hot and strong. Take in as much as you can. Now open up.” And without further ado, P.J. McCabe put a strong thumb and index finger on either side of Juliet’s cheeks and squeezed. Then he carefully poured long sips into her open mouth. When Juliet’s eyes met his over the thermos, P.J. tried to smile at her. “That’s good, babe. Real good. A few more sips to warm you, then you and me? We’re getting you outa here. Yeah?”
Juliet took one last, long, gulp of the bitter, bracing brew and called out weakly. “I’m ready.”
“Okay. Let’s do this.” P.J. took off the heavy rope that was wrapped across his chest and made a large loop. “Put your arms up, Juliet. Higher. Yeah, like that, but closer together.” He commanded as he dropped the rope to just under Juliet’s breasts. Then he pulled tight. When she winced in pain, P.J. didn’t hesitate. “You can slap me for this later.” He told her as his big hands moved quickly and firmly over Juliet’s breasts. P.J. worked fast to readjust the rope to give him the most leverage and her the least pain. Then he brought out a pair of leather work gloves and put them on Juliet’s hands. P.J. tightened the fit by placing rubber bands over the cuffs.
“You’re gonna have to do your best to hold on to the rope when I start pulling. If you can hold on, it will take some of the strain from the tight loop off your chest. The gloves will stop you from getting rope burns.”
Then P.J. took a minute to find a thick, strong branch. When he did, he threw the end of the rope over that branch to create a pulley. All the while the weather continued to howl and shriek and punish the earth around them.
“Okay. You ready?”
“I’m ready!!” The sudden and resolute strength in Juliet’s voice shocked P.J. His eyes snapped right to her. When Juliet met that stare straight on, P.J. noted with surprise the trust that radiated out from her eyes. Juliet looked at P.J. like he could do anything. She looked at him as if she knew that he would save her or die trying.
And when a woman looks at a man like that…
Well, that changes everything.
“Okay. Wrap your hands around the rope.” P.J. called out to Juliet with renewed intensity and determination. “When I yell NOW you tighten your grip. I’m gonna put all my weight behind the rope and pull you out.” P.J. braced his left foot against a large tree trunk and his right on the root of another. Then he prepared himself to unleash the strength he had been storing.
“NOW!!” P.J. bellowed out and leaned back hard. Juliet held on tight as she felt
