CHERRY REALIZED HER fingernails were digging painfully into her palm. She released her fist and squinted up at Kes’s figure disappearing into Wilder’s home. She heard him shout the girl’s name.
“Kes,” Cherry called, “what’s wrong? What’s happened to her?”
A window shutter opened and Kes’s head and shoulders appeared. His face was chalky. “Call a heli. I think she’s...” He choked up and couldn’t complete his sentence.
“I’ve already called one, remember. It’s on its way. Lower the cradle so I can come up.”
Kes withdrew into the room and a moment later a motor started up. The cradle dropped down through the tree fronds. When it reached Cherry she climbed inside, but the cradle didn’t go up. “Kes! Make it pull me up.”
The motor whirred again and the rope tugged upward. Cherry rose into th
