Free Rebel's Cage (Book 4) by Kate Jacoby Page A

followed by a muffled thud. He whirled around to find the others rushing to the edge of the gorge. Leaving his horse, Finnlay pushed through, grabbing Andrew’s shoulder.
    ‘What’s happened?’
    ‘It’s Helen,’ Jenn whispered, falling to her knees to look over the edge. ‘She slipped and …’
    ‘Serin’s blood!’ He landed on the ground beside Jenn, his hand already reaching out to form a light – but she grabbed it to stop him. ‘Damn it, I can’t see her! Helen? Can you hear me?’
    Terror caught in his throat, keeping his words quiet. The others were gathered around, but he couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything more than strain in the darkness, looking for a child he loved more than his own life.
    Jenn’s gasp was the only warning he had. ‘Andrew, no!’
    *
    Andrew shifted his foot on the ledge, holding tight to the rockwith both hands. At his movement, a handful of gravel scraped loose and skittered down the cliff-face, to be swallowed up by inky darkness.
    His face was cold, pressed against hard stone moistened by dew. He could hear little more than the constant thud of his own heart and the muted sounds of voices from above. Specific words were lost to him, but his imagination could fill them in – along with too many other details, like how it would feel to lose his footing, how hard that ground below would be and how long it would take for those soldiers to come along and find him.
    Carefully, he took in a breath and called out with a forced whisper, ‘Helen? Helen, can you hear me?’
    Straining, he looked as far around the rock face as he dared. In what remained of the moonlight he could see just enough into the crevice to glimpse a stretch of leg, pale brown boot attached at the end. Encouraged, he shifted his feet a little more, finding new hand-holds as he crept towards his friend.
    ‘Andrew! Helen!’
    He stopped, looking up to find Finnlay’s face peering over the cliff edge. He was lying flat, but even reaching down as far as he could left him at least ten feet short of Helen’s position.
    ‘Is she conscious?’ Finnlay hissed.
    ‘I don’t know yet.’ Andrew inched his way along the ledge, feeling for each placement before he put weight on it. He couldn’t afford to be afraid, couldn’t spare the thought or the attention, because the moment he did, he would fall, he knew that. He would simply fall and then …
    He gulped in another breath and paused, closing his eyes to shut out the sight of the drop below, visible in a vague wash of pre-dawn light. He couldn’t afford to be afraid – but apparently that didn’t stop the fear.
    At least he’d had some practice climbing – not that it would help get Helen back up – but it meant he could get down here in one piece and avoid falling to his death. Hopefully.
    Finally he rounded the corner of the crevice and reached Helen. She was wedged in firmly, one arm stretched above herhead, the other jammed into the narrow rock. One knee was bent, most of her weight pressing on it, the other was free and it was this that Andrew reached out to touch.
    ‘Helen? Helen? Can you hear me? Helen?’
    She shifted, eyes opening slowly. She blinked a few times, then tried to move.
    ‘Just keep still. You fell, but the crevice caught you. Finnlay’s going to lower some ropes down, I think.’
    ‘I’m fine,’ Helen whispered, moving with a moan.
    ‘Are you hurt?’
    ‘I … I don’t think so. Just a knock on my head.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Andrew said, trying to smile, ‘nobody will ever notice.’
    Helen grimaced then turned her head to the side, enough to get an idea of the drop below. She froze.
    ‘Helen? Listen to me.’ When he got no response, he put his hand on her foot and squeezed hard to get her attention. ‘Look at me!’
    Helen looked up.
    ‘You’ll be fine,’ Andrew said with every ounce of certainty he had. Fortunately, his own fear hadn’t emerged in his voice. ‘Finnlay and Arlie and all the others are up