Ten
From the top of the chasm Scott heard Virgil give a yell and the sounds of the path giving way. "Virgil can you hear me?" Scott started to crawl towards the sounds of rushing water praying that the ground was firm. "Virgil!" He froze when he heard a sound.
"I'm here Scott," the voice sounded strained.
"Virgil! Are you okay?"
"Yeah. The ground gave way. Stay put and I'll have a look around."
"Okay." Scott decided not to chance his luck any further and sat on the ground again.
Ten metres below, things weren't as good as Virgil had made out. When the ground had given out he'd skidded on his left side down to just above the waters edge. His relief at not actually ending up in the water was short lived, when upon checking if he received any injuries, he discovered that his left forearm was sore. Very sore.
"Great!" he muttered to himself as he removed an inflatable splint from a pocket. "Just what we need. Me with a broken arm." He heard Scott's shout and decided to keep this new problem a secret.
Something was tickling his left cheek and he absentmindedly rubbed it with the back of his right hand. As he went to slip the splint on he realised that the back of his good hand was discoloured with a smear of blood. He became aware of the sting of grazes on the left side of his face.
He managed to slide the splint into position and then inflated it. It cushioned and immobilised the broken bone and relieved some of the pain. He took a deep breath and then removed his handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his injured face. It was still bleeding, but it wasn't too bad. He decided that his best course of action was to follow the advice that he'd given Scott earlier, and leave it alone.
Shoving the bloodied handkerchief back into his pocket he gingerly stood up. Time to take stock of his surroundings. The water level was definitely rising. Even if there was enough of a path to take them around to safety, by the time Scott had negotiated the climb down, it would have been impassable. From here the frigid waters looked dark and uninviting. Virgil decided that their only choice was to head back the way they'd come and hope to find another exit.
'Back the way they'd come.' Virgil looked up the wall that he'd just descended. Fortunately the path he'd intended on traversing down was still intact, but he could see a gaping hole where he'd fallen. 100 percent fit and that obstacle would have been tricky. With a broken arm, it looked to be nigh on impossible.
"Virgil!" He heard Scott call out.
"Still here, Scott. I'm going to try to climb back up."
"Can you make it?"
"I'll let you know."
The climb upwards was easier than he'd expected. His good arm was against the cliff face and was able to grasp at helpful promontories. Then Virgil reached the gap. It was too wide to jump. Based on past experience he wasn't willing to trust the wall to a bit of rock climbing, and it would have been too difficult to do one handed anyway. He looked upwards. Solid, flat secure ground was about three metres away, beyond his outstretched arm's reach.
"Scott!"
"Yeah, Virg."
"I need a hand."
Scott froze at the announcement. "What can I do?" He felt useless.
"Can you crawl over to the edge?"
"Yes." This was something Scott didn't want to do, but knew he had to. "How secure is the edge?"
"Seems strong enough. Nothing's come down on top of me."
Feeling his way forward, by sliding his hands along the pebble strewn ground, Scott edged his way in the direction he thought he should be headed. Then doubts forced their way into his mind. "I'm not sure I'm going the right way. The sound of the water's echoing off the walls. Keep talking to me Virgil - let me know where to go."
"Okay Scott. Just follow my voice, and start thinking of another way out of here. This way's no... STOP" Virgil saw Scott's hands appear above him, preceded by a shower of pebbles.
Scott curled his fingers around the edge of the cliff. Moments later Virgil could see Scott's dark tousled hair and his bandaged eyes. "Okay, I'm here. Now what?" Scott felt the blast of cold air from the river on what parts of his face weren't covered.
"Move, ah, four hand widths to your left. Good, you're doing fine. Okay, now another two. Right stop there."
"Okay, I'm in position. Describe the situation to me."
Virgil would have rather concentrated on getting out of his current predicament and then getting the two of them away from the fast flowing water, but realised his brothers innate need to have control of the situation. "I've gone as far as I can back up the path. The hole that I fell down is too wide to cross. The water's rising, but it's not an immediate threat. There's no exit accessible from down there, so we're going to have to try to find another exit back the way we came. And you're going to have to help me climb up out of here."
"How? How far down are you?" Scott lay down and stretched out his arm towards Virgil. Virgil reached upwards. They couldn't reach each other. "How big's the gap?"
"About a foot. Have you got something you can use as a rope?"
"Hang on a second." Scott's face disappeared from view, as did his hands. When they came back into view one hand was clutching something pale blue. It was Scott's sash. "Can you reach this?"
