There was no dawn on Christmas Day. Inside the Antarctic Circle in summer, when the sun never sets, there can be no dawn. The sun simply begins to climb back up the sky. As it did, the Cape Adare slid gracefully through the Ross Sea, its wake the only ripple on the surface of the still water. The ship’s forward passage gradually slowed, until it came to a full stop and dropped anchor.
The whole world seemed to hold its breath. Still and silent.
On board the ship, the passengers were, for the most part still sleeping after a late night at the combined Christmas Eve party and wedding reception. The detritus of the party had been cleared away by the hotel staff and the main lounge sat empty, the Christmas tree lights glowing softly.
In the owner’s cabin, light streamed in from the balcony onto an easel and a painting which almost seemed to reflect the golden glow.
There was no movement in the expedition crew quarters. The team of guides and lecturers were getting all the sleep they could before what promised to be a busy day. This was the last stop on the voyage and the passengers’ last chance to set foot on the frozen continent. The turning point. At the end of the day, the sinking sun would see the Cape Adare heading north. The Christmas tree would be broken down before they reached the wild waters of the Southern Ocean, and then … home.
The only people who saw the sun begin its climb up the sky were the ship’s crew. The officers and seamen whose job it was to run the ship and protect those sleeping in their beds. There were always people on the bridge, their eyes moving in a constant circle from the glowing electronic displays on the instrument panels to the big glass windows and the vista beyond.
Captain Haugen was clutching a coffee cup as he made his way onto the bridge. He greeted his watch officer and listened to his report. The captain’s grey eyes swept the water. As he did, the stillness was disturbed. A whale breeched about half a kilometre from the ship. The giant creature seemed to be reaching towards the sun, wanting to be free of the ocean. Its body twisted as the leviathan fell back into the water with a mighty crash, sending water shooting into the air. In his years at sea, Captain Haugen had seen such a sight many times. But each time was as if it was the first – filling him with awe.
The captain sipped his coffee and looked at his officers.
‘Gentleman, it’s going to be a good day.’
‘This is your last chance to walk on the ice.’ Jenny was standing by the open hatch as the seaman prepared the Zodiac for the trip to shore. ‘This is one of the few places in the southern hemisphere where you are guaranteed a white Christmas.’
There was a buzz of excitement among the waiting passengers – all but two of them.
Glen Stewart and Kit Walker were standing at either side of the lobby – their eyes alternately flashing to Jenny – or to each other. For her part, Jenny was trying to ignore both of them – and failing miserably. But there was a clear difference in the way she looked at each man.
Vera wasn’t one to interfere. Never that. But she felt she was already involved. Last night, she had seen Kit storm off to his room as if the devil himself was on his tail. A few minutes later, Jenny had re-joined the party, with Glen hovering by her side. That may well have been the explanation for Kit’s mood. And Jenny had looked decidedly upset. Vera felt a motherly concern towards Jenny. The poor girl was so far from home and all alone, she needed someone to look out for her. She edged her way across the lobby, now packed even tighter as the group of English teenagers pushed forward, eager to get under way.
‘Excuse me; do you think you could let an old lady through?’
‘Yes, of course. Lads. Step back and let Mrs Horsley through.’ At the teacher’s command, the way across the crowded lobby magically opened up.
Bless the English, Vera thought. They have such impeccable manners.
‘Merry Christmas,’ Vera gave Jenny a quick kiss on the check.
‘Merry Christmas,’ she replied, but Vera could tell her mind was elsewhere.
‘It’s such a shame this is going to be our last excursion,’ Vera continued brightly. ‘Still, it promises to be fun.’
‘Yes, it does.’ Jenny raised her voice slightly. ‘We’ll start boarding the first Zodiac now. I just want to reiterate, this is not a settlement, as McMurdo was. This is as wild and pristine a part of the planet as you will ever see. I want to remind you to do no damage while we are ashore. No litter. No cigarettes …’ This was directed at the English lads and was greeted with averted eyes and soft mumbles.
‘And stay close together,’ Jenny continued before she stepped through the hatch into the Zodiac. ‘We don’t want to lose anyone.’
Vera was next through the hatch. Whereas she would normally have moved to the front of the boat to sit with Jenny, this time she chose a position near the back. She smiled sweetly at the seaman attending the engine, and waited. As she expected, Kit Walker was the next through the hatch. His eyes were firmly fixed on Jenny as he began moving towards the bow. But he wasn’t the person Vera was interested in.
As soon as Glen stepped into the Zodiac, his attention turned to the front of the boat, where Kit was settling himself down next to Jenny.
‘Oh, Glen,’ Vera said hurriedly. ‘I wonder would you mind sitting here with me,’ she blinked up at him, trying to compose her face into nervous, harmless elderly lady mode. ‘You being such an experienced sailor and all. Well, a woman of my years would feel so much safer with you close by.’
‘But of course.’ With a wistful glance in Jenny’s direction, Glen moved to Vera’s side.
