Jack watched anxiously as Andrew made his way along the first part of the
course. The boy was moving carefully, and he was struggling in some parts,
but he was scrappy, and he wasn't looking down, even when the boys below
cheered for him. He fell once. His hand slipped off one of the ropes and
there was a collective gasp from the boys, but the harness caught him just
like Rick had said it would. A chair. Andrew rested for a moment, getting
his courage and breath back, and started again. Eventually he reached the
ladder that was nailed to the tall pine, and here he was met by another man
that hadn't been introduced. This man switched Andrew's safety line over to
a different one. A long rope that ran to a pulley far overhead and then
down to Rick, who was holding the end. The man gave Andrew some
instructions, which the boy nodded to, and then pointed up to the little
platform that Jack had noticed earlier.
Visibly trembling, now, although Jack couldn't tell from the distance if it were from exhaustion or fear, Andrew climbed the ladder and stood on the platform, for the first time looking down. All the way down.
"Jump for the bar, Andrew!" Rick called up encouragingly. "You're almost done."
Andrew looked over at the trapeze bar, and then down again, and it was obvious he was visibly making up his mind if he wanted to jump for the bar or not. There was another option, Rick told Jack. If a boy was too afraid to jump for the bar, he could simply sit on the platform and scoot himself off them edge, holding onto the safety line. Rick would then just lower him to the ground. Of course, none of the boys wanted to be the one who scooted off the platform, though. Not even at seventy feet up. What would the girls say?
Andrew made the leap, and caught the bar. Then he just hung there, grinning like a fool as he debated how best to let go. Rick pulled the line taut as Andrew hung, and then yelled up for him to let go, that he had him. Andrew did as he was told, and a moment later he was lowered to the ground, and surrounded by the rest of the boys who were patting him on the back and congratulating him.
"Who's next?" Rick asked, holding up another harness.
Shawn was next. He had only a little trouble with the cargo net, having longer arms than Andrew and having seen what Andrew had done wrong. He was a bit more timid on the rest of the route, frequently looking down at Jack for reassurance. Jack was yelling up as much support as he could, but the courage to climb that final tall ladder was all Shawn's, and everyone knew it. Especially Andrew, who was yelling with excitement. He'd done it, anyone could.
Shawn leaped for the bar and made the catch easily, grinning just as foolishly as Andrew had, and when he was lowered to the ground, Jack was sure that smile wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.
One by one the boys took the challenge course on. Teal'c went about halfway through, to show Simon that it would hold someone even as big as he was, and when the Jaffa was lowered to the ground after catching the bar, it seemed to hearten the nervous boy enough that Simon was next to go. After Simon was Tyler, and once that boy had finally screwed up enough courage to make his leap and was lowered to the ground, it was Jack's turn.
"Come on, Jack!"
It was getting fairly late, and the afternoon sun was filtering through the trees, throwing some interesting shadows onto the boys as Jack put his harness on. He attached the safety line and headed up the cargo net, not having much trouble, if any, with it. Cargo nets were old hat to him.
"Doing great, Jack," James told him when he reached the big man.
"Thanks, James." Jack said, watching as his line was attached to the wire above him. Jack wasn't too worried about the course; he had complete faith in his harness, even if it was a different kind than any he'd used before. He sat down in it once, just to see how it would support him, nodded his satisfaction and stood up again, and made his way along the wire, grabbing ropes to help pull himself along. His shoulder was screaming by the time he reached the ladder going up the pine, and he stopped to rub it as the unintroduced man switched his safety line over to the line on the pulley that Rick held.
"You okay?" The man asked, noticing the bruises on Jack's face.
"Yeah, just a bit achey."
"Hehe, you should see me after showing the kids how to do it a few dozen times. It feels like my arms are going to fall off. You're almost done, just make sure you catch the bar, or you'll never hear the end of it."
"Thanks."
Jack made his way up the ladder, and onto the platform and looked down. Daniel was directly below him, looking up with his cast shading his eyes from the sun. Teal'c and the boys were close at hand as well, shouting encouragement at him. With support like that, what could go wrong?
He leapt for the bar, and caught it. Then immediately felt his shoulder give out as a spasm of pain shot through the bruised muscle. His hand opened and Jack lost his grip on the bar, but was still swinging. He tried desperately to hold it with his left hand only, but the momentum carried him past, and his hand slipped, jerking him around and causing him to plummet head first for the forest floor.
The safety line and the harness caught him up short after about thirty feet, and Jack grunted in pain as he was jerked sideways and the rope slapped against his leg.
"Gah!"
Then things went from bad to much worse. The harness, which was designed to allow a man as heavy as Teal'c to sit comfortably in it, wasn't designed to catch a man who was falling upside down. There were no shoulder straps, only waist and leg straps. The jerking motion when the safety line caught caused the normally tight harness to sling sideways just enough to loosen it a bit. And it was enough to allow Jack to slip right out of it. He tried to reach up and grab the line, but he didn't have a chance, and he fell the last thirty feet without the rope, or the harness, both of which swung above him almost mockingly.
