The five little girls between the ages of nine and seven decided to climb a clift on L'anse aux Bauld point in Newfoundland.
They were warned by their parents not to go too far from home but being an adventurous bunch they disobeyed.
After a long walk across rocks and boulders that covered the beach about a couple miles from their home, they came to the foot of a clift. They climbed onto a flat rock resting atop another boulder. There was barely enough room for all five of them. One of the older girls Louise started climbing up the clift followed by her younger sister Bernice. Louise paused and looked down. She saw the breakers coming over the rocks below and the white foam of the sea as it splashed upwards. She tried not to show that she was afraid as she looked at the others. Her two cousins Ann and Beth were followed by her eight year-old sister Alice. About three quarters of the way up the clift Louise couldn't go any further. She could find no handholds or a place to put her feet. The others were shouting for her to move but she called back that she was stuck.
By now some of the others were crying and panicking in fear. Louise looked around desperately. She saw a small bush sticking out of the clift side. Grabbing hold of the tiny tree she pulled herself up until she found a toehold. Slowly she was able to pull herself up to the clifts edge and onto the safety of the grass and bush. Looking back down she saw that the others was in great panic except Bernice who had also managed to pull herself onto safety.
Louise found a path down the other side. She got to the flat rock they had previously climbed. She stood looking up at her sister and two cousins who were crying. Cousin Beth in her panic threatened to kick Alice off the clift-side but Louise shook her head. "No don't do that', She said 'I'll help! Grabbing Alice's foot she helped her onto the rock. Meanwhile her knuckles and forehead were bleeding from the rocks and shale the panicked girls had kicked down.
Louise managed to helped the girls down to safety. They all walked back home on shaky legs but none of them told their parents what happened.
Two weeks later the three sisters, Louise, Alice and Bernice went back and climbed the same clift without any mishap.
Well written