Page 117 of The Whispering Girls

Katie eyed the round opening and could see scratches and broken spots. They could have been recent marks, but it was difficult to ascertain when they were made. She lay on her stomach and peered over the rim, sweeping her flashlight below. She saw an outline of a body lying on its side.

“John. John?”

There was no movement. No answer.

Katie could barely breathe.

“John?” she called. “Please, John, let me know you’re okay.” Her voice cracked with grief. She couldn’t lose him. “John…”

“I’m here,” came a voice that seemed to echo all around her.

Cisco sat up as he heard the voice.

“Are you okay?”

“Define okay…”

For some reason, under the extreme stress, that comment made her smile. John’s dry humor was definitely his signature. “Can you move?”

“Some.” John’s voice was strained.

“Do you have any injuries?”

“No. But the drugs made me weak and nauseous.”

“Did Jack push you down there?”

“Yes.”

Katie examined every inch of the area, her mind retracing everything that had happened since she arrived at the Echo Forest Lodge.

“I’m going to get you out. Hang tight.” She stood up and dropped her pack. Retrieving a fifty-foot rope with two carabiners, Katie got to work. She decided to secure the rope to one of the heavy branches nearby, so she tested it for strength and reliability with her body weight.

“John, can you pull yourself up?”

“I think so…”

“You can do this.” She pulled the rope and lowered it so it wouldn’t plunge down all at once and hit him. She hoped it was long enough. “Can you reach it?”

“Almost.”

“C’mon, John, you can do this.” Katie wasn’t so sure, but she was going to give encouragement no matter what.

The rope pulled taut.

“Got it,” he said.

Katie felt vulnerable and kept a keen watch all around them. She heard John grunt as he fell backward. “C’mon, John! You’ve got this. I know you do.” She dropped to her stomach again, aiming the flashlight beam, and saw him trying to tie the rope around his waist.

Once he’d secured himself he began to dig his toes into the well walls.

Katie grabbed the rope with her gloved hand and began to help by pulling him up. Slowly, they were beginning to make some leeway. She flopped down in a sitting position with her feet secured against the lip of the well and pulled with everything she had. The muscles in her arms burned and she could feel her strength declining.

Cisco let out a low whine as if to say, “You can do it.”

Katie slowly and steadily began to pull more rope toward her.

“Almost,” came a raspy voice.