I shoved her up with my hand on her butt and my other on her leg. She started to squirm, and the foot in my left hand slipped out, so I grabbed that leg and pushed hard up and over.

"Get your hands off me!" She snapped.

"You were falling. I caught you, so shut up and move. I need to get up there as well."

I heard her huff at me and saw that she was moving out of my way. So I quickly climbed the short wall and led her to the next one, which wasn't as tall.

"We have this one and then a ladder and we are done. I think I can pull you up from above on this one."

"Good, I don't need you groping me again," She snapped off.

"Look, I wasn't groping; I just didn't want you to fall," I said as I quickly climbed up the 5-foot shelf.

I squatted down and reached my hands down to her. As she grabbed my hands, I noticed even in the moonlight that her dress was more ripped than I had thought before, and the front was slightly open. I heaved back and stood, almost yanking her up into my arms.

She was right there in front of me; as she came up, she wrapped her arms around me as I settled her back on the ground quickly. It had been so long since someone had touched me at all and even longer since I had someone this close.

The moonlight couldn't hide her beauty at this range. Her dark hair was a mess not just from our flight but also from her captivity. It was wild around her smooth freckled face that drew my eyes right into hers. The light reflected off of her eyes, hiding the color but almost mesmerizing me.

I wanted to lean in for a kiss as she sighed. Then she let go of me and shook her head. I stepped back just a little.

"We are almost there, can you climb a ladder in your dress?"

She sighed, "I don't know…."

"Well, give it a try. If you can't we will figure something out."

She huffed a little and headed over to the pole ladder. The problems all became apparent at once. First, the dress got caught under her feet because she couldn't hold it up. Then because of how narrow the ladder was, she couldn't let go with a hand to adjust it.

"Arn, I can't get up that thing you call a ladder!" She huffed at me.

"Look I know it isn't ideal but it is what I have and once you get up there then I can pull it up behind us and we will be mostly safe. Then you can go to sleep for the rest of night."

Lannah looked at me and started to cry. Then she dropped down on the ground with her back to the wall and curled into a ball.

I took the two steps over to her and knelt down. I reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. I had dealt with lots of crying women when I worked in a call center. You couldn't count the number of jerks that called in and chewed out a new hire over something that wasn't the employee's fault.

For the most part, guys have to learn to act with empathy. By act, I mean truly act, like an actor acts. It is not something that we tend to show, but we can learn the act to make the girls around us feel happy. So when in call centers, most of the people that had breakdowns crying were the ladies. They just felt the customers' emotions more.

I laughed in my brain a little. On the other side, the guys were more likely to be in trouble for answering the customer truthfully when asked if they cared about the issue. I know that was something that almost got me in trouble more than once. No, I don't care about the problem, but I would fix it because I cared about my job.

So as I looked at Lannah, I ratcheted up my empathy act as I had to go into full-blown deescalate the hysteric woman mode. I leaned in close and added just a bit of weight to my hand, resting on her shoulder so that she would know I was there for support.

I put on my best-crying employee voice, "Lannah, I know it has been rough and I can only imagine everything that you have been through at the hands of those monsters. I am here for you right now, and we can get through this. You are almost to a warm bed and fire. Things will be better in the morning."

I threw all my workplace touch rules out the door. I understood that this girl was about to be eaten and was at the end of her rope. I squeezed her shoulder and reached my other hand out.

"Lannah, let's get you stood up and then we can figure out how to get up last few feet." I said with as much kindness and gentleness as my voice could handle.

She looked up at me and took my hand. I could see that she had sealed herself to what she thought she needed to do. I pulled her to her feet, and she looked back at the ladder like it was her worst enemy.

"Arn, untie my back so that I can get out of this and turn around after." She said with a sudden steel in her voice that had been missing just a few moments before.

She turned her back to me, and I saw the lace-up. With it tied tight in the middle, it wouldn't be easy to get it loose on her own. So I reached up and started to work on the knot. The problem that I encountered was that the knot was old, wet, and had vegetation in it.

I fumbled with the knot for a good five minutes muttering and almost cursing. The light was bad, and the fabric hated me. I was about ready to ask if we should cut it out when I was able to pull the first loop out. Once I got the front of the knot undone, the rest fell out.

"Got it, I am turning around," I said.

"Thank you, I know I'm a mess right now but thank you for everything so far. Just give me a few moments and I will tell you when I get to the top of ladder."

My ears pricked up when I heard the unmistakable sound of her dress falling to the ground as she stripped behind me to climb the ladder. First, I listened to her quick intake of breath as the night air hit her. Then, I heard her feet as she ran the couple of steps to the ladder.

The ladder creaked as it moved as she went up it. I heard each step as she moved. It sounded like she was taking forever on each rung, but it might just have been me. It had been such a long day with so many things happening. I was tired and ready to pass out. The emotions of the escape and fight built-in with the emotions of knowing that I couldn't save them all.

I had seen one person killed today just for sitting down. I knew one other at least was being taken away for food and that a fourth would be at the main camp, perhaps all the rest. It saddened me, and yet here I was, trying to keep my mind from coming up with images of what the girl on the ladder looked like.

I heard an almost frightened Lannah, "Arn, we didn't think this through very well. Where should I go so that you can bring my dress up?"

"Past the row of trees there is lean-to almost set to the wall. You should be able to see the fire once you get through the first row. There is a fur in the lean-to that you can get under. I will give you a few moments and then I will bring your dress up."

Lannah squeaked, "Okay."

Her footsteps padded off in the darkness above me as I headed over to her dress. I picked it up and slid the dress into my pack, and started up the ladder. When I got to the top, I paused and felt my bond with Blink.

She was already back in camp. So, I pulled the ladder up and stowed the ladder a few feet from the edge. Finally, I was home. I headed over to my lean-to.

I was on autopilot as I walked toward my bed. This was as safe a place as I could get around here, and so I let my brain start to wander a bit. Then, finally, I got close to my lean-to and paused, spacing out, thinking of my next steps. I was watching my fire from just a few feet away, thinking.

I would need to prep a bag tomorrow, and then we could head out. I wasn't sure where we would go, but I was sure that Lannah could get us back to people. With the goblins around and eating people, it wasn't good for us to stay.

As I stepped under the leather baker's roof, I saw Lannah in my chair by the fire holding her knees to her chest. She was right where I had been staring.