Page 47 of Tattered Huntress
Eleanor looked at Humphrey. ‘I know how much you desperately want to find part of the key part but—’ She swallowed hard.
Humphrey patted her hand again. ‘I agree entirely. We should return to the surface, my dear. This will not be our win.’
But not everyone was giving up. There was an odd slapping sound, then another and another. As I twisted around, I saw that Hugo and the Primes were lassoing their ropes across the chasm, attempting to loop them onto a craggy outcrop on the other side.
Hugo’s rope landed first time – of course it did. He pulled it taut before handing it to a moustachioed high elf called Dean. Becky and the other Primes stood beside him.
Suddenly I understood his plan: he was going to leave most of his team here holding the end of the ropes while he made his way across it. It was a dangerous move but, I supposed irritably, if anyone could do it Hugo could.
The second twin sidled up to him. ‘Hugs, darling.’
‘No.’
She touched his arm gently and I felt a surge of genuine anger. I blinked. What was that about?
‘You don’t know what I’m going to say,’ she protested.
‘Yes, I do.’ He tugged on the taut rope, testing it. ‘You want to use my ropes to get across.’
‘Well, if you’re offering…’
He turned to her. ‘I’m not. This is a competition, Jane.’
‘I’ll make it worth your while.’ She fluttered her eyelashes.
‘The answer is still no,’ Hugo growled. His eyes drifted to me before he turned away again.
I left them to it. The final two teams had arrived and were looking as doubtful as the rest of us; only the shapeshifting trio seemed to have a plan. They were muttering to each other, then they moved apart and tensed their shoulders.
‘If we’re going,’ Bess said to her twin, ‘we have to go now before they change.’
Jane nodded. The two of them darted towards the tiny tunnel and crouched down until they could scuttle into it. I didn’t want to go that way; Ireallydidn’t want to go that way. In fact, I couldn’t. I knew my limits and I wasn’t afraid to back off when I reached them. There was sometimes as much bravery in stepping back as stepping up.
The air thumped and there was a sudden whoosh followed by a rumble as the ground beneath my feet started to shake. I hissed in alarm and jumped to the side, half expecting the cavern roof to collapse on top of us.
‘I don’t often wish I were a shapeshifter,’ I heard Boonder say, ‘but I definitely do now.’
Where the three tall shapeshifters had once stood, there were now three squirrels beside three untidy piles of clothes. No wonder the ground had been shaking. As I watched, the creatures nodded to each other and darted for the narrow tunnel, hot on the heels of the twins.
Three teams had now found a way forward but it looked like the end of the road for the rest of us. I glanced at Hugo; even if I hadn’t used all my rope on the snake, I couldn’t do what he was doing. He was halfway across the chasm, clinging to the ropes while his Primes held them tightly. He was already some distance away from us but I could see that his muscles were straining and his expression was tense.
‘Maybe he’ll fall,’ Hester said hopefully.
‘We don’t want him to die!’ Otis snapped.
‘Don’t we?’
I felt their eyes on me, but my gaze was fixed on Hugo. Come on, you cumbubbling bastard. Get over there. I held my breath. Three metres to go… Two metres…
He paused and my stomach flipped over with fear.
‘Hurry, Hugo!’ Becky yelled. ‘We can’t hold it much longer!’
Shit. I jerked forward, wanting to help, but then Hugo took a flying leap and abandoned the haphazard rope bridge. For a terrifying moment he seemed to be frozen above the black depths, but a heartbeat later he was flying through the air towards the opposite side of the chasm. When he landed with a thud on the other side, my knees buckled. That had been close. Far too close.
‘We don’t want him to die,’ I whispered. I wrapped my arms around my body and glanced at the brownies. ‘We don’t want anyone to die,’ I said in a firmer voice as I wiped my sweaty palms down my thighs.
Three of the teams, including Humphrey and Eleanor, were preparing to head back the way we’d come. Boonder, who’d abandoned his search for a useful rune, looked at me. ‘I’m going to take a wander into the dead-end tunnel and look around.’ He shrugged. ‘Just in case. Would you like to join me?’
