She saw his lips curve and he nodded. ‘How many steps to the next one?’
‘I’d say about ten. Keep going until I tell you to stop...’
They made their way carefully across the hanging loops, Matt’s strength allowing him to go slowly and let Hannah tell him where the next hand-hold was. The water slide was easier, and Matt did it almost without any guidance, just a reassurance when they got to the top that he could allow himself to slide down the other side. A tangle of elastic ropes proved unexpectedly difficult and Matt got snagged up in them, but Hannah talked him through. They were ahead of the other teams, and she wondered whether he could hear the excitement in her voice.
Then she put a foot wrong. She was keeping her eye on Matt and landed awkwardly as she jumped down from the climbing net. Pain shot through her knee and she gasped.
‘Hannah...?’ He was standing quite still, his hand moving to the strap of his helmet. He knew she was in trouble, and any moment now he was going to take it off so that he could come to her aid.
‘Don’t... Keep the helmet on...’ Hannah resisted the temptation to tell him that she was all right. She’d done that last time, and he’d known it was a lie. ‘My knee hurt a bit when I jumped down. It’s not too bad, I can finish. You can look at it then.’
‘Tell me if it gets worse...’
‘Sure...’ He didn’t move. ‘I promise. Now get going...’
She took a couple of steps and found that the pain was subsiding, her knee strengthened by the support that she wore. The last, and most challenging, of the obstacles was still ahead of them.
The climbing wall had to be fifteen feet high, and was surrounded by air-filled cushions. It seemed almost impossible, towering above them.
‘This is the last one.’
He must have heard the tremor in her voice. Matt nodded, his lips forming a thin line. ‘Let’s do it.’
She managed to guide him up the first ten feet, climbing by his side. Then, concentrating on where Matt should reach, she missed one of her own footholds, slithering back down before she could grab on again.
‘Hannah!’
‘I’m okay. Wait...’
He waited, stock still, while she climbed back up again. By the time she reached him, she felt as if she were nearing the brick wall that all athletes slammed into at one time or another.
‘Stop a minute. Catch your breath.’ He must have heard her ragged breaths through the earpiece, and that wasn’t a request, it was a command. Hannah settled herself firmly on two good footholds, clinging to the wall and laying her head against its surface. The short climb to the top seemed suddenly impossible.
He was skimming his fingers across the wall, finding his next handhold. Slowly, he hauled himself up, his foot searching for a secure support. He was climbing blind, and Hannah could only watch, wishing that she had his strength.
‘How much further?’
‘Five feet.’ It seemed like five miles.
‘One step at a time, then.’
That sounded great. In principle. ‘I don’t think I can...’
‘Don’t think about it, just do it. Move!’
This was so different from the way he’d wordlessly picked up her bag, refusing to goad her into trying harder. But Matt was right there, with exactly what she needed right now.
Suddenly she was strong again. ‘Damn you, Robin!’ She reached for the next handhold and found it.
‘Get a move on, Flash...’
He was grinning now, and Hannah couldn’t help a grim smile. Together they climbed to the top of the wall.
‘It’s a shallow slide back down. Then about fifty metres to the finishing line.’
‘Got it. You go first.’
Hannah struggled to pull herself over the top of the wall, sliding gratefully down the shallow incline on the other side. Matt was still at the top, automatically looking around in an instinctive attempt to orientate himself.