by R Arundel
“You’re gonna help me?”
“I’m gonna fix this problem for you. That’s a promise.”
“Promise?”
“Keep the faith, brother.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Karakatura is part of the Himalayas. The mountain is in a region near northern Nepal, sandwiched between China to the north and India to the south. It is a region of majestic peaks. The natural beauty and diversity of animal life is found in few places in the world.
Matthew, Sarah, and their guide walk along a narrow dirt path. The region is vivid with colors and smells. The sky is blue and the temperature mild. In the background the huge mountain presides over everything. The region they are traveling through is lush with dense green vegetation. The dark green leaves on the towering trees provide nice shade. Sarah feels the warm sun on her face. The pace they are walking at is brisk but comfortable. Down the path, off to the side, a purple shrub adds some color to the rugged scenery. Matthew is relaxed. The surroundings are breathtaking. He looks up; a flock of gray birds fly past. They round a small bend and see a field that is golden yellow. Sarah and Matthew stop to look.
The guide says, “Millet, millet.”
They are looking at a large field of millet; the yellow grain provided nice color against the green vegetation. They keep walking and turn a gentle bend in the narrow dirt path. The village lies ahead.
The guide points and says, “Kara.”
Karakatura is a beast at over twenty-six thousand feet, almost eight thousand meters. Mountaineers all agree, it is the deadliest mountain to climb.
Sarah feels comfortable here. It reminds her of the small village in Sweden, Gullholmen, where her family came from. These rural areas are still relatively unchanged from life 150 years ago. The town is prosperous from the trekking and hiking tours. The natural beauty draws people from around the world—the richness of a culture untouched and alluring.
Matthew realizes they are on Main Street. The road widens to accommodate a compact car or a few animals. There are ten buildings in a row. The buildings are simple two-story wood structures. They are painted in vibrant colors. One building is deep red, another bright green. The guide points to the blue building.
Sarah looks around, sipping her sparkling water. The pub is busy, thirty people sit around wooden tables. Mainly foreign tourists and their local guides fill the room.
A man approaches. Larry is a man of average height. Kofi had given them a lot of his details before they arrived. Larry’s parents are from China. He was born in India. The family later settled in Texas.
“Hi, I’m Larry. We should leave now.”
Larry quickly ushers them out of the pub. Matthew has many questions prepared to test Larry’s knowledge of mountaineering. One look at Larry tells Matthew not to bother. Larry is sinewy, his resting heart rate had to be about sixty, well below the normal rate of seventy-two beats per minute. His chest hardly moves as he breathes. At rest his body exerts no effort. This man is fit to the extreme.
Larry says, “Based on Kofi’s comments, I didn’t think you wanted to spend too much time in there.”
Sarah, Larry, and Matthew walk quickly down a dirt path out of town.
Larry adds, “The less time you spend with people remembering your face, the better.”
Sarah likes Larry from the moment she sees him. He is young, early twenties. He seems relaxed and confident.
Matthew glances across to Sarah. Something has changed between them. But what? He is not quite sure. Sarah is still cheerful, she answers all his questions, but something has changed. He can’t put his finger on it. She is a bit quiet sometimes. She sometimes looked at him when he isn’t looking. He feels something different too.
They walk past a stand of trees and the ground turns from vegetation to gravel. The gray gravel occupies the last hour of the hike. The temperature also drops. Finally, they get to a clearing in the gravel and dirt. The rocks on either side are about eighty feet tall, jagged cliffs that loom over three tents. Matthew says, “I guess this is home.”
“This will be our base camp. I’ve already put some supplies in each tent.”
Larry shows Sarah her tent, which is a few feet from his own. Matthew’s tent is farthest away. The tents are all equal size.
Matthew says, “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“You wanted private. Climbing season is over, so the base camps are deserted. I think that works for your purposes.”
Sarah says, “This will be perfect.”
From the breast pocket of his woolen shirt, Larry pulls out a list. “These are the climbing supplies we need.” He hands it to Matthew.
Matthew returns the list to Larry. “Whatever you think we need is fine.”
“Good. Kofi said Alice would take care of the payments. My fee and the equipment costs. Make sure you give her a call so she can get moving on this.”
“Don’t worry, Alice is great at this type of thing. Just call and tell her I okayed it. It won’t take her a minute to get this done. She’s a hard worker, never takes lunch.”
“Thanks. We rise at five a.m. tomorrow. Get some sleep.”
Matthew helps Sarah unpack. The tent is cozy. It is fine for one person to sleep, but they cannot stand up. The flashlight only illuminates a small cone of the tent. Matthew is about to leave.
“Who is Celerie Brindsmore?” says Sarah.
“Why are you asking about Celerie?”
“Alice obviously thought you would be interested in Jason Cooper’s marriage to her.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Life’s complicated. Get over it.”
“Celerie and I were engaged.”
“And?”
“The air smells different here. Did you notice as we were walking? It really feels fresh.”
“So you choose not to answer my question?”
“I’m not ready to go there, not tonight.”
“That’s honest.”
“I’m really tired, good night.”
