Chapter Seven
Kendra had no idea how she had gotten a hold of a phone, much less on the edge of a giant cliff that lead into a huge chasm, but as long as she didn't fall off or die by falling thousands of feet and hitting a black canyon floor, she'd be okay. Then the vultures that were scattered around her would be free to peck her eyes out and she wouldn't care as much. She pulled herself on to the tree sticking straight out of the side of the cliff face, trying not to think about height and how fast she would fall and when she would actually die and if she should just try it now—
She pushed the thoughts away, trying to shut her mind up. It was helpful when there wasn't a search party looking for her and she had to be quiet and not scream her head off. Maybe she would do that when she saw her brother again. He was an idiot, and was partially the cause of the whole thing. But then she should get mad at her grandfather for getting kidnapped in the first place.
She could barely move, and she didn't want to. She picked up the phone, flipped it open, dialed a number, and held it up to her ear.
Dial tone… dial tone… You have the wrong number… this number is unavailable… you have the wrong number… this person doesn't have an answering machine, so you can't leave a message… please call again… please make sure you are using the right number…
"You expect me to use the right number when I can barely remember what my freaking name is, you stupid operator?" she whispered harshly. "I've tried this number…" she counted on her fingers, her mind slipping away from her… "Six times. I've tried it six times, and it doesn't work…"
Suddenly she realized something. Maybe the last three digits were supposed to go first. And the middle numbers were in reverse order, and the first four were supposed to go last instead of four first, three flipped around, and three last. She tried it, and the operator didn't say anything, but the tone dialed and she waited for someone to pick up.
Someone with a mouth much wetter than hers answered. "Hello?"
It was Warren. Kendra smiled a chapped-lip smile. Slowly, she muttered hoarsely, "Warren… You have to come save me…"
Warren, who was on the other end, made a noise of disbelief. "Who is this?"
Kendra's mouth twisted. "What do you mean, 'who is this'? It's Kendra!"
"Kendra?" Warren still sounded amazed. "What's going on?"
Kendra's mouth was getting drier by the second. "We're in Black Ridge Canyon… Except the canyon is more of a chasm. And Grandma wasn't really grandma… It was Everett Colveridge. He's captured Dale and Tanu, Vanessa's hiding-" Kendra started coughing, but doing it quietly. She buried her mouth into her arm. After a moment of dizziness and ringing ears, she continued. "And I'm looking at the chasm because there is a huge tree here protecting me from falling into it…"
Her conscious started slipping, and she teetered off a little bit. Warren's voice snapped her back to reality. "Kendra?" His voice broke at the end of her name.
Looking weak and defeated, Kendra tried speaking again. She started thinking of juicy grape tomatoes, and her stomach growled. "Yes, Warren?"
"You still alive?"
"I'm talking to you, aren't I?"
Warren paused, and she assumed he was shrugging. "I suppose that's true. But how do we get there? I don't think your grandparents ever told me where Black Ridge Canyon is."
Kendra coughed again and she heard something scoot against the sand. Kendra's body tensed and she peered up at the top of the cliff. She was only ten feet from freeing herself from the tree. Except there might be someone up there.
The vultures had long lost interest, but the thing up there sat there.
It was like waiting for a person to get out of the bathroom while you waited in the stall until they were out so you could wash your hands.
Why am I thinking of these weird metaphors at a time like this? Geez, that airplane food must have scrambled my brain or something.
"Um…" She searched for some type of answer, and she didn't come up with any. "I don't remember. Can't you look it up or something?"
"'Look it up'? What am I, a human almanac?"
Kendra shivered, though not because of Warren. "No. You're not. Sorry. Um…" She broke into a coughing fit, and almost teetered off the edge of the tree. She almost screamed, a small fraction of it escaping from her lips and into the phone, which made the noise seem worse than it was.
"Kendra! Noo-"
"Seriously, Warren?" hissed Kendra.
Warren stopped, seeming a little confused. "I wanted to make it dramatic."
Kendra frowned deeply. "As if it weren't dramatic enough. I don't need you screaming—"she gave a wide arm wave—"as I fall to my death!"
Warren stopped completely. "What? Where are you?"
"I—" She stopped herself. She didn't want to worry him, but she did need to tell someone about her situation, otherwise she would freak out. "Um…"
"Kendra…" She could almost see the man tapping his foot, waiting for a response.
Finally she decided to tell him. "I'm kind of sitting on a tree that's growing out the side of a cliff that's hanging over a deep chasm, and the wind's started blowing through—it's not super strong wind—but it's cold."
"You're what?"
Kendra was tempted to repeat what she had just said. After a few seconds of silence, she questioned, "Was that rhetorical or—"
Warren interrupted her. "You're on the side of a cliff? Why?"
Kendra looked around and gave a small shrug. "I don't remember how I got down here."
Warren's next words sounded somewhat condescending and critical. "You don't remember how you got there…"
Kendra started to get angry. She put the talkie part of the phone right in front of her mouth and screamed, "Do you want me to die, because I will kill myself if you don't freaking come here! So shut your trap and go lie in a life-or-death situation for five hours and see how you like it!" Flipping the phone closed, she threw it as hard as she could into the abyss.
Five minutes later, she regretted doing so.
