Page 133 of The Chalet Girl

Chapter Eighty-One

‘You’re going?’ Cat exclaimed from their perch on the double chairlift. ‘Noooo!’ she bellowed theatrically into the pine forest nearby. A mountain hare scurried into its burrow, cotton tail bobbing as it darted away from Cat’s voracious echo.

‘Tonight,’ Emme nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You better be!’ Cat joked. ‘What aboutlos tres mosqueteros?’

‘Well you must come visit me in London. I’ll take you to Sheekey, Bouchon Racine and Scott’s…’

Cat looked impressed. They were restaurants Emme could always get a table at, as long as she booked in Dominique’s name.

‘I can’t change your mind?’

‘Well, Tiago did just offer me a job. But no. I need to go home. Get as far away from Lexy and Tristan as I can. Plus, there are things I need to make right in London.’

She thought of Tom and what a bad friend she had been. She hadn’t even called him back since the night Harry was sick. She had been so all-consumed by Tristan and the passion he had ignited in her– and how good that had felt– that she had neglected to fan the flames of friendship.

‘But you just mastered parallel turns!’ Cat lamented.

They’d done three blue runs already today, and althoughthe slopes and chairlifts were busier than Emme had ever seen, the sun was dazzling and the powder was perfect.

‘It’s a good way to go out…’ Emme said, not quite believing that she would ever feel like she could ski. Cat kicked the snow off her board while they soared over the fenced-off wildlife area. She leaned over the chair, looking at three figures skiing beneath. Two adults and a teenager, from the look of it. The teen was wearing blue and red stripes.

‘What?’ Emme said, following their trail.

‘They should not be skiing in that area…’ Cat said, irritated. ‘It’s protected woodland.’ She shook her head. ‘Plus it’s high avalanche risk today.Malditas turistas.’

Cat watched them sternly, the group was already near the bottom, so she figured they’d be OK, but bad ski etiquette pissed her off.

As they approached the top of a red run, Emme tried to soak in the view. The Silberschnee was stunning and the air was so fresh, such a far cry from London.

London.

She couldn’t wait to surprise her family. To see Zara and Zack on Christmas morning. To put this ridiculous town behind her and get back to work. Maybe Dominique would even get rid of the temp and give Emme her job back in the New Year.

I hope so.

At the top of the chairlift both friends glided off expertly; Cat on her snowboard, Emme on her skis. Her entire wardrobe comprised Cat’s spare clothes: a bright hotchpotch of vivid colours. Vibrant base layers. A multicoloured one piece. Mismatched socks and gloves and a well-worn Roxyhelmet. Although she had managed to get her boots and skis from the Harrington locker by the ski train without bumping into Lexy or Bill.

They did two red runs together, and now they were doing a third. Cat faster and much more competent than Emme of course, but Emme felt that she might have nailed her technique. She had arrived in Kristalldorf paralysed and incapable; now she was flying. Flying away from Lexy Harrington. Flying away from her jealousy about Tom and Chrissy. Flying away from Tristan. Flying away from the sad, naïve girl she thought she might be. Remembering she was a strong woman. An exceptional assistant her exceptional boss relied upon. She had learned more about herself, her body, her passion and her boundaries, than she thought possible until now, as she flew down the slope, her sadness lifting into exhilarating joy.

Cat was ahead of her, twisting deftly, before she turned and looked back up the slope towards Emme. She shouted something and shook her head, as she crossed her arms overhead and veered left, into a woodland area. Emme didn’t hear, but followed the trail Cat blazed with her board.

Through pine forests relieving their branches of snow, Emme struggled to keep her eye on Cat, whose pace had quickened as she boarded with an urgency. Ahead of her was another figure, one of the three who had been in the group before– the younger figure in the red and blue stripes– then Emme was struck with a terrible realisation: she had followed Cat into the protected wildlife area. None of them should be there.

Panic surged through Emme’s body, her thoughts fillingwith a primal fear, which she tried to reason with: terrible things didn’t tend to actually happen.

Until they did.

She heard a thunderous bang, as a shelf of snow fell in one roaring thud, onto her shoulders, compressing her down with unyielding force.

Chapter Eighty-Two

At first, Emme felt as though she was in a washing machine. Tumbling in a cold cycle as her body was caught up in the crashing cacophony of snow, carrying her limbs like a Catherine wheel. Her first thoughts were confused.

What the hell is going on?

Then realisation.