Virgil managed to grasp the blue lifeline. "Yeah, I've got it. Can you brace yourself?"
"A little, but you're going to have to do a bit of climbing yourself."
'One handed' Virgil thought grimly. "Okay, hang on. I'll try and gain a couple of feet before I have to use it. He managed to inch his way up the cliff face enough so that his head was just level with the swinging sash. He then placed his injured arm through the sash so that the weight was taken by the elbow. This left his right hand free for climbing. "Okay, start pulling."
They had no fears of the sash giving way. Like the Boy Scout scarves of old it had been designed to be more than just ornamental. Virgil's problem was the pain that coursed through his arm as the sash dug in and cut off the circulation. Scott's was that he had nothing he could hang onto and prevent himself from sliding closer to the edge.
It took a lot of grunting and groaning, some sweat and a little blood, but eventually Virgil had reached the top. Scott grabbed the back of his brother's shirt and pulled. Virgil rolled onto relative safety, straight over his broken arm. He sucked in his breath as a wave of pain coursed through his body.
Scott heard the sound. "Virgil, what's wrong?" He put his hand out to offer help and succeeded in knocking the injured limb. Virgil let out a yelp of pain and pulled the arm out of harms way. "Virgil! Are you hurt?"
"Yeah... yeah I am Scott. I busted my arm when I took that tumble."
"I thought you sounded a little odd. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I figured you had enough to worry about."
"Which one?"
"My left forearm."
"Great. You're left handed aren't you."
"No ambidextrous remember."
"Yeah, but predominantly left-handed." Scott said. "How bad is it?"
"It's broken, but I've managed to splint it." Virgil sought to turn the topic away from his own problems. "Come on, let's get you away from the subsidence. I don't plan on having to go down there again."
Scott was never one to be fobbed off easily. "Can I do anything to help you?" He asked as he stood up.
"Yeah, take two steps forward so you're not so close to the edge."
Scott obliged. "So now we're back where we started, before you started risking your neck, except now you're injured as well. You'd better radio John and let him know."
"Okay - Oh, no! I've lost my communicator!"
"Where is it? Can you see it anywhere?"
Virgil was looking at the ground around their feet. "No, I can't." He moved carefully to the edge so that he was once again looking down towards the rushing waters. "Yes, I can."
"Where!"
"Three quarters of the way down the cliff. It must have fallen off when I fell."
"Well you're not going down to get it!"
"Don't worry. I'm not planning to." Once again Virgil took in his surroundings. "And we haven't got anything we can use to retrieve it."
"So we've got no way of letting base know where we are... or how we are." Scott added meaningfully.
"Well then. We are just going to have to find another way out of here." Virgil said firmly. They began to retrace their steps.
They'd been moving for about ten minutes when Virgil let out a yell. "Hey! Just what we need. I've found a long piece of metal with a hook in the end. Perhaps I can get my watch. Wait here, I'll be back in a moment." He grabbed the metal strip and started back the way they'd just come.
"Don't leave me."
The voice sounded so pitiful and unrecognisable that Virgil's initial reaction was to look around to see where it had come from.
He strode back to Scott who grabbed his arm painfully.
"Virg. I know I'm being a wimp, but don't leave me alone. You're already injured and if something else were to happen to you I wouldn't be able to get to you."
"A wimp! You are not a wimp. You've been taking this so well, that for a moment I forgot you were injured. Here I am going on about how I'll never leave you and then I almost do just that! I'm sorry Scott."
Scott gave a long shuddering breath. "I-I don't think I can take much more of this."
"You're doing fine, hang in there. To tell you the truth, I don't know how you've managed to hold it together so well. I would have been a gibbering idiot by now."
Scott managed a smile. "Somehow I doubt that." Then his smile failed. "Virgil... Do me a favour."
"If I can."
"Remove the bandages. I have to know if..."
"Whoa. No way. I've got nothing to replace them with and there's too much dust around here to be healthy."
"Please Virgil!" Scott started plucking at the dirty white material that surrounded his head.
"NO!" Virgil pulled Scott's hand away. "Leave it alone."
"You sounded just like our father then! Must be that frog in your throat."
"First Grandma, then a frog, now Father. I'll be getting a complex. Who am I going to remind you of next?"
"If you start sulking it'll be Alan."
Despite his worries Virgil laughed. "C'mon. Let's go see if we can get my watch." He took Scott's arm.
