Icefall

by Hallowes, Guy

During the evening meal, Chloe said uncertainly to Kim, 'I always had grave doubts about the science and The Settlement. It seems David and Tanya were right all along. Despite the horses, I've never really felt at home there. Now I don't know how I'll fit in, if we ever get back.' Chloe didn't mention David's involvement with Caroline. 'I'm very grateful you made the effort to find me though, the alternative doesn't bear thinking about. How did you know where to find me?'

  'Mum gave me the address. I think Tanya gave it to her.'

  'Tanya, always one step ahead of the sheriff.'

  Kim didn't say much, busying herself with the food. She thought about Chloe's lover. People do overcomplicate their lives, me included. She briefly considered the boyfriend she had broken up with a few days before the news of the flood. I would've been back at The Settlement if he had agreed to come, she thought. It seems like some sort of divine intervention that I was around to help rescue Granma. Like most in The Settlement, she knew about David's relationship with Caroline. She wondered how Chloe was going to be able to cope without her trips to Sydney, but put the thoughts firmly out of her mind. There is still a long way to go.

  Heavy rain continued to fall until the early hours of the morning. Kim popped out of her sleeping bag several times during the night, mainly to check on the horses and to keep a small fire going.

  At first light Chloe emerged and said, 'I haven't slept like that since I was a girl. It must be because I unburdened myself to you last night.'

  Kim wasn't sure how to respond, so said nothing.

  Chloe busied herself in the dust near the fire with a breakfast of stale bread and some remaining marmalade.

  'It's extraordinary,' observed Chloe. 'There can't have been a drop of moisture in this place for generations. How did you know it was here?'

  'Derain again,' Kim told her. 'He said to look where the rain was coming from and go to the lee side of a rock and that would be the safest place.'

  When they had finished the meagre meal, Kim asked Chloe to tack up the horses. 'I'm going down to the path to see that we're not being followed. Anyone who followed us would have had a hard time last night.'

  Kim slipped and slid her way down to the main path. When she had it in sight, she waited and watched for a full fifteen minutes. As she was about to turn back, she heard a faint sound coming from somewhere downhill. Cautiously, she crossed the path and followed the sound. Within a few minutes she saw what appeared to be a blonde head rocking backward and forward. The sound she had heard was a continuous wailing. As Kim approached, she could see a teenage girl cradling a boy or man's head.

  She made sure whoever it was could see her and then said quietly, 'What happened? How can I help you?'

  The girl jumped up in absolute terror, yelling, 'Don't touch me. Don't touch me.' She started to back away.

  'It's alright, I don't mean you any harm. Please tell me what happened and what you're doing here.'

  'I'll go back. Please don't shoot me.'

  'Go where? What makes you think I want to shoot you?' She held out her hands to indicate they were empty. 'How did you get here and what were you trying to do?'

  'I should go back to the road, but Mick here,' she indicated the prostrate form at her feet, 'is dead, I think. I don't know what to do.'

  'Why are you here?' Kim repeated.

  The girl said shakily, 'We were stuck on the road, food was running out, and we had no fuel. We heard some garbled story about two women who'd crossed the road on horseback, so Mick said we should follow the path, that it was better than starving to death on that road. So we followed the hoof marks, you know, of the horses, which was easy. Some people were bringing a dead man back to the road. They told us he'd been shot by two women on horseback. We nearly turned back, but Mick wanted to take a chance. So we did. Then after a very long time, Mick said the horses had left the path up there. And just as it became dark it started to pour with rain. Mick was just ahead of me. He shouted, "Snake!" He was bitten, I think. Then he passed out and must have died. I stayed because I didn't know what else to do.'

  'Do you have anything with you?'

  'Mick had a sweater and a water bottle and there are some biscuits in the rucksack.'

  The girl had calmed down a bit and handed Kim the rucksack. Kim had a quick look inside after she had checked to see if Mick was showing any signs of life.

  'Mick is dead,' she told the girl gently. 'Look, with last night's rain all the hoof prints will have washed away. If you try to return to the road you will get hopelessly lost and die in the bush. We are camped up there,' Kim pointed, 'in a dry spot, and are making for a place in the mountains where you'll be safe. You can try to go back if you want, but we won't be going anywhere near that bloody road again. What's your name by the way?'

