Action! by Carolyn Keene Page A

bleeding more heavily. I pulled out a square of gauze from the waistband of my long skirt and gently pressed it over the shallow cut.
    “I want to bandage up your knee,” I told him. “Can you hold the gauze in place on your head? We need to keep the pressure on it to stop the bleeding.”
    “Uh-huh.” He slid his fingers on top of the bandage and held the gauze against his skin, which shone pale in the bright light. Poor Harold had never been much of an adventurer. This might just be the worst upheaval he’d ever had in his life.
    I wrapped an Ace bandage around his slashed and bruised knee, and anchored it in place with the little metal clips attached to the bandage. “How’s that feel?” I asked. “I want it to be tight, but not so much that you’re in more pain.”
    “It’s fine,” he answered. “I’m just glad to have some company down here.”
    “I’m so sorry I got you into this,” I told him. “Youwould never have been in the cave if I hadn’t talked you into joining the movie cast.”
    “Don’t apologize, Nancy. Being a part of the movie is more fun than I’ve had in years,” Harold told me. He gave my arm a pat with his free hand. “I love the cheese shop, but I needed a little adventure.” He chuckled. “Well … maybe not quite
this
much.”
    I felt some pebbles hit the top of my head. Glancing up, I saw one of the emergency medical technicians begin to rappel down the wall. The EMT had a harness that looked a lot more comfy and secure than my electrical cords.
    “You’ll have even more company in a sec,” I told Harold. I watched as the EMT swung down the wall in stages.
    “Coming in for a landing,” the EMT called.
    I moved even closer to Harold to give her plenty of room. A moment later she hit the ground.
    “You’re a little too late for those two,” Harold told her. He jerked his thumb at the skeletons. I felt myself relax a bit. He couldn’t be too badly hurt if he was able to joke around.
    “So I see,” the EMT answered with a grin. The skeletons didn’t seem to bother her at all. “I’m Sally LaMott. I’ll be your flight attendant out of here,” shetold Harold. She crouched down next to him and began checking him over the same way I had. She examined his bandaged knee.
    “Nice job,” she told me.
    Another harness was being lowered down from up above. This one had a metal cage attached to the end. I recognized it as a type of stretcher. When it reached the bottom, Sally unhooked half of the cage so that the thin metal straps that connected it to the rope hung loose. I helped her slip the straps underneath Harold’s body. We pulled them through, then attached them back onto the main rope.
    I put a hand on Harold’s arm. “You’re ready to go,” I told him.
    “I most certainly am,” he agreed. “I can’t wait to get away from those Rackham boys!”
    “Lift him gently,” Sally called. Someone up above began hauling him up. Sally waited until his stretcher disappeared over the top of the wall, then she strapped her own harness back on. “I’m going to go up and help them get him into the ambulance,” she told me. “One of the guys from the search-and-rescue team will come down to get you out in a few minutes. Are you okay down here?”
    I nodded. “I don’t mind the skeletons,” I assured her. “In fact, I think they’re interesting.”
    She looked me over. “Brave girl,” she said approvingly. Then she tugged her rope, and her partners up top began pulling her up the wall.
    “Sally?” I called after her. “Do you think you could leave us the harnesses when you get out?” I asked. “I know Luther, our history expert, is going to want to come down here and see the remains of the Rackham boys.”
    “Sure,” Sally answered. “We won’t need the harnesses immediately, once I get your friend here in the ambulance. We have a spare set just in case we need them, anyway. Just make sure to return them.”
    “I will,” I promised.
    Luther must