From the top of the chasm Scott heard Virgil give a yell and the sounds of the path giving way. "Virgil can you hear me?" Scott started to crawl towards the sounds of rushing water praying that the ground was firm. "Virgil!" He froze when he heard a sound.
"I'm here Scott," the voice sounded strained.
"Virgil! Are you okay?"
"Yeah. The ground gave way. Stay put and I'll have a look around."
"Okay." Scott decided not to chance his luck any further and sat on the ground again.
Ten metres below, things weren't as good as Virgil had made out. When the ground had given out he'd skidded on his left side down to just above the waters edge. His relief at not actually ending up in the water was short lived, when upon checking if he received any injuries, he discovered that his left forearm was sore. Very sore.
"Great!" he muttered to himself as he removed an inflatable splint from a pocket. "Just what we need. Me with a broken arm." He heard Scott's shout and decided to keep this new problem a secret.
Something was tickling his left cheek and he absentmindedly rubbed it with the back of his right hand. As he went to slip the splint on he realised that the back of his good hand was discoloured with a smear of blood. He became aware of the sting of grazes on the left side of his face.
He managed to slide the splint into position and then inflated it. It cushioned and immobilised the broken bone and relieved some of the pain. He took a deep breath and then removed his handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his injured face. It was still bleeding, but it wasn't too bad. He decided that his best course of action was to follow the advice that he'd given Scott earlier, and leave it alone.
Shoving the bloodied handkerchief back into his pocket he gingerly stood up. Time to take stock of his surroundings. The water level was definitely rising. Even if there was enough of a path to take them around to safety, by the time Scott had negotiated the climb down, it would have been impassable. From here the frigid waters looked dark and uninviting. Virgil decided that their only choice was to head back the way they'd come and hope to find another exit.
'Back the way they'd come.' Virgil looked up the wall that he'd just descended. Fortunately the path he'd intended on traversing down was still intact, but he could see a gaping hole where he'd fallen. 100 percent fit and that obstacle would have been tricky. With a broken arm, it looked to be nigh on impossible.
"Virgil!" He heard Scott call out.
"Still here, Scott. I'm going to try to climb back up."
"Can you make it?"
"I'll let you know."
The climb upwards was easier than he'd expected. His good arm was against the cliff face and was able to grasp at helpful promontories. Then Virgil reached the gap. It was too wide to jump. Based on past experience he wasn't willing to trust the wall to a bit of rock climbing, and it would have been too difficult to do one handed anyway. He looked upwards. Solid, flat secure ground was about three metres away, beyond his outstretched arm's reach.
"Scott!"
"Yeah, Virg."
"I need a hand."
Scott froze at the announcement. "What can I do?" He felt useless.
"Can you crawl over to the edge?"
"Yes." This was something Scott didn't want to do, but knew he had to. "How secure is the edge?"
"Seems strong enough. Nothing's come down on top of me."
Feeling his way forward, by sliding his hands along the pebble strewn ground, Scott edged his way in the direction he thought he should be headed. Then doubts forced their way into his mind. "I'm not sure I'm going the right way. The sound of the water's echoing off the walls. Keep talking to me Virgil - let me know where to go."
"Okay Scott. Just follow my voice, and start thinking of another way out of here. This way's no... STOP" Virgil saw Scott's hands appear above him, preceded by a shower of pebbles.
Scott curled his fingers around the edge of the cliff. Moments later Virgil could see Scott's dark tousled hair and his bandaged eyes. "Okay, I'm here. Now what?" Scott felt the blast of cold air from the river on what parts of his face weren't covered.
"Move, ah, four hand widths to your left. Good, you're doing fine. Okay, now another two. Right stop there."
"Okay, I'm in position. Describe the situation to me."
Virgil would have rather concentrated on getting out of his current predicament and then getting the two of them away from the fast flowing water, but realised his brothers innate need to have control of the situation. "I've gone as far as I can back up the path. The hole that I fell down is too wide to cross. The water's rising, but it's not an immediate threat. There's no exit accessible from down there, so we're going to have to try to find another exit back the way we came. And you're going to have to help me climb up out of here."
"How? How far down are you?" Scott lay down and stretched out his arm towards Virgil. Virgil reached upwards. They couldn't reach each other. "How big's the gap?"
"About a foot. Have you got something you can use as a rope?"
"Hang on a second." Scott's face disappeared from view, as did his hands. When they came back into view one hand was clutching something pale blue. It was Scott's sash. "Can you reach this?"
