“That’s understandable,” Becky whispered. Blinking back tears, she reached out and gently squeezed Hazel’s chilly hand. “You were a baby. That’s a perfectly normal reaction for a baby. Jeez, even for an adult, it’s a normal reaction.”
Hazel’s thoughts had turned inward even as her struggles swam very clearly to the surface. She took a deep breath and expelled it on a long shudder. “In the end, I was taken to the hospital where Neen was. I can’t remember all of it, my memory’s hazy, but I remember someone telling me that the twins had been told and were going to stay at their friend’s house for a few extra days until Neen was stronger. Neen had been able to drop them off without any problems. It was when she was rushing to see my play that she had the accident.”
“What happened?”
Hazel paused for a moment before finally answering. “She fell asleep at the wheel.” She had to force the words out through reluctant lips. “She crashed into another car.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Yeah.” Removing her hand from underneath Becky’s, Hazel scrubbed them over her face. “The man in one car was rushed to the hospital. He was okay, though. He was released three days later.”
“They were lucky.”
“I know. They had both been wearing a seat belt so the damage wasn’t extensive. That’s what the doctor said anyway. “
“How long did Nina take to recover?”
Hazel thought for a moment. “Just over three weeks I think. She was shaken for a long time afterward. Wouldn’t drive for a while. The twins and I took time off school and helped keep the house clean.” She gave a lopsided smile. “We wanted Neen to be happy, and not worry about the housework and things.” She looked at Becky beseechingly. “Do you know what I mean?”
“Of course.”
“I never pressured her to make another silly school play again.”
“You’ve carried a lot of guilt about it. I’m sure Nina wouldn’t want that. Besides, when are your brothers back from New Zealand?”
Hazel smiled, relaxing for the first time. “Next month. Alistair sent an e-postcard last week; frothing at the mouth about how much fun he and Seb were having. They actually enjoy backpacking out in the middle of nowhere.” She shuddered.
Becky laughed.
“Hey, you guys.” Paula appeared in the doorway. Tall like Becky but with dark chocolate skin and an afro, which her boyfriend loved to sink his hands into, she tucked her slender hands into the pockets of her jeans. “What are you guys having for dinner? Katie’s got pizza with lots of cell-clogging cheese, but...” She made a face.
Now they both laughed.
“Pizza with lots of extra goat’s cheese,” Katie corrected as she joined Paula at the door. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a bun atop her head, a pencil stuck through it; she hummed and waved the large pizza box she held enticingly. She hadn’t changed into sweats yet, still wearing jeans and the gray woolen jumper she’d left in that morning. She winked at Paula. “So, you’re not game?”
“Count me out, babes.” Paula shook her head. “My aunt, who is a colonic hydro therapist, would never approve.”
Hazel chuckled; Paula was the undisputed health guru in their student house, and she had the dewy skin that went with it; rarely getting pimples. Hazel rose to her feet, eyeing the pizza box warily. She only had to look at a pizza and gain five pounds. Paula and Katie never seemed to have that problem. “I’m good,” Hazel said. “I have leftover rice and salad in the fridge.” She tried to sound enthusiastic about it but wasn’t sure she pulled it off. The heady smell of the hot, spicy whiff of pepperoni from the cardboard box taunted her... and then she remembered cellulite.
“Becky?” Katie cajoled. “You know you want to...”
“Oh heck, why not?” She grinned over at Hazel. “I did snack on a carrot earlier; didn’t I, Haze? That’s got to count for something, right?”
“Right,” Hazel agreed as she followed the others out from her room. And Becky was right about Neen too; she had nothing to worry about.
Chapter 12
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“Time to get up, Neen; we’re heading out to try and find a phone signal for you guys.”
Nina jerked awake. Disorientated, she blinked up at Angela who stood peering down at her. Nina frowned. “Where...?” Then reality hit her in a sickening wave and she groaned, lifting a hand to her aching head. “Oh, God.”
“Yeah, we’re still here,” Angela muttered. “How are you feeling?”
