Desolation Point (23 page)

“Good thing you throw like a Major League pitcher,” Alex said. “Baseball reference,” she clarified, when Sarah continued to look blankly at her.

“Oh. Sorry, more of a footie fan.”

“NFL?”

“No,
football
football.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “The one where they don’t pick the ball up and run with it, hence
foot
ball.”

“That’s soccer.”

“Unless you live in the rest of the world, in which case it’s football.”

Alex shrugged as she tucked the Glock back into her belt. “The rest of the world is wrong.”

Sarah nudged her sharply and sent her stumbling into a puddle. “Sorry, don’t know my own strength,” she said, in a tone that implied she wasn’t sorry at all.

Alex made a show of shaking water off her boots. “You could cook supper as penance,” she suggested craftily.

After a pause for careful deliberation, Sarah nodded her agreement. “Probably the safest option anyway. If we’re going to come up against bears and…trolls?” She looked to Alex to confirm she had the right nemesis. “Then the last thing we need is a bout of listeria as well.”

Alex feigned being cut to the quick for a moment. A second later, Sarah had to sidestep a blatant attempt to elbow her into the next puddle. It felt so good to be laughing again and even better to be back with Alex. Sarah had missed her more than she would have thought possible. Despite the aches and pains, and the horror of what they had just been through, she felt happier than she could remember being in a long time.

*

The river proved impossible to miss. They had been able to hear it long before they reached it: a foaming mass of white water that crashed over rocks and cast cold spray into their faces as they walked along its banks. Here and there, small placid pools had formed where channels diverted away from the main course. Sarah eyed them longingly. For hours now, she had been plagued by a crawling sensation that went deeper than the dirt and dried blood that coated her skin. She wondered whether a plunge into the icy-cold water would cleanse away the memory of Merrick’s hands on her. It surely wouldn’t make her feel any worse than she did at the moment. She glanced at Alex, who was walking quietly beside her. The earlier euphoria had burned off, and she could tell Alex was teetering along the same fine edge of near collapse that she was. She put her hand out to steady Alex as she weaved dangerously close to the water.

“Sorry,” Alex muttered.

“Shouldn’t be much farther.”

“I’m good.”

“I know you are,” Sarah said gently. She tugged on Alex’s sleeve and brought her to a stop, but when Alex looked at her expectantly, she found herself unsure of what to say. Then she realized that it really all came down to two words. “Thank you,” she said.

Thank you for not leaving me, and for not giving up on me, and for saving my life. But before she could voice any of those, Alex had taken hold of her hands and pulled her closer. Sarah drew in a breath to speak, but Alex cut her off with a kiss.

“Thank me later.” She formed the words against Sarah’s mouth, only the slightest sound passing between them, and Sarah felt a thrill that fluttered in her stomach and then bolted lower, rendering her speechless. She nodded helplessly, somehow resisting the urge to drop her bag and thank Alex there and then.

“No bears.” Alex stepped purposefully around the small cave. Her flashlight beam picked out a jagged rock ceiling that sloped into pitch-black as it met the far wall. Closer to the entrance there was ample space for them both to sleep, and they could safely stand up without risking a concussion.

“No trolls either,” Sarah said. With her hands on her hips, she looked around the shelter and nodded her approval. “If we sleep over this side, we should be dry enough.”

The western wall dripped water steadily. A tiny pool had formed over the years, and when Alex dipped her hand in, her fingers seemed to disappear into the inky depths.

“Don’t fall into this,” she warned Sarah, even though the pool was barely six inches in diameter. “I might lose you forever.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes in response, but something in her expression must have given her away because she could see Alex studying her carefully.

“You okay?” Alex said, wiping her hand dry on her pants.

“No.” Sarah folded her arms, wincing as the abraded skin on her wrists snagged on her jacket. “I need to get clean,” she said, and then shook her head when Alex gestured to the pool. “No, all of me. I just…I need to get him off me.”

