by Amy Field
She couldn’t make out the reply but could tell it was from a woman. “Of course,” Katie thought to herself. “He’d have to be with someone. He’s probably even married, though I didn’t see a wedding band. I wonder if that makes it better or worse?”
Her thoughts were interrupted by his handsome face coming closer. “Good morning, Catherine!” He spoke softly, but there was so much life in his voice. “Did you rest well?”
He casually grabbed her elbow and steered her towards the stairs. The physical contact made her shudder, not because she didn’t want him to touch her, but because she did. She realized that he was simply trying to help her avoid waking up her fellow campers. She was grateful for his kindness and suavity.
They chatted amicably as Jacob situated their backpacks against the wall near the fireplace in the lobby of the lodge. He then led her into the bar/restaurant area from the night before, ordered two strong coffees from the old man who appeared neither to have moved from his station behind the bar nor changed, and then sat them at a small table.
Katie was as nervous as she’d been in recent memory. It felt at little like being on a first date, or maybe the restlessness that she got at the start of competition. In any case, she found herself quickly weaving a web of complex half-truths carefully designed to avoid outright lying, but still preserve her identity.
So she became Catherine, the girl from Kansas City (of course she conspicuously left out the fact that she hadn’t lived in Kansas City in ten years; instead her time was split between New York and Chicago). She worked a number of freelance jobs, ranging from Zamboni driver at a local ice rink (something she had done in high school for extra money), and in advertising for some athletic equipment companies (leaving out the fact that she was the advertisement). Jacob seemed genuinely interested which made her immediately regret not simply having confided the whole truth in him, but once she had started she simply didn’t know how to stop.
She tried to turn the conversation back on him, but he didn’t make it easy on her. He admitted that he was Swiss by birth though had gone to school both in the UK and the States. His parents ran a lodge very much like this one just a few dozen kilometers in the wrong direction, and his father had been something of a mountaineering sensation back in the day. He never mentioned the girl in his bedroom and Katie couldn’t figure out how to bring it up tactfully, so she did not.
After about twenty minutes the older man appeared at their table with two large omelettes.
“Oh, my!” Katie’s eyes bulged. “I don’t know if I can manage all of this.”
“Nonsense,” Jacob grinned at her. Unlike Lance’s smile it was warm and confident, but didn’t make her feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. “You’ll need all the protein you can muster for the trail today. Your body must still be adjusting to the altitude.”
Katie admitted her restless night and mild headache, and Jacob started to regale her with stories both illustrative and amusing about former clients who hadn’t coped well with the altitude. He had this terrific way of setting her at ease and at the same time demanding—no, that wasn’t quite right—drawing out the best from her. She promised she’d be honest with how she felt, so that if altitude sickness became an issue they could deal with it swiftly.
Jacob inhaled the aroma of his omelette and then looked a little embarrassed. “I’m a-sorry, Catherine,” he apologized. “I have a few last preparations to make before we leave. Take your time here, and when you start hearing people gather in the lobby, come and join us.”
She thanked him, both for his time and the breakfast, and he was off.
The omelet had started off just a little larger than her head. There was, perhaps, about half left. She nibbled absently as her mind flitted back and forth between these two men: Lance, who made her skin crawl, yet was a known quantity, familiar, and whom she could have with a literal blink of her eye. Jacob was a different matter altogether. He was unlike any man she had ever known, and it wasn’t just that he was foreign. He reminded her a bit of her father, with his genuine confidence and strength of character, but there was something else—a life behind those crystal eyes—and she wanted it. She just couldn’t imagine why it was that he’d want to share it with her.
She saw Lance out of the corner of her eye before he sat down and immediately started eating more quickly. He could tell she was angry, so held up his hands defensively as he reached the table.
“Slow down, slow down,” he said dejectedly. “I’ve not come to interrupt your lonely breakfast. I’m just here to tell you that most of the gang is up and ready in the next room.”
“What?” She glanced up at the clock. It read 5:30 exactly. “Shoot, I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.” She stood and wiped her mouth with her napkin. As she did so she caught his eye. “Thank you, Lance. I appreciate the heads-up.”
He nodded his head and smiled. “I figured as much. And I knew you were tired last night from your trip. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the first girl to say things to me that she didn’t quite mean.”
They were already walking across the bar and back into the lobby as he said this. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at him.
“Excuse me?”
She was a tall girl, but he was taller, if only by a little. He looked down at her.
“Listen,” he said. “I travel all the time for work and handle jet lag like a cramping quad. Don’t even think about it. No apology necessary.”
And then he did the unthinkable. He grabbed her shoulder, leaned in, and kissed her right on the lips. It wasn’t long but it was deliberate, and somehow felt propriety—like a dog marking its territory. She wanted to slap him, but it happened so quickly she didn’t know what to do. And then, he was gone and she was left standing in the doorway to the lobby.
“Alright, gang,” Jacob was already talking as she entered into the great room. “Make sure you have everything that you need and that all of your things are out of your room—either in your pack or in your lockbox.”
There were a few murmurs and a couple of people walked over to the desk to put incidentals into storage. Jacob went on.
