Colder Than Ice (25 page)

Allison
raised her spoon to her lips. “What other options?”

Michela
dismissively waved her hand. “Let’s see how this works out and then we’ll
take it from there.” She looked around as a gust of wind buffeted the
building.

Allison
scanned the walls, half expecting them to cave in at any moment. “Are you
sure we’re going to be safe in here?”

Michela
nodded. “We’re a heck of a lot safer in here than out there. These
containers are anchored into the ground, so it would have to be the mother of
all blizzards to wrench them free.” She took another sip of her hot
chocolate.

Allison
still looked doubtful. “Let’s hope so.”

Through
the meal Allison continued to glance at Michela and was relieved that she
looked too tired to care about anything but eating.
I wonder if she knows
how nervous I am at the moment. But nervous of what?

With
the meal finished and the edge taken off the cold of the cabin, Michela removed
her layers of clothing as she readied herself for bed. Allison preoccupied
herself with a detailed inspection of every part of the cabin, except where
Michela was disrobing. Her eyes wandered to Michela’s back, surprised at
Michela’s build as she stood and faced the other way in her long Johns.
She’s
got amazingly broad shoulders, and well developed to hoot. Hang on, what’s
that?
Her voyeuristic appraisal halted at a stain underneath Michela’s left
arm, near her ribs. She went to Michela’s side. “What’s that?”

Without
thought Allison touched the material. She drew her hand away and looked at her
bloodstained fingers. “What happened down that crevasse? You’re
bleeding.”

Michela
craned her neck in an attempt to see. “I told you, I bounced off the walls
a bit, that’s all.”

“Come
here and let me have a look at it. It could require cleaning and
dressing.” Allison drew Michela to her and lifted up the thermal top.
Allison sucked in her breath at the purpling bruises spread over Michela’s
torso. She gingerly probed the nasty graze from where the blood had come.
“Bounced off the walls a bit. I’d say you did more than that.”

Michela
gritted her teeth, not from the pain but from the effect of Allison’s touch.

“This
may hurt a bit.” Allison swabbed the wound before applying a large
adhesive patch to it. Michela clenched and unclenched her fists, the look on
her face mirroring her discomfort. “I’ll have to have another look at that
in the morning, when we’ll also talk about how much you bounced off the
walls.”

Michela
murmured her thanks and quickly retreated to the warmth and concealment of the
sleeping bag. “Tomorrow, but not tonight. I’m too tired to talk at the
moment.” She turned her face toward the wall.

Allison
smiled at the gesture that allowed her to change in privacy.

Michela
turned back as Allison climbed the ladder to her own sleeping bag. “Have a
good sleep,” she mumbled.

“You
too,” Allison replied, before making herself comfortable.

For
the next half hour Allison fought a losing battle to keep warm. She was
beginning to doubt Michela’s advice regarding clothing in a sleeping bag. Plus,
the lamps didn’t seem to be doing that much of a job to keep out the cold. She
stared at the ceiling. “Are you still awake?”

“It’s
a bit hard to sleep with you turning all the time. What’s the problem?”

“I’m
still cold. Are you certain about the clothes thing?”

“Yes
I am.”

Allison
rolled and leant her head over the edge of the bunk. “You said there was
another option. I’m willing to try anything at this moment. My feet and the
rest of me are freezing.”

Michela
opened her eyes and looked up at the face peering down at her. “These bags
are interlocking. We can join them together and rely on body warmth.” She
stifled a laugh as Allison’s face rapidly disappeared back over the edge of the
bunk.

Allison
face reddened as she thought about Michela’s suggestion.
What happened when
you were that close to her before?
In the tent she’d been so close to
Michela the day of Michael’s illness. She was certain Michela had meant to do
something before she was fully awake and had been told of Michael’s heart
attack. After that they slept as far away from each other as possible.

This
is ridiculous. I can sit up here and freeze or…

“Alli,”
Michela’s voice was muffled by the barrier of the bed, “I know this isn’t
the optimum solution, but if you’re cold, it’s one way of combating it. The
human body gives off its share of body heat. Between the two of us we should
generate enough to keep warm.” Michela cringed at the way her words
sounded. “Listen, if this has anything to do with my sexuality, I promise
you I’d never take advantage of such a situation.”

Allison,
aware her face was flushed, looked over the side of the bed. “I’m sorry,
it’s not that at all. I trust you. It’s just I wasn’t expecting such a means to
keep warm.”

Michela
smiled. “I understand. I think it’d probably be better if you came down
here. The two of us on a narrow bunk could be painful if one of us rolls the
wrong way and we both end up falling from the height of your bed.”

Allison
climbed down the ladder, sleeping bag in tow. “So, how do we do
this?”

Michela
wriggled out of her bag and unzipped the length of the zipper. “Simple, as
long as these are male and female bags.”

Allison
looked at Michela in disbelief. “Now I know you’re having me on. There’s
no such thing as male and female bags.”

Michela
shook her head. “Sure there is. Firstly, what side of the bag is your
zipper on?”

Allison
held the bag up. “On the right, why?”

“Mine’s
on the left and that’s a start. They should be able to join together. Now zip
the zipper all the way down as far as you can go. Before you get to the box
foot element of the bag, there should be a box and pin mechanism, like any old
raincoat.”

“I
see what you mean.” Allison disconnected the zipper from the other side of
the bag. “So what now?”

“Is
your zipper on the top part or bottom part of your zip, and what side is it
on?”

“It’s
on the bottom, on the right.”

Michela
took the bag from her. “We have a winner. Mine’s top left. This’ll allow
me to join my zipper to your zip and then your zipper to my zip. Just
watch.”