Yes! Vera cast a quick sideways glance. Jenny was blushing slightly, trying hard to keep up a professional demeanour, while Kit sat silently beside her, his eyes hardly leaving her face. Vera could feel the tension between them.
She mentally nodded. Lian was now safely married and resting in her cabin. There were several days left before they made it back to Australia. Vera would see that Jenny wasted none of that precious time.
‘So Glen,’ Vera put a friendly smile on her face, ‘apart from the storm and the rescue and so forth, I really know nothing at all about you. Tell me everything.’
Jenny could hear Glen’s voice, but she was glad he was sitting at the far end of the Zodiac talking to Vera. She didn’t know how she would cope if both the men who had kissed her last night were sitting next to her. It was almost more than she could take with Kit sitting so close she could hear his breathing.
‘Make sure you hold on tightly, Mrs Anderson,’ Jenny said to one of the arriving passengers. ‘The water might be calm, but we don’t want to risk losing you.’
The passenger who had just settled into the boat nodded and carefully wrapped her fingers around the rope lining the edge of the boat.
Jenny risked a quick sideways glace, only to look full into Kit’s brilliant blue eyes. It was like running head first into a brick wall. She felt her heart skip a beat, and her lips tingled with the memory of his kiss. But when she smiled, his lips didn’t reply. Jenny was as eager as Kit obviously was to keep their private moments just that – private. But surely a smile wouldn’t kill him.
Or was he already regretting last night … thinking it was a mistake.
Any further thought was driven from her head as Seaman Brown gave her a nod. The powerful roar of the Zodiac’s engine put paid to any chance of conversation as they sped across the water towards the headland that was their destination.
In the madness of disembarking passengers from the boats, Jenny managed to separate herself from both men, but it wasn’t to last long. As Karl Anders split the passengers into smaller groups for their walks on the ice, Jenny realised she was to have not only Kit but also Glen under her guidance. She was to take a party to the very top of the headland along a rough and tiring path. Possibly due to their hangovers, a lot of the passengers had decided to take a less strenuous option and stay at sea level, so Jenny set out with only a small group.
‘This part of Antarctica is not inhabited at all,’ she said as they started their long climb. ‘Cruise ships bring visitors here – but it is otherwise untouched – except of course for the penguins.’
‘I wish there were dogs and a sled,’ someone complained from the rear of the group.
‘Dogs are banned now,’ Jenny said. ‘The last ones were removed in 1994. Skidoos have replaced the dog sleds.’
‘Well, I wish I had one of those …’
The climb was starting to get steeper. Jenny was beginning to feel the effort. On either side of her, Glen and Kit seemed to be unaffected by the cold or the exertion. Once, when she slipped, they both leaped to give her a hand. She brushed them both off and doubled her pace to try to draw ahead of them.
They kept up. Both of them.
Jenny stomped hard on the ice, slamming each step down with increased fervour. She was mad and getting madder by the minute. And she wasn’t entirely sure why, but she suspected it had something to do with being kissed – twice.
She’d come on this cruise to get away from a hopeless relationship with Ray – a cheater and a liar on whom she had wasted so much of her time and emotion.
A holiday romance, that’s what she had been looking for. She could have it too. With Glen. He was a nice guy. Handsome, particularly now the bruises had faded. Fun. Open and honest – that was important. He’d been paying her a lot of attention – and his kiss last night had made a very clear offer. It hadn’t been a bad kiss. Under other circumstances, she might have called it a good kiss. But last night, it had paled by comparison with that other kiss … a kiss that had barely deserved the name yet had touched her to the very core of her being.
She couldn’t just have a bit of a fling with Glen. Because she didn’t want Glen. She wanted Kit Walker.
She wanted him despite the fact that he had followed her, and watched her and painted her … which was all a bit freaky when you got right down to it. And he never told her what he was doing. Still hadn’t. Those breathtaking canvasses would probably hang in important art galleries. He’d make money from paintings of her. He would no doubt sell them to hang in some stranger’s home. And he hadn’t told her. So much for honesty. He was as bad as Ray in his own way.
But the moments they had spent together on the upper deck had been so very special. They had shared secrets close to their hearts. They had shared the flight of the albatross. That first meeting at the lounge … even then they had shared something. Jenny tried not to think back to that first night on board ship, the sight of Kit in the sauna. Memories of his naked body, coming after the intimacy of last night’s kiss left her … Well, it was a good thing they were in the coldest place on the planet.
That kiss! It hadn’t even been a proper kiss. Just a peck really. A Christmas kiss. The kind of kiss you give a relative at the family gathering – because you have to.
Not much of a kiss.
The most wonderful kiss she had ever experienced.
‘Jenny, careful!’
Strong fingers closed around her arm. She shook her head and looked around. She had reached the top of the headland, but was so caught up in her thoughts; she might just have walked straight off the edge into the ice-filled ocean below, had Glen not grabbed her.
‘Sorry. Thanks …’ she muttered and carefully removed her arm from his grasp; aware as she did that Kit was standing just out of reach, his face cold and unreadable.
