140871101X by Jane Harper

Author:Jane Harper [Harper, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Day 3: Saturday Morning

The icy wind blew in from the south and didn’t let up. The women trudged along wordlessly, their heads down against the gale. They had found a tight path, something that was almost a path, at least, something perhaps used by animals. By mutual unspoken consent, no-one pointed out when it vanished under their feet from time to time. They simply lifted their boots higher through the undergrowth and squinted at the ground until something that was almost a path appeared again.

Bree had woken hours earlier, fractious and freezing, unsure how long she’d been asleep. Nearby, she could hear Jill snoring. The woman was a heavy sleeper. Or perhaps simply exhausted. She hadn’t even woken when their makeshift canopy had blown apart in the night.

As Bree lay on the ground staring at the pale morning sky, her bones seemed to ache deep in her body and she felt thick-mouthed from thirst. She could see that the bottles Lauren had put out to collect rainwater had toppled over. They’d be lucky to get a mouthful each. At least the food Bree had left tucked next to her sister’s head was gone. She was both relieved and disappointed.

Bree still wasn’t quite sure why she hadn’t told the others about her uneaten meal. She’d opened her mouth but some long-buried lizard part of her brain had stopped the words from coming out. It scared her a little to think why. Survive was something she joked about doing at her desk until Friday night drinks rolled around. In any other context, the word felt alien and frightening.

She’d tried to talk to her sister that morning as they rolled up their soaked sleeping bags.

‘Thank you.’

It had been Beth’s turn to brush her aside. ‘Forget it. But I don’t know why you’re so scared of them.’

‘Of who?’

‘All of them. Alice. Jill. Daniel, for that matter.’

‘I’m not scared. I just care what they think. They’re my managers, Beth. And yours, by the way.’

‘So what? You’re as good as any of them.’ Beth had stopped packing and looked at her then. ‘In fact, I wouldn’t be clinging too hard to Alice’s coat-tails if I were you.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘It doesn’t matter. But be careful around her. You might do better finding someone else’s arse to lick.’

‘For God’s sake, it’s called taking my career seriously. You should try it.’

‘And you should try to get some perspective. It’s only a bloody job.’

Bree didn’t say anything, because she knew her sister would never understand.

It had taken twenty minutes to pack up their makeshift camp and another hour to decide what to do. Stay or go. Stay. Go.

Alice had wanted to move. Find the campsite, find a way out, do something. No, Lauren had argued, they should stay on high ground. It was safer there. But the wind was wilder there too, slapping against their faces until they were stinging and flushed. When the drizzle started again, even Jill stopped nodding patiently when Lauren spoke. They huddled under

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