“REACH FOR IT!” Silas screamed above the howling wind. He had tossed a not-quite-long-enough chunk of rope over the side of the basket to the girl dangling below. She struggled to grab it without losing her tenuous grasp on the iron bar that was keeping her from hurtling to the ground 40 stories below.

Clementine felt her fingers brush the rough end of the rope but it slipped away buffeted by the high winds blowing around the ’scraper. To make matters worse, an ominous screech of a groan filled her ears as the bar began to give under her weight. She clamped her eyes shut tight and wrapped both arms around the thin, rough rod and began to cry.

With a shout, the man yelled to the pilot to shut down the gas and let the balloon sink lower until he could reach Clementine himself. He clutched his amulet for a moment and said a little prayer that the winds wouldn’t bash them against the bricks and kill everyone on board as they maneuvered lower to try and save his Clementine from certain death.