by Minna Howard
He turned to Eloise who stood with Gaby close to the helicopter, the fear still in his face. Lawrence put his arm round Eloise again and hugged her to him for a second, to offer comfort, and she fought a sudden desire to rest her head on his chest. She must be suffering from delayed shock, she warned herself sternly.
‘Do you think you can both ski down? My friends, David and Marcus,’ he introduced his two companions, ‘will go down with you. They know the route well, so you’ll be safe with them.’
Gaby looked longingly at the helicopter, but Eloise, not seeing any alternative as there was only room for the injured and Lawrence, assured Gaby she’d be fine, they’d take their time and would make it down.
‘I’m sorry to ask you, Eloise,’ Lawrence leant closer to her, his breath soft on her cheek, ‘but if you see Debra or Ken or one of the party can you tell them what happened. I’ll keep trying to reach Ken on his mobile, or hopefully he’ll pick up the voicemail and get back to me. Jerry is still in shock and said to wait to tell them, but I think it best to let them know as soon as we can.’ He sighed, moved away from her. ‘We don’t want them to think we’re trying to hide anything from them. I’ll keep you informed, I guess we’ll go down to the hospital in Sion.’
‘Are they going to be all right?’ she asked him, wishing he would hold her again, they’d been through such a shocking experience and she craved comfort too and it was so long since she’d been held in someone’s arms. ‘I thought Theo had escaped it.’ She felt guilty now she knew he’d been tumbled about in the snow. ‘It was all white and we couldn’t see anything at first. If I’d known he’d been caught in it too I would have stopped him doing all that digging, the guide was there after all.’ She felt she’d let Lawrence down again.
‘You weren’t to know and Theo would have done it anyway unless he was incapacitated,’ he smiled at her. ‘They are safe now, but we can’t really tell how it has affected them until they’ve been properly examined,’ Lawrence said. ‘Sorry you have all this to deal with, but thanks for ringing me.’ He touched her hand, glanced at Gaby, ‘You’ll both be all right skiing down, won’t you, and it’s not a difficult run.’
‘They’ll be fine, we’ll see they get down,’ Marcus said as Lawrence left them to board the helicopter.
‘There won’t be another avalanche, will there?’ Gaby said fearfully, her love of the mountains now filled with terror. Eloise was afraid too, but it was the only way they could get down, there was no room in the helicopter, which would fly straight down to the hospital.
Lawrence’s two friends reassured them.
‘The worst is over and we ski down to the road where there is a lift, or we can take a taxi back if you’ve had enough, but let’s get started,’ Marcus said.
The helicopter roared away, Eloise wondering if it could start another avalanche with its whirling blades. The ski patrol set off to another call. Gaby, pale with fear, stayed close to David and they started off back home.
Eloise tried to enjoy the run down. It was all so beautiful, the intense blue of the sky, the sparkling snow – a Christmas-card scene, peaceful and serene. It was impossible to believe the nightmare they had all been through, the sudden fall of snow coming so unexpectedly.
‘Had there been warnings of avalanches today?’ Eloise asked Marcus when they at last reached the road and started to walk along it to the lift. Gaby seemed lost in herself, and Eloise, though keeping a watch on her and occasionally giving her words of comfort, thought it best to let her come to terms with the event, undisturbed. They could discuss it later.
‘Not that I know of,’ Marcus said, ‘they usually cordon off areas if they think there could be danger and you didn’t cross any barriers, did you?’
‘No, we didn’t.’ She tried not to think of the flags she’d seen at the beginning of the run.
‘The danger is always there, especially at this time of year when there’s been a heavy snowfall. But as you probably know, it’s your own decision where you ski off-piste as long as the run is not closed – we saw the warning flags, but they gave the warning as three – five is the worse, so…’
‘I don’t think I saw those,’ Eloise lied, wondering if Theo had seen them but, thinking three was safe enough, didn’t mention it to them. At least three was passable and surely they would have shut the run if a real danger were predicted?
‘Although it was very scary and potentially life-threatening, the rescue service said it was not a very large avalanche,’ Marcus went on.