Walking the few feet to his tent, Matthew is frightened by a low growl. A dark furry creature moves toward him. Is he about to be eaten by a wild animal? The growl is more of a whimper as the stray dog rubs his leg. Matthew gets some food from his tent and feeds the chocolate brown dog. He has big black eyes. The food is gone in no time. Matthew watches him eat.
***
The next morning, Matthew prepares to begin the climb. The sun has not come up yet and it is cold. Larry cooks a breakfast of eggs. He has some very thick slices of toast already prepared. Sarah comes out of her tent. “Hi, Larry.”
“Hi, guys.”
Matthew asks, “When do we start the climb?”
“It will take four days for the equipment to arrive. You’re right, Alice is amazing. She took care of things super fast.”
“We won’t tell her that or she’ll ask for a raise.”
“She deserves it. I had the equipment delivered to another location. I don’t want anyone knowing where we are. I will pick it up and then bring it here, so we have a week to train.”
“Train?”
“I’m not going to lose my life on Karakatura with two inexperienced climbers—we train.”
“Did Kofi not fill you in on the urgency of our situation?”
“He did. That’s why we train. It won’t do you any good if we don’t get off the mountain. You need time to adjust to the altitude anyway.”
Matthew is silent.
Larry continues, “This is how we will dress for the expedition. You will have the same items as I have, in your size, of course. The inner layer will wick away sweat. The middle layer will provide warmth and trap air. The outer layer will protect against wind, rain, snow.”
The dog that Matthew met last night saunters to him and nuzzles Matthew’s leg. Matthew gives him some food.
Sarah says, “Looks like you got a friend.”
Matthew, “It’s Oscar. We met last night.”
Larry says, “He�
��s a stray, looking for food.”
Matthew gives the dog some more food and the dog yelps.
“We’ll be experiencing temperatures around five degrees Fahrenheit and the weather can be unpredictable. I ordered all your clothing and gear for whatever we’ll encounter. At certain points on the climb, we’ll wear helmets.”
Sarah says, “Climbing season has ended on Karakatura.”
“That’s right. Any attempts now are at your own risk, no hope of rescue.”
Larry walks to a twenty-foot rock. He nails in bolts and strings ropes.
Matthew says, “Each day we spend training means the weather up on the mountain is getting more hostile.”
Larry ignores him and continues to set up their first training exercise.
The days pass easily. Larry is a good teacher, experienced and thoughtful. He instructs them in the basics of climbing. He is not a risk taker.
The base camp is very gray. Gray ground, gray sky, gray weather. Oscar is a good companion. He yelps and runs around them as they train. He is an intelligent dog and barks his approval as they practice climbing.
The small jagged peaks are perfect to get a feel for climbing. They become used to walking on the gray gravelly soil and using their hands to scramble up rocks. At the end of each day, Sarah and Matthew are exhausted. Larry makes the meals. Sarah is sure it is just the fact that they are eating high in the sky under the stars, but the meals are tasty. The hearty meal is always a welcome end to the day. It is definitely Oscar’s favorite. After dinner he disappears, always to return in the morning.
Larry speaks at the end of their meal. “I’ll be in town getting final supplies. I’ll be back tomorrow early.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sarah and Matthew head back to her tent. Matthew takes his backpack off. Sarah removes her heavy backpack, which is filled mostly with rock for training, at the entryway. Larry has put an extra twenty pounds in Sarah’s pack, so she is training with seventy-five pounds. In Matthew’s pack, he did the same. They will appreciate this when they began the actual ascent. The tent is warm and they both remove their outer layers. The white base layer allows them to relax comfortably in the tent.
“I’m really surprised you don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Is this your attempt to make your move? You couldn’t wait to get me alone in the tent.”
“Maybe.”
“I have to say if that’s all you got, it’s not much game.” Sarah laughs.
“Now who is trying to avoid the question?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“I’m just very surprised Sarah Larsson doesn’t have a significant other, that’s all.”
“Do you think anyone would want to be with a girl who is in hiding or doesn’t know if she’ll be alive tomorrow?”
“Even before this madness, you never mentioned anyone.”
“Well, Sherlock Holmes, you’re right, there is no one.”
“Why?”
“I’m at an in between stage in my life, and there’s only room for me.”
After a long pause, Sarah breaks the silence. “You never wanted kids, a family?”
“Right after med school, I thought that was what I wanted. The kids, the white picket fence.”
“What happened?”
“I put too much ahead of it, and it just passed. If you wait long enough, the dream passes you by.”
“Kinda like heartburn,” says Sarah.
Matthew laughs. “Kinda.”
“You never got close?”
“I did, I did.”
Sarah says, “Celerie.”
“It was Celerie. We were going to go away to get married, not tell her family. They would have wanted a huge production. I let her slip away.”
“She broke it off?”
“No, I ended it.”
“Why?”
“No good reason . . . truth is, I got scared. Imagine, the great surgeon, Matthew MacAulay, scared to live life.”
“So that’s why Alice mentioned Celerie’s getting married.”