“Now, there are a few ground rules as we hike. First, I take the lead. This is what you’re paying me for, and if you remember from your credit card bill, you’re paying me quite well for it.” He paused to allow for some nervous laughter, then smiled genuinely and went on. “This is for your safety. I know these trails and I know these mountains. If anything is amiss, I will be able to tell and then protect each of you. Understand?”
There were some affirmations and nods of assent.
“Now, generally speaking the slowest people need to move to the front of the line. Those behind them will help them to keep pace, plus this ensures that no one gets left behind at the end.”
There were a couple of groans but some more nods.
“Finally,” he said. “My sister, Dina, will be accompanying us. She, too, is an experienced mountaineer and a very able guide. She’ll be bringing up the rear of our hiking crew. So just make sure you don’t get in front of me or behind her, and we’ll all reach our destination safely and have a lovely time.” There was some thumping down the main staircase, and a pretty, slight young woman with straw-colored hair and those same penetrating eyes came down into the group.
“Dina,” he said, motioning to his sister. “The Gang. Gang, Dina.” There was some lackluster applause followed by “Alright, everybody find a buddy to help you with your pack. Stay with your buddy as best you can, and we can get moving here in just a minute.”
And, as if on cue, Katie felt her pack being slipped over first one shoulder and then another, by Lance. He already had his on, and his hands lingered just a little two long as he helped her adjust the shoulder straps and waistband. “Hello, Buddy.”
She shivered again, told herself to put her game face on, and then made a beeline for the door.
Outside the morning air was sharp and cool and the sun seemed to burn the fr
ost off the trees and fields in waves. Dina assembled the hikers in two rows in front of the door to the hotel, and then the old man from behind the bar, who still hadn’t changed and had said hardly a word, took one last picture of the crew.
“Get a good look at one another,” Jacob called out. “This is the last you’ll see of yourselves the way you are now. When we return, you’ll be different people, one way or another.”
“What a pretentious prick,” Lance said, elbowing Katie playfully in the ribs. She grimaced, both at the words and the body contact.
“Alright, friends, it’s time we were off. We’re going to be away from a lot of modern conveniences as we travel; or as I like to call them, ‘distractions’. Embrace the silence, listen to what the mountains have to tell you, and strive to encounter one another more meaningfully and deeply than you have before.”
Lance gave Katie what she imagined he thought was an earnest look. “Can I get to know you more deeply?” Katie rolled her eyes and tried to figure out how to buddy up with somebody else before they left.
“And finally, before we go, give yourself a moment to just take in the mountain. If you believe in God, say a prayer. If you don’t, ponder or meditate or consider whatever is most important to you. Settle on an intention to take with you up the mountain: an idea, a hope, a dream, a need, a question that needs an answer, a prayer that needs a response, and give it to the Mountain-Maker. Then, on our return, use that and not how many miles we hike, or how high up we climb, or how much further you’ve pushed yourself than ever before to measure your success by.”
Lance made an obscene gesture and Katie took that as her cue. She buddied up with Dina, Jacob’s sister, and in just a few minutes they were all heading up the mountain.
The first hour and a half was relatively easy going, with most of Katie’s effort being spent on learning how to balance herself as she walked uphill with fifty pounds on her back. She was glad she’d invested in a more expensive pack, however, because while she could certainly feel the muscle strain in her upper body, she wasn’t growing especially tired and she didn’t seem to be chafing from the straps at all.
Conversations were intermittent as they went. Lance was further up near the front, so Katie felt comfortable getting to know Dina. They were ten years apart, which made Jacob thirty-two. Katie was right; the mountains had weathered him so he looked older than he actually was. Dina had just finished up at the University of London, where Jacob had also gone some years before. She was taking a year off to help Jacob with his hiking business and then hoped to get a job with the forestry service. She was a sweet kid with an easy laugh and those same penetrating eyes that her brother had. Katie made a mental note to make sure that she kept Lance far away from Dina.
They took their first real break about two and a half hours in. They’d come to a decent-sized overlook with a number of scattered stones. As Jacob called the break a number of people unclasped their packs and started to set them to the ground. Katie helped Dina with hers first, and then turned her back to her in order to get help with her own.
“Miss me,” an all-too-familiar voice whispered.
She swore silently to herself. “How’s it going, Lance?”
As she turned around she realized that he was still holding her pack in one arm. The other he had stretched across Dina’s shoulders. The poor girl looked visibly uncomfortable.
“Doin’ well, Bud,” she hoped that this would re-situate him very much in the friend-zone, as well as clue Dina in as to the creep factor. As she watched them, however, she wasn’t really sure that Dina needed much cluing in.
“So, Catherine,” he said. “Your first big hike. Are you ready for a few of those pointers we talked about last night?” The way he made last night made it sound like it was something that it wasn’t, but she wasn’t worried that Dina would get the wrong idea. From the look she was giving this guy, she had his number right off the bat.
“Yeah, thanks Jacob. I really think I’m doing fine. I’m just out here enjoying myself with God and nature. And I know you were worried about my being lonely, but I’m already making new friends.”
