Police Trip - Chapter 8

    The four companions slowly made their way through the forest.  They were more focused on getting back to the campsite instead of talking.  Max held Steffen’s hand just like they had planned, and Jayden walked with one arm around Serge’s shoulder for support.  Serge and Jayden led the way through the muddy ground.  Sometimes water would drip on them from overhanging leaves, making the trip very tedious.  Other than it being unpleasant though, the walk wasn’t too hard.  They only ran into a problem when they came to the stream again.
    “It’s definitely this way,” Steffen said eagerly.  “I remember crossing the water.”  His friends rolled their eyes.  They had been walking for a while by then, and all of them had known exactly where they were the whole time except for Steff.  It made them worry about how directionally challenged he really was.
    “Of course it’s the right way.  The problem is how to cross it now,” Max said unhappily.  The downpour had flooded the stream and the rocks they had crossed by before were barely visible under the rushing water.
    “We can forge it,” Serge suggested.  “It’s not that deep.”
    “I don’t think so.  That current looks pretty strong Serge.  Besides, Steff is so small, he would get swept away,” Jayden said with a smile, lightly pushing the boy’s shoulder.
    “And Jay can barely walk on solid ground with his leg like that, let alone try to stay upright in that water,” Max pointed out.
    “Let’s face it, the main problem we have here is that Max just doesn’t want to get wet,” Serge smirked.  The others laughed, and even Max had to smile.
    “Okay, maybe that’s true too,” Max admitted.  "But the others are valid points too!"
    “So how are we going to cross this?” Jayden murmured.  He was still using Serge’s support to stand, leaning on his shoulder.
    Steffen had been silent up to that point, but then he spoke, “I think I have an idea!”
    Serge looked at the white haired youth with a raised eyebrow.
    “Really!” Steff insisted to his disbelieving friends.  “We can swing across!”  He pointed up above him to a length of rope hanging from an overhanging tree branch.
    Max laughed.  “Great idea, kid.”
    “Um, Steff?  I’m not a ten year old kid anymore,” Serge pointed out.  “I haven’t swung on a rope over water since…I don’t even know.  Since I was ten?”
    “Aw come on, it’s a good idea!” Jayden said, removing his arm from Serge’s shoulder and limping over to the tree that Steffen was pointing at.  He reached up and grabbed the rope, yanking it down from the branch.  It came loose easily enough  
    “Looks long enough,” Max said, walking over to inspect the rope with his best friend.
    Jayden tugged on the weakest looking part of the rope.  “Strong enough too,” he added.
    “Guys, you can’t be serious.”
    “What’s the matter, Serge?  Are you too scared to try?” Max teased.
    “It’ll be fun!” Jayden said enthusiastically.  He limped over to a tree that was closer to the water and looked for a sturdy branch.  “Hey Max, I’ve never done this before.  Does it work better if we just loop it over and make a sort of swing, or should we tie one end to the branch?”
    “You want your first time swinging on a rope over water to be now?” Serge asked incredulously.  “With the water going that fast and your leg hurt?”
    “Why not?” Jay smiled mischievously at his friend.  Serge sighed and shook his head.  Jayden would never change.  It was like he was a kid trapped in an adult’s body, sort of like Steffen but without the cuteness factor.  Jay winked mischievously at him and Serge shook his head again.  How could he have ever compared Jayden to the adorable Steff?
    “You don’t want the rope to move too much or else it’ll mess up your timing on when to let go.  We need to tie one end of the rope up there pretty securely,” Max advised.
    “I’ll climb the tree and tie it!” Jayden offered.
    “No fucking way,” Serge said, shoving Jayden so he was landing on a sitting position on the ground.  Jayden made a face as his butt hit the cold, muddy earth.  He knew that his pants would match his friends’ pants now, and it pissed him off.  He made a mental note to get back at Serge for that.  Serge didn’t notice his expression and chided, “You’re hurt.  Don’t do anything stupid.”
    “Thanks for volunteering, Serge,” Max said cheerfully, shoving the bundled up rope into his friend’s arms.
    Serge scowled at his dark haired friend, and was about to tell him to shove his head somewhere unnatural, but then he saw Steffen’s eager face.  The kid was really looking forward to trying out the whole rope swing thing, and the cuteness melted Serge’s heart.  Besides, he couldn’t think of a better way to get across.
    “Dammit,” Serge sighed.  He looped the rope over his shoulder and started to climb the tree near the creek.  He had never been overly fond of heights, but he couldn’t let the injured Jay or clumsy Steff do something so dangerous.  And it wasn’t like Max would help.  Serge grit his teeth and focused on not looking down.
    The three friends watched from below as Serge slowly climbed.  He used the smaller branches as hand and footholds to pull himself up.  He gripped the branches so hard, the bark cut into his skin and bled.  He winced.
    “Hurry it up, Serge!” Max called.  “It’s going to start raining again soon.”
    “Shut up,” Serge grumbled.
    “I could have tied it and been back down the tree by now,” Jayden sulked.
    “You’re doing great Serge!” Steff called in encouragement.  “You’re about ten feet off the ground now, so just a little bit higher and you’ll reach the branch!”
    Serge froze and tiny beads of perspiration formed on his forehead.  He didn’t want to know how high up he was.  He tried to convince himself to move forward, but his body felt like it was locked in place.
