We named the dog Indiana
The world was crumbling all around them and Indiana was right in the middle of it. Again.
"Elsa!"
His eyes had never really left her, even as the earth started to shake and come apart. She would have been easy to spot even if they had: Elsa was where the grail was. Indy could tell himself he didn't care what happened to her all he wanted, but the moment his father was safe from the crumbling walls and the shattering ground he was right there to stop her from slipping into the chasm. A chasm of her own making, to be sure, but he wouldn't will that certain death on anyone.
"Junior! Junior!"
He hardly heard his father calling, clutching her hand with all the strength he had. "Elsa," he said as she strained away from him. "Elsa, don't. Elsa. Elsa." He knew that look, though. He'd worn that look. Not even the impossibility of the task was likely to dissuade her from this prize. Not even his increasing desperation as the glove began to slip from her hand. "Give me your other hand, honey, I can't hold you!"
"I can reach it. I can reach it."
She couldn't. He knew she couldn't. Maybe even she knew she couldn't, but that remote possibility was still worth the risk, and deep down Indy understood that more than he wanted to admit.
"Give me your hand, give me your other hand!"
They were already past the point of no return, though, and he was helpless to do anything but watch as she slipped from his grasp, disappearing into the mist below them.
"Elsa!"
He didn't realise they'd passed the point of no return for him, too, until the ground at the edge of the chasm crumbled beneath him.
His first thought, after an unutterable one, was that the mist was much damper than he thought it would be, that the chasm was much too warm. And then there was the sound... a kind of a faint roaring that he could almost place. When sunlight suddenly hit him full force he saw he wasn't falling into an abyss but sailing over a waterfall, about twenty feet from hitting the water below.
He flailed and let out a shout just moments before making impact.
"Elsa!"
His eyes had never really left her, even as the earth started to shake and come apart. She would have been easy to spot even if they had: Elsa was where the grail was. Indy could tell himself he didn't care what happened to her all he wanted, but the moment his father was safe from the crumbling walls and the shattering ground he was right there to stop her from slipping into the chasm. A chasm of her own making, to be sure, but he wouldn't will that certain death on anyone.
"Junior! Junior!"
He hardly heard his father calling, clutching her hand with all the strength he had. "Elsa," he said as she strained away from him. "Elsa, don't. Elsa. Elsa." He knew that look, though. He'd worn that look. Not even the impossibility of the task was likely to dissuade her from this prize. Not even his increasing desperation as the glove began to slip from her hand. "Give me your other hand, honey, I can't hold you!"
"I can reach it. I can reach it."
She couldn't. He knew she couldn't. Maybe even she knew she couldn't, but that remote possibility was still worth the risk, and deep down Indy understood that more than he wanted to admit.
"Give me your hand, give me your other hand!"
They were already past the point of no return, though, and he was helpless to do anything but watch as she slipped from his grasp, disappearing into the mist below them.
"Elsa!"
He didn't realise they'd passed the point of no return for him, too, until the ground at the edge of the chasm crumbled beneath him.
His first thought, after an unutterable one, was that the mist was much damper than he thought it would be, that the chasm was much too warm. And then there was the sound... a kind of a faint roaring that he could almost place. When sunlight suddenly hit him full force he saw he wasn't falling into an abyss but sailing over a waterfall, about twenty feet from hitting the water below.
He flailed and let out a shout just moments before making impact.