"Gah!"
It was all he had a chance to say as he landed, not on the ground, but on Daniel, who'd been watching but couldn't believe what he was seeing, and didn't move out of the way in time to avoid his falling friend. Both men went down in a heap and Jack couldn't stop the curse when he felt something snap as he landed.
"Shit!"
Visibly trembling, now, although Jack couldn't tell from the distance if it were from exhaustion or fear, Andrew climbed the ladder and stood on the platform, for the first time looking down. All the way down.
"Jump for the bar, Andrew!" Rick called up encouragingly. "You're almost done."
Andrew looked over at the trapeze bar, and then down again, and it was obvious he was visibly making up his mind if he wanted to jump for the bar or not. There was another option, Rick told Jack. If a boy was too afraid to jump for the bar, he could simply sit on the platform and scoot himself off them edge, holding onto the safety line. Rick would then just lower him to the ground. Of course, none of the boys wanted to be the one who scooted off the platform, though. Not even at seventy feet up. What would the girls say?
Andrew made the leap, and caught the bar. Then he just hung there, grinning like a fool as he debated how best to let go. Rick pulled the line taut as Andrew hung, and then yelled up for him to let go, that he had him. Andrew did as he was told, and a moment later he was lowered to the ground, and surrounded by the rest of the boys who were patting him on the back and congratulating him.
"Who's next?" Rick asked, holding up another harness.
Shawn was next. He had only a little trouble with the cargo net, having longer arms than Andrew and having seen what Andrew had done wrong. He was a bit more timid on the rest of the route, frequently looking down at Jack for reassurance. Jack was yelling up as much support as he could, but the courage to climb that final tall ladder was all Shawn's, and everyone knew it. Especially Andrew, who was yelling with excitement. He'd done it, anyone could.
Shawn leaped for the bar and made the catch easily, grinning just as foolishly as Andrew had, and when he was lowered to the ground, Jack was sure that smile wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.
One by one the boys took the challenge course on. Teal'c went about halfway through, to show Simon that it would hold someone even as big as he was, and when the Jaffa was lowered to the ground after catching the bar, it seemed to hearten the nervous boy enough that Simon was next to go. After Simon was Tyler, and once that boy had finally screwed up enough courage to make his leap and was lowered to the ground, it was Jack's turn.
"Come on, Jack!"
It was getting fairly late, and the afternoon sun was filtering through the trees, throwing some interesting shadows onto the boys as Jack put his harness on. He attached the safety line and headed up the cargo net, not having much trouble, if any, with it. Cargo nets were old hat to him.
"Doing great, Jack," James told him when he reached the big man.
"Thanks, James." Jack said, watching as his line was attached to the wire above him. Jack wasn't too worried about the course; he had complete faith in his harness, even if it was a different kind than any he'd used before. He sat down in it once, just to see how it would support him, nodded his satisfaction and stood up again, and made his way along the wire, grabbing ropes to help pull himself along. His shoulder was screaming by the time he reached the ladder going up the pine, and he stopped to rub it as the unintroduced man switched his safety line over to the line on the pulley that Rick held.
"You okay?" The man asked, noticing the bruises on Jack's face.
"Yeah, just a bit achey."
"Hehe, you should see me after showing the kids how to do it a few dozen times. It feels like my arms are going to fall off. You're almost done, just make sure you catch the bar, or you'll never hear the end of it."
"Thanks."
Jack made his way up the ladder, and onto the platform and looked down. Daniel was directly below him, looking up with his cast shading his eyes from the sun. Teal'c and the boys were close at hand as well, shouting encouragement at him. With support like that, what could go wrong?
He leapt for the bar, and caught it. Then immediately felt his shoulder give out as a spasm of pain shot through the bruised muscle. His hand opened and Jack lost his grip on the bar, but was still swinging. He tried desperately to hold it with his left hand only, but the momentum carried him past, and his hand slipped, jerking him around and causing him to plummet head first for the forest floor.
The safety line and the harness caught him up short after about thirty feet, and Jack grunted in pain as he was jerked sideways and the rope slapped against his leg.
"Gah!"
Then things went from bad to much worse. The harness, which was designed to allow a man as heavy as Teal'c to sit comfortably in it, wasn't designed to catch a man who was falling upside down. There were no shoulder straps, only waist and leg straps. The jerking motion when the safety line caught caused the normally tight harness to sling sideways just enough to loosen it a bit. And it was enough to allow Jack to slip right out of it. He tried to reach up and grab the line, but he didn't have a chance, and he fell the last thirty feet without the rope, or the harness, both of which swung above him almost mockingly.
"Gah!"
It was all he had a chance to say as he landed, not on the ground, but on Daniel, who'd been watching but couldn't believe what he was seeing, and didn't move out of the way in time to avoid his falling friend. Both men went down in a heap and Jack couldn't stop the curse when he felt something snap as he landed.
"Shit!"