‘Not a thousand.’ Annoyed that he was so perceptive, she shifted gear jerkily. ‘Even I can’t come up with a thousand.’
‘That’s because I’ve been keeping you occupied.’ He zipped his jacket, wincing as the vehicle hit a bump in the road. ‘Keep your eyes on the road. If I have to be driven, the bare minimum I expect is for the driver to look at the road.’
‘My eyes are on the road. Don’t tell me how to drive.’
‘You’re so scared of being hurt again you’ve shut everyone out.’ He pushed his hands into gloves, understanding but ignoring her snappiness. ‘But you’re not shutting me out.’
‘Is that a warning?’
‘It’s just the way it is, so there’s no point fighting it. Car park’s ahead. If you pull in by the gate, I’ll sort out the equipment. And I’m driving home.’
From the car park, it was only a fifteen-minute hike to the top of Devil’s Gully, which was just enough time for her to brood on his comments. It wasn’t true. She didn’t smash anything that came too close. She didn’t need protecting from herself. That was a ridiculous thing to say. Her life had been stable over the past seven years, and that was because she’d taken great care to keep it that way. She liked her life.
But she also liked being with him.
And that terrified her.
‘I see someone on the path—this must be where they fell.’ Dino quickened his pace and they met up with two walkers who were hovering at the top of the gully.
The woman had obviously been crying. ‘He was climbing. We were watching him. He was so good. And then he just fell right past his girlfriend. She was screaming but she’s stopped now. I think she’s paralysed by fear. And he’s been dangling from the rope for at least an hour. Any moment now it could snap. But we don’t have any equipment. We had no idea what to do so we just called the police.’
Meg stared down i
nto the gully. She saw the girl clinging to the rock face. ‘She doesn’t look too good.’
Dino was hauling equipment out of his backpack. ‘He’s hanging from emergency ropes.’
The woman was shaking. ‘At first he was just swinging. We kept thinking the rope would snap. And he smashed into the rock face when he fell. He managed to tie something round his thigh but he’s still bleeding. He hasn’t moved for the last few minutes.’
‘I’m on my way.’ Meg had her hand inside her backpack, pulling out her own gear. ‘I’ll abseil down to him. I’ll try and cut a seat in the snow or something for him to sit on while we wait for the helicopter. I know this climb—there are places. There’s a ledge just below him.’
‘You’re not abseiling down.’
‘The rock is crumbling here. It’s really unstable. That’s probably why he fell. I’m lighter than you. It makes sense for me to go.’
‘Meg—’
‘You’re too heavy, Dino. We’re wasting time.’ She checked the anchors that would hold the rope, looking for signs of corrosion, fractures and movement in the rock. ‘If he’s been hanging there for a while, the cold is going to be our biggest problem. Once I have him on the ledge, lower me a sleeping bag—something warm, because if he’s been hanging there for half an hour, he’s going to be cold.’
‘You’re not going.’
Meg adjusted her harness and jammed a helmet on her head. ‘Are you speaking as my lover or as a member of the mountain rescue team?’
A muscle flickered in his cheek. His internal battle was played out across his handsome face. ‘Back up your anchors and keep the rope clear of loose rock and sharp edges. Abseil smoothly and directly down the fall line.’
She pulled on gloves and tossed the rope. ‘You think I’m doing this for the adrenaline rush?’
He didn’t smile. ‘Use an autoblock as a back-up to hold the control rope if you let go.’
‘I’m not going to let go.’ Looking at his face, she felt warmth build inside her. He cared. And it felt scarily good. ‘I’m tying a French Prusik. Happy? That way, if I decide to live dangerously and let go, I’m not going to fall.’ Calm and confident, Meg made five wraps around the rope and then clipped the two ends into the karabiner.
‘Get him onto a ledge.’ Dino leaned forward and checked her harness. ‘Use your radio.’
Meg went over the edge carefully, checking her anchors and the pull of the rope. The first thing she noticed was the bitter cold and the evidence of new snowfall. She cursed as her feet dislodged loose snow and sent it showering over her. She wondered if the weather had contributed to the man’s fall. Overhead she heard the clatter of the search-and-rescue helicopter but she forced herself to focus and concentrate on her own descent.
Finally she was next to the injured climber, her cheeks numb with cold. How much colder must he be after being exposed to the weather in this place?
‘Hi, there—can you hear me?’ She moved her feet across the rock face so that she was next to him, keeping an eye on the rope. ‘I’m Meg. I’m with the mountain rescue team.’