‘It was large enough to bury Jerry, and if he hadn’t been dug out…’ Gaby broke in.
‘That’s why most of us carry a shovel,’ David said. ‘Some people think we are overcautious, but they were needed today.’
‘What a Christmas Day,’ Eloise said with feeling.
Marcus grinned, ‘None of us will forget it, but at least it ended well.’
‘They’ll be all right, won’t they?’ Eloise asked nervously. What if there were unforeseen side effects or internal damage and both men were more badly injured than it had appeared?
‘They’re both young and fit. They’ll be a bit shaken and bruised and it might haunt them for a while, but I’d say they’ll get over it. It was a good thing you called Lawrence, and a relief he was close enough to be here.’ Marcus shrugged, ‘It’s not worth stressing about now. It happened and we all got away with it.’
Eloise felt suddenly faint, not wanting to think it could so easily have been Gaby and her lost under the snow. How would Kit and Lizzie cope if she left them so soon?
‘You all right?’ Marcus put his hand on her arm.
‘Yes, thanks… just… I won’t think of what might have happened. We’re lucky, it ended well.’
‘I hope so,’ David, who’d been listening to them, said. ‘I mean, let’s hope those rich clients at Jacaranda won’t try and sue, or whatever.’
Eloise was horrified. ‘They couldn’t make trouble, could they? Surely they know there are risks on the mountains, and the run would have been closed if there was a great danger?’ Again she thought of Theo, if Debra and the rest of them made trouble for him ignoring, or not seeing, the warning flags, his whole future as a ski guide and instructor could be in jeopardy.
‘It wouldn’t surprise me if they tried it on, it wouldn’t be the first time rich clients did it,’ Marcus said. ‘They could state negligence, or something. It would cause some damaging publicity, which could be the last straw for Lawrence and Jacaranda.’
Twenty-Four
They reached the safely of the village at last, Eloise having to urge Gaby on. She was obviously traumatized by the events, but they had to get down to the village as at this time of the year the slopes iced up early in the day.
Marcus and David offered to drive them back to Jacaranda but Eloise said she had the jeep and she wouldn’t bother them further. It was not far to go and she felt up to it.
She wanted to get back to the familiarity of the chalet to process the drama of the morning. She needed to be somewhere quiet to try and come to terms with what had happened.
‘If you’re really sure,’ David said.
‘Do you need help with the guests… telling them about it, I mean,’ Marcus said, ‘and dealing with any problems it might throw up?’
The fear lurking inside her intensified. The avalanche was a fact of nature, but Debra – for if anyone was going to take this further it would be her – might twist it and suggest that Theo had led them into danger. Eloise decided not to mention the flags until she’d spoken to Theo about them. Just because he had seemed not to notice them didn’t mean he hadn’t and had thought that, as the run wasn’t closed, it was a risk worth taking.
She’d read of people being bankrupted over cases taken against them, even if they’d won or the case had been thrown out. These things could drag on and on, ruining reputations before they were concluded. Then there were ambulance chasers, people persuading others who might have had even a small accident to push for compe
nsation, killing small businesses – small businesses just like Jacaranda.
She was about to accept Marcus’s offer, afraid she’d make a mess of it and put Jacaranda in peril by inadvertently saying the wrong thing, when she heard someone call her name and, to her horror, she saw Debra crossing the street towards them, smiling.
‘Good time skiing?’ she said. ‘Are you going back to the chalet now, can you give me a lift?’
She obviously didn’t know about the horror that had engulfed them. Gaby gave a little cry, causing Debra to look at her sharply, seemingly annoyed to see her. ‘Is there a problem, Gaby?’ she said sternly.
Eloise took a deep breath, ‘Debra… Lawrence tried to ring Ken…’
‘He left his mobile in the chalet, he’s say there’s often not a signal, though I had mine,’ she added as if hers was the important one. ‘We’ve just had lunch and he and Travis have gone for a walk. I thought I’d go back, was going to take a taxi, but finding you here…’ She watched Eloise keenly, ‘Is something the matter?’