How was she feeling? Carefully, she shifted her legs to the side of the sleeping platform and sat up. The pain in her back made itself known first, quickly and ruthlessly followed by her hips that tingled as if knives were being poked into them. She loathed acknowledging the churning of her empty stomach too, along with the throbbing of her right temple “I’m feeling okay.”
Angela snorted. “Sure you are.”
“How about you?” Nina searched her friend’s drawn face.
“Amazing.”
Nina had to smile. “Is everyone up?”
“Pretty much. Neil said that Jake has been up for a while, putting up markers outside et cetera.”
“Markers? Oh, rescue signs.” Nina tried to ease the stiffness of her shoulders by gently rotating them backward.” Nina eyed her. “How are you doing?”
Angela grimaced. “My scratches and back are talking to me, and I’m trying not to listen. But I’m just grateful to be alive.”
“What's the time?” Nina asked over a yawn.
“Just gone noon.”
“Noon?” Nina blinked in surprise. She’d never slept so late, but under the current circumstances, she felt no guilt. Sleeping was her only respite from her grim stark reality. She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together; her skin dry as sandpaper. “I guess I did manage to sleep in the end.” Gingerly, she slid off the platform and put on her boots and gloves.
“Got your phone?” Angela asked her.
Nina nodded and pulled it from her battered handbag.
“And Hugh’s awake,” Angela told her. “Fully awake.”
Nina froze for a moment before looking up to meet Angela's resentful gaze. “He is?”
Angela’s eyes were hard. “Neil said he’s talking without any difficulty. Apparently, he surfaced early this morning. He’s been complaining about his leg.”
“He’s going to be all right.” Nina shook her head at the injustice of it all. “He’s going to be all right, but Ben’s gone?”
“Where’s the justice, right? Apparently, Parker has suggested that Hugh stay back and not go out this morning.”
“Just as well.” Nina drew a steady breath. “I don’t want to see him.”
“Join the queue. I think he’s likely to stick close to Parker for self-preservation, if nothing else. This might actually bring them closer together.”
Nina gritted her teeth. “Bring them together at our expense? Great.” She took Angela’s offered arm and they slowly made their way out into the cave corridor. She looked toward the entrance of the cave. Only a beam of light shone through. Jake must have temporarily removed the snow block. “We’re going to have to bend low every time we want to get in and out of here?”
Angela grimaced. “Afraid so. Think you’ll be alright?”
She hoped so. Yet, she’d only taken a handful of steps and could already feel a fine sheen of sweat settling along her upper lip. “I think we should give each other a massage when we get back,” she managed. “We can finally make use of the skills we learned in that health and wellbeing course last year.”
“Yeah but...jeez, I never thought I’d use them in a situation like this.”
“Me neither.” Nina paused and took a moment to prepare her mind before preparing her body to exit the cave.
“Watch your head,” Angela warned. In front of Nina, Angela led the way, carefully crawling out of the cave. She paused to look back over her shoulder at Nina before climbing out fully. “Shout if you
need help. I can get one of the guys to help pull you out.”
Nina gave a silent groan. How mortifying would that be? “I think I can manage.”
And she did. The air was cold and crisp, a gentle howl of the wind in the air. She drew in a deep breath and tried to ready herself for the day that lay ahead.
Neil pressed a hand to her forehead like an anxious father. “Morning.” He smiled a little, and his hand, which was ungloved, was somehow warm despite the chill of the morning air. He had a night’s worth of beard stubble. “How’d you sleep?”
She gave him a light hug. “I slept eventually.” She pulled back to search his face. “How about you?” But she didn’t need to ask as the dark shadows under his eyes answered her question.
“Fits and starts,” he confirmed.
She looked over his shoulder at Rita who sat with Emily a few feet away. Luke sat in Emily’s lap, making a gurgling sound, something only he understood. Emily cradled him against her chest, but she looked blankly ahead, not appearing to see or hear anything. Jake paced up and down nearby with hooded eyes, and like Neil’s, dark rings shadowing them. He had a night’s growth of beard too, and his short dark hair stuck out in different directions. She saw no sign of the Draytons and figured they’d yet to leave the cave.
