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Was that how he felt? That he’d wanted to stay here, with his brother? Clara supposed he must have done and that maybe he was saying something of the sort to Matilde. Gabriel was talking to her quietly, and whatever he was saying seemed to comfort her.
‘Go and see if my dad’s sent the drink down yet.’ My dad. Clara had been aware that Gabriel and his father had been talking as she’d abseiled down the shaft, and wondered what they’d said. She’d never heard him refer to his father as dad.
Maybe it had been a slip of the tongue. There would be time to talk about it later. Clara hurried to the bottom of the shaft, finding a bag with a bottle of orange juice and a plastic cup inside lying at her feet.
‘Thanks. She’s starting to come out of it now. Gabriel’s okay too,’ she called up to Leo, who nodded in reply, passing the news on in Italian.
‘The mountain rescue team will be half an hour.’
‘That’s great. I don’t think that either she or Giulia will be able to get up with what we have here. I’m going back now, but I’ll let you know if anything happens.’
‘Grazie, Clara.’ Alessia leaned over the parapet, smiling down at her. Clara knew that Alessia wanted to hug Gabriel, and she’d be able to do so soon enough. In the meantime, she would take the best care of him.
* * *
By the time the mountain rescue team arrived, Matilde was sitting up, leaning against Gabriel and talking. The make-up bag had contained a blood-testing kit, and Gabriel had administered the thumb prick and declared Matilde’s blood sugar level to be nearing acceptable.
He lifted her up, talking to the young woman paramedic who had abseiled down with the climbers as they carried Matilde to the bottom of the shaft. Matilde was fixed securely into the chair hoist, and one of the team climbed with her to the top. The chair was lowered again, and Giulia kissed Gabriel on both cheeks, before stepping forward to be hoisted to the top of the shaft.
‘They’ll take good care of her.’ Gabriel stood, looking up at the circle of light above them, gesturing towards the climbing ropes. ‘Ladies first...’
‘I’m not leaving you down here alone. You go. Wait for me at the top.’
He didn’t move. Slipping his hands in his pockets, Gabriel looked upwards, and then back over his shoulder towards the main cave.
‘Would you like to go back for a minute? I’ll come with you, if you want.’ Clara didn’t know what she’d do or say if Gabriel wanted to go alone. Maybe she should let him, but she doubted whether her legs would take her to the top of the shaft while he was still here.
‘Yes, I’d like that. Thank you.’ He turned his face up to the top of the shaft, where his father was leaning over the parapet, looking down, and called up to him. ‘Give me ten minutes, Dad. Everything’s okay...’
His father nodded, holding out his arm and tapping the face of his watch. ‘Ten minutes, son.’
No arguments, and no explanations. Gabriel’s father seemed to know what he wanted, and was going to let him do it. Just as long as it didn’t take any more than ten minutes.
Stick to the schedule. Gabriel flashed a smile as he mouthed the words to Clara, and then he turned, walking back towards the main cave. She followed him standing to one side as he walked over to the place where Matilde and Giulia had been, sitting down on the bench.
Opposite him, the flowers that the women had brought were together in one large vase. Above it, Clara could see a small motif carved into the rock. Five abstract figures, the lines seeming to be leaping together towards the sun. The five boys who’d died here.
Gabriel was staring at it, lost in thought. Maybe she should go back to the outer cave and leave him to do whatever he needed, but he turned, holding his hand out to her. She sat down next to him on the bench and he put his arm around her shoulder. When she leaned against him, she could feel that he was trembling, his heart beating fast.
‘The families wanted something...a little different. Something about life, not death.’ He nodded towards the carved figures.
‘It’s perfect, Gabriel.’
His chest heaved as he took a deep breath. As if he wanted to remind himself that he was alive and his lungs still needed air.
‘This place... It’s beautiful. And terrible as well.’
It was beautiful. Mineral deposits and crystals caught the light, and the rocks were streaked with colour. Different layers, pressed together over thousands of years, to produce a little piece of nature’s artistry. Suddenly, Gabriel got to his feet, catching her hand and leading her over to a dark corner of the cave. He bent down, his fingers searching for something, and Clara heard the quiet splash of water.
‘You knew this was here?’ A tiny underground stream, which appeared from the rock for little more than a metre then disappeared again.
‘I found it.’ He reached out, dangling his fingers in the water, and Clara knelt down beside him. The water was cold, and must have brought a little hope to the boy who had found it. When her fingers touched his, he smiled.
He cupped his hand, raising it to his lips and taking a sip. Wrinkling his nose, he turned away, spitting the water out. ‘It doesn’t taste as good as I remember it.’
‘If it’s all you have...’ Clara decided not to issue a reminder that drinking from streams wasn’t a good idea. He’d survived it once.
‘Yeah.’ He got to his feet, holding out his hand to help her up. Then he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
