“Oh, Wookie, I was so scared!” Lily wept openly as she hugged her dog to her chest. Wookie trembled like an earthquake, unrelenting. She was just as frightened. What if her dog had been hurt?

The rope, a bit slack, suddenly stretched tight. Lily’s heart skipped a beat. “Ethan?”

No answer.

The wind roared in her ears. Apologizing absently, she set the Pekingese next to the tree and crawled to the edge of the cliff. Ethan hung limp from the rope, blood dripping down his face from a cut in his forehead. Oh no. Lily fought back bile. What was she supposed to do?

She had to get him up somehow. Then…

Oh, God. She prayed he was still alive. She retreated to the tree and squatted next to the rope, digging in her heels. Tears stung her eyes. If he died because of her…

She would never forgive herself. All that stuff he’d said, about wanting to give them a chance… She wanted that, too.

But if she didn’t get him up that cliff, they would have no chance at all.

She didn’t know how she would find the strength to haul a two-hundred-pound man up the side of the cliff, even with the rope. She was no bodybuilder, but she had to figure this out—no one was here to help her. How could she lift someone so heavy?

Then she remembered a story that Tonya had written for the paper about an old couple who lifted a car off someone at the scene of an accident to save them. They’d done it by leveraging something, using a solid surface to pull against. She wedged her feet against the trees and pulled with all her strength and weight. When Ethan’s limp body crested the edge, she nearly dropped the rope in relief. Instead, she gritted her teeth and did what needed to be done.

Ethan needed her. Wookie needed her. It wasn’t a question of whether she was good enough to save him; she had to. If she left him there to get help, the rope might not hold long enough until she came back. She was his only lifeline.

Even so, once she lugged his body those last few inches onto solid ground, her arms gave way. She collapsed on the ground hard, trembling from exertion. Wookie crawled closer, nudging Lily with her nose as she whined.

“I’m all right.”

But Ethan might not be.

Somehow, she found the strength to grab her backpack and crawl closer. She turned him onto his back, examining the cut. The blood, mixed with rain, looked eerily translucent. She wiped it away with her thumb and patted his cheek.

“Wake up. Please wake up.”

He was still unconscious. But, when she lowered her ear to his chest, she heard his strong heartbeat and felt the rise and fall of his chest. He was alive.

For now. She had to get help.

Thunder rumbled overhead as she fished her cell phone out of a pocket in the backpack. She booted it up, shielding it from the rain with her body as she waited for a signal. The flash of the screen nearly brought tears to her eyes. No signal. She was on her own. She had to get back to the campground and call for an ambulance. But how was she supposed to move a two-hundred-pound man? Her strength was used up.

She could sit here and cry about it or she could do something. What would make carrying him easier? Maybe she didn’t have to carry him. He still had the rope harness around his waist. She could drag his body instead.

Even as she had the thought, she cringed. It would be extremely uncomfortable for Ethan on the twig- and rock-strewn dirt path. She might hurt him further if she tried. But, with thunder pealing overhead and the rain coming down in sheets, leaving him and getting help would be equally dangerous. What could she do?

The backpack. It turned into a tent, which meant it unfolded into a long stretcher-type of material. If she used it as a sled, she could minimize the pain she would cause and make it easier to drag. It was their best bet.

Wookie recovered a bit from her fright as Lily worked. She refused to leave Lily’s side, at some points causing Lily to trip over the poor Pekingese. She paused to pat her dog on the head. “It’ll be okay girl. We just have to get Ethan away from here.” Inside, she quivered, but for the sake of her pet, she put on a brave face. She had to hold it together.

When she unfolded the tent, the lighter contents of the backpack went flying — including the map. Lily’s stomach lurched as she lunged to catch it. The wind carried it into the ravine. She was on her own. Would she be able to recall the way back?

The path had taken her up the mountain, so going down was easier than she expected while hauling Ethan’s limp body. Her muscles protested and she had to stop increasingly frequently to catch her breath. When she reached the first fork in the path, she paused. Which way had she come? She didn’t have the map. Wait, Ethan had told her how to navigate in the woods that day she’d gotten lost. What had he said?

Moss on the trees pointed north. Since she’d taken the northeast path, in order to get back to the campground, she needed to keep that moss facing her. She could barely see with all the rain soaking her through to the skin, but she examined the closest trees around the fork and made her choice. As she dragged Ethan onward, she hoped it was the right choice.

A rumble grew, and Lily turned her face up to the ominous sky. What if lightning struck? She and Ethan had nowhere to take shelter from the storm and she couldn’t bear thinking of stopping. He needed medical attention.

She pushed on, that rumble growing louder. It vibrated in the soles of her shoes. Then, a four-wheeler rounded a sharp curve in the path. Ruby perched in the driver’s seat.

They were saved.