At Fault by Beth Martin

Author:Beth Martin [Martin, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beth Martin Books
Published: 2018-07-02T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Over the next few days while Peter recovered, Grace didn’t mention earthquakes, the chasm, or research. The thick snow covering the landscape made it impossible to travel, so they stayed at their little camp. By the second day of isolation inside his tent, he needed a change of scenery.

“You sure you want to go outside?” Grace asked yet again. “It’s the same view as just opening the door on your tent. The ground is still covered in all that snow.”

He was sick of Grace taking care of everything for him. He needed to do something. Anything. “I just want to go outside,” he reiterated.

His left ankle was still swollen from a bad sprain, but he was pretty sure nothing was broken. Since he didn’t have a shoe now for that foot, he put an extra sock over his bandage, then wrapped it with a waterproof bag.

Even though it was still freezing out, the fresh air blowing against his face felt exhilarating.

“Here,” Grace said, looping his arm around her shoulders, “I’ll help.”

He stopped hobbling. “Grace, please stop. I don’t want your help. Just let me relieve myself in peace.”

“Right,” she said, flushing a bit.

Ever since his accident, she had been doting on him. For the most part it was nice, her company staving off boredom, but he was starting to feel better and needed to take care of himself.

She pointedly stared in the other direction as Peter slowly walked a good ways from their camp and did his business. As he hobbled back, he saw someone approaching off in the distance.

The man on skis looked like a giant even from far away. He was tall and overweight, his thick outerwear making him appear even larger. “Dr. Cork,” he called.

“Terry,” Peter yelled. Grace glanced between the two men, her brow knit in confusion.

His first exertion in days was harder on his body than he had expected, and by the time he caught up to Grace he needed to stop and catch his breath.

“Who is that?” she whispered.

“That is Dr. Hall,” he said between gasps.

Dr. Hall skied right up in front of the pair and stretched out a hand. Peter grasped it and accepted his firm handshake.

“Peter, what the hell are you doing here?”

Peter glanced at Grace before responding. “We were here to see if we could salvage the generator before we got snowed in.”

“Surely that thing was trashed by the earthquake,” Dr. Hall said.

Grace looked at Peter and bit her lip. She didn’t seem impressed by like Dr. Hall.

“Yes, I don’t think there’s anything that can be done,” Peter agreed.

“You look like you could use somewhere warm to stay until this snow melts. No snowplow would dare come this far out.”

“We’ve set up camp,” Grace said sternly. “We’re fine.”

Dr. Hall ignored her and continued, “I’ve got plenty of room in my RV. It sleeps six, and it’s just me and my PhD student Eileen right now. Hell, if you want, you could stay on and help me collect data on this fascinating new chasm.

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