The phone woke Johnny and he struggled to find it, not quite remembering where he was. It was mountain rescue calling, and his heart sank.
‘Yes?’
‘Sorry, Johnny, we need you. We’ve got three lads on call attending the Whinlatter site, and we’ve just had another call come in.’
‘What’s going on up at Whinlatter?’
‘They’re helping secure the entrances to the forest. There’s mountain bikers up there going mad, apparently. Their usual route is barred and they’re having hissy fits.’
‘Why? What’s happened?’
The cycle routes up and down Whinlatter were famous for their risk and unpredictability, as well as, of course, their elevation. The annual Christmas ride was a popular gathering. Johnny had cycled Whinlatter before, many times, and although it wasn’t as tough as Hard Knott, it was a leg-breaker, that was for sure. He could imagine the groups of cyclists turning up, looking forward to the deserted peaks on Christmas Day, only to find their way barred. It must be something important.
‘A body’s been found, and it’s chaos up there. A cyclist almost fell on top of it.’
‘What?’ Johnny sat up. The blanket fell to the floor and he peered over his shoulder at Josie, who was still on her phone. Wendy was asleep leaning against Ted; Johnny thought they looked contented. If only Kelly could see them. He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus. Like Kelly, he was glad he hadn’t had a drink. Helen in the mountain rescue office continued talking.
‘The thaw exposed her. Gossip is it’s the schoolgirl.’
Johnny put his head in his hand and slowly stood up. His first thought was of Kelly.
‘Where do you want me?’
‘We’ve had a call from Skiddaw. Someone has taken a tumble on the scree; they fell a couple of hundred feet.’
‘How the hell did they do that?’ Skiddaw was like the kindergarten of climbs, path all the way and tame even by English Lakes standards.
‘Well they’re giggling like lunatics. There’s at least three of them, and I can’t get any sense out of them. All I know is they’re lost, and one of them has a bone sticking out of the side of his leg, but, and I quote, “we’ve toked him up nice and good, and he’s out of it”.’
That was all he needed. It happened from time to time; the Lake District attracted romantics and rebels, both of whom seemed to enjoy getting high on the top of a mountain. The problem was that it was fucking dangerous. A group of kids had done the same last New Year’s Eve and almost died on Scafell Pike. It didn’t matter how tame they were, drugs altered minds, and drastically adjusted distance and perception, so that a crevice or drop-off might appear the size of a ditch when it was actually a thousand feet.
He left the decking and went into the house to tell Josie he had to go out. She nodded and yawned.
‘You had a good day?’ he asked.
‘Yeah. Look what Leah got, Dad. Isn’t it cool?’ She showed him her phone. He presumed that they all posted their presents online and it saddened him. He looked at the photo. Josie’s friend was sitting on her bedroom floor, surrounded by boxes and bags labelled with famous names. It made his stomach turn.
He looked at her and almost lost it, saying no, it’s not fucking cool to gloat and pose and show off when some people have fuck all. But he bit his tongue.
‘Whatever floats your boat. Personally I like my flip-flops.’
At least that raised a smile, and it was genuine. He couldn’t help think that Josie’s enthusiasm for her friend’s labels was laboured.
‘I don’t know how long I’ll be. Stay here?’
She nodded. She seemed happy to hang out with the old folk, whom she found amusing. Johnny nodded to Ted, who stuck up his thumb.
‘Something come up?’ he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Wendy. Johnny nodded.
‘I’ll tell you later. Kelly will probably call you too.’
Ted looked concerned. It was a while since he’d been on call on days like this.
Johnny went to Josie to kiss the top of her head, and tucked his phone under his chin, calling Kelly. She confirmed the find.
‘Jesus,’ he said.
‘I know. We don’t know if it’s her yet, but it’s a female adolescent, and as far as I’m aware, I’ve got no others missing at the moment.’
‘Fuck, Kelly, I’m so sorry.’
‘I’m going up there now. What are you up to?’
‘I’ve got to go up Skiddaw. All the others are busy guarding the area around Whinlatter.’
‘Don’t worry, the coppers will have plenty of backup soon, and they’ll be able to relieve you.’
Johnny looked at Josie before he left, thankful that as far as he could tell she was clean from substances. She didn’t seem to get agitated, apart from the obvious teenage triggers; her skin was clear, and she showed no signs of elevated organ stress. Before Johnny joined mountain rescue, he’d worked in rehab centres around London, counselling and intervening, trying to get as many addicts as possible onto a decent sober programme. Eighty-five per cent relapsed, and plenty of them died. Lots of them were old army buddies, unable to cope with the pedestrian pace of civilian life and the demons in their heads.
He grabbed his keys and went to the door, glancing back one last time.
And stopped.
Wendy wasn’t the right colour. Ted saw the panic in his face and looked down at her, then sat up, holding onto her so she wouldn’t fall. Johnny rushed to them and held his fingers against her neck.
‘Josie, call 999!’ he shouted.
‘I didn’t feel anything …’ Ted stopped abruptly.
Johnny listened to Wendy’s airway and heard a slight passage of air, but her pulse was way too low.
‘What?’ Josie turned around and took her earphones out.
‘Hold her!’ Johnny told Ted, and dialled the emergency services himself.
‘Oh my God, what’s wrong with her?’ Josie had begun to realise that all was not well.
Johnny and Ted laid Wendy gently on the ground, getting her into position so they could administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Both knew they couldn’t do it if she was breathing; they’d kill her. Their eyes met over her limp body, and Ted shook his head.
‘Ted?’ Johnny took his arm. He needed him for support, but also for his expert medical knowledge.
‘Wendy? Wendy?’ Ted repeated over and over.
‘Dad?’ Josie sounded panicked.
‘Get a cold flannel,’ Johnny said, just for something for her to do.
‘Wendy!’ Ted shouted. Johnny knew they were losing her.
The ambulance was with them in under seven minutes. Wendy was loaded into it and Ted accompanied her. As Johnny watched it go, he called Kelly but she didn’t answer. He ran to his car. He had to go to the Skiddaw job.