Quickly gathering her wits, Jenny launched into her prepared lecture. All around her, the passengers were ooh-ing and aah-ing and the clicking of cameras was almost deafening. Jenny wished they would all go away and just leave her alone. Give her time to think. She answered questions, and acted as official photographer for group shots, all the while ignoring Kit’s silence and Glen’s attempts to get closer to her.
At long last, a glance at her watch told her it was over. The expedition team had been told to make sure their groups weren’t late back to the landing point. Tonight, the Cape Adare would turn homewards. While the passengers celebrated Christmas with a big dinner and party, Jenny was seriously considering breaking the ban on staff drinking. Right now, a stiff drink sounded very appealing.
‘If everyone has all the photos they need, it’s time we started back down,’ she said loudly, avoiding looking at either Glen or Kit. She felt a bit like a sheep dog as she mustered her group and got them headed back down the tricky slope. Glen was walking next to her, holding forth with great enthusiasm about the wonderful view, the party that night and life in general. Kit was a few steps behind, on the other side of her, saying nothing.
She wanted to shoot both of them.
‘Oh! Jenny!’ One of the passengers materialised in front of her. Jenny struggled to remember the woman’s name, but couldn’t.
‘My bracelet!’ The woman looked like she was about to burst into tears. ‘My bracelet is gone. It must have fallen off up there,’ she waved a distraught hand in the direction of the headland.
‘Are you sure you had it on when you went up?’ Jenny asked, mentally cursing the woman.
‘Yes. My husband gave it to me this morning. For Christmas,’ the distraught woman said. Jenny remembered her now. Her husband was much older than her, and had not felt up to climbing the headland. ‘I have to go back and find it.’
Jenny glanced at her watch again. By rights, she wasn’t supposed to leave the passengers, and she certainly couldn’t let the woman climb back up to the headland alone.
‘I have to find it,’ the woman wailed.
‘Was it very valuable?’ Jenny crossed her fingers hoping for the right answer.
‘Yes. It is an antique. It’s worth a lot of money. And he’ll be so angry if he knows I lost it.’
‘I can’t let you go back,’ she started to say, and was greeted by another loud wail. ‘And you’d never find it. It could be anywhere.’
‘No. I know where it is. I was sitting on a rock at the top of the trail, and I was showing it to one of the other women. I bet it came off then.’
Jenny vaguely remembered seeing the two women together. She sighed. There was only one solution. But if she tried – it might solve two problems.
‘Glen,’ she said. ‘I need you. And you too Kit. I need the two of you to stay with this group and see them safely back to the boat. I’ll go back and get the bracelet. I know where it will be.’
‘You can’t go alone,’ Kit said. ‘Let Glen take them back to the boat. I’ll come with you.’
Being alone with Kit was the last thing she needed right now. The second last thing she needed was to be alone with Glen. So she jumped in before he could say a word.
‘No. I’ll be fine. I can’t allow a passenger to go back up that headland now. You two guide the group back down.’
‘But …’
‘Thank you,’ said Jenny and before anyone could speak another word, she turned around and set off back up the steep slope, ignoring the effusive thanks from the distraught woman she was leaving behind.
The headland seemed twice as steep this time. Jenny was breathing heavily by the time she got to the top. When she finally paused for breath, she turned and looked back the way she had come. In the distance she could see tiny people milling around the landing site, and a couple of boats moving between the ship and the shore.
The flat area at the top of the headland bore the marks of the passengers’ visit. Boot-prints in the snow would soon be eradicated by the wind. Jenny searched her memory for the picture of the women, sitting on the rocks admiring what must have been the bracelet. There! Jenny walked over to the grey boulders which had been exposed by the wind. The boulders were fairly close to the steep edge of the headland, and she shook her head in wonder that the woman had been so careless in such a place. Very carefully, one hand on the boulders for balance, she looked around. A flash of brilliance showed her where the bracelet lay, very close to the edge. Cautioning herself about safety, Jenny lay down and reached for the glint of gold and diamonds. Her fingers closed over the bracelet, and she slid backwards.
Jenny got to her feet then looked down at the bracelet. It was beautiful with a dozen or more huge diamonds glinting on gold. She could believe it was very, very expensive. What sort of a fool, she wondered, would wear such a thing on an expedition to climb a snow covered headland? Jenny secured the bracelet in one of the packets in her jacket and turned to go.
A kind of path was now visible. The snow had been packed down into hard ice by the boots of the visitors. The summer sun had done its work too. Despite the fact that temperatures were still below zero, a slick of semi-melted ice had formed on top of the path. Jenny had taken only a few steps, when her feet shot out from under her. She slid a little, arms failing for purchase, then found herself rolling off the path, toward the steepest side of the ridge. She was gathering speed as she slid towards another grey outcrop of rock.
Please – let that stop me – she thought.
Her body crashed into the rocks, and ceased moving. Jenny opened her eyes and stared down at the snow, just inches from her face. There was a stain of red marring the whiteness.
She struggled to understand why, as the gleaming whiteness begun to turn a dull grey. Then everything went black.