Her foot loosened a stone and sent it rolling down. 38
“If I were you I wouldn’t try that at night, ’Liss,” he advised.
She made sure of the steadiness of her voice before she answered. “You don’t need to try it.”
“I said if I were you, girl.”
“But you are not. Don’t let me detain you here, Mr. Flatray,” she told him in a manner of icy precision.
The deputy began the climb too. “What’s the use of being so hostile, little girl?” he drawled. “Me, I came as soon as I could, burning the wind, too.”
She set her teeth, determined to reach the top in time to get away before he could join her. In her eagerness she took a chance that proved her undoing. A rock gave beneath her foot and clattered down. Clinging by one hand and foot, she felt her body swing around. From her throat a little cry leaped. She knew herself slipping.
“Jack!”
In time, and just in time, he reached her, braced himself, and gave her his knee for a foot rest.
“All right?” he asked, and “All right!” she answered promptly.