33

The helicopter did a loop of the valley over their heads, winging its way back to the capital city. She swallowed. Her mouth was dry, but she’d given her water bottle to Ben and now it was in the chopper with him. ‘Charles, you made it!’

‘Arrived this morning. I was just about to meet Doug at the teahouse when I saw you. What was that all about?’ He gestured to the helicopter.

‘Um, the man they were taking away, Ben Danforth … I knew him from back home. He stole tip money and I wanted to give him a chance to explain why.’

Charles squinted in the direction of the chopper with renewed interest. ‘You’re kidding?’

She shook her head. ‘Tenzing brought him down. Bad things have been happening on the mountain, Charles. Really bad things. I’m so glad you’re here.’ She broke down into tears, dropping her head into her hands. She had been so close to making the decision to turn round, to go home. She’d had one foot in the chopper. But she was still here. And she still had the mountain to face.

Charles patted her shoulder. ‘Talk to me …’

She inhaled deep into her lungs. ‘A woman died yesterday, below camp two. I was the one who found her.’

‘Cecily, that’s terrible.’ He shook his head. ‘What happened?’

‘Doug says that she got tangled in the abseil line. A freak accident. But Ben thinks something else happened.’

Charles narrowed his eyes. ‘What?’

‘He thinks someone killed her. He says he was there when she fell, and she wasn’t alone. Someone pushed her off the wall. He ran away because he feared for his life.’ She pulled out the note from her pocket. ‘I think maybe he left this for me as a warning.’

Charles clenched his jaw, staring at the note. ‘He could be right,’ he said, his voice soft.

Cecily’s eyes widened. ‘What? You can’t mean …’

‘Well, where better for a killer to hide, than somewhere already known as the death zone?’

Cecily stopped walking. How could Charles know that? He was confirming her worst fears and yet he’d only just arrived …

He turned to her, when he realized she wasn’t following. Then he gazed up to the mountain’s summit. High above their heads, Manaslu stood silent as a sentinel.

‘Cecily, up there, I’ve seen men’s minds bend and twist. People with the most rational, logical brains, with athletic bodies to rival Olympians, with survival skills honed in some of the toughest environments on Earth – they are no match for the high peaks. They come undone. They make bad decisions. They see things that aren’t there. Yes, I’ve seen the killer on the mountain. He’s in all of us. He’s up here.’ He tapped at the side of his temple. ‘The killer took that woman. He took Ben. But he won’t take us. Because as a team, we will look out for each other.’

She swallowed, her breath slowing as she understood what he was saying. Altitude sickness. It still wasn’t a comforting thought. It meant everyone – anyone – could be a danger. ‘What if someone on the team succumbs?’

‘You have me. I have faced that killer many times and bested him. If anything goes wrong, I will save you.’

She tore her gaze from the mountain, to look instead at this mountain of a man. She felt a rush of relief flood through her body. ‘I wish I had an ounce of your confidence …’

‘I am experienced.’ He smiled, and she returned it. He slung his arm round her shoulders. ‘We should go and find Doug. He’s lost many people to altitude. And yet he comes back every time. Soon you’ll learn what we already know, that while danger lurks up there, so too does unimaginable beauty. I’ve tried to find it in other places but never succeeded. It’s worth it.’

They meandered back to the teahouse, slowed by a group of schoolchildren who streamed out of their classroom as Charles passed. They tugged at his sleeve, begging for autographs and photos. Cecily gathered them together at a nearby wall, Charles in the centre, and took a big group picture. By the time they reached the teahouse, Doug and Mingma were waiting outside with Tenzing.

‘Look who I found on my trek in!’ said Charles, gesturing at Cecily.

Doug frowned. ‘What are you doing down here?’

She winced, preparing for his reaction. But Charles’s arrival had emboldened her. ‘I came to speak to Ben.’

Doug’s lips drew tightly together. ‘And?’

She glanced at Charles. ‘He was obviously very unwell. He’s on his way to Kathmandu.’

‘Let’s forget about that now,’ said Charles, clapping Doug on the back. ‘We need to focus on the task ahead. What’s the situation on the hill?’

She found herself once more awed in his presence. His height and long limbs gave him a looming, domineering gait, yet they were offset by his relaxed smile and sparkling blue eyes. She was drawn into his orbit, unable to tear her eyes away. When he stood, it was with a wide-legged stance, folded arms and straight back, like a military man. He exuded integrity, and she couldn’t believe he would be involved in anything as paltry and scandalous as using lines and lying about it. Anyone who said that was jealous – and it was easy to see why. Charles was magnificent.

Doug scratched at his temple. ‘There’s a window coming. Lines are fixed to the summit for the team. Should be good to go in a few days.’

Cecily tugged at the end of her braids. She hadn’t realized their summit push was happening so soon.

‘Great news. Looks like I got here just in time, don’t you think?’ Charles winked at her, and she gave a tentative smile. ‘I want to catch up with the rest of the team, so let’s make a move, shall we?’ He gestured for Cecily to take the first step.

