Out On a Limb

Going Up One Way and Coming Down Another

Three sets of little legs were churning, carrying two girls and a boy as they raced across the park toward an enormous tree, swaying in the wind...that also happened to hold their brand new treasure...a kite. In their haste, they accidentally cut off a man walking his small dog and an apology of, "sorry, sir" floated over the boy's shoulder.

"No worries, son!" Dec called out as he continued his morning walk with Rocky, moving toward the opposite end of the park where Ant and Hurley would be meeting him soon. He glanced down to see that his right shoe lace had come untied and he knelt down and took care of the task, all the while trying to avoid Rocky, who was now standing with his front legs balanced on Dec's bent knee in an effort to give him a tongue washing. He laughed and rubbed the dog's belly for a moment before standing up. Just as he was about to continue on his way to meet Ant, he heard panicked screams behind him and his heart plummeted when he realized what he was hearing. He immediately picked Rocky up, tucked him under his arm before running back into the clearing where he had last seen the children. Not 50 meters away he could see the boy and one of the girls pointing toward the top of the tree. He looked up and saw a kite tangled in some branches above a pair of legs and picked up his pace until he reached the two children. The two were so panicked about the other child that they didn't even take note of Dec being there until he put Rocky down and he immediately trotted up to the children to press a wet nose against their legs. At the same time, Dec's gaze traveled up the tree until it landed on a trembling little girl...probably no older than 7 or 8 , her little arms were wrapped tightly, as far as they could go, around the trunk of the tree.

He turned his attention back to the pair on the ground and saw that they were both crying and a bit scared of the stranger beside them and he immediately knelt down to their eye level.

"Hi...my name is Declan and this is my dog Rocky," he said with a tight smile, wincing when he heard more screams from above.

The little boy's bottom lip was trembling, his expression only briefly indecisive before he introduced himself and his sisters. "I'm Philip...and this is Chloe. That's our sister Moira," he said pointing back up about 12 to 13 meters. "She was trying to get our brand new kite out of the tree..." he said, his little voice trembling with fear and worry for her.

"I actually have an older sister named Moira," Dec said with a slow smile at Chole before picking up Rocky's leash and handing it to her. "Would you both mind holding on to this for me and watching Rocky while I go up to help your sister? He's very friendly and loves cuddles and belly rubs," he added gently with another smile before standing up then walking over to the tree. He wiped his already sweaty hands...he and heights weren't on the best of terms but he couldn't imagine just letting the terrified child sit up there all alone, waiting for help. He realized that he'd definitely not want to risk trying to climb down with her so, he pat his left shorts pocket for his cell phone, making sure it was still there. Once at her side, he'd call 999 for help then he'd be able to get down himself when the fire brigade arrived to rescue her. Dec then licked his lips then took a deep breath as he grabbed the lowest branch and pulled himself up.

"On my way up, Moira...stay still, pet!" he called up as he began his slow climb. He didn't rush, not wanting to create even more problems by injuring himself but...often our best laid plans don't work out as...well...as planned and soon enough, Dec would be reminded of that very fact.

It took a few minutes of careful climbing before Dec finally reached the sobbing child. Being unsure if the limb she was sitting on would support both their weights, he chose to park himself on the limb directly under her. "Hello, lovely..." he said as cheerily as possible. "Fancy meeting such a bonny bairn up here. Do you come up here often?" That earned him a wet chuckle that turned into hiccupping sobs. He wrapped his right arm around the tree trunk then gently touched, with one finger, her ankle that was right at eye level. She slightly flinched at the contact and cried even harder as she turned her tear streaked face down to look at the stranger beneath her. "I'm right under you pet...it's okay...it's going to be okay...just hang on, lovely," he said to the little girl when he suddenly saw the signs that he was being recognized.