‘Yes… but let me explain,’ Marcus stepped forward.
Eloise said at the same moment, ‘Jerry is fine, but he and Theo were involved in an avalanche.’ Just the word shocked Debra, she stumbled, and Marcus shot out his hand and steadied her.
‘It was a small avalanche and both men are safe, but they’ve been flown down to Sion to hospital, just to make sure,’ David chipped in. ‘Lawrence has gone with them.’
‘Lawrence tried to ring you, Travis and Ken. He managed to leave a message with Ken, but of course if he’s left his mobile in the chalet he wouldn’t have got it,’ Eloise said breathlessly.
‘And you were both there?’ Debra scowled at Gaby as if she had somehow set off the avalanche. Gaby was very pale, struggling to keep herself together.
‘Yes, we were skiing behind them, they were sort of racing each other, it was lovely powder snow,’ Eloise finished, realizing from her expression that Debra had no idea of the magic of powder snow or even what it was.
‘Where’s Ken when I need him,’ Debra said in annoyance. ‘I can try and contact Travis if he’s in range.’ She took her own mobile out of her bag then dropped it back in again. ‘More sensible to go straight to the hospital, not hang about for them to come back. Can you take me there at once? I must be sure the doctors are competent, give Jerry X-rays and a thorough check-over. He could have had a head injury, was he conscious?’ She had snapped into a commandeering role. No wonder she was so good at business, Eloise thought, few people would dare argue with her. Then to her relief Eloise’s mobile went and it was Lawrence.
‘They’ve both been thoroughly checked and, thank God, there’s no harm done. I’ll bring them back in a taxi. Are you at the chalet yet?’
‘I’m still at Medran and Debra’s here. Ken left his mobile in Jacaranda…’ Before she could say any more, Debra put out her hand and almost snatched the mobile from her.
‘Lawrence, what do the doctors say?’ Debra demanded ‘I hope they’ve given Jerry a thorough examination. He probably imagines he’s all right but he could be suffering from internal injuries, or a bleed on the brain.’
Her list of prognoses spooked Gaby, who started to cry again.
‘Let me talk to Jerry,’ Debra was saying and the moment he was on the line she began to question him, barely letting him answer before she fired out the next one. Where were they skiing, what were the conditions like, did they know there was a danger of an avalanche? When he had answered as best he could she demanded to talk to the doctor. She had to hang on while he was fetched before she interrogated him as if she doubted his qualifications, demanding to know every test and examination he had carried out.
Marcus took Eloise’s arm and pulled her aside. ‘The Swiss doctors are very thorough, they are used to seeing hundreds of skiing accidents and will have taken all precautions,’ he said.
‘I know but, well,’ Eloise glanced at Debra, dropped her voice, ‘I’m worried for Theo, in case she blames him for taking us there.’
Debra clicked off the mobile, having reluctantly agreed to Jerry’s discharge, and handed it back to Eloise. ‘I’ll have to get this looked into,’ she said. ‘Why were you anywhere near an avalanche, Eloise?’
Her mouth felt dry, her worst fears were coming true. If she said after a heavy snowfall and at certain times of the year there was always a slight chance of an avalanche, Debra would pounce and remind her that there was a heavy snowfall last night and turn the blame on to Theo. She said, carefully, ‘We did not know we were near one, it’s just one of those hazards of the mountains.’
To her relief David broke in. ‘If the sécurité des pistes thought there was a real danger they would have closed the runs. They check the main runs every day and…’
‘But they weren’t on the main run,’ Debra said. ‘Were you?’ she accused Eloise.
‘Theo took the precaution of asking a guide if it was safe before they set off and he said it was, though one must always take care while on the mountain,’ Marcus said. ‘If a run’s not closed, people can make their own decision whether to go on it or not. That particular run is well known to the regulars and, after a snowfall, Theo would know that it usually has the best powder snow.’
‘It doesn’t sound safe, you can’t ski where you like in Canada,’ Debra said.
‘Perhaps not, but you can here in Europe,’ David said.