  'Susan.'

  'Okay, Susan, I'm not going to hurt you. Please understand that. Come with me to our camp to dry off and get something to eat. I will come back and bury Mick. Are you a Christian or anything? Maybe you'd like to say a prayer for him?'

  Susan nodded nervously.

  They found Chloe all ready to leave with the horses saddled and the fire buried.

  She was surprised to see Kim accompanied by a dishevelled, wet, teenage girl wearing sandals, a skimpy pair of shorts, and a tee shirt. Kim explained the situation and introduced Susan.

  'I'll go and dig the grave,' Kim told Chloe. 'Susan needs warm clothing and something to eat, so I'm not sure how soon we'll be able to leave. Could you assess the food situation? There are now three of us.'

  Kim pulled the spade from their luggage and ran down the hill. She returned an hour later with all Mick's clothing. 'We are short of clothing so I rescued this stuff and his backpack. Can you conduct a burial service, Chloe?'

  'Probably. We still have food for three days, if we are careful.'

  'Let's pack up here, give Mick a decent burial, and then be on our way. I want to put as much distance between us and that blasted road as possible. Are you still with us Susan, or are you thinking of returning?'

  Susan shook her head, 'I'll come with you.'

  Chloe had already given Susan some vitamin C pills. 'You have just spent a night in the rain, this might help stave off a bad cold,' Chloe explained to a surprised Susan.

  Susan was dressed in a spare pair of Chloe's jodhpurs and a sweater. Kim found her a pair of sturdy shoes in her own luggage. They were too big, but better than sandals. The horses were led down the path to the body.

  Kim had already placed Mick in the deep grave and crossed his hands over his chest.

  Chloe said what she could remember from a funeral service while Susan watched, dry eyed. She was persuaded to put a handful of earth on Mick's body, then Kim quickly filled the grave with earth and covered it with branches from nearby.

  'Do you want to be able to find this spot at some time in the future?' asked Chloe.

  Susan shook her head.

  By midday, they were on their way with Susan riding quite comfortably behind Chloe. They chatted amiably.

  'How long was Mick your boyfriend?' Chloe asked.

  'He is … wasn't really a boyfriend,' Susan answered, hesitatingly. 'He lived next door, so I have known him for a long time. Just recently he started to take an interest in me. We had sex a couple of times.'

  'Why did you run off with him?'

  'Everyone in the street had decided to leave. My family car was full so I went with his family. Then we heard about you two, and Mick just grabbed me and said this was the only way out. Most of the people in the traffic jam were running out of food and fuel. They'll probably all die there. So here I am,' said Susan in a matter-of-fact way.

  Chloe had already told her about The Settlement so Susan seemed relaxed about where they were headed.

  'How do you know the way?' asked Susan.

  'We don't,' said Chloe. 'We know that if we keep moving northwest we'll eventually arrive. It may take some time though.'

  'I thought you said you only had food for three d
ays?'

  'Yes,' interrupted Kim. 'Tonight I will do something about that. There is plenty of food all around us if you know where to look. Please don't worry, none of us will starve.'

  'What sort of things are you talking about?'

  'Wallaby, snake, berries, leaves, goanna, you name it,' said Kim cheerfully.

  'You eat snake?' asked a horrified Susan.

  'Certainly,' interjected Chloe. 'Tastes a bit like chicken and it's much better than dying of starvation.'

  Susan pulled a face. 'I thought snakes were poisonous.'

  'Some snakes have venom in a gland in their head that they inject through their fangs. If you cut the head off, the rest of the animal is very good eating.'

  'Two weeks ago I was eating a McDonalds hamburger in Blacktown with a few friends. Now I'm in some unknown forest riding a horse with strangers and will soon be eating snake to stay alive.'

  'Snake is much better for you than any of that fast food rubbish,' observed Chloe.

  Susan shuddered.

  'How old are you?' asked Kim

  'Sixteen, in July.'

