Max stood trembling on the edge of the precipice, his heart thundering against his throat. He couldn't bring himself to look down at the swirling moat that surrounded the camp. Turning, he saw Petrol waiting behind him wearing brass knuckles. Pikeman was stood next to Petrol, grinning horribly.

"Go on Max," he sneered. "Begin."

Max turned back to the edge of the crumbling stone, glancing down into swirling depths. He instantly wished he hadn't: his stomach churned and he felt bile rise to his mouth. All around him were the whirring sirens of the camp. Search lights flashed.

Swallowing hard, Max looked out across the ropes course in front of him.

It was high off the ground and there were no safety ropes so if Max fell, he would fall far and land hard. It was also extremely rickety and didn't look safe in the slightest. Stretching out in front of him was a tight rope with a loose piece of string running parallel above it, creating an unstable walkway. After that were monkey bars, except that where were no actual bars- only pieces of short suspended rope.

"Hurry up Max," Pikeman called. "This is only the beginners section. We've got a long way to go."

Max's vision began to blot, the world tilted around him, his head spun. Heights were really not his strong point.

But it looked like he didn't really have a choice.

He stepped onto the thin, scraggly rope with one foot, grasping the supporting rope above it with both hands so tight his knuckles turned white. He was shaking very badly, trembling all over. He took another step and was onto the rope. It swung horribly, sagging under his weight. Max closed his eyes and gripped the rope above him for dear life.

"Hurry up!" Pikeman screeched.

Slowly, Max made his was along the rope. He stumbled and almost fell a couple of times, but managed to regain his footing just in time. His heart was hammering against his ribs like a frantic bird.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Max reached the other side. He took a deep, gasping breath, his head swimming, and looked forward to what faced him next.

On and on it went, until Max had completed the monkey bars, a rickety net which almost snapped beneath him, a Tarzan-like rope swing across a deep canyon, and finally a tightrope made out of a long, very narrow, blank of wood, flanked with barbed wire. Max gulped and looked back, at the seemingly endless ropes course behind him, at the three Woodscouts standing at the entrance to the camp, watching him... at how far he'd come...
This was the last challenge, and then the course was over.

Max put his foot on the wooden tightrope.

Then another, very slowly. He took a deep breath, then he began to step lightly across it, his arms outstretched.

He was going to make it. He was nearly there!

But then suddenly the world twisted- air whooshed past his ears- he bashed his knee hard against the wood- his foot got caught in a tangle of barbed wire-

And he was hanging upside down from the tightrope, his leg ensnared. Tears stung his eyes but he bit them back.

"You know," he thought out loud, "maybe I don't hate the Woodscouts. Maybe I have everything."

A/N- sorry for such a long wait! I'll be back more frequently now. I'm not too happy with the way this chapter turned out, but I guess it'll have to do. Let me know what you think of it. I've lost a bit of confidence recently and I think it's effecting my writing... anyway enough of that, welcome back and love you all