‘I’ll get my lawyer to look into it.’ She caught sight of Gaby’s tear-streaked face. ‘Why are you crying? Is there something you’re keeping from me?’
‘No,’ Gaby said, ‘I’m just scared, it was such a shock, one minute they were there, the next… and I… I didn’t love him enough.’ She blurted out in shock as if it was time for a confession.
‘Well that much was obvious,’ Debra said coldly. ‘So you can leave him alone now. I suppose planes fly tomorrow, you can go back to London, get out of his life.’
Gaby gasped but Debra turned her back on her as though that was the end of it and as far as she was concerned she’d cut Gaby out of her life. ‘I’d like to go back to the chalet, now,’ she said to Eloise, ‘and wait for Jerry to return to see for myself if he needs another check-up. I can take him to Geneva tomorrow if I have to, they have the top doctors there.’
Marcus opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. Eloise too knew there was no point trying to talk Debra round, and anyway she was so shocked that Gaby was to be sent home, she turned to her instead and put her arm round her in support.
Marcus and David asked again if they could do anything to help, but Debra dismissed them with a flick of her hand and the three women piled into the jeep.
Eloise drove them slowly back to the chalet, forcing herself to concentrate on the road and not be distracted by Debra trying to get through to Travis, grumpily asking why he wasn’t picking up as she needed him to look into this incident. She felt drained, wrung out not only by the experience on the mountain, but also by Debra’s determination to take further action to attribute blame. She was not going to let this go easily and Eloise worried that Jacaranda would be in the firing line.
Pippa and Radley were already in the chalet having just skied back, when Eloise, Gaby and Debra returned. Debra immediately cornered Radley, spewing out the details of what had happened, as if she had been there herself.
‘Jerry could have been killed or at least disabled or brain damaged for life,’ she said it as if the avalanche had somehow been arranged, poised on the rocks to fall on him just as he passed. She didn’t mention Theo – the fact that he had been taken to the hospital too to get checked over – as if he were of no consequence.
Gaby had retreated into herself; she stayed silent, took off her boots and went upstairs to her room. Eloise followed, longing for a hot shower and some sleep and to escape from Debra’s torrent of accusations, not wanting to be dragged into any interrogation. She was also worried about Gaby.
She passed her room, and seeing the door was aja
r she went in. Gaby was lying on her bed. ‘So I’m to go home,’ she said, ‘the old cow, she hates me being with Jerry.’
Eloise sat down on a chair facing her. ‘You did tell her you didn’t love him, Gaby,’ she reminded her gently. ‘Maybe because you thought he’d been killed it made you feel…’ She was about to say guilty, but perhaps that was too harsh just now. ‘I suppose it made you admit that you don’t love him enough to marry him, but you’re fond of him aren’t you?’ she asked. It was obvious that Jerry loved Gaby but she did not love him in the same way and the accident had made her face up to her actions and she felt guilty about using him. She must work out how to deal with it herself, though Eloise would support her as she would her own children, if she asked for it.
‘I don’t know why I said it to her,’ Gaby said with a sigh. ‘I didn’t mean it to sound as if I don’t care for him; I do, but not as much as he wants me to. I feel ashamed of myself now that I’m using him, but I don’t want to be sent home, though perhaps it is best that I do go.’
‘You must do what you think best, Gaby, though I’ll miss you,’ Eloise said. ‘But Debra might calm down when she sees that Jerry is all right’
‘I doubt it. She’s like a dog with a bone – once she’s got her teeth into something she never lets it go.’
‘What will Jerry say if you do go home?’ she asked, Gaby’s remark filling her with fear.
‘He won’t want me to; though he might have changed his mind after this. If Debra makes enough fuss he’ll fall in with it, probably hate me for using him, I don’t know.’ She shrugged, looking miserable. Eloise took her hand. Gaby would have to sort this out for herself. ‘Perhaps I should break it off with him.’ Gaby faced her. ‘I’d have hated it if he’d died as I’m fond of him, he’s a good person, but I don’t love him as I should, and this was perhaps my punishment for taking his money and not loving him enough to want to stay with him for life, have his children.’