The Damnable Legacy by G Elizabeth Kretchmer

Author:G Elizabeth Kretchmer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Booktrope
Published: 2015-02-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

11,200’ Elevation

The team spent the next day resting at Camp 2. Early on Wednesday morning, before the sun had a chance to heat the ground and any other teams headed out, they abandoned their skis and snowshoes, donned their crampons, and retraced their path toward Windy Corner, where they would retrieve the small cache. From there they would climb to the next camp at 14,200 feet.

Although they followed the same path as two days earlier, there were no footprints or sled tracks left. The wind had rearranged the snow, and now it was a barren surface, blinding in its emptiness. The predawn light was almost luminescent, a ghostly purple gray, and the entire landscape had become eerie with howling wind and no evidence that any other humans had ever been there before, or would ever be there again, except for a scrap of red nylon caught under a boulder, slapping at the air and trying to break free.

The trail was knee deep in some spots, and I could almost feel my own legs aching. Brad had it the worst as the leader in the thick, pristine snow. It was arduous work, one of the downsides of being the first team out. The wind had picked up, too; by the time they reached the top of Motorcycle Hill this time, it was an incorrigible fifty miles per hour with bits of ice, and even rock, whipping through the air. When something hit Brad’s goggles, he held up his hand and said it was time for everyone to take a break. They stepped off the trail and sat on a slab of rock that had been swept clean of snow since the last time they’d been there.

I watched Ryan nibble on a peanut butter and chocolate energy bar that looked teeth-shatteringly hard. Nick sat with his head in his hands, and when Ryan asked how he felt, Nick admitted he had a headache again.

“This one’s a lot worse,” he said. He was breathing hard, and when he ripped the goggles from his face, you could see he was flushed and sweating.

“He needs to go back,” Ryan called to the group. “I don’t think this is the flu.”

“Since when are you the expert?” Will shouted back into the wind. He, like Nick, was breathing more heavily.

“Calm down, Will,” Lynn said. “Maybe we can let Nick rest here awhile, and the rest of us could carry some of his gear for him.” She motioned for Will to get Nick’s pack.

“It’s definitely the altitude now,” Brad said. “Maybe we should all turn back.” He had also been panting hard before they stopped.

“Oh please,” Lynn said. “We’re not even at 13,000 yet. Nick’s young. He’ll be fine. Let’s just help him with his gear.”

Nick coughed. “I wish you’d all stop talking about me as if I wasn’t even here.”

The climbers gathered around Nick but continued to argue.

“Good thing we didn’t stay at Windy, like you wanted to,” Brad said.

“How could you say that?” Lynn said. “If we’d camped there then perhaps we’d be less stressed now.

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