Chapter Forty-Nine
ANGEL SINCLAIR
We dashed into an outdoor, walled courtyard with a white wall about ten feet high.
I did a 360-degree turn, examining the layout. In front of the wall were eight giant 3-D wooden puzzle pieces. The pieces were made out of square wooden blocks with some of the pieces two and three blocks long. I got closer to one of the pieces, I saw the puzzle piece was painted red with only one visible white side. Each piece appeared to have two indented white areas with small metal bars that were obviously designed so the blocks could be picked up and moved. I was still figuring out what we needed to do with the puzzle pieces when Mike spoke up.
He was way ahead of me.
“We have to assemble the puzzle and use it to climb over the wall,” he said, walking around the pieces. “We can’t touch the red sides, but each piece has at least one white side and two handles. It shouldn’t be too hard to drag and lift them into the position we want. I assume all the white sides all go on the same side so we can climb on the white side and have a white top to stand on to get over. Come on, everyone help me assemble them.”
Everyone started pulling pieces together when Hala collapsed on the ground. “My ankle,” she said ruefully. “I injured it when I jumped.”
I expected an evaluator to swoop in and get her, but Kira knelt next to Hala, whipping off her shirt. She’d worn an extra tank underneath, which was brilliant since the last time the girls had to give up our shirts, we had only sports bras underneath. “I’ll stabilize it,” she said. “Don’t worry. Hala. We’ll get you over that wall. Everyone is going to finish this.”
“Don’t bother,” Hala said. “It’s too late for me anyway. I’ll never make it over in time.”
“Yes, you will,” Kira said, carefully removing Hala’s shoe and expertly wrapping her shirt around her ankle. “We’re all going to finish this.”
“We need to figure out where to assemble that puzzle,” Bo called out. “There has to be something on the other side of that wall. Kira, you’re tall. Come over here. While the rest of the team assembles the puzzle, let’s take a look at the other side, so we know what’s there and if we need to get the puzzle situated in a particular place.”
Kira firmly tied the final knot around Hala’s ankle and stood. “She’s good to go, and so am I.”
Bo held out his hands and crouched down. With surprising ease, Kira took his hands and stepped on his shoulders, bracing herself against the wall. With an impressive chin-up, she pulled herself up onto the wall until she could flip a leg over the ledge.
She lay there, looking over the other side. “Guys, there’s a giant inflatable slide on the other side, this way.” She started crawling along the top of the wall, then stopped. “Line up the puzzle up right here. When you get to the top, you can just slide down. It looks like the finish line is just beyond that. All we have to do is slide down and cross the finish line. Woo-hoo!”
She suddenly disappeared, presumably down the slide. “Kira?” Wally shouted, but was met by silence. He tried again. “Kira!”
“Give it up,” I said to Wally. “She’s already down the slide and across the finish line by now. Good for her. Come on, let’s finish getting this puzzle assembled so the rest of us can get over.”
A loud voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Mr. Drummond and Miss Youseff, your time has expired. However, participants may continue to the finish line if they’re able and so desire. Individuals who elect to complete the course may receive some small extra credit over those who don’t finish at all. Anyone who wishes to leave the competition at this point needs only to let us know.
For a minute, we paused, staring stricken at each other. We looked at Hala, who lifted her chin. “I want to finish it.”
Jax nodded in agreement. “Me, too. Like Kira said, let’s all finish this.”
We madly pulled the puzzle pieces into place. When we were done, Bo lifted Frankie up to the top of the puzzle. She heaved herself onto the top of the wall and, with a cheerful wave, disappeared down the slide. Bo lifted me next to the top of the puzzle. However, instead of going over the wall, I reached down stretched out a hand to help Mike up.
“Red, what are you doing?” Jax demanded.
“It’ll go faster with someone up here helping,” I said. “Just send everyone up quickly.”
Mike grabbed my hand, and I pulled him up the last little bit, shoving him toward the wall. “Go, go, go,” I yelled.
He disappeared over the wall as Wally came next. I pushed him toward the wall, too.
“No, you go next, Angel,” Wally said puffing.
“I’ll follow in a second. Just go.” He looked indecisive but teetered for a moment atop the wall ledge and then disappeared with an oomph.
“Red, get out of here,” Jax shouted at me.
He and Bo were holding Hala between them, carrying her toward the puzzle. My heart, already a wreck with the adrenaline, stumbled in my chest. Bo wouldn’t finish on time if he stayed behind to help Hala.
