The Swiss Family RobinZOM (Book 4) by Perrin Briar Page B

He pressed his big toe onto it and reached up with his left hand, scrabbling across the surface, his fingers and the palm of his hand searching for something – anything – he could get a hold of.
    His fingers found something course and thin in composition. He wound his fingers around it and pulled, testing to see if it would take his weight, but it tore loose, falling to the ground and showering him with dirt.
    Jack reached up and tried again. This time his hand came to what felt like a thick piece of gnarled twine. He pulled on it. It did not come loose. He shook his head, wishing he knew what it was that he was staking the whole Robinson family’s lives on. He seized it, gripped it tight, and pushed himself off the wall, holding onto the thread. Miraculously, it held his weight.
    He pulled himself up and reached for the edge of the sheer rock face, the grass welcoming to his fingertips. He lay flat on his back, legs bent at the knee, hanging over the edge.
    He caught his breath and turned to look at the bunches of flowers peeking out from the tufts of grass, no longer green but silver in the moonlight. Such a small thing to rest all your hopes on.
    Jack plucked one. It resulted in all the other flowers sucking themselves into the soil for a moment, before opening again to catch the moonlight. Jack put the petals in his mouth and began to chew them. He swallowed the pulp and waited for the petals to take effect…
    And waited…
    And waited…
    His eyes drifted closed. His last thought was of his family, and how he had failed them.

Jack

I
     
    Daniel wore a flat cap and fingerless gloves. An understated strength emanated from his lean frame. His hair had been dyed blond by the sun. His final year student friends stood behind him muttering words of encouragement. Nips, a short tree trunk of a boy with bushy eyebrows, did the same behind Jack.
    “You’ve got this, Jack,” he said. “You’re going to trounce him!”
    Daniel stepped away from his friends and leaned in close to whisper to Jack, almost having to bend in half to do it.
    “Are you sure you want to go through with this?” he said, keeping his voice low. “It’s not too late to pull out. I won’t say why we decided not to do it.”
    “Why?” Jack said. “Getting scared?”
    Daniel smiled.
    “I admire your courage,” he said. “I hope it’s not misplaced. The shingles are a long way up. If you should fall…”
    “I won’t fall,” Jack said. “You just worry about yourself.”
    “I am,” Daniel said. “I don’t want your older brother coming after me.”
    “He won’t find out,” Jack said.
    “All right, then,” Daniel said. “Then let’s get this show on the road.”
    Jack and Daniel took positions at the foot of the wall. They each grabbed a handful of creepers that covered the surface of the building. Jack looked up, the church’s spire stretching into the sky, the tallest building in Chucerne.
    Nips stepped forward between the two competitors. He raised his arms up in the air.
    “On your marks,” he said. “Get set. Go!”
    And they were off. Daniel, due to his height advantage, already had a head start and took the lead. Daniel’s friends cheered him on as he powered up the wall, drowning out Nips’s solo effort.
    Each new handhold Daniel took brought him higher than Jack, but only a little. Then Daniel’s hand pulled away from the wall, a handful of creepers tearing free from the wall, drawing a brick out with it.
    “Look out below!” Daniel shouted, but it was unnecessary as the spectators had already darted aside to avoid it.
    Daniel turned and reached up to begin climbing again, and started as his eyes caught on Jack, who was now somehow three yards higher. He gritted his teeth, shifted his weight, and reached up.
    Jack got to the top of the wall first. He reached up a hand and touched the shingles. He was short of oxygen, lungs burning, but his muscles felt good. A stiff breeze blew and made his clothes rustle and