The Hike(13)

Ginny said nothing, but she had the grace to look mildly chastened. ‘Don’t worry – it’s all downhill from here. Look!’ She took Cat’s arm, started dragging her towards the others. Cat let herself be led, but inside she was fizzing with rage at her sister’s selfishness. But now was not the time to be angry.

Ginny kept hold of her as they made it to the crest of the hill. ‘Look,’ she said, pointing to a small wooden chalet, far down in the valley. ‘There’s the restaurant.’

Cat stood on the ridge and looked down. The descent was steep, the path looking overgrown and rugged. Not a well-trodden path. Not a path for a bunch of day-walkers. Especially after what the hikers had said. She looked up at the mountains that loomed large in front and all around. Then back down to the valley. She felt a rush of dizziness taking hold again. Bright lights flashed in front of her eyes, then faded away again. A kestrel swooped down as if from nowhere, hanging gently over the open mouth of the valley.

Waiting.

She took a step back, feeling her legs start to wobble. Her body felt small all of a sudden. Insignificant. Then a feeling of a weight pressing down on her, behind her, on top of her . . . maybe they should turn back. Maybe she should forget about what she had planned for later. Was bringing everything out into the open really going to solve her problems?

She felt her foot catch on a rock, her ankle twist – and then she was falling. No, she thought, pinwheeling her arms, trying to lean back. Trying to get herself together. Stop herself falling. No, this is not happening. No . . .





Eight

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

Ginny grabbed Cat by the shoulders and yanked her back to safety. The momentum threw them both down hard, Ginny falling backwards on to the grass and pulling Cat down on top of herself.

‘Oof. Jesus, Cat,’ she managed, as she wriggled herself out from underneath. She rolled over on to her knees and pulled Cat up into a sitting position, cupped her chin with one hand. ‘What the hell happened there? I thought you were a goner.’ Her mind jolted back to the precarious drive up the winding mountain roads, where Tristan’s Formula One-style corners had scared the life out of her. Now this. Such a near miss. Her heart was thumping in her chest, but Cat still seemed to be away with the fairies. What if Ginny hadn’t managed to grab her? It didn’t bear thinking about.

‘Cat? What the—’ Paul thundered over the lumpen grass and crouched down next to his wife. He turned to Ginny, who had moved away a bit, trying to give her some space. ‘What happened?’

Ginny shook her head. A wave of nausea had hit her now. Her body reacting to the shock of what almost was. As much as her sister was a pain in the arse, she didn’t want her falling off the edge of a mountain.

Cat was staring ahead, glassy-eyed. Her body was shaking gently. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She blinked, then started to cry. Tristan was crouching down beside them all too, taking things out of his rucksack.

‘Here, take this.’ He ripped open a small foil sachet and handed it to Cat. ‘It’s an energy gel. I use them when I go running sometimes. I threw a few in the bag, just in case.’

Ginny frowned. He hadn’t offered any of those to her when she’d been struggling earlier. Hadn’t even mentioned he had them when Cat asked about the sweets.

‘Nice of you to remember.’ Her voice was curt. Her momentary concern for her sister was gone now that she was clearly OK and Tristan was fussing over her.

Tristan ignored Ginny. He was still leaning in close to Cat, his hand over hers, holding the sachet to her mouth, squeezing it in. Paul sat on the other side of Cat. He tried to put his arm around her, but she shoved him away.

Interesting.

Ginny felt like she was surplus to requirements. As usual. She stood up and started to stretch out her arms, throwing them wide and leaning back. ‘I took a bit of a hit there, Catastrophe. You knocked the wind right out of me.’

Tristan looked up. ‘You seem fine now.’

‘I think Cat’s fine now too,’ Paul said. ‘Can you check the map again? See how long it’ll take us to get down there? Maybe we can get someone there to give us a lift back to the car park. It’s totally normal to hitch in the mountains. I think we’ve had enough for the day, don’t you?’

‘You should’ve used an app, Trissy,’ Ginny said. She’d found another packet of sweets, hidden at the bottom of her bag. She took a couple, then handed the bag down to Paul.

‘Jesus. I told you, I know what I’m doing,’ Tristan said. He grabbed a couple of sweets from the bag that Paul was offering. ‘The apps are no good for this kind of thing anyway. Didn’t you read that article about Ben Nevis? Idiots using Google Maps being directed to walk off a cliff. Like those Uber drivers who can’t read road signs, and drive you in circles because the app said so. Technology is making people stupid, guys. You need to stop relying on it all the time. I’ve got this, OK?’

Cat finally spoke. ‘Can you maybe just check again, Tristan? I don’t know why I’m feeling so weird, but I could really do with a proper rest.’ She paused. Popped one of Ginny’s sweets in her mouth. ‘I think we all could.’

Ginny watched her sister as she chewed the sweet. She did seem fine. Maybe she hadn’t been about to fall after all. Maybe this was just her way of getting some attention. Cat always did have to make more of an effort than Ginny ever did.