“Think you’ll find a good signal?” Angela asked Neil.
“Hope so.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and slumped his shoulders, signaling the situation weighing them down. “The signal here’s lousy, but ordinarly that shouldn’t affect GPS tracking, but it will if we’re too far out to get a fixed location, and I fear we might be.” He looked around their environment with distrustful eyes. “But we also need to stretch our legs, look for a way out–” He broke off, his eyes slitting at something he saw over Nina’s shoulder.
Nina and Angela turned.
Parker had appeared with Hugh and Justin. Hugh was swearing furiously. Clearly unwilling to venture out of the cave, he lingered at the entrance, arms resting on the ledge. His eyes sat sullen and sunken and his lips were tight with pain.
Even as anger rose up inside of Nina at the sight of him, she also felt a grim satisfaction to witness his leg still bothered him. He looked like he’d aged ten years.
No one spoke. The fraught silence stretched as everyone watched Parker and Justin leave Hugh behind and make their way toward them. With a grateful sigh, Justin sank down wearily on the snow beside Rita.
“Morning.” Parker didn’t attempt a smile, for which Nina was grateful. Still unsteady on his feet, he slid to the ground beside Justin. He turned to look back at Hugh. “Hugh has something he wants to say to you all.”
Nina arched a brow, an action she saw mirrored by Neil when she shot a glance at him. Emily closed her eyes and held Luke closer. Jake didn’t stop pacing, she noted, his hands jammed into his pockets. Angela’s expression didn’t change as she sat and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.
Hugh swallowed and kept his eyes lowered. “I don’t,” he began loudly in an obvious attempt to be heard. “Dad said that I caused the plane to crash but I don’t...I don’t remember anything about what happened...”
Disgusted, Nina looked away. So he’d developed amnesia? How convenient.
Jake stopped, and his eyes were stone cold. “Look around,” he bit out acidly. “Do you think this is merely a result of what he said?” He tossed his head in Parker’s direction.
Hugh cast a look at his father, but Parker could only look back at him with bleak eyes.
“My friend is dead because of you.” Eyes blazing, Jake was breathing heavily. “You can fake amnesia all you want but we all know the truth. You killed Ben. That makes you a murderer.”
Hugh blanched. “I didn’t...I couldn’t have.” His voice shook. He looked at Parker in horror as if waiting for his father to deny Jake’s accusations.
But Parker didn’t deny it. He seemed incapable of saying anything.
Hugh’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t–”
“Do you see Ben anywhere?” Jake fumed. “He was my second. You knocked him out, not giving him a chance to get into position for protection before the jet crashed.” Face red with anger, Jake turned away, and then halted when he saw the tears streaming down Emily’s face. On a curse, he swung back to Hugh. “Explain your sudden amnesia to Emily. Go on. Ben was her husband. Explain it.”
Nina went to comfort Emily who continued to weep silently.
Hugh watched Emily, his face pinched. “It’s not...I can’t remember what happened,” he whispered.
“Well then, let me remind you,” Jake fumed. “You were drunk. Drunk and on an ego trip. Ring any bells? Or does it happen so often that you can’t distinguish one episode from another?”
Hugh’s gloved hands gripped the edge of the cave’s entrance ledge and his mouth trembled.
No one interrupted; their attention captivated by the two men. The ice-capped mountains and thick, dense snow surrounding them seemed to be watching and listening too. Jake stood with his booted feet braced apart in a combative stance while Hugh stayed out of harm’s way inside the cave.
“I came out here to apologize,” Hugh whispered.
“If you want to apologize or make a difference,” Jake began, his voiced laced with venom, “a real difference, take responsibility for what you’ve done. No one wants your half-assed apology. What we want is to survive. We want to get out of here in one piece. You see this cave?” Jake pointed to it. “The one you didn’t help labor over? It’s our only hope of survival out here. But snow caves shrink in size every day. We escaped an avalanche, but it blocked our escape route. We’ve lost a man, a good man, and we couldn’t give him a decent burial. A man who had only been married for four months. What else?” he asked with derision. “Oh, yes. We don’t have any food, our medical supplies are disappearing fast, and we’ve yet to get a decent phone signal. There,” Jake snapped, “you’re up to date with the nightmare you caused. Congratulations.”