“Jesus…” Alex’s voice trailed into nothing, and she stared at Sarah with a look of horror. “Did Merrick—”

“No! Shit, no.” Too late, Sarah realized how what she had said must have sounded, but she could barely bring herself to articulate what she did mean. She took a breath and looked at Alex, who nodded reassuringly at her. “He had his hands on me,” she said, her voice so quiet Alex had to step closer in order to hear her. “And one time, he hit me.” She touched her fingers to the tender laceration on her forehead. “And he must have knocked me out for a minute or so. When I came round, he’d opened my jacket and my shirt was all untucked.”

Water dripped like a metronome, ten tiny splashes falling into silence, and then Alex picked up the bag that contained most of their clothes.

“Let’s go for a swim,” she said and led Sarah out toward the river.

*

Sarah’s toes began to tingle as soon as she stepped into the water. Her bare feet slipped across the stones on the riverbed, her skin already turning numb and bright pink. Behind her, she heard Alex squeak and then curse fluently enough to make a sailor blush. The pool they had chosen was as clear as glass and dropped sharply a foot from where Sarah was standing. Silver flashed against the green-gray of the stones as fish swiftly disappeared into the murkier waters beyond the ledge. She tucked her T-shirt into her boxer shorts, closed her eyes, and dove in.

The shock of the cold hitting her face seemed to make everything slow down for an instant. She caught her breath instinctively but was careful not to panic or allow her breathing to fall out of synch; taking a sudden gasp and ending up with a lungful of water was a fast track to drowning. Forcing herself to move, she swam the width of the pool. The pain that Merrick had left her with gradually faded as the water chilled sensation away. She turned onto her back to see Alex tentatively crouching at the edge of the water, giving herself a hurried wash. Alex shook her head in disbelief and then even more vehemently in refusal as Sarah beckoned her to go in farther.

“You’re mad!” Alex yelled above the noise of the river.

Sarah waved in cheerful acceptance and then dove beneath the water again. She wouldn’t be able to stay in more than two or three minutes, but already she felt better, cleaner, and lighter as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She swam back to the shallows and took the cloth that Alex offered her.

“Fire,” Alex managed to say through chattering teeth. “I need a fire. A really big fire.”

“If you’d put more than your big toe in, you’d be a whole lot warmer by now,” Sarah said. She scrubbed her arms with the cloth, careful to give her wrists a wide berth.

“I put both my feet in, see?” Alex wriggled her toes but then grimaced as water splashed onto her legs. “Right, that’s it. I’m outta here.”

“I’m done.” Sarah squeezed her dripping ponytail. Every inch of her skin felt energized, but she knew that a bone-deep cold would soon creep in and that Alex was right about the fire.

Wrapped in blankets, they ran back to the cave, pausing every now and again to collect fallen branches to use as firewood. They dropped their bundles, quickly dried themselves, and then redressed in the cleanest clothes they could find. Alex was the first to finish, and she already had a fire flickering in a shallow pit by the time Sarah had gotten the knots out of her hair.

Holding her hands out to the flames, Alex flexed her fingers as prickles of heat gradually chased away the cold. She looked up to see Sarah walking haltingly toward the fire, both hands busy behind her head as she tried to tie her hair back.

“Oh bugger it,” Sarah growled in frustration.

Alex caught a glimpse of the snarled-up catastrophe at the back of her head. “Sit down,” she said, patting the crinkly plastic bag she had laid out to cover the wet ground and waiting until Sarah complied before moving to kneel behind her. “This isn’t exactly my strong suit,” she said as she wrestled the elastic tie free.

“Can’t be any worse than my efforts,” Sarah said. “My hands aren’t really working very well.”

Alex made no comment, unsure if it was the cold water or Sarah’s injuries that were crippling her, and not wanting to force an explanation. “My mom would’ve given her right arm for me to have had hair like this,” she said.

“She would?” Either the warmth or Alex’s ministrations seemed to be having a soporific effect on Sarah, and there was a drowsiness creeping into her voice. “But yours is perfect as it is,” she murmured. “It suits your face.”

Halfway through twisting the tie, Alex hesitated. “It does? My mom always said it made me look like a guy.”

“Then your mum is officially ridiculous.”

Alex couldn’t help but snort in agreement. “Oh, you’ve met her.” Never having been comfortable with accepting compliments, she set about her task with renewed vigor.

Sarah reached behind herself, though, and fumbled blindly for Alex’s fingers. “I think you’re beautiful,” she said softly.

