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He refrained from pointing out that he had more muscle in one arm than she appeared to have in her entire body. ‘That isn’t going to happen.’
She took a deep breath and gave him a slightly chilly smile. ‘Thanks for the chocolate and the extra layers. I’ll be fine now. I can get down by myself. If you give me your address, I’ll deliver your things back to you after Christmas.’
He stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. ‘You’ll be fine?’
By rights she should be clinging to him, begging him not to leave her. Instead, she was dismissing him.
‘Absolutely fine.’ Her eyes were filled with determination. ‘I’m warm again now so I don’t need any more help, although I’d love to borrow the hat. I’m sorry to have bothered you this much.’
‘Bothered me?’ He frowned at her, wondering what was going through her head. ‘Miranda, you don’t have a clue where you are and you don’t have any equipment to help you survive in these weather conditions. Just how, precisely, do you plan to get yourself down on your own?’
‘If you’d be kind enough to just point me towards the path and tell me when I go left or right, I’ll be fine.’
He blinked. She sounded like someone asking for directions in a city. ‘The path,’ he pointed out gently, ‘is currently buried under several centimetres of snow. And it doesn’t go left or right—it curves, subtly. Step too far to the left and you’ll find yourself at the bottom of the valley faster than you’d planned, step too far to the right and you’ll fall into the ravine.’
Her smile faltered slightly. ‘I’m sure I’ll manage.’
He struggled to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. ‘How?’
‘Because I’m used to doing things by myself. I’m a survivor,’ she said firmly, and there was something in her tone that made Jake look at her searchingly.
Was she trying to convince him or herself?
As intrigued as he was puzzled, he gave a quick shake of his head. One minute she was chatty and then next distracted, far away, as if she had something more important on her mind than survival.
What was the matter with her?
And what was she doing up here on her own on Christmas Day?
Ignoring her attempts to dismiss him, he fastened the rope to the harness on her waist with swift, skilled movements of his hands. ‘Do you even know which way is down?’
‘No. But it sounds as if I’m going to find it soon enough if I take a wrong step.’
‘You’re not going to take a wrong step.’ He checked the knot on the rope.
‘I don’t want you to give up your walk to rescue me.’
She was clearly fiercely independent. He rubbed a hand across his face to clear his vision and tried another tack. ‘I’d already finished my walk so we’re walking in the same direction anyway.’
‘Oh. Well, that’s different. If you’re going that way…’ she shrugged ‘… we might as well walk together. Why do you have all this equipment?’
‘Part of my job.’
‘Your job?’
Jake gave the rope a gentle tug. He’d decided to keep the rope short so that if she slipped it would reduce the sliding distance. ‘I’m in the mountain rescue team. And if we don’t both go down now, we’ll be calling out the entire team later, which would be extremely embarrassing for me.’
She stared dubiously at the mist and snow. ‘All right. I suppose it makes sense to walk together. I can certainly see why they call it a whiteout.’
‘Can you walk?’
‘Of course.’ She looked affronted and stamped her feet as if to prove that they were still working. ‘I’m just cold.’
‘It’s just that most people walking in trainers in this weather end up with a sprained ankle at the very least,’ he drawled, securing the top of his rucksack and swinging it back onto his back. ‘But if you’re intact, we’ll get going.’
‘How far is it?’
‘Don’t you know?’
