Free Snowflake Wishes by Maggie McGinnis

wasn’t helping … anybody. Did that mean there wasn’t anybody who could be helped?
    He sprinted back to the rope and climbed up, hand over hand, until he reached the top. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then faced her. He put his hands on her shoulders, and her panicky feeling went straight to dread.
    â€œI’m going to need your help, Piper.”
    â€œOkay?”
    â€œThere are two kids in that car. My guess is they’ve been there for at least a couple of hours. They’re hypothermic. We don’t have time to wait for paramedics.”
    â€œWhat do we do? Why didn’t you get them out? What about the driver?”
    â€œBecause I can’t get them up this cliff.” He paused, drilling his eyes into hers, not answering her question about the driver. “But you can.”
    â€œWhat?” She backed up. “No. I can’t! What are you talking about?”
    He removed the ropes from his body and held them toward her. “I’ll lower you down, and when you get to the bottom, grab one of them, hold on tight, and I’ll lift you back up here. Then we’ll get the second one.”
    â€œNoah—” Her voice was tight with fear. Her head prickled, and she was afraid she might pass out. “I don’t think I can. You don’t understand. I’ll do anything else. There has to be another way.”
    â€œThe car is stuck between a cliff and a river. The only way we’re going to get them out of there is to bring them back up. We can’t cross the river, and even if we could, I have no idea how far we’d have to walk before we found a house. Miles, Piper.”
    She closed her eyes, and visions of her parents made her draw in a shaky, scared breath. They’d fallen from a rock wall just like this one.
    She’d been at the bottom.

Chapter 7
    â€œWhat if I help pull you back up?” Piper took another step backward. “Between you and me, we could do it. You’re, like, crazy strong.”
    â€œNot strong enough. And there’s no way you can pull me back up here. Somebody would get hurt.”
    â€œOh, God.” She looked over the edge again. The car was so far down there. And the cliff was so damn steep.
    â€œI know you’re afraid, Piper. But we don’t have a choice. Those kids could die. You have to do this.”
    â€œOf course I do. I know. I will. Oh, God.” She lifted her arms so he could tie the rope around her, but she was shaking so hard that he actually had to steady her when he was finished.
    â€œHoney, you can do this.”
    A strangled sob sneaked out of her mouth, and she clapped a hand over it. He had no idea—no idea at all of the pictures and sounds that were flipping through her head right now. The screams, the frayed rope landing in her lap, the helicopter racing away with her parents on board.
    â€œPiper?” His eyes went wide, and he looked over the cliff. She knew he’d assessed the kids like a seasoned climber would know how to do. She knew he had a pretty damn good idea of how quickly they needed to move. And she knew he was wondering why the hell she couldn’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation here.
    She had to tell him. She’d never done it years ago, but there was no way she couldn’t do it now.
    She took a deep breath, but her voice still came out in a whisper. “This is how my parents died.”
    â€œWhat?” He spun toward her, eyes even wider.
    â€œThis.” She pointed vaguely at the cliff’s edge. “They were climbing.”
    â€œGod, Piper.” He stood poised with ropes in his hand, like he had no idea how to react. “How did you never—Jesus.” He swept a gloved hand through his hair, looking down again. “Jesus.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” She took another deep breath. She had to do this. They didn’t have any choice, and two kids’ lives were at stake.