  They kept moving all day. In the evening, they camped next to a small stream. Kim showed Susan how to collect firewood. 'Just make a bit of noise and bang logs with a stick before you pick anything up.'

  Chloe tended to the horses and Kim disappeared for an hour, returning with a medium-sized wallaby, which to Susan's horror, Kim started to skin and butcher.

  Kim waved her pistol, 'Not the ideal hunting weapon, I had to creep up very close.'

  'We're going to eat that?' Susan asked, as Chloe built up the fire.

  'That's all there is tonight. Eat this or starve. I had the same reaction when we were introduced to it by the Aborigines. It's much better for you than beef or lamb, as it has a very low fat content.'

  Susan was hungry and eventually was persuaded to eat some wallaby.

  Kim kept a small fire going all night and regularly checked on the horses. Chloe allowed Susan to share her sleeping bag. When they woke, Kim's sleeping bag was empty. She returned just after dawn with a large, headless black snake.

  'I will skin it later,' said Kim. 'I think we should keep going all day today; progress is quite slow now we're in the mountains.'

  Susan ran to the side of the camping area and was sick. 'It's the snake,' she said.

  Chloe shook her head and whispered to Kim, 'Pregnant; morning sickness.'

  Kim's eyes widened and she nodded.

  Despite everything, Susan ate a large breakfast, including some cold wallaby.

  Progress was slow, but constant. Kim managed to keep the larder stocked with snake, wallaby, honey, and some berries. Susan soon became used to the diet and appeared to be blooming, even though she was always sick in the morning.

  Chloe took her aside one day, put her arms around her, and said, 'My dear, this sickness in the morning means you're pregnant. It has nothing to do with the diet.'

  'Pregnant! I can't be. What will they think at school? What will Mum say?' she started to cry.

  'Susan, where we are going your pregnancy won't be an issue. Anyway, I will look after you,' Chloe told her. Then she added gently, 'Please understand that the life you had was destroyed by the floods. Your school is gone, and, I'm sorry to say, your mum may be dead.'

  Susan glared at Chloe, disbelievingly, unprepared to accept her world had changed so drastically, 'This is just a pack of lies! I don't believe it. Are you taking me to be some sort of slave? Where there will be no escape?'

  'No, not a slave. But sadly, everything else is true. More than anyone, I regret what is happening. It's ruined my life too,' said Chloe calmly. 'We didn't ask you to come into our lives and we certainly didn't plan on having someone like you around. It's made the whole situation much more complicated.' Susan glowered at her as Chloe continued, 'Come with us for now, if you still want to go back home down the track we will help. The Settlement has a helicopter that could drop you off, but you need to get used to the idea that everything has changed.'

  Eventually Chloe folded Susan into her arms and hugged her. 'We'll look after you. Somehow fate has put us together and saved you from death. I can promise you, once we reach The Settlement, you and the baby will have the best possible attention.' Susan cried for a few minutes and then quietly helped to pack up the camp.

  Kim could see the terrain was changing as they continued into the mountains. She told Chloe, 'These steep rock walls are worrying me a bit. I wonder if there's a way out. We have to climb to the top of that very steep ridge, and then I think we won't be very far from home. Getting up there is going to be a problem though.'

  After several more days of painfully slow progress, the little party arrived in a well-formed valley with steep rock cliffs surrounding them and no apparent way out. It was six weeks since they had stolen the horses and escaped from Sydney.

  'This is a very good campsite. We have plenty of food now, the horses need some rest, and there's water in the stream. What I'm proposing is that you two stay here and I'll find a way out. It might take a few days though,' Kim explained.

  'Won't you get lost and not be able to find your way back here?' asked an anxious Susan.

  'No, is the short answer. Just stay put. I don't think there is any danger and nobody's following us. I've been checking regularly.'

  Kim was away five days. During that time, Chloe and Susan washed all their clothes and cleaned their equipment. Chloe showed Susan how to brush the horses with some suitable leaves, check their hooves and horse shoes, securely tether them, and move them to better grazing areas.

  Although the nights were becoming colder as the winter season drew in, the days were still warm, so the pair spent many happy hours swimming in the stream and sunbathing naked on a nearby rock.