Unsure how to respond and almost certain that nothing would come out if she tried, Alex just nodded.

Sarah’s smile broadened. “And now I’ve made you blush.”

Alex contemplated an attempt at denial but thought better of it when she felt the heat rising in her cheeks. “Yeah, a little,” she conceded.

Sarah grinned. “That’s cute too.” She quickly ducked her head back down, giving Alex the opportunity to collect herself.

The tie pinged loose as Alex did everything utterly wrong. By the time she had fashioned what looked to be a passable ponytail, Sarah’s shoulders had slumped; Alex wondered whether she had actually managed to fall asleep sitting up.

“Sarah?”

“Still here.” She made no objection when Alex flipped the lid from the first aid kit.

“You warm enough for me to do this?” Alex said, gesturing at Sarah’s back.

“Just about.” Sarah edged nearer to the fire. She shrugged out of her jacket and pulled the rest of her clothing off over her head.

Alex laid Sarah’s clothing by the fire and then turned her slightly to position her in the best available light. The wavering flames made the incision stretching down her back look ghastly.

“Fucking asshole,” Alex muttered emphatically. The wound had reopened as Sarah undressed. Alex fumbled for something she could use to stop the bleeding. The fire flared and crackled around the empty gauze wrapper she tossed into it but she still heard Sarah’s low moan when she pressed the wad of gauze against the incision.

“It’s not too bad,” she said, only partially succeeding in keeping the anger from her voice. Merrick had cut shallowly, intent only on causing pain, but the wound ran from the top of Sarah’s shoulder blade to the base of her rib cage. It tapered off the lower it went, as if he had struggled to reach that far beneath her clothing. Toward the top, where he had dug in deeper, Alex kept the gauze in place until she was sure that the bleeding had stopped.

“Getting good at this.” She deftly placed butterfly bandages across the wound. “Wish you’d stop giving me quite so much practice though.” Beneath her hands, Sarah’s shoulders twitched slightly as she gave a short, apologetic laugh.

Alex sealed down a dressing before moving around to face her. “Now, where else?” She tipped Sarah’s chin in her hand to appraise the cut on her forehead. The swim in the river had cleaned the dried blood from her face. It had also made the bruises more apparent, but there was nothing that required Alex’s ad hoc brand of emergency first aid. “That looks okay as it is,” she said, and then sighed. “Fucked up your wrists though, didn’t he?”

With obvious trepidation, Sarah nodded, offering Alex her hands.

“Damn.” Alex had always prided herself on having a strong stomach, but looking at the ravaged skin on Sarah’s wrists made her feel queasy. Deep, bloodied furrows encircled Sarah’s left wrist, and on her right she had multiple injuries extending up onto her forearm where she had come so close to getting herself untied. Despite the plunge in the pool, shreds of hemp were still embedded in the wounds.

“Tell me something about yourself that I don’t know,” Alex said, by way of distraction, as she soaked a cloth in water and eased it onto Sarah’s left wrist.

Sarah screwed her eyes shut for a couple of seconds, obviously waiting for the pain to settle to a reasonable level. “Ah, that stings a bit,” she said, opening one eye in time to see Alex start to peel strands of rope from a patch of abraded skin. “Something you don’t know? Hmm, like what?”

“Like anything. Favorite color, favorite place in all the world, first kiss…” Alex winked suggestively, making Sarah chuckle.

“Okay, well, I like blue. That classic china blue that looks so pretty against white. Not for clothes, but if I had a house to decorate, I would choose that for my bedroom.”

“Sounds nice.” Alex waited for Sarah to nod her consent and then gently reapplied the cloth. “I used to like red, but now I mostly like anything that doesn’t show dirt.”

“Any color so long as it’s khaki?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Satisfied that Sarah’s wrist was clean, she dabbed antiseptic around it and wrapped it in a bandage. “One down…” She held her hand out for Sarah’s right wrist and stroked her fingers in sympathy. “One to go. You ready for this, honey?”

“Ready.”

“So, favorite place in the world?” The cloth went back on and she watched Sarah’s face pale, beads of sweat breaking out on her forehead. “You gonna pass out on me?”

“No.”

“Puke on me?”