Fire on the Island Read Online Free PDF

take
a quick climb in the cave before the troops arrive. Belay for me?" Amy
nodded and followed her through a door off to the right of the lobby that led
to the cave , Expeditions' indoor climbing room.
    The unique
structure looked exactly like its name implied—a cave. All four walls and
ceiling were covered in simulated rock and also indoor rock climbing handholds.
Isla was an expert climber, and she loved using the indoor structure for
exercise, but when outdoors, she preferred rock scrambling, a type of climbing
rocky faces using nothing but the body.
     
    Jeremiah was
half an hour early for his hiking tour. This was more due to a need to explore
his surroundings without the bustle of tourists about rather than any kind of
punctuality. He pulled his rental car into the parking lot and unfolded his
long legs from the compact vehicle. He turned in a slow circle to survey the
landscape. The Expeditions office was a lovely log and stone structure nestled
into the valley created by the three small mountains that surrounded it.
    Whistling, Jere
stuffed his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts and ambled about the
grounds, checking out kayaks and poking his head in equipment sheds. Finally he
pulled open the heavy glass door to enter the lobby. The room was charming, all
wood paneling and natural log benches. Since no one was around, he walked
around to study the framed maps of Arran on the wall.
    Jeremiah turned
as the man he recognized as Callum, his new landlord, strolled into the lobby
from somewhere in the back. "Oi, Dr. Rousseau! Welcome to Expeditions. I
trust you settled in alright yesterday?"
    Jere had
arrived on the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry at three in the afternoon yesterday
and Callum had been waiting for him. Jere had followed him up to Lochranza to
find the cottage he had rented, and they had sat on the porch and talked a bit
over a pint. Callum liked the younger man, and one never knew when you could
use a friend.
    "Jeremiah,
please. I settled in just fine, thanks. The place is gorgeous."
    "Ye're a
bit early, the rest of the group won't show up for a little while. Make
yourself at home."
    "Mind if I
look around?"
    "Not at
all. I'll just be over here paper pushing if you need anything. I lost the coin
toss today." Callum grinned and winked, as if there were some inside joke
that Jere was supposed to get. Shaking it off, he turned his attention to
exploring.
    Finding a gift
shop, Jere browsed for a bit before getting bored and moving on. He popped his
head into the locker room, eyes lingering on the door to the sauna with
longing. "Maybe later, buddy. Gotta do the outdoorsy stuff first," he
told himself. While he didn't consider himself a city slicker by any means, he
was no outdoorsman, and he hadn't had the heart to turn Callum down when the
man had generously offered to throw in a hike at his outdoor company.
    Turning left,
Jere found himself in a room that resembled a giant mountain cave. He saw a
tall blonde straining to hold a climbing rope. She turned to smile at him
briefly, her eyes making an appreciative trip from his face to his toes and
back again before turning her attention to what was going on above.
    Allowing his
eyes to travel the direction of the rope, he looked up...up...up, until he
finally caught site of a tiny woman suspended from the ceiling. She was in a precarious
position with one foot still on the vertical wall, one hand and the other foot
clinging fast to holds on the ceiling of the cave, and the other hand clipping
her rope into an anchor.
    Even knowing
the other woman was spotting her, Jere's heart leapt to his throat as he
imagined her plummeting 30 feet to land flat on her back. The woman, however,
didn't seem to be phased by the danger at all. Hell, she wasn't even breathing
hard—as if defying gravity was somewhere between reading on the couch and having
a cup of tea.
    From his
vantage point, Jere couldn't see her face or much detail at all, but what he
could see was