“You assholes just calm down!” Amber hollers across the void, and like the whistle before it, her words seem to mute even the wind. “Stay there and don’t move. I’ll go to Kyla.”

Christian and Warden don’t look at each other, but they nod.

(Nobody’s messing with Amber right now.)

“Kyla, honey, you just stay put, too,” Amber continues. “I’ll come to you and we’ll do this together, kay?”

Kyla shouts something back, but she doesn’t have wind-silencing abilities at this juncture. Whatever she says, nobody can hear it.

Amber gives Dawn a reassuring smile as she turns back to the ledge. “Never trust a boy to do a woman’s job,” she says, winking.

Despite herself, Dawn smiles back. And then Amber’s edging out along the ledge toward Kyla, saving the day yet again.

(Except this time, it doesn’t work out that way.)

The whole Pack stops and stares as Amber inches out along the ledge toward where Kyla’s still crouched on her hands and knees, trying not to have a total meltdown. Even Christian and Warden forget their beef and just watch. The wind picks up again, and Amber’s words aren’t loud enough for anyone but Kyla to hear, but Dawn can guess what the counselor is saying.

Just stay calm, honey. We got this. We’ll get through it together.

Kyla’s still shaking as Amber comes up behind her. Still crouched against the cliff face. Still kicking pebbles over the edge now and then; they bounce off the rocks beneath and scatter a hundred feet down in little clouds of dust.

It’s just not a good scene.

Slowly, carefully, Amber makes her way to where Kyla’s stalled, about fifteen feet from either end of the ledge. Amber doesn’t look scared. Her face is drawn tight like she’s concentrating hard, but she’s only lightly touching the wall beside her for balance, and she moves smoothly, her knees bent but her head high, eyes always facing forward, never down.

(Amber is a freaking machine.)

(Dawn, on the other hand, is terrified for her.)

Amber reaches Kyla. She leans down and taps Kyla, lightly, on the back. Well, it’s basically Kyla’s butt, but nobody’s raising a fuss about that now. Amber says something to Kyla. Kyla replies, shaking her head. No. Amber listens. Amber tries again.

The wind howls.

Amber and Kyla are out there for a long time. And every minute they’re out there, the odds of a disaster happening get bigger and bigger. But Amber doesn’t quit. She never looks nervous or anxious. She keeps talking to Kyla, coaching her, comforting her. And, eventually, she convinces Kyla to move a little bit forward.

Kyla moves, sobbing, an inch or two at most. But she doesn’t fall. And from the look on Amber’s face, you’d have thought Kyla just climbed Everest.