“Bo, you’re running out of time,” I warned.
“So are you. Go on, Angel. We’ll help Hala. It’s all right.”
I understood now. He didn’t intend to finish on time. Apparently, he’d made his peace with that. He was sacrificing his time to ensure they all finished. Unfortunately, I didn’t see how that would happen. Getting Hala on top of the puzzle without banging her ankle, and possibly injuring it worse, would be difficult without one more person to help them out.
Me.
A sense of calm descended. It suddenly didn’t matter if I finished or not. Sometimes, there were more important things in life than a test.
“Hand her up to me,” I said. Hala glanced up in surprise, pain and anxiety etched on her face.
“Are you crazy, Red?” Jax said, his face flushed from exertion. “Get out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said firmly. “Everyone here is taking one for the team. Why should I be the exception? Stop arguing and hand her up to me.”
Perhaps realizing he wasn’t going to change my mind, Jax finally nodded. Bo helped him get halfway up the puzzle, and Jax clung to the side of a block with one hand, while the other stayed under Hala’s injured ankle, protecting it, as Bo lifted her. I grabbed Hala by both hands when she held them up, pulling her onto the top of the puzzle just as a klaxon split the air, indicating the trial had come to an end.
We’d run out of time.
“Candidates, the time limit for this trial has been reached,” said the voice from the loudspeaker. “I will repeat that participants may continue to the finish line if they desire. If you complete the course, you’ll receive extra credit over those who don’t finish at all.”
Jax climbed the rest of the way up and joined us atop the puzzle piece. We looked down at Bo. With no one to help him, Bo decided to tackle the wall instead. He jogged backward and then took a running jump at the wall. He leaped high, his fingers curling over the side of the wall. He pulled himself up to the ledge and swung a leg over it.
“What?” he said in alarm when he saw us staring at him.
“Are you kidding me?” I said. “You could have done that at any time. The second we left the gym and you saw the wall, you could have jumped over it and finished the trial. You could have been in first place. Bo, why didn’t you go for it?”
He shifted his weight on the ledge. “For the same reason you stayed and helped the others over the wall, Jax stepped on that block to give us the information we needed to solve the puzzle, and Hala hung upside down by her ankles on a rope to open a door for the rest of us. It’s what was needed. Now, shall we finish?”
We nodded at him. I’d never been so honored to be a part of the team.
“Good.” He adjusted his position on the wall so his knees were on the ledge. “I’ll slide down first. Hala, if you’re okay with it, Jax will go down with you so he can protect your ankle from any further bumps.”
“I’m okay with it,” Hala said.
“Perfect. I’ll be there waiting at the bottom to catch you guys. See you in minute.” He crawled along the ledge until he was above the slide, saluted us, and slid down.
Jax settled himself on the ledge, his feet propped up by the inflatable slide. I helped Hala get situated onto his lap, her injured ankle resting atop his leg.
“We’re going to slide down together as carefully as possible,” Jax assured her. “Bo will be at the bottom to slow us. We’ve got this.”
“Okay. Thanks, Jax.” She looked back over her shoulder at me. “And thank you, Angel, for staying behind to help me. You didn’t have to do it, but I’m grateful you did.”
“You didn’t have to risk yourself for us hanging upside down on the ladder to punch the code in or leap across a gym, but you did,” I answered. “Bo is right. This was a group effort.”
Jax smiled at me before he pushed off, holding Hala securely in his lap.
After another minute or so, I figured it was safe enough for me to go down. I hopped up on the edge of the wall and slid down the long, inflatable slide. When I got to the bottom, Jax and Bo were there waiting. They each grabbed a hand, pulling me onto my feet before my bottom had even left the slide.
As I straightened, I looked around, my mouth falling open in astonishment. Everyone stood there waiting for me, including Kira.
What the heck was going on?
“Why is everyone here?” I said in disbelief. “Why didn’t anyone cross the finish line?”
Kira stepped forward. “We started this trial as a team. We’re going to finish as a team. Together.”
Smiling, she held out an elbow. Wally linked his with her, Mike with him, and Frankie slid her arm inside Mike’s. Bo and Jax lifted Hala between them, her arms stretched across their shoulders to relieve any weight from her ankle. Jax held out his elbow to me.
“You ready, Red?” he asked.
Swallowing the lump of emotion in my throat, I nodded and slid my arm into his. “I’m ready.”
Arm in arm, the eight of us crossed the finish line as one.