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The expedition leader looked over her shoulder, then jogged back to help. The rest of the group ground to a halt. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s Arthur – I don’t think he’s able to pull the sled much longer.’
Melissa nodded. ‘OK, I’ll take over.’
‘No you bloody won’t,’ said Cutler. ‘You’re the one who knows how to get us to the shelters.’
‘I can help him,’ said Olivia.
‘You sure?’ Melissa’s eyes searched her face. Satisfied, she nodded. ‘I’ll assign someone to replace you in five minutes. Take it in shifts.’
‘Got it.’
Arthur looked relieved when she came up and tapped him on the arm. He gave her one of the ropes, and she slung it over her shoulder. Together they managed to stabilize the pulk’s weight and slide it down the hill.
Even with the two of them, it was hard to drag it through the snow. The rope bit into the outer shell of herjacket, and she struggled to keep a grip through her ultra-thick mittens. The undulating landscape worked against them, even small mounds feeling like mountains.
The professor stumbled, slipping on to the ground. Janine took up the other side.
‘Let me take that,’ said Cutler, gruffly to Arthur.
‘Melissa sent us back to help,’ said Annalise. ‘Shall I take your side?’
‘I’m OK for now,’ said Olivia. With Cutler on the other end of the pulk rope, they were able to move more easily again.
Patty took the professor by the arm, propping him up. Along with Annalise and Janine, they walked ahead, tramping down the snow to make sliding the pulk easier.
Cutler narrowed his eyes. ‘We’re losing the others.’
Olivia looked up. Between the thick snow and the wind, even though the sun was back above the horizon, she couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead of them. Even Patty and Arthur’s bright jackets were no longer visible. She felt like she was back in the Hunt Gallery, although stripped of all its artwork. Just a blank, white space – a maze – just as terrifying as complete darkness might be. There was no point of reference, the sky and the ground blending seamlessly.
She swallowed. ‘We can’t be far from Brown Base now. Melissa said an hour’s walk. We’ve been on the move for, what, forty-five minutes now?’
As she said it, she was shocked it had been that long. Why hadn’t Melissa sent anyone else back to take over from them?
‘Let’s keep going then,’ he said.
‘Thank God I found you,’ Annalise appeared, walkingtowards them, dragging Dr Vance behind her. ‘I stopped to help Arthur and I lost Janine and Patty. I’ve been retracing our footsteps hoping I’d come across them – or you.’
‘Professor, are you OK?’ Olivia asked.
‘I think he hurt his leg on the way down the hill. He’s not walking well,’ said Annalise. ‘But we’re close to the base. I saw it.’
‘Get him there,’ said Olivia. ‘We’ll be close behind.’
‘And the others?’
‘We’ll find them. They can’t be far. They’re probably already there too.’
Annalise nodded, throwing Dr Vance’s arm over her shoulder and hobbling off towards the base.
‘There we go – we’re close,’ Olivia said to Cutler. ‘We have to get inside. Before …’
‘Before what?’ he asked. ‘Tell me. What happened to Liam?’
Olivia kept her mouth shut, pressing forward.
‘There’s someone dangerous out here, isn’t there? Someone killed that man.’