Cut and Run 3 - Fish and Chips

different position, Ty had more options. As two men at the top of the wall finally came to the edge with a new rope and shouted down frantically, Ty was able to pull himself over, slide his toes onto something solid, and press close to the wall. He practically sagged in relief as he rested his arms.
    The attendants tossed two new ropes down, both ends landing a few feet away from where Zane stood. Manny rushed to grab one end and attach it to the belay device on his own harness, the other to another staffer, who shouted wordlessly up once they were both hooked up. One of the attendants above swung over the edge, slowly making his way down toward Ty with the other end of the new rope.
    Despite the relief of this imminent rescue, the man was still a good fifteen feet above Ty, and his progress down was slow. There was a ripple of gasps and murmurs as Ty began to slowly climb up toward the man who was descending.
    “No, sir! Stay where you are!” one of the staffers called out.
    “Calm down, kid,” Ty called back in annoyance as he continued to climb slowly. It was obvious to Zane’s eyes that Ty was tired and being far more careful than he had been when attached to the ropes. He was going slowly but making the same pace as the man attempting the difficult descent.
    “Hey, Lone Star!” Ty called down again.
    Zane snorted and rubbed his hand over his face. “What?” he yelled back.
    “A rope walks into a bar,” Ty announced. He paused dramatically as he struggled with finding a foothold. Then he went on, his voice strained with the physical effort. “Orders a beer. Bartender tells him, ‘We don’t serve ropes in here.’ So the rope leaves the bar and goes outside, asks a guy passing to fray him at both ends and tie him in a knot. The guy does what the rope asks, and then the rope goes back inside and orders a beer. The bartender looks at him and asks, ‘Aren’t you that rope that was just in here?’ And the rope says, ‘I’m a frayed knot!’”
    Another ripple of nervous laughter and a smattering of clapping met his words. The crowd had grown considerably larger since news of possible death and dismemberment had spread.
    Zane stared up at Ty, at a loss for a long moment. Then he called out, “How long have you been saving that one?” He knew his voice was bordering on strident, but Zane didn’t care. He was mad, upset, and scared , dammit! And all Ty could do was tell jokes!
    “Been waiting until it was relevant,” Ty called down with a short laugh. He sounded winded from trying to talk and climb at the same time. He steadied himself where he had his feet on two solid holds and then pressed his forehead to the wall, flattened like a bug on a windshield. Zane growled in frustration. At least Ty had enough sense to know when he’d reached his limit.
    Luckily the man climbing to him was only feet from him, and soon he reached him with the rope and began looping it through the carabiner rings on Ty’s harness. For a short moment, Zane was so light-headed with relief that he thought he might fall over. Instead he turned to Manny and asked, “Where are the stairs to get up there?”
    “Stairs?” Manny echoed. He looked shellshocked.
    “To the top of the wall. Where are they?” Zane said insistently, glancing up to see Ty moving again, now safety anchored and getting closer to the top. He would be determined to reach the top rather than just pushing away from the wall and letting them lower him down.
    Manny pointed to the side of the fake rock façade, and with one more look to check on Ty’s progress, Zane took off at a run to get up there. He rushed the steps and made it to the top just in time to see two men helping Ty over the edge of the wall. Ty crawled away from the edge and immediately flattened to the floor, looking like he was trying to hug the solid ground. Zane dropped to his knees right next to him, reaching down to touch and reassure himself that Ty was okay.
    “Baby?” Zane whispered, the panic echoing through him again now that it was over.
    Ty looked up at him in surprise, and this close Zane could see that despite the jokes he’d been cracking, Ty’s entire body was shaking, and he was covered with a fine sheen of sweat. “Did you fly up here?” Ty asked incredulously as he pushed himself up.
    Zane didn’t answer, didn’t even think; he just pulled Ty into his arms and held him close, letting the fear rush through him and slowly start to dissipate.
    Ty hugged him back