Chapter six- Why am I not dead yet?
I woke up dangling off of a cliff. I hiccuped, which I think was the result of me screaming and coughing at the same time. It was freezing cold, and I was soaked and dripping. My feet were bare, and I was wearing only an old-fashioned white nightgown. I realized with dread that my sleeping bag had fallen off, and that it was the lumpy thing at the foot of the cliff.
Great. My last top hat was in there.
I shivered and wondered for the first time why I wasn't down there with my sleeping bag, cold and wet and dead. I looked at my arm and saw Sephtis there, holding on with both hands. Further over, Maria and the boy's father were pulling Annie up onto the yard. I wanted to show Sephtis that I forgave him, but looking up at him meant looking into the rain, and it stung my eyes. Plus, the rain was making everything slippery, and, me being a light girl, that combined with the vicious wind meant that he was loosing his grip, and fast.
I did my best not to panic, but the rain blurred my vision and made it difficult for me to find something to hold onto until the others came. I flailed wildly with my other arm, which made Sephtis shout something at me. I don't know what it was exactly that he said, but probably it wasn't very nice. It didn't matter, anyway, because I had found what I was looking for. I stretched my hand out further and grabbed onto the tiny ledge of rock.
It wasn't much, but I managed to pull myself up a bit, which meant I now had a largish place that, if I bent my knees enough, I could get on to. I struggled onto it, and immediately noted that it had been a bad idea. The rock was terribly slippery. I slipped and fell, and I knew that the sudden weight would be too difficult for any teenaged boy to deal with. I closed my eyes and choked back a sob.
This is it, I thought, this is the end. I'm going to fall down those forty feet below me and I'm either going to impale myself on a rock or crack my scull open, and that'll be the last anyone ever hears of me. I should probably think of something to say...
"Why am I not dead yet?" was what came out. I had been planning to say something for Nana and Mum and Dad to hear and remember me by, but that was what I had been thinking and that was what I ended up saying.
I realized, as I began to be slowly lifted, that his father had grabbed onto Sephtis' ankles, and it wasn't a moment too soon for me. I was being dragged up by my wrists, which I've got to say was not terribly comfortable, but the other option was be far worse, so I didn't complain. It wasn't long before I was back on solid ground.
"Are you okay?" shouted Maria. Annie was cuddled against her, staring into space.
I was shaking all over, but I nodded. "We should go inside!" I replied.