Climbing was certainly an uphill task, judging from the way the participants were making progress. Everyone, as directed, refused to quit and kept going no matter what came his or her way.
"You are allowed to rest, participants," said one of the judges. "Don't be too hard on yourselves. You have all the time. Our motto is to 'take it one-step at a time'. All the contestants repeated the statement after him.
"Great! Do not push yourselves too hard. Be kind to your bodies. They will serve you best if you are kind to them." A few hours later, it seems Mr. Adjei could not take it any longer. He sat down dejected. Frema held his hand.
"Papa, let's go," she said. "We will not go on without you."
"Then let's all take a rest," he replied. "I assure you that if I take a step further, I will collapse."
"Papa," said Frema, encouraging him. "It seems so, but if you refuse to listen to your heart, you will surely make it." As they were speaking, the judges, on their loud speakers, urged them on. Mr. Adjei stood up, held his daughter's hand, and said "Thank you Frema. Let's proceed."
"No Papa," she replied. "We will all take a quick rest until we are good to go."
This seemed like a big blow to him after all the assurance that this challenge was going to be a piece of cake for all of them.
"Let this experience speak to our hearts," said Mr. Adjei "We may have overlooked a few important issues." Baafour sat beside him and so did the others. After listening to a few stories and laughing heartily, the revived family members were ready to face the challenge head on. Mr. Adjei however moved slowly on his ropes as advised, with his guide about six feet ahead of him, encouraging the rest to focus on the task ahead and not on their father trying to catch up with them. Slowly, Frema also fell behind the group whilst the others soldiered on. Adobea's knee started to hurt once again.
"My knee hurts," she cried out. Doing a quick descent to have her knee assessed, the medical team came to her aid to ascertain the state of the wound. It had swollen up and she was bleeding profusely when they removed the plaster. Baafour, who was far ahead of her, turned and began to retreat to attend to her.
"Keep going Baafour. I'll be alright," she said. Although he was not convinced, he kept moving on, leering behind him every few minutes as he went along.
"Almost there," said Baafour. The others peered through their binoculars.
"You're wrong," they said. "We have a long way to go."
"We're halfway there. Be positive for once, " he replied, dispirited.
"We have always been. Just don't give us false hopes. It will put untold stress on us." Baafour agreed with them. Everyone was snorting by now, out of breath and ever willing to give up.
"We are about a 1,900 feet above sea level now," said Mariama. "Almost halfway there."
"I know we all seem tired, but let's remember the ultimate goal; the prize," said Mr. Adjei.
"At this stage, I'm ready to give up," said Frema.
"Don't say that," said Baafi, her brother, rebuking her. "Far be it from you. We all need to finish in style."
The heat of the afternoon sun penetrated their skin and produced so much discomfort that they were beginning to thirst. Mariama advised them to follow her into one cave she found on level ground ahead of her and explained that they considered setting up a temporary shelter to serve as their sleeping place for the night.
"Find some water from your backpacks if you have any, to quench your thirsts and chill out," said Mariama.
"Isn't it too early to set up our tents?" asked Bentum, thinking they had more time.
"We need to plan ahead," replied Mariama. "Remember we cannot do much when it is dark."
"We have torchlights, don't we?" asked Baafi.
"It will attract other animals and insects including mosquitoes," said Mariama, needing to explain the intricacies of the climb.