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“I have to get ready,” she told him and hurried back inside with him following anxiously.
“I have to go and find Jack,” she whispered to Johnny, pulling him aside. “I don’t know what happened but something is wrong.”
“I’ll go,” he said immediately.
“No, I’d much rather you stayed here with the children. I’m sorry to have to ask again so soon after last night –”
“Don’t be silly,” he said impatiently. “Of course I’ll take care of everyone.” He hesitated, then pressed his knife into her hand. “Take this with you. Just in case.”
“What if you need it?”
“We’ll stay inside, with the door barred. We’ll be fine.”
She was tempted to argue, but the knife did make her feel better and she had the sudden feeling she was running out of time. She went to her sister next.
“Merry, I have to go after Jack. I want you to stay here and help Johnny take care of the children. Can you do that for me?”
For a moment Merry’s lip trembled, but then her expression turned serious and Katerina had a brief glimpse of the woman her sister would grow into as she nodded.
“We’ll look after them. But please hurry back. And bring Jack with you.”
“I have every intention of doing so.”
She gave her sister an all too brief hug, wrapped her cloak around her shoulders, picked up the clearly anxious Keffi, and slipped out the door.
As soon as they were outside, she put Keffi down and he immediately took off. At first she thought he was heading in the direction of the supply cavern and all kinds of dreadful scenarios raced through her head. Had Jack slipped, fallen? Had one of those racks fallen on him? The vision of him bleeding on the cavern floor haunted her as she did her best to increase her pace.
But instead of heading for the cavern, Keffi continued to the base of the glacier, climbing nimbly up through the assortment of rock and ice that had formed where it reached the valley floor.
What on Earth would Jack have been doing up there? But despite the questions filling her head, she didn’t hesitate to follow the pika. She was nowhere near as nimble as he was, but she managed to make her way over the mound of debris at the base of the glacier. Once she was on the slope above it, the path was smoother. Twice she thought she saw footprints, but she couldn’t be entirely sure. Life in the caravan had not required her to learn tracking skills and she was forced to place all of her faith in Keffi.
She bit her lips as they approached the wall of ice, wondering how she could climb over it, but it was not as solid as it appeared and Keffi led her behind the ice. The atmosphere immediately changed. She had grown used to the unusual silence of the valley, but here the silence seemed to carry an almost physical weight, pressing against her as she followed Keffi. The path began to climb, even smoother now and obviously not natural.
Had the original colonists done this? Had they created this secret passageway into the heart of the glacier? But then they came around a massive pillar of ice and she knew that no human could ever have created what awaited her. A towering castle of ice with strange, angular walls filled the space behind the glacier. It fitted so seamlessly with the surrounding ice that it could almost have been a natural phenomenon except for the straight lines and rigid angles.
Keffi chirped impatiently, perched in what was all too clearly a massive doorway that reared far over his head. He looked like the little boy in the fairytale, about to enter the giant’s castle. Had Jack entered it? He must have done, but why?
“It’s just an empty castle,” she whispered to herself, but the silence seemed to swallow her words.
Gritting her teeth, she thought of Jack, and she passed through the doorway..
The ice palace was divided into smaller rooms, or at least chambers. All of them were empty, only the tall, perfectly smooth walls of ice defining the spaces, but she held onto the hope that Jack was somewhere in the vast maze of ice. Keffi led her through the passages, climbing steadily higher and higher. They must be at least halfway up the mountainside by now, she thought, although the deceptive sameness of the endless rooms and long passageways made it difficult to be sure. But then Keffi chirped and increased his speed. She followed him, her heart thudding painfully against his chest as he led her into another room, and this one was not empty.
The room was oddly like the one of which she had dreamed, with tall gleaming walls of blue ice and in the center of the room, a raised dais heaped with white furs. Jack was sprawled on his back in the middle of the furs, his body unmoving except for an occasional shudder that rippled over him. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling overhead, unseeing.
She knew it might be a trap, but she didn’t care, sliding across the ice in her haste to get to him.
“Jack. Jack!” she cried desperately. “Look at me!”
He didn’t respond and she grabbed his shoulders. His skin was as firm and smooth as ever but horribly cold beneath her fingers. Ignoring the chill, she shook him frantically. Keffi jumped up on the bed, chirping at him, but he didn’t respond to either of them
“Jack,” she sobbed. “What’s wrong? Who did this to you?”
She kissed him, but he did not respond to that either, his mouth cold and still beneath hers. Tears dripped down her cheeks as she bent over him.
“Please come back to me. I love you.”
More tears fell, and one of them splashed into those blind unseeing eyes. He shuddered again, and then his eyes came alive, immediately focusing on her face.
