‘Woohoo!’ cried Clara as she swooped around somewhere above Lucas’s head.
He gripped the trunk of the ancient oak a little tighter, his eyes squeezed shut.
‘Come on,’ said Clara. ‘We can fly! Let’s have a little fun.’
‘No,’ he replied, shuffling a little further onto the broad branch. ‘I’ll just stay here, thanks.’
The branch wobbled as Clara sat next to him, swinging her legs.
‘You started it,’ she said, nudging him playfully.
He slipped a little.
‘Did not,’ he whimpered.
‘Then how did you get up here?’
Lucas gulped. ‘I tripped,’ he said. ‘Only instead of falling down, I fell up. If I hadn’t caught hold of this tree, I’d have floated away entirely.’
Even with his eyes closed, he knew the look Clara would be giving him.
‘But we can control it,’ said Clara, the branch bobbing again as she stepped into nothingness again. ‘See?’
Lucas risked a peek and wished he hadn’t.
‘How high up are we?’ he asked faintly as Clara turned a loop-de-loop.
‘Does it matter? We can get down easily enough.’
Lucas took a deep breath and inched forward, but couldn’t bring himself to leave the relative safety of the tree.
‘Er, I don’t think I can,’ he admitted sheepishly.
Clara sighed and plonked herself down on the branch again. She rummaged around in her trouser pocket and produced a hip flask. ‘Here, try this,’ she said, handing it over.
‘How long have you had that?’ he asked, taking a swig of brandy and pulling a face.
‘Since Saffron realised you’d never get out the tree without a little something to loosen you up a bit,’ Clara replied with a smirk. ‘I don’t think she’ll let me keep it, though.’
Lucas felt the warming effects of the liquor, risked a look down, and hastily took another drink.
‘I don’t think there’s enough,’ he said.
Clara rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t be a baby,’ she said, taking his hand. ‘Come on, we’ll step off the branch together, all right?’
With no other option for getting out of the tree, Lucas closed his eyes and, on the count of three, stepped into mid-air.
‘That wasn’t so bad, was it?’ said Clara.
Once he got used to the sensation, Lucas had to agree.
In fact, it was rather thrilling.
Clara saw the look on his face and grinned.
‘Told you it was fun.’
Day 5 of the challenge comes out on Friday - and things are going downhill...
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