“I could have walked to the waterfall.” Lissie peered over the side of the basket down at her friends trudging through Nikolai’s path in the snow. Ruskin was jumping, begging to see. Lissie couldn’t pick him up with just one arm. She needed her good arm to hold onto the side against the rocking.
“Nonsense, you’re injured.” Alexander said, “We are making great time.”
The trip was more scenic from this vantage point, and she enjoyed feeling tall. She spent a lot of time imagining what it was like to be a bird, and now she had a taste.
If I could ride the wind, I could feel like this whenever I wanted, she thought. Her heart clenched.
They were nearing the waterfall she had fallen from. Nikolai moved through the snow with no resistance. Walking in his wake, no one needed to use snow shoes. She peered up at it, and thought she could make out where she had fallen. The surface wasn’t smooth anymore, their trail up and the climb she wasn’t there for back down had left the ice looking scarred. She reached down and petted Ruskin’s face for comfort.
“Set it down here,” Riley’s voice from below. The basket lowered, and she watched the trees getting taller.
“I will need assistance with the straps.” Nikolai sat down.
“About that,” Cora asked, “Are we sure they won’t break just from being on his bare shoulders?”
“These ropes are made from silk harvested on the Eible Islands.” Alexander said as if that was an answer. He reached into the basket and pulled out the two thin ropes.
Riley and Alexander set to work tying them together over Nikolai’s neck like a yoke. Riley asked, “Are you sure the rope won’t hurt, being supported by only your neck?”
“Cora is correct to worry about the rope.” Nikola stood, they had tied the rope in front of his neck, hanging behind him.
I hope it doesn’t choke him, Lissie worried.
Everyone joined her in the basket. She braced on the side with her good arm, and Riley wrapped an arm around her waist. Nikolai walked forward to the wall of ice and the basket lurched. She watched him drop down into a squat. He vaulted up with an explosion of snow, and thrust his fists into the ice, and the stone beneath.
The basket lurched up, and held. Crash. Ice and gravel rained down on them.
Alexander cackled, he swung his fists in the air.
The basket swung and crashed against the wall. The bottom of the basket filled with detritus. Lissie clung to the side, Riley’s arm braced around her waist. She closed her eyes and leaned into her friend.
Cora cried, “Look at how high we are already! This took us half the day.”
Nikolai’s voice rumbled from above. “There is an overhang, should I move it or should we go around it.”
Before Lissie could offer some better sense, Alexander said, “Go through it!”
Lissie had to stop holding onto the side and sheltered her head against the raining rocks. The pieces were small. Most of them.
It did not take long before they shuddered to a stop. Nikolai said, “We have reached the top, I’ll pull you up.”
The basket tipped over at the ledge, and spilled them in a pile on the ice sheet. Alexander scrambled to grab Ruskin. The dog was still obsessed with pawing or licking the blue man.
The wind blew hard and sharp up here. Lissie turned and looked over the sprawling landscape. She had only been this high when she had rode the Wind with Dahla. Lissie peeked over the edge. Maybe not even then. Cora pulled her back.
“Come on, we need to find the cave!” Cora looked scared.
Is she worried I want to fall again?
Lissie walked to Nikolai, who was pulling himself free of the harness. His fingers skittered underneath the ropes so as to not break them. He still broke one. She tried to console him. “I’m sure Alexander can fix it once we are out.”
Niko looked at Lissie’s arm. “We will have to figure something out. Later.”
Alexander came over and looked at the frayed rope. “I’ve seen this pull ships. You’re something else.”
“I try to control myself, but the air is colder up here.” Nikolai looked over the ice sheet.
“That’s vague enough to be intriguing.” Alexander tapped on his temple. “It’ll make a great line.”
Lissie followed Nikolai’s gaze at the eye-watering white. The ice was hard and reflective, not powdery snow like what she had fallen into. The black rock had been blown clear in a few places, and she looked down to her feet. The ice was slick and translucent, but the blue occlusions obscured most of the rock. Still, when she looked close, she could see it.
“Do you know where the cave is?” Cora asked Nikolai.
Nikolai shook his head. “It is not a place I would willingly go.”
Cora turned to Lissie and asked, “Can you find it?”