Michela
quickly zipped the two together. She then laid them on the small bed and
unzipped the top of the bag. “Which side would you prefer?” She tried
to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Allison
mentally cursed at her sudden blush. “You can have the wall if you
like,” she replied, her voice higher than usual. “That way if I have
to get out during the night, I won’t disturb your sleep.”

Michela
nodded.
More like you don’t have to worry about me trapping you in and
having my wicked way with you. Stop that! What if the situation was reversed
and Allison was a man?
Michela winced.

“Is
that okay?” Allison asked.

Michela
crawled into the bag and faced the wall. “Yes. One of my aches twinged,
that’s all.”

Allison
climbed in and put her back to Michela’s, immediately grateful for the warmth
created. “You’re right, this is warmer. Good night, Michela.”

“Night,
Alli,” Michela replied, and within minutes sleep claimed them both.

MICHELA
AWOKE AND was grateful for the warm body spooned in front of her. Despite the
warmth of the lamps, the hut was cold. Listening, she could still hear the
howling of the storm as it buffeted the hut.
It looks as if we’re going
nowhere, at least not today.
As she made herself comfortable, she felt
Allison stir.

Allison
awoke, suddenly conscious of the body that spooned her own. The soft breasts
that pressed into her back were proof enough that sometime during the night
she’d gravitated toward Michela for warmth. As she considered a means to
discretely remove herself, she became aware of the uncontrollable warmth
filling the pit of her stomach before it made its way southward.
Oh my God.
This isn’t happening! It’s just a natural reaction to how close we are.
Shocked
at the sensations Michela’s body was causing, Allison scooted away.

“Are
you all right?” Michela asked in a sleepy voice.

“Of
course I’m all right,” Allison replied, knowing she sounded defensive.

“Then
what’s wrong?”

Allison
clung to the edge of the bunk so she wouldn’t sink back. “Nothing. Don’t
think this is going to be a permanent arrangement.”

“Nothing
could be further from my mind. I like warmth in my women,” Michela tersely
replied, regretting the words as soon as she said them.

Allison
propelled herself out of the warmth of the bag and picked up her clothes.

You
insensitive idiot! Didn’t Rick call her the ice queen? Why does she make me so
angry?
She watched as Allison
attempted to pull on a frozen shirt. Michela sat up. “I’m sorry. That was
uncalled for.”

Allison
turned her back to Michela. “I doubt it. It seems to be the common
consensus around here. First Rick and now you.” She struggled with her
shirt, her frozen fingers fighting a losing battle.

Michela
disentangled herself from the bag and padded to her. She gently touched
Allison’s shoulder.

“I
really didn’t mean to say that,” Michela said. “It’s just I’m not
much of a morning person and sometimes my mouth engages well before my brain
does.”

Michela
looked around at the thin layer of ice forming on the walls. “Grab the
clothes and come back to bed. It’s far too cold and too early to get up yet.
Besides we’re not going anywhere in a hurry. We can put our clothes in the
compartments below the mattress and if we both get back into the bag, this
should generate some heat in their direction. They’ll be easier to put on when
they’re warmer.” Michela held out her hand to Allison. “Please.”

Allison
looked at Michela’s hand, suddenly struck by the intimacy of her gesture.
Searching Michela’s face, all she saw was contrition and little more than a
need to get back into something that was warm, rather than the cold floor they
were standing on. She nodded and grabbed her clothes as Michela picked up her
own. After stowing them in the compartment below, they wordlessly returned to
the bag and the position they’d woken up in.

MICHELA
SUCKED IN her breath as Allison dressed her wound.

“The
wound’s not too bad, but there are bruises all over your back,” Allison
said. “What happened down there?”

Michela
looked at Allison, realizing she’d only be able to delay the conversation, not
put if off altogether. “I fell.”

“What
do you mean you fell?”

“My
hand slipped off the rope and I fell a ways before I managed to perform an
emergency lockout,” she replied, trying to sound casual.

“Hang
on a minute. You’re telling me you lost your grip on the rope?” Michela
nodded. “You could have been killed.”

Michela
pulled the third layer of clothing over her head before returning her gaze to a
worried Allison. “I wasn’t and that’s the main thing.”

Allison
returned the medicine kit to the table and sat on the bed. She faced Michela.
“What happened down there yesterday? How do you know that Ewan’s not
alive?” she softly asked.

Michela
gazed at Allison and, feeling her eyes water, turned away. She knew, as a
psychologist, there was a need to discuss traumatic incidents. To carry them
inside could be emotionally and physically destructive. She rubbed her hands
together, bent forward, and put her elbows on her knees, as if to protect
herself from the reality of what she was about to say.

“There
was wreckage on the ledge and when I got to it, one of our EPIRB’s was still
attached to its side.” She looked at Allison. “It had the same piece
of tape on it that I’d placed there while we were at Wills Station; it was my
writing. I couldn’t see anything else and so I started to rappel again when I
was distracted. I don’t know how far I fell, but I managed to lock out and then
I swung back and forth, bouncing off the wall and spinning as I went. The light
reflected off the wall and that’s when I realized Ewan was dead. The chasm was
covered in blood, almost as if someone had hit it and continued falling. I
spooled the glow light out to its full length and there was still no end. I
couldn’t see the bottom of the crevasse. It went on forever, with Ewan somewhere
at the bottom of it.” Michela’s voice broke as she covered her face with
her hands.

Allison
embraced Michela and slowly rocked her. They sat, the sound of the storm
outside enveloping them, until Michela gently broke free from Allison’s
embrace.

Allison
brushed an errant hair away from Michela’s face. “So, that’s what you
meant when you said you couldn’t afford to lose me as well. I’m sorry I was so
stubborn yesterday, I should’ve known better.”

Michela
smiled. “It’s okay, I know I can be pretty difficult at times.” They
shared an awkward laugh. “Can I ask you a question?”