They listened again, and heard raised voices, then a loud woof.

Moving cautiously through the trees, they found Buzz lying on his belly. Dylan dropped to his front beside him, running a hand down the frightened dog’s spine. Edging forward slowly, he looked over the edge. He kept the curse inside his head as he saw Piper and Zander about ten feet below him. Piper’s arms were wrapped around a branch, and Zander’s around her waist. Both were balanced on a small ledge, no bigger than two feet wide.

Dylan tapped Fin’s shoulder, who was next to him, and pointed down. Soon everyone had seen what the situation was.

“Move back so we can talk,” Cubby whispered into his ear. He didn’t want to. Fear that she would fall if he left had every muscle in his body urging him to go down there and rescue her.

A hand on his shoulder pulled him upright.

They huddled together well back from the edge. Joe had Buzz between his legs, stroking his head.

“I can’t get a clean shot without hitting Piper,” Fin said.

“They could go over the edge at any time, so I’m going down there,” Dylan said. “It’s me Zander wants, so if he sees that I’m close, he might let her go.”

“His father will have told him failure is not an option, Dylan. You know how Field works; he won’t care if his son dies for the greater cause. No way in hell is he letting her go, or you for that matter,” Mickey said.

“I have to try.”

“Okay, so we send him down as a decoy, and I climb down further along,” Joe said. “Luke and Jack can lower me, and you three have got Dylan. I’ll grab Pip, and you go for Zander, who probably has another name, but is Field’s son.”

“We got enough ropes?” Fin asked Cubby, who was busy unpacking his backpack.

“Two.” He handed one to the Trainers and the other to Dylan. “We send you over, but you don’t tell them you’re there until we know Joe’s in place.”

“How the hell do we do that without alerting Zander?” Dylan said.

Luke cupped his mouth and made a bird call that was so lifelike that if Dylan hadn’t seen him do it, he’d believe it was a bird.

“Do they do that at night?”

Luke shrugged. “You got another idea?”

“Okay, so that’s the signal. Now move it, she can’t stay down there much longer. That ledge is narrow, and it’s dark and cold,” Jack said.

“Shit.” The breath hissed out of Fin’s mouth. “I’m nervous because we haven’t planned for eventualities and don’t even know what’s waiting for you two over that edge. Hell, we’re not even sure we can hold you!”