Balancer Read Online Free

thirstily lapped it up.
    “Help me lift her.”
    “OK, but we can take turns carrying …” Amy offered.
    “I think she’ll need to stay with just one of us. However bad she is, swapping might hurt her more. You’re good with dogs, anyway. You can make sure Charlie stays with us.”
    “OK.”
    Nicole didn’t have to add that, out of the two of them, she was the stronger one. Besides, Amy had been having trouble carrying just herself to safety a little bit earlier.
    Despite her pounding heart and sense of trepidation, Nicole gently clasped the girl under the armpits while Amy supported her body from underneath. After a count of three and with a mammoth effort from Nicole, she took the full weight of the girl in her arms. Cradling her upper body would be the only way to get her to safety; a fireman’s lift would exert too much pressure on the girl’s spine.
    Even with the girl’s relative lightness, Nicole could already feel the immense strain on her arms as she looked ahead at the appalling gloom. There were no more people from the campgrounds to follow. She and Amy were alone. For a moment, what they were hoping to do seemed impossible. How could she run even a few yards with this girl in her arms?
    Nicole took a deep breath. She would just have to make it possible.
    “OK. Let’s go,” she said, summoning strength from a hidden well of determination somewhere inside her. Amy gathered up both of the backpacks and then tied a scarf firmly around Nicole’s face, creating a clever loop in her hair band so that she wouldn’t have to keep adjusting the scarf to breathe. Reapplying her own scarf, Amy now led the way again, keeping Charlie to heel as she went.
    Nicole found the little girl’s weight cumbersome, and she seemed to increase in heaviness with every step.
    Amy would turn back at intervals to check on her friend. Nicole powered on, doing her best not to worsen the girl’s discomfort, always acutely aware of how crucial it was not to let up the pace.
    Then, after about five minutes of solid running, Nicole’s legs began to tire. Unused to carrying so much weight, her right knee suddenly buckled and she stumbled on an exposed tree root. Her ankle twisted and she dropped to the ground, jolting her precious cargo in the process.
    A moan escaped from the girl, and Nicole loosened her grip in surprise.
    Amy turned, and seeing the fear on Nicole’s face, stooped to help gather the girl back into Nicole’s arms. But even that was exhausting, and coughing overcame Amy again.
    “Just hold on,” Nicole exclaimed. She returned her attention to the girl, who was becoming wheezier. Nicole couldn’t remember ever being this afraid before. She felt the pressure of the seemingly never-ending gloomy forest path, the thick, choking smoke and the girl’s heavy weight. This all caused sharp aches in her arms and made her question whether they could even make it out alive. That’s when despair started to seep in. It just seemed too tough.
    As if reading Nicole’s mind, the little girl began to cough. Calling out to Amy, Nicole stopped and used a nearby tree stump to rest on. The girl opened her eyes.
    “Mommy?” The girl managed to splutter.
    Nicole tried to look brave. “It’s OK. It’s going to be all right. My name’s Nicole, and we’re going to take you to your mommy.”
    A flash of fear crossed the girl’s face. Amy lifted up Charlie and carried him to where the girl could see him.
    “Hey, look who’s here. Charlie’s here. Say hi!”
    The dog barked excitedly at his owner’s face. A look of relief passed briefly over hers.
    “What’s your name?”
    The girl’s reply was muffled. After asking again and leaning up close, Nicole heard the soft whisper of a name before the girl’s face curled up and she began to cry.
    “Elise Allerton? That’s a pretty name!” Nicole said, trying to distract the girl from the agony and fear she must have been feeling.
    “Hey, she’s in my brother’s year,” Amy