    “Move it!” Max yelled impatiently.  Serge felt a small pain against his back as something hit him.
    “No way,” he growled.  He turned his head and looked down to find the culprit.  “Are you actually throwing rocks at me?” he fumed.  Jayden was whistling and looking away, Steffen was giggling, and Max smiled cheekily at him and waved.
    “It was just a tiny little pebble.  I’m surprised you even felt it,” Max said with feigned innocence.
    Serge glared down at his dark haired friend and held out a hand to flip him off.  That was a big mistake.  In his anger, he had forgotten where he was, and he almost lost his balance.  He caught hold of a branch just before he fell, but the ground swam and Serge’s vision blurred.  His grip loosened and he slipped down the trunk of the tree, landing hard on the ground below.
    When he opened his eyes, he was looking up at his three friends standing above him.  Max was laughing and Jayden was grinning.  Steffen was the only one who looked even a tiny bit concerned.
    “Are you okay Serge?” he asked.
    Serge groaned and sat up.  “Yeah, I guess,” he said, rubbing feeling back into his arm.
    “Nice fall,” Jayden said, clapping him on the shoulder.
    “So what was that about, Humpty Dumpty?” Max asked playfully.  “Can’t even climb a tree?”
    Serge sighed and got to his feet.  He didn’t want to admit to these guys that he had a fear of heights.  Even though they were friends, nothing good would come of them knowing about it.  Max would never let him hear the end of it.  Steff probably would probably use that knowledge to win bets, and the kid was no good at keeping secrets.  The whole squad would know within a matter of days if Steffen knew.  It was surprising that Jay didn’t know already, but he would probably be the best at keeping it secret.  A secret wouldn’t last forever with him either though.  Because of his overabundance of etiquette, he would probably do something, thinking it was out of kindness, but the secret would slip nonetheless.  Serge had to think of an excuse.  He was not going to tell them.
    “It’s your fault!” he spat, glaring at Max.  “You distracted me.  Really, who is stupid enough to throw rocks at someone who is climbing a tree?”
    Max shrugged.  “I didn’t think you would fall.”
    “Your hands are bleeding,” Steffen interjected, grabbing Serge’s hands and looking at them.  “Let me disinfect them and wrap them.”
Serge sighed.  “Look Steff, it’s just a scratch.  No big deal.”
    “But I wanna help!” he said, looking up at Serge with his innocent puppy dog eyes.  “Besides, I don’t want it to get infected later.  That would be bad, and it would ruin our trip.”
    “Fine,” Serge said.  He watched as Steffen got some materials out of his bag and started cleaning up the wounds.  The medicine stung a bit, but Steffen was a good medic.  Serge still had full use of his hands, even after they were wrapped up in bandages.
    “Wait a second, where’s Jay?” Steffen asked suddenly, looking around.
    The end of a rope dropped right in front of them, and they looked up to see Jayden grinning and waving.  He had apparently climbed the tree and secured the rope while the others were distracted.
    Serge rolled his eyes.  “You dumbass, Jay!  What if you got hurt worse?”
    “Hey, I wasn’t the one who fell,” Jayden stuck out his tongue immaturely.  He tugged on the rope to make sure the knot was secure, then grabbed on to it and slid down, landing easily on the ground next to Max.  “Now that the first aid is all done, I’ll swing across first!”
Jayden moved back a few steps and got a running head start.  He held on to the rope and used his momentum to swing all the way across the rushing water.  He landed on the other side with a slight stumble because of his bad knee, but he still smiled and flung the rope back to his friends.  Max caught it easily and helped Steffen wrap it around his wrist so he wouldn’t accidentally let go before he was supposed to.
    “Here you go Steff,” Max smiled and let go of the rope.  “Get a running head start like Jay did, and he’ll catch you on the other side.”
    “What?”  Jayden exclaimed from the other side of the creek.  He had apparently heard the important part of their conversation.  “Why do I have to catch him?”
    “Because he’s new at this and his wrist is tangled up in the rope for safety.  You don’t want your poor little Steff to fall in that cold water, do you?” Max called.
    Jayden hit his forehead with the palm of his hand.  “Fine.  I’ll catch you Steff.”
    “Yay!” Steffen said happily.  He backed up and took a deep breath, then ran forward and jumped at the water’s edge.  He swung across and landing in Jayden’s arms.  His weight knocked Jayden back a step, but the taller officer didn’t let go.  He helped Steffen unwrap the rope from his wrist, then flung the rope back across the water again.
    “You wanna go first honey?” Max grinned, offering the rope to Serge.
    “With my luck, I’ll fall in the water anyway.  I’ve fallen once already today, so I’ll just wade through it.”
    “Suit yourself,” Max shrugged.  He swung across and waited with Jayden and Steffen as Serge forged the creek.  Jayden had been right that the current was really strong, but Serge was surefooted enough that he made it across without too much trouble.
    “Everybody happy now?” Serge asked.
    “Aren’t you cold from the water?”
    “Don’t worry about me, Steff.  The campsite isn’t very far away, and I have a change of clothes there.  Besides, the temperature will be perfect once we get another fire going.”
    “Oh man, I knew we were forgetting something,” Max groaned.
    The four companions looked across the creek where they could clearly see the dry firewood sitting in a pile under the tree.
    “So what do we do now?” Steffen asked worriedly.
    Serge sighed.  “I guess I can walk back across the water.”