Part 22 (1/2)
”I can't climb it.”
”It's not a climb.”
”What?”
”It's a descent.”
”Doesn't matter.”
”Can it be done?”
”Not by me.”
”You climbed the ladder in the shaft.”
”That's different.”
”How?”
”Besides, you've never climbed.”
”You can teach me.”
”No.”
”Sure you can.”
”You can't learn on'the sheer face of a forty-story building in the middle of a blizzard.”
”I'd have a d.a.m.ned good teacher,” she said.
”Oh, yeah. One who hasn't climbed in five years.”
”You still know how. You haven't forgotten.”
”I'm out of shape.”
”You're a strong man.”
”You forget my leg.”
She turned away from the window and went back to the door so that she could listen for Bollinger while she talked. ”Remember when Abercrombie and Fitch had a man scale their building to advertise a new line of climbing equipment?”
He didn't look away from the window. He was transfixed by the night. ”What about it?”
”At that time, you said what that man did wasn't really so difficult.”
”Did I?”
”You said a building, with all its ledges and setbacks, is an easy climb compared to almost any mountain.”
He said nothing. He remembered telling her that, and he knew he had been right. But when he'd said it he never thought he'd be called upon to do it. Images of Mount Everest and of hospital rooms filled his mind.
”This equipment you chose for the buyer's guide-”
”What about it?”
”It's the best, isn't it?”
”The best, or close to it.”
”We'd be perfectly outfitted.”
”If we try it, we'll die.”
”We'll die if we stay here.”
”Maybe not.”
”I think so. Absolutely.”
”There has to be an alternative.”
”I've outlined them already.”
”Maybe we can hide from him.”
”Where?”
”I don't know. But-”
”And we can't hide for seven hours.”
”This is crazy, dammit!”
”Can you think of anything better?”
”Give me time.”
”Bollinger will be here any minute.”
”The wind speed must be forty miles an hour at street level. At least when it's gusting. Fifty miles an hour up this high.”
”Will it blow us off?”
”We'd have to fight it every inch.”
”Won't we anchor the ropes?”
He turned away from the window. ”Yes, but-”