Kayla didn’t appear convinced. “My arm is hurting bad. I don’t think I could be the one on top. I’d never be able to pull myself out. And your ribs are bruised. I don’t know if you could, either.”

That made two of them.

But what other choice did they have?

“I’m open to suggestions.”

The girl sighed. “I don’t have any. I guess we could give your idea a try.”

“Let’s see if we can find anything in the supplies to loosen the mortar.”

“I have this.” Kayla felt around in her jacket and pulled out a pocketknife. “I forgot all about it until it jabbed me in the side while I was coming down the rope ladder.”

“You carry a pocketknife?”

“Yeah. My brother got it in Scouts, and he asked me to take care of it while he’s in the army. I always keep it with me.”

“That will help.” Cate scooted over to the bags, handed one to Kayla, and began to root through the other one.

“You really think this could work?”

At Kayla’s question, Cate paused in her search. “I have no idea. I’m not an acrobat—but I was on a cheer squad in high school. We did pyramid formations at a few games, and I’ve stood on a guy’s shoulders. I’m hoping that skill is like riding a bicycle—assuming we get that far. If it’s not, my idea will be toast.” She went back to digging through the bag.

Kayla did too.

Less than half a minute later, the girl held up a pair of tweezers. “These were in the first aid kit.”

Screwdrivers or a hammer and chisel would be of more use—but there was no possibility Wilson had left those kinds of items in their stash.

“Set them aside, but let’s see if we can find anything else.” She went back to rummaging through the other bag.

In the end, they came up with only one other makeshift tool—the metal loop that served as a handle for the battery-powered lantern.

Kayla ran her fingers over the bricks beside her. “Trying to pry these loose with what we have is going to be tough.”

Or impossible.

But Cate left that unsaid.

Giving up wasn’t her style, and if this was all they had to work with, they’d have to make do.

Unless . . .

She gave the distance to the cap another visual measurement. “I wonder if I could reach the top without a platform?”

Kayla tipped her head back. “It’s too high. You’ll lose eight or ten inches standing on my shoulders.”