More Than Great Riches by Jan Washburn Page B

was getting hungry. He started to climb down, but when he put his foot on
     the top rung of the ladder, he accidentally kicked it over. We were in really bad trouble.
     There was no way to get down from the tree.
    What did you do?
    Well, we yelled and we shouted, but no one heard us. So we waited and waited and then we
     yelled some more. We were getting really hungry and it started to get dark, but no one
     came. We knew we would have to get ourselves down without any help.
    Wow! Luke exclaimed.
    So my brother went first. He hung by his hands from the lowest branch for a while. It was
     like a hundred miles to the ground. Tracy stole a quick glance at Leif. He stood listening
     to her story with a half-smile, apparently as intrigued as his nephew.
    But he finally let go and bam—he dropped.
    Was he all right? Luke worried.
    Jeff twisted his ankle, but he said he was OK. And then it was my turn. I was really
     scared.
    After so many years, Tracy still remembered that feeling of panic. I tried hanging by my
     hands like my brother, but I was afraid to let go. I just hung there and hung there. And,
     you know what? I’d still be hanging there right this minute, but my hands were getting
     tired. They began to slip. And they slipped some more. And some more. And then—oops—I
     crashed to the ground like a ton of bricks.
    Were you hurt?
    I had all the breath knocked out of me. It was spooky. All I could do was lie there,
     gasping for air. My brother was sure something awful had happened to me because I couldn’t
     talk. He started to cry, but finally, I could breathe again. And then I discovered I
     wasn’t even hurt. But you know what?
    What? Luke was wide-eyed.
    I never went up in that tree house again. Tracy gave Luke a huge smile as she finished her
     story. The doctor had completed his stitches and was already bandaging Luke’s arm.
    Am I all done? Luke asked in astonishment.
    The doctor started giving instructions to Tracy, as though she were Luke’s mother. You’ll
     need to come back next Friday or see your family doctor to have the stitches out, he
     began. Cheeks burning, she stepped back so Leif could get the information.
     Everything looks good, but watch for any sign of infection. Kids are hardy, but after a
     fall you should also keep an eye on him for any indication of internal bleeding or
     concussion.
    Looking ten years younger, Leif shook the doctor’s hand. Thank you, doctor. We’ll take
     good care of him. He swept Luke up into his arms again.
    As they walked out to the SUV, Luke admired his bandage as though it were a medal of
     valor. Wait till I show the guys, he bragged.
    Although he had recovered from his trauma, Tracy settled the boy into her lap in the SUV.
     He’d be a hero in the schoolyard while his uncle recovered from a nervous breakdown. She
     kept her bloody blouse hidden under Mark’s jacket. No need to traumatize the little
     Superboy. Hugging him close, she planted a kiss on top of his head.
    She felt Leif’s gaze as they backed out of their parking space. There was a new glint in
     his eye—a gleam of gratitude instead of his usual look of suspicion or caution. And
     something more—a spark of intense heat.
    She didn’t want to guess what that spark meant, but it started a fire. The heat blazed
     through her as Leif spoke. Thanks, Tracy. I don’t know how you talked Luke through that.
     You are something special.
     
    
    
     ****
    The whole family waited at the door as Leif carried Luke into the house. Although Luke’s
     mother was still in a wheelchair with the injuries from the plane crash, Anne insisted on
     holding Luke in her lap. Val, his father, leaned on his crutches and hovered over them,
     while Mark danced circles around them.
    Luke thoroughly enjoyed his role as the wounded hero. I bleeded all over Miss Dixon, he
     said proudly. And I didn’t cry when the doctor stitched me up.
    Did you get the foul ball? Mark asked as though