Rachelle McCalla - Survival Instinct

“No, I’m okay,” Tracie insisted. “We can do this. Let’s give it another go.”

But this time, Marilyn sided with Abby. “Let’s take a break.”

“But Captain Sal and his men could come back for us any moment,” Scott protested. “We don’t have much time.”

Marilyn gave her son a stern look. “We need to pray.”

“She’s right,” Abby agreed immediately. “Let’s pray.” She looked at Tracie uncertainly. “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course.” Tracie nodded. “We should have thought of it sooner.”

The four of them joined hands and Marilyn immediately began by thanking God for protecting them and bringing them back together. Then Scott asked for wisdom in how to proceed, and Tracie requested strength.

As soon as Tracie’s prayer concluded, Abby began, “And, Lord, we know Your word says that You’re with us.” Her voice cracked. “The darkness isn’t dark to You, and no obstacle is too big for You. So we ask You to help us see what we need to do, and give us strength to do it. Amen.”

The other three joined her with the Amen, and Scott squeezed her hand. Abby felt lighter somehow, as though a great burden had been lifted.

Tracie clapped her hands together. “Let’s do this.”

Having practiced the move several times before, Abby squatted down and held tight to Tracie’s ankles as the other woman stepped onto her shoulders. But having lifted Tracie’s weight so many times already, Abby’s leg muscles protested painfully as she rose. She focused on breathing steadily in through her nose and out through her mouth. God would give her the strength to stand.

Once Abby stood straight, Tracie’s weight was easier to bear locked into place by her upright posture.

“Okay.” Scott spoke softly close to her ear as he stood with his solid arms supporting her. “I’m going to have you sit you on my shoulders and then lift you to a standing position. You don’t have to bend your legs.”

“But that’s not how we did it before.”

“I know. That’s why it’s going to work this time.”

“But it’s too much weight for you to bear,” Abby protested.

“You’ve been taking on more than your fair share,” Scott insisted as he ducked down and grasped her knees. “Let’s just try this.”

“Okay,” Abby agreed shakily. She reminded herself that they’d prayed-perhaps Scott’s new approach was a gift from God. As he slowly stood, with Abby sitting piggyback on his shoulders and Tracie standing balanced on Abby’s shoulders, Abby realized how much easier it was on her to let Scott do all the lifting. She recalled his earlier penchant for carrying the burdens of others, but this time she was glad for it. She honestly didn’t know how much more standing and lifting she could take.

“Now I’m going to lift you up,” Scott explained once he stood upright.

“What do you want me to do?” Abby asked.

“Nothing. Just try not to lose your balance. Use the wall as much as you can to stabilize yourself.”

It was easier said than done. As Scott began to lift her by the seat of her pants, she was glad for the rubberized wet suit that allowed him to grasp her easily. More so, she appreciated his massive upper body strength as he hoisted the weight of both women above his head.

After a moment’s grunting struggle, she managed to perch on his shoulders on her knees. She could hear him panting as he caught his breath beneath her.

“I can reach the ceiling now,” Tracie called down. “I think we can do this.”

Abby wasn’t so sure, but she refused to voice her doubts. Everyone was giving it their all. She wasn’t about to deter them.

“Do you want me to try to stand?” she asked Scott in a shaky voice. She could feel the strain on her leg muscles again, and her back felt as though it would crumple under the constant weight of the woman on her shoulders.

“Yeah,” Scott conceded. “I guess you’re going to have to. I’ll give you all the lift I can add from down here, but you’re getting too high up for me to do much more.”

Cautiously, Abby proceeded to move upward. Now that Tracie held firm to the ceiling, anchoring them, it was easier to balance, which helped with the strain on her leg muscles. Still, she wobbled horribly before she finally had both of her feet solidly on Scott’s shoulders. She let out an exhausted breath. “We’re up,” she announced.

“Okay, now I’m going to move us closer to the opening.”

Abby was reluctant to lose her contact with the wall of the cave, but they were still a foot or two from the fissure on the ceiling. She pulled her hands up to her shoulders and held tight to Tracie’s ankles, steadying her as she crouched just below the top of the cave.

“Got it,” Tracie called, and Abby could feel her straighten up inside the space. “I fit. I can reach.” She paused. “I can almost reach the top.”

“Can you pull yourself up?” Scott’s voice sounded strained.

“It’s too slick. The sides are rock and clay, and it’s damp. There’s nothing to hold on to. I just need a few more inches. I can feel the edge of the hole, but I can’t get enough leverage with my hands.”

It wasn’t until Abby realized they wouldn’t be able to make it after all that she recognized she’d begun to hope their outrageous plan would work.

But then a voice spoke from below.

“Scott, stand on my back.” Marilyn lay down on the floor.

“Mother, no,” Scott protested. “We’re too heavy. It will hurt you.”

“Son-” Marilyn’s voice took on a no-nonsense mothering tone “-I said step on my back. You either risk hurting me, or we all die.”

Abby could feel the hesitation in Scott’s trembling muscles as his body moved slightly forward…and then up. Though she didn’t dare look down from her dizzying height, she could imagine Marilyn lying on the floor below them, and hated to think how much weight the older woman had taken on.

No sooner did she think about the weight, than she felt the burden on her shoulders ease. Instinctively she lifted up on Tracie’s ankles.

“I’m up! I’m through!” the other woman called down, and with a thrashing kick of her legs, Tracie disappeared up through the hole.

With nothing more to anchor her to the ceiling, Abby lost her perch on Scott’s shoulders. She felt him jump down from his mother’s back and an instant later, displaying all the dexterity of the quarterback he’d once been, he caught Abby as she fell.

Scott pulled Abby into his arms and didn’t let go. “Thank you,” he whispered when he could finally talk.

“Thank you,” she countered. “And thank you to your mother. Marilyn, how are you?”

“Well, my chiropractor’s going to have a fit when he sees me, but I think I’ll live.” She gave them both a meaningful look, her face caught in the dim light from the fissure. “I think we’ll all live.”

“Let’s just pray Tracie reaches help in time,” Abby noted.

“You’re right,” Scott agreed, impressed that she’d made the suggestion, and equally pleased that she’d prayed aloud with them earlier. “We should pray. That’s how Paul and Silas got out of prison in the book of Acts.”

Marilyn spoke up. “I think that’s an excellent idea, but I believe there’s one thing we ought to do first.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s tie up our wrists again. If we tie the knots ourselves, we can use slipknots so we’ll be able to easily undo them when we need to. But if we wait for those thugs to tie us up, we won’t be able to break free very easily.”

“Mom’s right,” Scott agreed. He found the lengths of fabric where they’d dropped them on the floor. “We don’t know when those guys are coming back for us, so we should hurry up and do this now.”