Meet Me Under the Northern Lights by Emily Kerr

Author:Emily Kerr [Kerr, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008433611
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Chapter Seventeen

Just before midnight, there was a hubbub on the front steps. I rushed to the door, hovering anxiously at the threshold, unsure whether I was brave enough to go out and see whatever sight might confront me. I tried to count the shadows moving around, but it was hard to tell how many people were there and what kind of a state they were in. When the door handle eventually opened, everything went into slow motion, and all I could hear was the sound of my own heart thudding.

Johanna was first inside, closely followed by Rudi and then finally Tommi, who shut the door behind him, a solemn expression on his face. I was convinced my worst fears had been realised. The atmosphere in the room grew as cold as outside. A chilling sense of dread filled my veins as I looked between them, fearing the news that I was about to be told. I forced myself to ask the question, but I didn’t know if I was strong enough to hear the answer.

‘What happened to Heidi?’ It was if someone else had spoken. I barely recognised the quavering, anxious sound of my own whisper. Heidi’s name seemed to echo around the room.

At first, I thought Tommi was going to answer me. But his face grew hard and he turned away and walked off, as if the sight of me was too much to endure.

‘Rudi, Johanna, please, tell me what’s happened,’ I begged. Had Tommi gone to ring the authorities? I could already picture the arrival of the emergency services, lights flashing on the snow, sirens muffled, because why turn the siren on when the person you are seeking to rescue is already beyond help. Did Heidi have family back at home waiting for her to return? What would they think when she didn’t come back? I knew from my own experience of tragedy that life would never be the same again for them. I didn’t care what the rest of the world would think of me when they learned what I had done. After this, I would deserve whatever cruelty they threw at me.

Johanna could obviously see the distress in my features because she took pity on me. Speaking slowly and deliberately, she led me over to the window-seat, sat me down with a mug of hot sweet tea to try to stop my hands shaking, and told me what had happened.

‘Heidi went down to the quinzee with only a sleeping bag and her winter coat. She thought it would be fun to camp out there, an adventure to brag about with her friends. But then she mistakenly thought she saw the Northern Lights, so she left her sleeping bag by the quinzee and wandered out onto the lake to find an area where she could get a better look at this sky.’

I felt the bile rising in my throat again.

‘We found her staggering around near the bridge, rambling about shooting stars. She was wet and cold, and a few metres from the area where the ice is thin.

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