Laboriously, she climbed onto the counter top. It was hard to get to her feet with her hands tied the way they were, but eventually she made it. Strad...ling the water filled sink on tiptoe, she reached as far up as her bonds would allow and barely managed to snag the chain with her thumb. From there it was a simple matter to grab the chromed metal links with both hands.Marla leaned her full weight against the chain hoping to feel some give, but nothing. She bounced a few times and was rewarded. Dad was working on a scheme to siphon off some of the government contractor’s business in and around the Grand Canyon. The only way to take a pack trip into the canyon is on the back of a mule. The contractor says the mules are more sure-footed than horses. My research confirms that. However, most of the reasons people chose to use mules for work in rough country don’t exist anymore. We know where there is water available. If we need to, we can drop forage from a helicopter. Mules are, let’s. "She smiled as she heard the grunts, groans and straining as the cadets entire class had joined them on this venture. The PT instructors complained at first, then when the students started out performing them, the complaints ceased as they fought to keep up.During the third week, she saw a familiar face in the gym. "B'rill," she called. She set her weights down and ran up to him. He was rather surprised when she pulled him into a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "It is good to see you. He’d gotten some of that step back from hard work and diet, but he knew he was nowhere near the speed he’d had at seventeen. But his punches were much harder. He’d muscled out, and his forty-year old self outweighed the teenage version by a good thirty pounds, all of it muscle. If he did manage to connect, he’d hit with power.But he wasn’t connecting today. The older man’s bob and weave was just too fast for him. The best Thompson could manage was a blow that barely grazed the side of Rod’s.