  'No sign of even a sniffle,' Chloe observed, looking at Susan. 'You are either very lucky or have a very strong constitution.'

  Susan shrugged, then said to Chloe, 'I'm sorry about my outburst when you told me I was pregnant. I was frightened. You and Kim have saved my life. I hope you can both forgive me.'

  'You were forgiven long ago. But I was meaning to ask how long since your last period?'

  'Two months now. Are you sure I'm pregnant? I've been late before?'

  'Look at the little bump and your breasts are growing, aren't they? They look bigger to me. Six more months and you will have a bouncing baby.'

  'Pregnant! And Mum wanted me to go to university,' said Susan wistfully.

  'We have university courses at The Settlement. What did you have in mind?'

  'Really? Some sort of engineering, I like fiddling with cars, bikes, even computers,' said Susan excitedly.

  'Well, there's plenty of scope for that. My son-in-law Joe, Kim's dad, does all that now, but he needs all the help he can get.'

  'Why were you stuck in Sydney?' asked Susan, during one of their increasingly personal conversations.

  'I never really believed in the Ice Shelf theory, so I spent more and more time in my Manly flat.' She glanced at Susan and then surprised herself by saying, 'I was having too much fun with my lover and time got away from me. We didn't know the Ice Shelf had collapsed until Kim came and banged on the door. By then it was too late.' Chloe couldn't really believe she had shared this confidence with Susan, a sixteen year old girl.

  'Kim was told to come and find me. It certainly scuppered her chances of being rescued. I feel a bit guilty about that. If it weren't for her I would probably be dead by now,' she continued matter-of-factly.

  'She is very fond of you,' said Susan. 'She would've felt awful if she hadn't been able to find you. Who is this David you keep talking about?'

  Chloe talked about her husband, their separate desires, and failing marriage. She even told Susan about David's lover.

  'I find all that rather confusing,' said Susan.

  'I expect you do, I have trouble understanding it all myself.'

  Kim arrived dirty, sporting many scratches from her explorations.
She was carrying a dead snake and some honey. She admired the orderly, tidy appearance of the camp and the little two man tent made from Settlement capes. Chloe had been sharing it with Susan.

  'I'm happy to keep sleeping rough, unless it rains,' said Kim. She noticed that Susan and Chloe had developed a strong bond, almost like mother and daughter.

  As they prepared the evening meal, Kim told the other two, 'I've found a way to the top, but there's a difficult climb where we'll have to be careful. Once we're at the top, it's only about a two day hike to our eastern gate. We'll have to let the horses go though. There is no chance they'll be able to get up the cliff face.'

  'Let the horses go?' queried Chloe. 'Wouldn't it be kinder to put them down?'

  'I don't think so,' answered Kim. 'There's plenty of grazing and water around; maybe they'll somehow team up with other horses.'

  By evening of the following day, they were at the base of what looked like an impossibly steep climb up to the top of a cliff.

  'I'll take all the equipment up there first, then take you, one at a time, roped together with me, to the top. There is no danger if we keep our heads and take things steadily,' Kim said.

  'I'm really frightened of heights,' said Susan.

  'No problem,' said Kim, more confidently than she felt. 'Just don't look down.'

  Kim spent half the next morning carrying all their equipment up the steep climb. 'We'll leave the saddles and tack behind under shelter. There's no value in exhausting ourselves with something we don't need. If people at The Settlement want to come and fetch it all later, they can.'

  Chloe announced, 'I've let the horses go. We took off their shoes first so they don't go lame.'

  'Okay, Susan, you first. I'm going to climb up with the rope attached to both of us. Then you'll follow me to where I've secured the rope. Then I'll go further, and so on. The rope will be under your shoulders so we don't hurt the baby.' She smiled encouragingly, 'Remember, don't look down. Move slowly like I showed you, one hand or foot at a time and you can't fall. Wait till I tell you to move.'

  The first two of the five climbs went without a hitch and Kim thought the rest would be easier. Having secured the rope around a large boulder, Kim looked down and said to Susan about twenty feet below, 'Okay, you are secured, just move slowly.'