When Chase called a halt, Ford muttered, “I thought they said this was a freaking climbing wall. That’s a cliff.”

Marty kept silent. Pointing out that it was a climbing wall, only a natural one, and that if Ford looked closely, she’d see the natural foot and hand holds as well as a few strategically placed pitons, did not seem like a good idea. They were figuring out that Ford tended to have a negative view of most of the events, but when it came time to participate, she tried. And usually excelled, even when some people—frequently Shannon lately—made sarcastic comments about her efforts. Funny, today Shannon seemed to ignore Ford—although Marty caught her watching them every once in a while.

“How many of you have done any kind of climbing?” Chase asked.

“Yo,” a guy called.

Susie, one of the youngest and most athletic girls at camp, raised a hand. Marty followed suit.

“Good,” Chase said. “You’ll go first.”

That suited Marty. They liked climbing with no one above them. And climbing walls could get crowded. Even ones like this.

“I’m going to drop guidelines from the ridge up there,” Chase said, pointing. “Before you begin your ascent, you’ll clip onto one of those lines and get an all clear from Alisha or Philippe. No one steps onto the wall until that happens. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Marty said automatically and heard a few snickers.

“Got it,” the guy called, and Susie added, “Certainly.”

A few people snickered at that too.

“Right.” As Chase checked her lines and adjusted her harness, she said, “Today’s objective is to reach the top.”

“No shit,” someone muttered.

Chase glanced over the group and grinned. “No shit.”

That got more laughter.

“It’s not a race—in fact, speed is not your friend when you climb. On the other hand, do not freeze. Do not look down. Look to your next hand or foot hold and move on to it. Let your body take control. Don’t overthink your moves. That’s it. See you at the top.”

“That’s it?” Ford glanced at Marty. “I don’t think I can do that. It’s gotta be like three hundred feet or something to the top.”

“I think it’s more like eighty,” Marty murmured. “And you can do it. I bet you’ve done plenty of climbing around the sailboats.”

“Yes,” Ford said, “but falling into the water is a lot different than falling down a cliff.”

“Good thing you’re not going to fall, then.”