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‘Well, I care. I care a lot. I blame myself for this.’
There was a long silence. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I should have seen how depressed you were.’ Ally raised her voice above the wind. ‘If you fall off that ledge, Geoff, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.’
‘Don’t be stupid!’ Geoff’s words were barely audible.
‘Let one of the boys come down and get you off there.’
‘No!’
‘Geoff, please!’
‘I’ll jump—I swear I’ll jump.’
Ally closed her eyes and tried again. ‘Me, then. Will you let me come down and talk? I know I can help you, Geoff, if you’ll let me.’
There was another silence. ‘OK. You. But no one else.’
‘No!’ Sean’s voice was hoarse. ‘Dammit, Jack, you can’t let her go down there. It’s too dangerous.’
Jack thought for a moment, indecision written clearly on his craggy features. Then he shrugged, his mind made up. ‘I’ve got no choice, mate. She knows what she’s doing and we’ll have a tight hold on her.’
‘No way!’ Sean’s eyes were black and furious and he stepped towards Jack menacingly. ‘She’s not going down there—’
‘Oh, yes, I am.’ Ally was already standing still while they fixed a harness around her hips and secured a rope.
‘Now, you listen to me, girl!’ Jack’s jaw was rigid. ‘You climb down and you assess him and you talk. You don’t unclip the rope at any stage. You don’t do anything heroic. Do you understand me?’
Ally nodded. ‘Yes, but—’
Jack shook his head. ‘No. No buts at all on this one. You don’t unclip your own rope. We’ll drop a spare rope for him and you can use that. Clear?’
‘Yes, boss.’ Ally gave a wry grin and moved towards the edge, but Sean grabbed her, his fingers closing like a vice on her arm.
‘I’ll go instead.’
‘Don’t be daft! You heard the man. He’ll jump if you go.’ Jack put a hand on Sean’s arm and pulled him back, his voice gruff. ‘You’re not being rational, Sean. Think, man. Think.’
Sean stared at him for a long moment, his jaw tense, and then his eyes swivelled to Ally who was poised ready to go over the side.
‘Right. Well, in that case, I want her roped to me.’ He strode over to her, his eyes fierce. ‘You do everything I say when I say it—do you hear me?’
She nodded mutely, wondering why she wasn’t arguing with him. Despite the fact that her harness had been securely fitted and checked by one of the team, Sean checked it again, running his fingers along it and tugging until he gave a grunt of satisfaction. ‘If he jumps, you let him go. Do you hear me?’
She stared at him. ‘But—’
‘Dammit, Ally, do you hear me?’ He shook her slightly, his voice a deep growl of frustration. ‘No heroics.’
‘OK.’ She nodded and wiped the snow out of her eyes. Aware of Jack standing slightly to one side, watching them both, she waited quietly while they checked and rechecked and made the final preparations. Geoff had gone over the side of a deep gully but the jagged, rocky sides made it unsuitable for abseiling. She was going to have to scramble down to him and join him on the ledge. Squinting down into the snowy darkness, she felt a moment of panic. Was there even room for two people on that ledge?
Taking a deep breath, she walked gingerly towards the edge and went over the side, using her hands and feet to feel for a way down, relying on Sean who was shouting instructions from above her.
It felt like for ever but finally her feet found the ledge and she flattened herself against the side of the gully to try and protect herself from the elements. The wind was rising, and without doubt the ledge was the most exposed place she’d ever been in her life.
‘Geoff?’
He was huddled next to her, and with the light from the torch on her helmet she registered that there was no room for manoeuvre at all. The ledge was just too narrow. How on earth had he managed to fall onto it? By rights he should have been lying in a mangled heap at the bottom of the mountain.