“It’s even richer. She’s marrying Jason Cooper. We were all kind of in the same social circle at one time. Not really friends, but we knew each other enough to say hi. When I was with Celerie, it was obvious he wanted her.”
“He started dating her before you broke up?”
“No. It was quite a bit after.”
“The break up went badly?”
“Don’t let anyone ever tell you, when you call off a wedding, that there is a good break up—there isn’t. It got real ugly. I’d never seen Celerie like that. She seemed to take it well and then all of a sudden she just started to cry. I’d never heard her cry like that. In fact I told her it was a mistake and we should go through with the wedding. She said, no. That’s not what I wanted, she could tell. She wished me all the best.”
“She seems like a strong woman.”
“When I broke it off, it had a ripple effect. Friends took sides. I never spoke to her again. I tried to call her, but she wouldn’t take my calls. I sent her a letter trying to explain.”
“She reply?”
She did. About one year after I wrote it. I had completely forgotten about it.”
“What did she say?”
“She said a lot of things. It was a painful letter to read. It was her way of closing the door.”
“Now she’s going to marry Jason Cooper.”
“That’s what they say.”
“This guy has got to hate you big time. Celerie will never get over you. He probably knows that. He’s her second choice, but he can never live up to you. Or your memory.”
“Now you know why he’ll pin anything on me.”
“Any regrets?”
“No. Looking back now, I realized the break up was the right thing. At the time Celerie had a much greater emotional intelligence than I did. She experienced our intimacy in a more full and mature way. She was in the moment in a way I couldn’t be. That’s what kept me with her; I was fascinated by this. She understood there was something I was not giving, maybe I couldn’t give at the time. She deserves someone who truly loves her. She’s an incredible girl. If Jason is that man, believe it or not, I’m for it. Celerie is great, just not the girl for me.”
“Sometimes I think life is like a series of windows—the windows close, and if you are on the outside, you just get to look in. Then another window opens and you go through that window. If you over think it, take too much time, or don’t take time to notice it’s open, then it closes.”
“Truth is, you pegged me right from the start. I’m not good at relationships.” Matthew looks directly at Sarah.
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“One last question?” says Sarah, adjusting the base layer of her shirt.
“Anything, if it’s the last question.”
Sarah looks at him. “On second thought, you’ve had enough talk therapy for one night.”
Matthew is happy to be out in the night air. The tent was getting hot. He looks up and can see so many more stars here than in the city. The sky seems to be winking at him.
***
The morning is cold and clear. Larry must have arrived very early. He and a helper had unloaded supplies off a very large furry animal. Larry and his helper had packed all the backpacks.
“I let you guys sleep an extra hour,” says Larry.
Sarah and Matthew are dressed and ready.
“Thanks.”
Matthew is not sure what type of animal was used to haul the supplies up. It looks like a massive cow. Sweat mats its shaggy coat, and it has long horns.
“You use yaks to haul the gear up here?” says Sarah.
“Yes, they can get through narrow paths and they are strong as a yak,” Larry laughs.
Matthew doesn’t think he has ever seen a yak before. It is a powerful beast. Larry pays his assistant. The yak makes a clop, clop sound when its powerful hooves hit the gravel path.
Larry turns to Sarah and Matthew. “Now you’re going to be the yaks.”
They all put their backpacks on. Each carries around fifty-five pounds of gear. Matthew notices the lighter load; it feels like a feather compared to training. Oscar runs out and nuzzles Matthew.
“This is our last day, Oscar. We’re going up the mountain.”
Oscar begins to twirl and jump. They hear short yelps. Matthew looks up at the peak they are about to climb.
Larry says, “Dehydration impairs judgment. Bad decisions on big mountains kill. Drink water, drink often.”
Larry moves around checking the ropes, checking the fasteners to hold the ropes. He is hopping about to and fro between them. Sarah adjusts her backpack to the center of her body.
Sarah says, “Looks good.”
“Ready to rock and roll,” says Matthew.
Larry asks, “Rule number one?”
Sarah answers. “Don’t separate from the group under any circumstances.”
“Rule number two?”
“Obey rule number one,” says Matthew.
Larry laughs, and Sarah and Matthew raise their eyebrows.
Larry says, “The dog stays.”
“Why don’t you tell him?” says Matthew.
Larry, Sarah, and Matthew walk through some light brush and small shrubs to get to the base of the mountain. Oscar trots behind them happily. They are now at the very foot of the mountain. They look up and see the true enormity of their task.
Matthew has a tinge of doubt for the first time. Are they sure Michael will have all the answers? Looking up at the mountain, he understands more fully the risks. He can see sheer drop-offs, areas where it’s not at all obvious how to proceed higher. He looks at Sarah. She seems very excited. Larry slowly gazes up at the mountain. It is a careful, solemn gaze. The mountain is majestic in its cold splendor. All are silent.
Larry, “Let us take nothing from the mountain, let us leave nothing behind. We ask you to show us your fury, but only with kindness. We ask the wind and the snow to be with us. We ask the sun to shine good luck upon us. We ask to live in nature’s grace, to leave you, and to see you again.”
Matthew says, “Well said.”