With that she reached over and took Dina by the hand, tugging her a little too harshly so that she’d come free of Lance’s grasp. He let her go and looked puzzled between the two of them.
“I don’t know how Zamboni-driving works, but I can imagine it’s easy to get pretty narrowly focused, lose track of the big picture. If practicing law has taught me anything, it’s that you never turn down the opportunity to get a favor or to give one.”
She bit her lip, considering what would be best to say. She really didn’t want to piss him off any more than she had to. Apart from being generally creepy, they were essentially living together for the next two to three weeks. It might pay to play along to get along. She just wasn’t sure how much ‘play’ he was going to demand in the end.
She offered what she hoped was a reassuring grin. “Of course you’re right, Lance.” Playing to his ego seemed like a good idea. “It is easy to miss the forest for the trees sometime. I just know that for me to focus, I’m going to need some quiet, and to be surrounded by people that I trust.”
His face broke out into a grotesque parody of a grin. “Oh, Catherine, Sweetheart, you can trust me.” He looked over at Dina and gave her the same awful smile. “You. Can. Trust. Me.” And with that, he was off.
As soon as he was out of earshot Dina said something in French. Katie didn’t need a translation.
“I know, right? Super-Creepy.”
Dina agreed. “Ya. Super-creepy.”
Before they knew it Jacob was calling them back into formation again. Katie and Dina took their places at the end of the line and chatted amicably about life, without getting into any real specifics. Katie admitted that she had considered something a little more strenuous, but was glad that she’d chosen Mont Blanc. She wasn’t trying to prove anything to herself physically, but kind of hit the reset button psychologically and emotionally. Of course, Dina didn’t realize that the reason Katie didn’t need to prove anything physically was because she already had, but Katie still felt understood. They connected, and that was enough.
They broke for lunch at about one in the afternoon. Katie had imagined munching on protein bars and granola, but was happily surprised to see Jacob produce a surprisingly large propane stove from his pack, and various packets and satchels of food. Dina led the crew in gathering water from a nearby stream, showed them how to use the purification equipment, and in just over a half an hour a delicious-tasting lentil soup bubbled and popped from the stovetop. Katie’s stomach rumbled. She hadn’t noticed how hungry she was until now.
When it was ready, Jacob called them over and gave them instructions. They’d be eating out of coffee mugs and using a fancy kind of metal spork to eat from. He instructed that none of the food was to go directly onto the ground, which would both attract animals as well as dirty the environment. Then, just before inviting them to eat, he gazed backwards over his shoulder towards the beautiful mountain vista that lay before them.
“You won’t find a view like this at of the finest restaurants in London, in Paris, or in New York,” he said. “I’ve lived in all three, and this,” he gestured towards the heights. “This is why I stay here. It reminds me of how small I am and how very big the world is. Take a moment now, before we eat, to be grateful: for the view, for the food, for the company—to be alive. That, friends, is what Christians call ‘grace.’” He bowed his head but his eyes continued to dance with life.
Katie marveled at how unselfconscious he was praying in front of other people, and, not so much demanding that they join him, but giving them the freedom to do so. She wasn’t an especially religious girl herself, and she wasn’t altogether sure where she stood on the whole God question, but she appreciated this kind of Christian—enthusiastic without being pushy, inviting without being preachy, he made her want to pray with him, even though she didn’t really know how to pray.
Most of the group was having the same reaction. A few of the men took off their hats, and most people bowed their heads. Lance, however, had that resting sneer firmly spread across his face. When Jacob murmured a soft ‘Amen,” and invited everyone forward for their soup, Lance hocked a big loogie and made sure the spittle landed near Jacob’s feet. Jacob barely gave it a second glance, simply covered over the spittle with his foot and went back to serving the food. When Lance’s turn came he made sure to give him an extra spoonful of the soup.
“What’s that for?” Lance seemed suspicious.
Jacob shrugged. “You looked hungrier than the rest.”
This raised a few eyebrows, but no one said a word.
Lance had been chatting during the hike with an attorney from London. He sat now with the man and his wife, lecturing them on the superiority of the American legal system, and especially of the benefits it offered its attorneys. The wife was long-suffering but the husband seemed to be just as big a blowhard as Lance, if maybe twenty years older. All Katie knew was that she was glad to have a break from them for the meal.
She sat with Dina, Jacob, and a single older man named Laurence. He was a philosophy professor from a small college in New Hampshire. He was a quiet man but kind and very polite. Nobody seemed bothered by him in the slightest.
They ate in silence for a long while. At one point the clouds parted over an adjacent peak revealing a stunning white mountaintop. Everyone gasped.
“I didn’t know there was this much beauty in the whole world,” Katie thought to herself.
“Oh there’s this, and much more besides.” It was Jacob who spoke now. She realized she must have been thinking out loud.
“I couldn’t imagine you’d give us the best view on the first day.”
Jacob laughed. It was an easy laugh, and one that made Katie feel comfortable with him. “There is that,” he said. “But it’s not all sales. The views, naturally, get better the further up you hike.”