Frank took the glasses from his brother and peered at the cliff face. Sure enough, one of the climbers was hanging from his rope and harness. To Frank it appeared that the climber's rope had jammed somehow, as he appeared to tug at the rope. He handed the binoculars back to Chet.

"Come on fellows, let's see if we can help."

Instantly, Joe was heading off the trail towards the cliff. Biff plowed along behind him. Frank gestured Chet towards a faint foot path ahead that seemed to lead in the right direction. Chet shouldered his knapsack and followed. The forest into which they now plunged seemed to grow silent before their assualt. In a few minutes they were out of sight of Joe and Biff.

"Frank, don't you think it would have been wiser to stick with Joe and Biff?" Chet said as he puffed along gamely. "Besides, what makes you think that this path will take us up there?" He gestured to the cliff as they slowed at a fork.

Frank calmly pointed to several plants that had been crushed and broken recently at the side of the footpath. Chet nodded silently, and followed close as they started out once more.

Meanwhile, Biff and Joe were pushing their way through varying densities of undergrowth as they attempted to run straight up the mountain. Biff paused to swat at some annoying insect that chose that particular moment to fly in his face. Joe paused, tired from the uphill battle. Wonder where Frank and Chet are? he mused. Biff leaned his long form against a tree and swiped a hand at the sweat that trickled down his brow and threatened his eyes. "Hey Joe, think Frank and Chet are coming?"

Joe pondered this question only for a moment. "Sure, ever know Frank to leave someone in trouble? And Chet wouldn't either. They're just probably behind us."

Biff laughed. "At this rate, it'll take half the day to get up there!"

Joe chuckled and replied, "Well, we better get moving then."

The two boys headed out again, waging the battle of the brush, forcing their way inward and upward. Joe was pressing forward with wild abandon, when Biff grabbed his shoulder. Joe stopped, annoyed. "This had better be good Biff."

Biff nodded, "It is." he said simply. "We've come across a footpath that cuts up the mountain. It might save us some time fighting bushes." He joked. Joe studied the faint path and noticed some prints in a patch of dirt. "Someone has been through here not too long ago." He gestured to his friend. "Come on." They ran up the path.

About ten minutes later, Frank and Chet emerged from at the top of the cliff, just in time to see a figure disappear into a stand of trees in front of them. They moved forward quickly, trying to keep sight of the whoever was ahead. The person in front of them came to a halt in a clearing. Chet was panting from his recent exertions, but he followed as Frank stepped to the edge of the treeline.

"Hang in there Beka! We'll get you down!" A man stood at the edge of the cliff looking down. He wore a helmet on his head, and was attached to a rope by means of a harness. He turned and spoke to another man, "Her prussik got caught, and now her rope is stuck. We can't move it from here." Worry laced his voice. The other nodded. "We'll have to get help. Either that or try to get her down ourselves."

The person by the edge of the clearing walked over to a pile of equipment and took out a handheld radio. "I'll try and raise the three guys that we met yesterday."

"What?" The other two looked at speaker, who by now had taken off her helmet. "Donna, why them?"

She didn't reply, but instead turned on the radio and played with the knobs, adjusting the frequency. At that moment, Frank felt a presence behind him and looked back to see Joe and Biff rush up. The man not at the edge of the cliff heard the confused rustling in the bushes and whirled around. "Hey, who are you?"

Frank gestured to the others to move out and stepped into the clearing. The man at the edge turned his head. "Relax Joe, don't get hot headed. They aren't going to mess with your precious harness." Joe gave a start and Frank put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax, there's just another guy named Joe here. We haven't even introduced ourselves." He stepped forward. "I'm Frank Hardy, this is my brother Joe, and our friends Biff Hooper and Chet Morton." Biff and Chet waved their hand at the mention of their respective names. "We saw that you were having trouble when we were hiking down the trail, and thought you might need some help."

"I'm Mike Applebee, the groucho in front of you is Joey Thompson - we call him Joe, Donna Martin has the radio, and Rebekah Merrel is stuck on the rope." The man at the edge of the cliff gestured to his companions. "Glad to meet you fellows."

"What are you doing out here?" Chet stepped towards the edge of the cliff and was promply blocked by Frank and the hot tempered Joe Thompson. "Hey, what's the matter?"

"For your information Chet, they're rappelling; and we're stopping you from falling off the cliff." Frank spoke calmly as he pushed his friend back. "And I didn't want to have Mr. Hot-head on your case." he added in a conspiratorial whisper, as soon as Joe Thompson had turned back towards his pile of equipment. Chet thought about that for a moment and then nodded in agreement. "I don't guess we'd want to set him off again."

Chet decided to head towards the back of the cliff and joined Joe beside Donna Martin. She was friendly and attractive, and Chet realized why Joe had decided to stop back here. She beamed at him when he joined them. "Hi Chet, you guys look like you really hustled to get up here."

Both he and Joe looked at one another with a grimace. "Hey, how did you and Frank get up here before me and Biff?" Joe asked. Chet simply grinned. At last he replied in a low tone, with enough emphasis that Joe would understand. "The path." Joe just shook his head in reply. Biff and Frank wandered over, and Frank shrugged his shoulders at his brother's questioning glance. "Mike says that there's nothing we can do at the moment."

Donna had been putting the radio back into her pack, she looked up at Frank's comment. "That's alright, we met some guys yesterday who know how to get Beka down; they're part of a High Angle Rescue unit. In fact, they should be here soon." She looked at her watch just as the noise of brush breaking sounded behind them. "Must be them."

The four boys stared in surprise as the three rescuers marched into the clearing and deposited their equipment on the ground.