“Clinch your fingers and hang on hard,” one of those men said. “Double your fists tight. Something is starting to bust up there.”
Just then there were more loud screams and Pee-wee yelled, “Help, help!” But kind of it didn’t sound like Pee-wee.
One of the men said, “I’m afraid the whole blamed rotten tree is coming down.”
Just then, oh boy wasn’t I scared, I heard a voice shouting, “I’m coming down.”
They stretched the coat out tight and kept looking up so they could get into the right spot quick. But nothing happened, only a twig or something fell down on Sandy’s face. It hit him plunk in the face because he was looking up.
One of the men said, “Never mind that, keep your eyes peeled up there and when you move, whatever you do don’t trip on these blamed rocks.” He kicked some of the brush we had laid there out of the way so his feet wouldn’t catch in it.
It made me feel kind of cold and kind of funny in my throat, the way the four of them stood there waiting and just looking up.
CHAPTER XIX
THE FIXER
I couldn’t just stand there not doing anything so I ran into the wide part and up the side where it was easy to go up. I guess maybe I was kind of kidding myself that I could do something up there. I guess I didn’t want to see Pee-wee come falling down. If I could have helped I would have stayed there. But as long as I wasn’t doing anything I couldn’t keep still.
Up on the edge of the precipice there was only just that one grown up fellow kneeling down and looking over. I had never been up to that place before. Up there it didn’t look like a chasm, it was just a wide gap—you’d call it a cleft I guess.