Page 142 of Tell No One
“But that means letting go!”
“You’ll still have three points of contact. You’re not going to fall. Well, not far.”
“Did you have to add those last three words?”
Adam laughed.
Bastard.Tag would have said that out loud but there were people around. He took a deep breath and leaned left, reaching out until his fingers found a crack. He clung on.
“Hi!” shouted a ten-year-old scampering up on his left side. Obviously the much easier route.
“Keep going,” Adam called down to him. “I have a Mars Bar.”
“Attach it to a rope and dangle it in front of me.”
Adam chuckled. Tag pulled himself up and found the next foothold. The sooner he did this, the sooner he could stop doing it.Think about the Mars Bar. Think about giving Adam a thump.He kept going and this time he didn’t pause. It was a bit like running. Rhythm was important, then again, so was not falling off. One hand after the other, feet wedged into places he wouldn’t have been able to fit a spoon inside, but a few minutes later, he was sitting at the top next to Adam. Tag tried to look cool but his heart was galloping.
Adam put a Mars Bar in his hand.
“Well done.” Adam kissed him.
“Was it?”
“Well…” Adam clearly registered that was the wrong answer and changed it. “Yeah, it was. You made it to the top.”
“All a hundred feet of it.”
“More like twenty.”
A teenage girl climbed up a few yards away and high-fived her dad when she stood up.
“I didn’t get a high-five.”
“You had chocolate and a kiss. Don’t be greedy.”
Tag leaned against him as he looked out at the view. Even though they weren’t very high, they could still see the sea.
“Do you like it here?” Adam asked him.
“How many times are you going to keep asking me the same question?”
“Until the day you say no and then we’ll move.”
“I do like it. I don’t think I’d ever want to live in a city again. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy being scared out of my wits climbing up a sheer rock face.”
“It wasn’t sheer.”
“Don’t wreck my achievement. I think you’d be better sticking with your pals. I’m never going to be a mountain goat like you. I was amazed when you joined that climbing group. For a guy who doesn’t like people, it was very brave. Just don’t ask me to come and watch you again because me freaking out at the bottom was very embarrassing for both of us.”
Adam chuckled. “I think I picked the wrong place to bring you. I don’t mean today.”
Tag turned to him. “No you didn’t and anyway, we chose it together. Vancouver Island is perfect. Wild, beautiful, untamed beaches with killer whales lurking offshore. Winter storms that actually made me think our house was going to get blown away, but the most amazing waves I’ve ever seen. Learning to surf in water that sent my nuts scurrying for warmth under my liver. Lovely runs with bear spray handy. Potential for earthquakes and tsunamis. Getting snowed in and running out of Mars Bars. Where in the world could be better?”
“It has beaches that allow you to sunbathe naked, and I know how much you like doing that. You’d spend your entire day naked if you could.”
“Are you complaining?”
“No. And you said that sightseeing trip to see killer whales was the best thing you’d ever done in your entire life, until I reminded you that it wasn’t. We both love watching the storms and I liked teaching you to surf and warming you up afterwards. I do believe you liked that too. And when have we seen a bear when we’ve been running?”
