Carol Ericson - Circumstantial Memories

“Mama!” Shelby screamed above her and then her small face floated at the edge of the crumbled precipice.

“Stay back, Shelby.” Julia grasped the dry, scrubby bush growing out of the side of the rock and extended her toes to feel for a ledge. Emptiness gaped below her. “Get back on the trail.”

Shelby sobbed, but her head disappeared from the side of the ledge. Julia swung her body forward and cycled her legs to find a foothold on the face of the rock. The soles of her sneakers slid against the rough slab, dislodging small plants and pebbles.

Her body swayed, and the bush she clung to dipped lower as a root pulled free from the crack. She held her breath, afraid to make a move. She hoped Shelby would just wait on the trail for someone to come. Would someone come in time to help her?

She’d tossed her cell phone in the backpack, but it might as well be on the moon. She couldn’t risk reaching back with one hand to retrieve it.

Her shoulders ached and her hands stung from the prickly bush she clung to with all her strength. Another ledge extended about ten feet below her. If she let go and dropped onto this outcropping she might break her leg, but if she fell she could very well roll off and plunge another fifty feet to her death.

She inched her toe up the side of the rock and felt another scrubby plant to her right. She tested the plant with her foot, and it stayed in place. Gripping her lifeline, she hoisted up her body with her foot balanced on the plant. As she inched higher, she released one hand from the bush to reach for another one above it.

The plant below her right foot gave way, and her knee slammed against the rock as she grabbed for her secure handhold. A sob ripped through her throat.

Don’t panic. Don’t lose control.

She searched the rock with her left toe, finding an indentation. If she could use this hole to push up again, she could grab that higher, sturdier plant and get closer to the edge. She took a deep breath and tensed her muscles.

“Julia?”

“Ryder! Ryder, I’m down here. Where’s Shelby?”

“ Shelby ’s safe.” Ryder’s head appeared over the edge of the rock. “Oh my God. Julia, don’t move.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on going anywhere.” Her shoulders burned now and her bloody hands throbbed with pain, but she felt an insane joy at seeing Ryder’s face hovering above her.

“Hang on for one more minute.” His face disappeared and despair descended again like a heavy cloud of dust.

“Ryder, don’t leave me!”

“I’m right here.” His head popped back into sight. “I have a rope with me. I’m tying it into a lasso.”

Julia closed her eyes and concentrated on the light breeze caressing her face. She didn’t know how or why, but Ryder arrived just in time. He’d save her.

“Ready?”

Peering up at him, she called out, “Yes.”

A circle of rope twirled down to her right. “Did that make it over you?”

“No, but I think I can reach it with my right hand.”

“Don’t. I’ll try again.”

The rope slithered up the wall of rock and then whistled as it flew toward her again. This time the rope landed around her shoulders.

“It worked.”

“Okay, take one hand at a time and slip it through the rope. The object is to get the rope under your arms and hold on to it. I’ll yank the lasso tight and then pull you up. Can you do that?”

“Yes.” She uncurled her hand from the scrubby plant, slid it through the circle of rope and then grasped the line leading straight to Ryder. “Okay, that’s one.”

Holding on to the rope was more secure than the bush, so she had an easier time with the second hand. With the rope encircling her body underneath her arms and both hands holding on to it, she called up, “I’m ready.”

The lasso tightened around her. Even if Ryder had disappointed his parents with his ranching skills, he had a handle on this cowboy stuff.

“I’m going to start hauling you up now. Scream and yell if there’s a problem and hold on to the rope.”

Julia braced her feet against the rock and as Ryder pulled up the rope, she walked up the side of the cliff. She arrived at the top and Ryder scooped his arms beneath hers and yanked her over to solid ground.

She collapsed on top of him and they lay together, their breath escaping in short spurts. Ryder tightened his arms around her and she rested her cheek against his chest, listening to the echo of his thundering heart.

When her lungs stopped hurting, she raised her head. “We have to get off of this trail. Where’s Shelby?”

He rolled to his side and pointed to where the trail widened. Shelby sat on a log and waved.

Julia lurched to her knees, the tears flowing down her face. Ryder helped her up and she rushed to Shelby ’s side and gathered her in her arms.

Ryder followed and crouched beside the log. “ Shelby found me up the trail and brought me back here. She’s amazing.”

“I told you to wait, Shelby.” Julia buried her head on Shelby ’s back. She didn’t want her daughter to see her crying. Shelby had already witnessed too many of her mother’s breakdowns.

“I waited, but I heard whistling. I knew it was Ryder. I knew Ryder would help you, Mama.”

“And he did.” She wiped her hands across her cheeks and turned to face Ryder. “He saved me. What were you doing up here?”

“I knew you took this hike almost every morning, so I waited for you at The Twirling Ballerinas. I wanted to talk.” He took her hands and turned them over. He ran a light fingertip over her scratched and bleeding palms. “And it’s a damn good thing I did. Let’s walk back and treat your cuts. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“Just a few bruises.”

Ryder hoisted Shelby on his shoulders and rested his hand on Julia’s hip as they picked their way back over the trail where the boulder fell. Julia glanced up at the rocks. The sun had crept up higher in the sky since the rock had knocked her over the cliff, but right before she heard it rumble, a shadow passed over the sun. The rock was falling downward. It couldn’t have blocked out the sun on its descent.

Julia stumbled and Ryder grabbed her waist. “Steady, just a few more steps.”

When the trail widened, Julia spun around and lifted Shelby from Ryder’s shoulders. “Go pick some flowers and we’ll put them in a vase when we get home.”

Shelby scampered ahead and dived head first into the field of summer blooms.

“I’m glad to see the incident didn’t scare her.” Ryder tilted his chin toward Shelby rolling in a mass of petals.

“Didn’t scare her, but I’m even more frightened now than when I was dangling in space. Ryder, someone pushed that boulder off the cliff, someone waiting for us.”

Ryder’s eyebrows shot up. “How do you know? Did you see someone?”

“I saw a shadow before the rock fell. Someone was up there and he wanted to kill me…us.” Her knees started to tremble and she sank onto a boulder, similar in size and shape to the one some monster pushed toward her and Shelby.

Kneeling next to her, Ryder clasped her hand in his. The warmth and steadiness of his grip calmed her nerves.

Why did she push him away yesterday? He had his reasons for keeping quiet about their relationship. She should have given him an opportunity to explain.

When she first saw him on Main Street, a tiny hope flared that she’d found her long-lost husband and Shelby ’s father. One of those scenarios had come true. She should be thrilled Ryder turned out to be Shelby ’s father and not Jeremy. Shelby had a father to fill her with pride.

“When I get you two home, I’m coming back up here to have a look.” Ryder waved his hand toward the jagged rocks above the trail.