Tammy froze, “There is no way that I will make it, just go.”

The wall was moving fast and more than halfway up, Derek had Tanda and was about to pull her over. “Don’t Derek, we’ll find another way out, drop her,” I yelled. Fala reached out and wrapped his arm around Tanda’s waist and set her back, while Derek dropped down to the floor in the room with us.

“Did you see how fast that thing closed?” he asked, shocked at the speed of the whole situation.

“That was real stupid. You guys could have reopened the door to get me out,” Tammy frowned, with one hand on her hip.

“I couldn’t leave you in here alone, what if it never opened again?” I replied, watching the thought take hold on her expression.

“One of us must have stepped on a trigger. Maybe if we can find it, the wall will open back up?” Tanda started tapping her foot on the tiles that covered the floor.

“Might as well check it out now that we’re here,” Derek added, looking at the painting on the wall behind the desk at the back of the room.

Chapter Twelve

Meanwhile, the others were making their way up the base of the mountain. Cates was in the lead, with Jacob now bringing up the rear. The terrain was treacherous; boulders hung precariously over their heads as they maneuvered around them, leaving small stones raining down on the earth below. Sydney was having the best time he’d ever had since he became a breeder. He absolutely loved adventure when it came to nature and climbing was one of the things he enjoyed--second to his love of sailing. He made the rest look as if they were struggling, while he eased around, knowing where to grip the stones and to place his feet. It was one of the reasons that Jacob had gone down and got behind him, because he had observed how he moved when he looked back to check on him and Garvin.

Jacob was getting the idea by watching Sydney’s placement and his trip up the side of the stone face became a better experience. Jacob and Cates had made their way up more mountains than Jacob cared to think about, but seeing a skill that he had never witnessed showed him that the others indeed had a great deal to offer in what he thought was an already well taught form. Cates moved well, with speed as well as accuracy due to the strength in his legs and his one massive arm. There were times when he dug into the earth with his nub elbow to lift himself up onto a large boulder that had no other way to go around.

“Look,” Garvin called out, pointing up. “There it is.”

“It is a castle,” Sydney said, getting a grip and leaning back.

“Keep moving,” Jacob called up, catching up to Sydney.

Thirty minutes had passed when Cates broke the top and pulled himself over onto a flat piece of grass-covered land. He waved back down for them to hurry, seeing the fog beneath them like a white rolling sea just waiting for one to fall into its endless swirling abyss. Cates stood and looked up at the some fifty feet of stone wall, shaking his head. “Glad we don’t have to go over that,” he said out loud, then leaned over in time to have Garvin’s head pop up. “You could have scared me right off of here. You little ones move fast,” Cates smiled, grabbing him by the hand and bringing him up, setting him down beside himself.

“Look how Sydney moves,” Garvin said, leaning over, watching him and Jacob come up the last few feet. “He moves like he is one with the mountain.”

“It looks like Master Jacob has picked up a thing or two following him.”

Jacob was holding on by one hand looking for another place to grab when the stone he was holding began to slip. Sydney heard the smaller stones cascading down and turned to see what was happening. “Swing to your left and grab the lower ledge,” he called out then head back down. Jacob saw what he was talking about and began swinging his legs. Sydney was moving with a speed none of the others would dare use on such a steep terrain, but it was Jacob’s life he was worried about, not his own. The stone came free and Jacob scrabbled to grip anything to keep from falling to his certain death when he felt flesh grip his wrist. “I have you. Now swing your legs,” Sydney called out, holding the stone above his head with the other hand.

Jacob reached out, took hold of the ledge that stuck out no more than two inches, dug his nails in, and let go of Sydney to better his grip with both hands. Sydney maneuvered his way right above Jacob and lowered himself enough so that he could have Jacob reach up and grab hold of his feet. At first Jacob refused, thinking he would pull them both down, until Sydney convinced him that he had been doing this sort of thing most of the youthful part of his life, and he would not put either at risk of falling. “I will lift my legs enough for you to get a good foothold on the rock just a bit more to your left, then you can climb the rest yourself,” Sydney explained, lowering one foot down to Jacob’s hand.

Sydney lifted, feeling the strain of Jacob’s weight on his finger tips that were holding the rough texture of the stone. Jacob pulled up with his other hand, swung out one foot, placed it on the firmly planted rock to his left, and relieved Sydney of his extra weight. “Thank you, my friend. You must show me this skill at a better time,” Jacob smiled up at the face smiling back down at him.

“My pleasure. I learned rock climbing in the foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains in New Mexico. Of course, we would have never tried this at night,” he laughed.

“Yes, but your eyes were not half as good and your strength was nothing compared. You are a fine soldier,” Jacob replied, pulling himself even with Sydney. “You saved my life, and I will not forget that. Not many would have placed themselves in the kind of position that you just did. I am grateful for your courage.”

“You would have never left me or any of the rest of us on the ledge. Who do you think I’m learning from?”

“I believe we are all learning from each other,” Jacob said as they moved up the face of the mountain side by side.

Cates grabbed Jacob’s hand, while Garvin took Sydney’s. Once they were all standing on solid ground, Cates nodded once to Jacob and put his hand on his shoulder, then nodded again and walked over to the castle wall. It was apparent that he had been more worried than even he had known, until seeing Jacob face to face. Garvin just shook his head, and pulled Sydney into a hug telling him how very proud he was of his bravery. He told him he couldn’t be more proud if he was his own son, getting a weird look from Sydney.

“It’s true. I do feel like you are my son,” Garvin said, nodding as if saying it twice so Sydney could see it as well as hear his meaning.

“I’m not saying that that doesn’t make me feel good, it’s just I look older than you,” he snorted. “I could be your older brother.”

“That is true, but I have lived on this earth for more than sixty nine years, and could have had many children had I not been…” he paused, “like this.”

“You are both in the mother’s womb if we speak of age,” Cates turned, leaning on the wall.

“And how old were you when your maker brought you over? It is easy to see that you are old enough to have had many babies,” Jacob smirked, walking over to the big man.

“And more than likely did. A man with looks as fine as mine lay with many a wench before and after battle, so I’ll excuse the remark about my age, tiny one,” he replied, reaching out, grabbing Jacob by the neck and bringing him into a head lock. “One handed, and I’m still faster than you.”

Jacob turned, bent his back over and walked up the wall, while taking hold of Cates’ wrist then kicked off flipping over the big man, taking him down to his knees with his arm bent at a bad angle. “I may be small and not near as fast, but I am agile,” Jacob laughed, releasing his wrist and helping him back up.

Cates smiled, shaking his head, dusting off his knees, then turned around and looked at the wall behind him. “I never did understand how you made such good use with something as flat as a stone wall.”