Rose Tolan's Arc

Chapter 6 of 8

Rose and Jackie finished eating and packed the basket. Then they reached the ice-covered ridge Sassy Jones had warned about. The slope shone like glass. A steep drop fell away on one side. Rose set one boot on the ice and slid at once. Jackie caught her sleeve and hauled her back. "See? One slip and you're gone," Jackie said. Her walking stick scraped the frozen ground. "We can't cross this on foot." The purple cat-dragon paced the edge and whined. Mocha barked at the ice, then backed away. Rose stared at the ridge. Days of travel meant nothing if they died in the first hundred steps. She had no rope, no picks, nothing to grip the ice. "Figured you'd stall here." The deep voice came from behind. Sassy Jones climbed the rise, snow on his fur, a heavy bundle slung over one shoulder. He had guided Rose past the cliffs to these hills and packed her food for the trail. Now he set the bundle down and unrolled it. Inside lay climbing gear. A coiled rope with a hooked end. Two harnesses. Boots with metal spikes at the toe. "Spiked boots bite the ice," Sassy Jones said. He tapped a spike. "The rope ties you two together. One slips, the other holds." He looked at Jackie. "That's why the path needs two." Rose knelt and pulled the spiked boots over her own. Jackie strapped a harness around her waist and cinched it tight. Sassy Jones knotted the rope between them, testing each loop with his huge hands. "Short line," he said. "Stay close. Kick your toes in with every step." Rose stepped onto the ice again. This time the spikes gripped. She kicked her toe down and the metal held. Jackie moved behind her, stick planted, rope taut between them. The cat-dragon glided over the ridge on small wings and waited on the far side. Mocha trembled at the edge until Jackie scooped him into her vest. Halfway across, Rose's back foot slipped. Her stomach lurched toward the drop. The rope snapped tight. Jackie dug in her spikes and her stick, and the line held Rose upright. "Kick in," Jackie said, steady. Rose jammed her toe into the ice and found her footing. Step by step, they crossed. Rose's boots bit the last stretch. She stepped onto bare rock and pulled the rope, dragging Jackie up beside her. They stood on solid ground, breathing hard. The deadly ridge lay behind them. Rose turned to thank Sassy Jones, but he was already a shape far back on the ice, one arm raised. She waved. Ahead, the trail dropped into a shadowed pass between two peaks. The cat-dragon flew that way, then stopped short. Below them, the snow was churned with wide, clawed tracks. Something large had crossed here, and not long ago.