‘Wait – I wanted to send a couple of emails first.’

Charles adjusted his baseball cap. ‘We’ve wasted enough time down here. Come on – we’re so close to the summit push now; you’ll benefit from the lack of distractions.’

‘I really won’t benefit from the lack of pay.’

‘You need to get your head in the game, Cecily. If you’re worried about what your editor is thinking, your family, your friends … your mindset won’t be right. Let’s focus on that, shall we?’ When she still hesitated, he sighed. ‘Think of it like this – would your editor rather some little blog now or the big interview with me later?’

‘The interview,’ she said.

‘Then let’s go.’

He walked off, brooking no more debate, and Cecily relented.

‘Did you manage to get your permits and admin sorted in Kathmandu?’ she asked, as they walked the path to base camp. Suddenly the route didn’t seem so difficult. She wasn’t sure if she was getting stronger, or if she just felt more confident in his presence.

‘Yes. All my summits have been confirmed. Not that that was in any doubt, but good to have it made official. I logged all the GPS tags and sent my photographs in, proof I made all the true summits without the lines.’

‘So many hoops to jump through.’

‘I don’t want there to be any doubt.’

‘Of course …’ She thought about bringing up Dario’s comments, but it didn’t seem like the moment. The mood was so much lighter. There would be time for the serious questions. ‘So once you’ve summited Manaslu, you’ll have the record!’

He laughed. ‘That’s right. But don’t jinx it now.’

Walking with the mountain guides was an education. Doug was deep in thought, walking up front with Tenzing. Yet even though his mind was clearly distracted, every step was taken deliberately, with not a single wobble. He could probably climb the mountain blindfolded and still beat her to the top.

Mingma nipped up the path with nimble grace, barely scratching its surface, despite carrying loads that doubled his body weight.

Charles, by contrast, was a beast. With every step the ground seemed to shake under his feet, the mountain submitting to him. He was cut from the same cloth as the early explorers, the ones who stalked the coldest, hardest corners of the Earth wrapped in layers of fur and wearing leather boots stuffed with straw. He was plucked from a different time.

A steady flurry of snow fell from the sky as they passed the first tent marking base camp. Even though the air was thick and soupy, word got out about Charles’s arrival. Climbers emerged to shake his hand, and she felt more like a groupie than a team member. But she kept her head held high. She was here on his invitation.

‘Charles! How were Shish and Cho this season?’ asked a man in a lurid green down jacket.

‘They say Shishapangma is an easier mountain but I was breaking trail in snow up to my waist. Wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. Cho – well, you guys know that story.’

‘What’s been the toughest peak so far?’

‘I thought I was going to say K2 or Annapurna, but you know what? Dhaulagiri really kicked my arse this year with the terrible weather conditions. One of the first on my list, but one of the toughest so far.’

‘At least Manaslu will be a breeze.’

‘It’s a mistake to underestimate this mountain. Sounds like she’s been tricky so far.’

Charles talked to everyone who approached. How many were here out of professional curiosity – and who was jealous? She noticed that Dario wasn’t anywhere in sight. No wonder, when he was the one who’d thrown the accusation out about Charles using the fixed lines. Of course she would give Charles the chance to defend himself. The fact that Dario wasn’t here to make those wild claims in person made her doubt their veracity even more.

She could feel men’s eyes on her wherever she went, and she huddled into the neck of her jacket. She’d been in a bubble up at the Manners Mountaineering camp, where she had Elise to buddy up with. Again, she noted how few other female faces there were.

‘Charles, dai, we’d better keep moving if we are to make it for lunch,’ said Mingma.

Charles nodded. ‘I’m starving, so can’t hang around much longer. Onwards!’

Eventually the Manners Mountaineering flag loomed out of the fog. She was amazed to find she wasn’t nearly as out of breath as a week ago. Acclimatization was working.

Yet she wasn’t happy to arrive at their camp. Despite Charles’s reassurance that Ben and Irina had been victims of hypoxia, her paranoia returned, dragged in with the fog that lingered around the mountain like a blanket.

A shroud.

With every climber who followed them to their dining tent, she wondered: Where were you when Irina died?

She trained her gaze on Charles. The mountain legend in the making. What if he was wrong and there was someone dangerous here?

What if the killer was on their team?

Elise had been in the tent with her all night, she was sure.

Zak had been alone, but his company name was plastered all over this expedition. She couldn’t imagine him jeopardizing that.

One of the Sherpas? Surely not. This was their livelihood. She’d seen how angry they were when Ben had taken the tip money. Killing clients would not be a good plan.

Doug, with all his anger-management issues, could be a suspect. He was obviously a strong enough climber to have pulled it off. Yet what Cecily had seen time and again was that he clung to his values – of respect for the mountain, and for the safety of the people on it – like a limpet to rock.

That left Grant. He had motive, opportunity and she felt he had the ability – no matter what Elise had said. He could easily be faking his weakness.

But even Grant wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something when Charles was around. Surely no one would.