The water’s clearer than before. I see every detail of Kit’s fine face. It takes my breath away. His hand takes mine. The cold of it numbs my fingers and sends an ache all the way up my arm. Slowly, gently we float towards the daylight. At the surface the ice stops us so we’re trapped like butterflies at a window. Kit lets go of me. He reaches up and pushes with all his strength. The ice doesn’t budge an inch.
His head drops, his shoulders shake. I can’t bear to see him like this.
Yet something strange is happening. There’s a handprint in the ice, at the place where Kit touched it. And now it’s gone dark like it’s starting to melt. My heart leaps. I point wildly.
‘Look!’ I cry, though he can’t hear me. ‘Look!’
He reads my face and when he turns and sees it too, the ghost of a smile appears.