Virgil managed to grasp the blue lifeline. "Yeah, I've got it. Can you brace yourself?"
"A little, but you're going to have to do a bit of climbing yourself."
'One handed' Virgil thought grimly. "Okay, hang on. I'll try and gain a couple of feet before I have to use it. He managed to inch his way up the cliff face enough so that his head was just level with the swinging sash. He then placed his injured arm through the sash so that the weight was taken by the elbow. This left his right hand free for climbing. "Okay, start pulling."
They had no fears of the sash giving way. Like the Boy Scout scarves of old it had been designed to be more than just ornamental. Virgil's problem was the pain that coursed through his arm as the sash dug in and cut off the circulation. Scott's was that he had nothing he could hang onto and prevent himself from sliding closer to the edge.
It took a lot of grunting and groaning, some sweat and a little blood, but eventually Virgil had reached the top. Scott grabbed the back of his brother's shirt and pulled. Virgil rolled onto relative safety, straight over his broken arm. He sucked in his breath as a wave of pain coursed through his body.
Scott heard the sound. "Virgil, what's wrong?" He put his hand out to offer help and succeeded in knocking the injured limb. Virgil let out a yelp of pain and pulled the arm out of harms way. "Virgil! Are you hurt?"
"Yeah... yeah I am Scott. I busted my arm when I took that tumble."
"I thought you sounded a little odd. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I figured you had enough to worry about."
"Which one?"
"My left forearm."
"Great. You're left handed aren't you."
"No ambidextrous remember."
"Yeah, but predominantly left-handed." Scott said. "How bad is it?"
"It's broken, but I've managed to splint it." Virgil sought to turn the topic away from his own problems. "Come on, let's get you away from the subsidence. I don't plan on having to go down there again."
Scott was never one to be fobbed off easily. "Can I do anything to help you?" He asked as he stood up.
"Yeah, take two steps forward so you're not so close to the edge."
Scott obliged. "So now we're back where we started, before you started risking your neck, except now you're injured as well. You'd better radio John and let him know."
"Okay - Oh, no! I've lost my communicator!"
"Where is it? Can you see it anywhere?"
Virgil was looking at the ground around their feet. "No, I can't." He moved carefully to the edge so that he was once again looking down towards the rushing waters. "Yes, I can."
"Where!"
"Three quarters of the way down the cliff. It must have fallen off when I fell."
"Well you're not going down to get it!"
"Don't worry. I'm not planning to." Once again Virgil took in his surroundings. "And we haven't got anything we can use to retrieve it."
"So we've got no way of letting base know where we are... or how we are." Scott added meaningfully.
"Well then. We are just going to have to find another way out of here." Virgil said firmly. They began to retrace their steps.
They'd been moving for about ten minutes when Virgil let out a yell. "Hey! Just what we need. I've found a long piece of metal with a hook in the end. Perhaps I can get my watch. Wait here, I'll be back in a moment." He grabbed the metal strip and started back the way they'd just come.
"Don't leave me."
The voice sounded so pitiful and unrecognisable that Virgil's initial reaction was to look around to see where it had come from.
He strode back to Scott who grabbed his arm painfully.
"Virg. I know I'm being a wimp, but don't leave me alone. You're already injured and if something else were to happen to you I wouldn't be able to get to you."
"A wimp! You are not a wimp. You've been taking this so well, that for a moment I forgot you were injured. Here I am going on about how I'll never leave you and then I almost do just that! I'm sorry Scott."
Scott gave a long shuddering breath. "I-I don't think I can take much more of this."
"You're doing fine, hang in there. To tell you the truth, I don't know how you've managed to hold it together so well. I would have been a gibbering idiot by now."
Scott managed a smile. "Somehow I doubt that." Then his smile failed. "Virgil... Do me a favour."
"If I can."
"Remove the bandages. I have to know if..."
"Whoa. No way. I've got nothing to replace them with and there's too much dust around here to be healthy."
"Please Virgil!" Scott started plucking at the dirty white material that surrounded his head.
"NO!" Virgil pulled Scott's hand away. "Leave it alone."
"You sounded just like our father then! Must be that frog in your throat."
"First Grandma, then a frog, now Father. I'll be getting a complex. Who am I going to remind you of next?"
"If you start sulking it'll be Alan."
Despite his worries Virgil laughed. "C'mon. Let's go see if we can get my watch." He took Scott's arm.