Without moving my body, I swivel my head slowly and look around us. We are literally hanging in thin air. “Oh God!” I close my eyes for a second. The fear makes it impossible to think. I take deep breaths. “We’ve got to get to the backseat somehow, and crawl out of here.”
“Are you kidding, one move from either of us could change the balance, and we’ll go crashing down the mountain.”
“Okay, how about we both open our car doors at the same time and jump out? The car is stationary so it’s unlikely we’ll get too badly hurt.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve been watching too many crappy Hollywood movies, Autumn?”
“Okay, Einstein, you come up with a bright idea then,” I mutter.
“Let me think.” She cranes her neck forward. “What the hell is holding us up, anyway.”
“Sam, can you please concentrate on getting us out of this mess first?”
“We could call the fire department?”
“You saw how narrow the road was. A fire truck will never fit.”
“We should call the house. Ask for help from Rocco’s staff.”
“And wait thirty minutes for them to arrive? No way I’m sitting in this car for that long. I don’t know whether you noticed, but the wind is picking up. The car is swaying, Sam.”
She frowns. “Yeah, I noticed too. Looks like we have no choice, but to go for your crappy Hollywood idea. But first, let’s try our doors to make sure they open. We’ll try them at the same time so we keep the balance.”
Another gust of high wind makes the car sway dangerously, and I close my eyes with fear.
“Autumn,” Sam calls out. “If we don’t make it out alive… I just want you to know, I really love you.”
I grit my teeth. “We are going to make it out alive, but just in case, I really love you too.”
She plasters a grim grin on her face. “Ready?”
We both very, very carefully, as if we are dismantling bombs, push down on the lever that opens our doors. Then, in unison, we push them open, just a crack. They open, and the car remains stable. We look at each other. It is too dark to see properly what is underneath us, but if we are lucky we will not have far to fall and we might fall on soft soil or the bushes will break our fall.
“Ready,” I whisper.
“On the count of three?”
I nod. “One, two—”
“Hang on, hang on,” she shouts.
“What?” I gasp, my hands are trembling on the door latch.
Her face is very white and her eyes are enormous. “I just wanted to say, good luck, Autumn.”
I nod anxiously. “Yeah, good luck to you too. Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine. After we jump just try to hang onto the first tree branch or bush you roll into.”
She nods back. “Okay. This is it then. I’ll do the countdown.”
“Hurry, Sam. This car can fall anytime. God only knows what is holding it up at the moment.”
“One, two,” she takes a deep breath, “three.”
I push open the door and cold wind rushes into me as I jump into the blackness. I land on soft earth, roll down the mountain for a bit, then crash into some bushes. The car plunges into the darkness. Its headlights are still on, and I see it somersault down the steep slope, onto the road below, and then further and further down until the thick vegetation obscures it completely.
Everything goes quiet.
Immediately, I turn to the left to look for Sam and in my peripheral vision, I see movement, like a shadow, but blurred. Still in shock and suddenly terrified, I think it is a man moving very fast, but the phantom is gone as quick as I blink. There is nothing there. Heart racing, I peer intently into the gloom, but see nothing else move, so I put the apparition down to my overwrought emotions.
“Sam?” I shout.
“Here. I’m here.” I turn towards her voice. She had less of a fall than me, and is on higher ground than me. In the darkness, her face is a pale oval. I see blood running down the side of her white face.
“Are you alright?” I shout.
“I think so. I had a soft landing.”
Other than sustaining that cut she seems to be as unscathed as me. I try to stand, but my knees collapse under my weight.
“Autumn, are you hurt?” Sam calls, her voice filled with fear.
I’m shaking so bad my teeth start clattering. “I’m alright. Just a bit shook up.” I push my palms onto the damp earth and push myself up again. This time my knees hold and I gingerly half-walk, half-crawl towards her. When I reach her, we hug each other tightly as if we are the survivors of a great catastrophe. We are both thoroughly shaken. I can feel her trembling and her eyes are wet.