Hugh looked dazed. “I – I wasn’t the only one on that jet.”
“Do you see the jet?” Jake shouted. “It was burned to a crisp. We were all bloody lucky to get out of it alive. Ben wasn’t. He was already dead.”
Hugh’s eyes went round in horror. “I–”
“Leave it, Hugh,” Justin said as he studied his brother's belligerent expression. “What Jake has said is true.”
“You have to take responsibility,” Parker said in a defeated tone. “You have to do that, Hugh; it’s what men do.”
Hugh’s eyes hardened. “Oh really, father?” he said tightly. “Take responsibility? Be a man? And who would I look to for a role model? Surely, you don’t mean yourself.”
A shocked and awkward silence fell over the group again as Hugh’s words hovered in the air.
Parker had gone white, but his gaze remained steady on Hugh’s flushed face. “This isn’t about me.”
Hugh looked away. “Just as well–”
“If you guys want to start a domestic,” Jake began, “do it in your own private time.” He spared both men a pithy glance. “The rest of us came out here for a reason.” Walking over to Emily, he took Luke from her and passed the baby back to Rita then pulled Emily gently into his arms, rubbing her back as she hiccupped. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Let’s get started on getting that signal,” Neil suggested.
“I can’t do any walking,” Hugh muttered. He glanced at Emily before looking away guiltily. “Are there any more painkillers around? My leg’s killing me.”
Nina stared at him, marveling at his audacity. She wasn’t surprised when no one bothered answering.
Parker scratched his head. “Stay here, Hugh. We shouldn’t be long. Do you want to stay back with him, Justin?”
Justin shook his head. “No. I need to walk. My legs are stiff.” He glanced over at his brother. “You’ll be all right by yourself for a while?"
Hugh merely nodded.
Nina pulled her phone from her pocket. Hazel might have called and left a message. Only a strong signal would allow her to know. She turned it on, but as expected, no signal yet. She slipped the phone back into her pocket, and followed the others away from the cave.
Chapter 13
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Jake and Emily led the way this time, closely followed by Neil, Rita, and Luke. Nina walked behind them with Angela. Parker and Justin followed behind.
“Are we going anywhere in particular or are we just randomly walking?” Justin asked petulantly.
When no one answered, he asked again. Neil tossed him an impatient glance over his shoulder. “When the signal picks up? I thought that’d be obvious.” He looked down at the phone in his hand shook his head. “We’re lucky to even have these with us; they could’ve perished with the jet.”
“I always keep mine in my pocket,” Justin murmured. “Thankfully.”
“Me too,” Neil responded. “Just keep an eye on it. As soon as it picks up a signal, shout.”
The sun blazed through the cornflower blue sky yet delivered little warmth as they walked. Nina labored with every breath, her bones feeling brittle and the skin on her face tight from the cold. She didn’t have any night cream with her, and she almost laughed thinking of it. Night cream. That had been the last thing on her mind last night. But, as a result, her skin was extra dry and her nose had started peeling.
With an effort, she concentrated on each step through the snow, her ski boots sinking into the thick snow with relative ease, though her quads sang in pain with each step. She also tried to keep an eye on where they were heading, although so much of their surroundings looked the same: tall mountain peaks, and acres of flat, white snow.
Like the others, her most pressing concern was making contact with her family. Pulling her phone from her pocket she frowned down at the screen. It only had two battery bars left. No chance of recharging that in the cave. She glanced at Angela walking beside her. Her friend’s gaze focused forward, but every now and then, Nina had caught her eyeing the tall snow-covered mountains around them, as if expecting another avalanche. Nina shuddered at the thought.
Spiral and Torn Books 1 and 2 of The Salzburg Saga Trilogy Page 10
