Chapter 8

Emmett gripped the sides of the rope ladder as tight as he could, while the fierce wind tried to pry him off. He was nearly to the ground now, and moving more vertical than horizontal. His decent was complicated by the fact that the rung below him was always blown out horizontal. This made it difficult to locate each running, and forced him to push it down into position with his foot. After climbing down three more rungs, his feet reached the ground.

Immediately, his family shuffled over to him from the shelter of their tree, holding onto each other for stability. He let go of the ladder with one hand, and slipped the left hand strap of his bag off his shoulder. "Clara, I'm about to change hands so you can take the pack from me. It has the jackets and gloves in it," he shouted as loudly as he could.

Clara nodded and stood by to take the pack, holding onto the ladder for support. She received the pack without mishap and began dressing he boys and herself in the protective clothes.

"I need to stay here to hold down the ladder, so you'll need to help the boys climb past me," Emmett instructed at the top of his voice.

Clara shouted instructions to Jules and Verne to ensure that they fully understood. Then, with Emmett sitting as low as he could on the ladder, she hoisted u- Verne. He grabbed onto the ladder as soon as he could, and scrambled up so he could get his feet on it properly. On the ground below, Jules helped his mother keep her balance in the strong wind.

Verne yelled something down to his family, but the wind carried his voice far away. It mustn't have been important, as he returned to the tricky process of climbing up the ladder. On the ground, Clara began lifting Jules onto the ladder.

Without warning, the ladder began to drift away, dragging the loose end (though it wasn't very loose, due to the wind) along the ground. Jules lunged at the ladder, missed, and fell to the ground as Clara lost her balance leaning forwards. Not wanting to waste any time, she helped him up again and started following after the ladder as carefully as she could.

"Clara! Watch out..."

The dragging portion of the ladder neatly caught her foot and brought her to the ground again. Jules picked himself out of the mud, sick of being dropped. Within seconds, the driving wind and rain had washed him clean. Thinking quickly, he trudged around to the other side of the ladder, took a short run-up, and jumped as high as he could.

Jules' parents watched in amazement as he grabbed onto one of the ropes of the ladder and swung around to the correct side of the ladder. After a short scuffle he managed to get a firm foothold and followed after Verne.

"You turn now, Clara," Emmett shouted to her."

"How can I get up? There's no way I'm doing what Verne did!" she called back, straining to be heard against the roaring of the wind and rain.

"You'll have to climb up the other side a little way and climb around. I'll help you. Put that pack on your back - we don't want to lose it."

"Can't I just hold onto the ladder, and you start climbing up? Then I can easily follow behind you," Clara argued as she secured the pack straps around her shoulders.

"No, I refuse to have you go last. Quickly now, I don't know how much time we have left before something more drastic occurs!"

Clara complied, and began to climb up the opposite side of the ladder to Emmett. When she was high enough, she edged as close as she could manage to the left side of the ladder. She removed the foot on that side, trying to reach around to the other side of the ladder. Emmett reached up and helped push her foot into the right position. With her foot on the other side, she gradually moved around so that her right foot was the only thing on the wrong side, and then moved it around to follow the first. As soon as she was fully on the right side of the ladder, she began climbing, moving as fast as she could without being blown away by he howling wind.

A sudden shudder passed through the length of the ladder. Clara looked upwards to see that the ladder had snagged on the remains of a tree branch. The drifting of the train into the slightly diminished wind had threaded the branch through the ladder like thread through the eye of a needle.

"Emmett!" Clara yelled down to her husband. "We're caught on a tree!"

Due to the weather conditions, Emmett could not actually hear what she said, but he deduced the problem from the new tension on the ladder. He looked up to se exactly what had happened. It was not good. Knowing shouting was futile, he clung on tightly to the soaking wet ladder with his left hand and used his right hand for the radio.

A fair way above, Jules reached the top of the ladder and scrambled into the cab, joining Verne who had already reached safety. "What a relief!" he declared as he flopped onto the floor. "That was wild!"

"Yeah. Mom and Dad better get up here soo..."

An electronic crackling noise interrupted him, followed by his father's voice from a radio on the floor. "Boys, do you hear me?"

Jules deftly scooped up the radio. "I hear you, Dad. What's up?"

"The train has been drifting forwards, and the ladder has caught on a tree. We can't get up, and the ladder is being pulled so tight that it may snap a rung!"

"You need us to slow down a little?"

"Precisely, but only a small amount!"

Jules scrabbled around the control console. "I have the throttle fine control lever. Clear to reduce one click?"

"Clear."

Jules moved the throttle lever a tiny amount. "Did that do it?"

"I don't think it's pulling any tighter, but we need to slacken off and unhook. I'd say reduce by two more clicks."

Jules pulled the lever a little more. "Is that better?"

"Yes, we're drifting away from the tree now. We should be alright so long as the wind holds."

"Get up here as soon as you can, Dad!"

"Don't worry, I'll be as fast as I safely can."

"Is Mom alright?"

"Yes, and I expect she's listening to our conversation on her radio. There, we're all clear and she's started climbing again."

"Great to hear, Dad. I suggest hovering up a little, so we don't hit any more trees."

"Go ahead, but do it slowly. It's hard enough to hang on as it is."

"I hear you." Jules slightly increased the power to the primary hover circuits, and the train began to gradually gain altitude.

With no further mishaps, both Clara and Emmett reached the top of the ladder and made it safely into the cab. "Leave the jackets on for now," Emmett directed. "I you you're wet, but they are waterproof and will keep you warmer if you leave them on. Try not to drip on anything electronic, and I'll pull up the ladder."

He did this, though it was a massive effort to pull against the wind. Eventually he managed to get it all in, and rolled it up to keep it out of the way until he had time to dry (and wash) it properly. With the ladder out of the way, he closed the door, and prepared for temporal displacement.

"We'll turn around and go with the wind, to save power. Everyone hold on tight."

Every one held on tight and the train made a wide, slow turn. The wind tried to carry it away, but Emmett anticipated the change in forces and made the necessary corrections. Now flying with the wind, the flying train quickly accelerated towards eighty-eight miles per hour.

Emmett switched on the repaired time circuits and punched in the correct destination time. The train's velocity swept past seventy... then through eighty, topped ninety..."

"Great Scott! The temporal displacement sequence failed to initialise!"