[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.We ought to get along if we can.”“Want me to break trail?” Vanessa offered, as they crawled out of their sleeping bags.“No, thanks, really, I’m fine.Your pills are wonder workers, I never felt better.Truly, Vanessa, I’mnot just trying to stay ahead.If I need help, I’ll say so, I promise.But I know the way and you don’t.Ican manage.Believe me, if I get chilled or over-tired, I’ll let you take the lead, but even with me leading,a lot of the landmarks aren’t going to be visible.” She slung her pack over the pony’s back.“Let’s getthe loads on.Cinch them well, the footing’s likely to be bad.”There was a thick heavy silence around the ledge as they cinched loads and packs.In the dampheavy air, even the small sounds made by the animals seemed unreal.The snow was firm and crunchingsoftly underfoot, and not as slippery as Magda had feared.She looked back down the trail they hadcome up.It seemed to her that they were very high, but above them the trail went on, curving aroundrocks and disappearing.Jaelle put one hand on her pony’s rein; she had tethered the chervine to it so that the pack beast hadno choice but to follow.Camilla took the reins of the next three animals, and began climbing after Jaelle.Here the trail was steep but by no means impassable.Magda gestured to Cholayna to go before her, and waited until the Terran woman was several stepsup the trail before setting her animals on the way and beginning to climb.Up and up the trail led, and asthey climbed the sun came out.There was a clear view, where the trail curved, of a whole range of hillsbeyond; the path led steeply upward, against the sharp rock cliff, to a notch between two peaks.“Ravensmark,” Jaelle said, pointing, and started up toward it.Magda climbed.She felt fresh and strong, but though she climbed steadily for hours, the passseemed no nearer.About every hour, Jaelle called a halt for rest, but even so she was tiring, and afterthree or four rests, she called Vanessa forward to take the lead.“As soon as we’re through the pass, I’ll lead again.There’s a nasty bit just below the top, on theother side.”Vanessa nodded assent.Jaelle dropped back beside Camilla, who looked like a thundercloud.“Want to take the rear? I don’t feel up to it,” Jaelle said, and Camilla went quietly back along the trailto take up the rearguard, pausing to ask how Cholayna was doing.“It helps to be able to see where we’re going.”Magda felt she would rather not see.She kept her eyes away from the edges.As Camilla passed Magda on her way, she paused to draw a deep breath.“We’ll be past the worstsoon.From there, it’s downhill.”Magda was almost too short of breath to nod her gratitude for that.With the sun out, it was morecheerful, but the snow was beginning to melt and the going was more slippery.For the final steep haulupward to the pass, she had to stretch herself to the utmost; she could hear her breath whistling loudly inher lungs as she struggled up the last bit to stand between Jaelle and Cholayna in the throat of the peaks.Jaelle swore under her breath; pointed.“That used to be the trail,” she said.Now the pathway downward was buried beneath tons of rockand shifting gravel, half hidden in the snow.“Washout, rockslide, the gods alone know what else under there.Old rotten ice from the peak musthave crashed down on it in the spring rains, and that part of the trail is gone for good.”“So what do we do now?” Vanessa asked.“Can it be crossed at all?”“Your guess is as good as mine.Lightweight, climbing, I could get across it.The chervines couldprobably get down.Look—” She pointed.“Down past that clump of trees, the trail’s fairly good again.At least there is some kind of trail! The rockslide covered about five hundred meters, more or less, withrocks and rubble.It’s steep, and it looks nasty.It’s probably not as bad as it looks—”“Unless all this loose snow starts sliding down again.It looks as if there might be loose rocks, too,which could start avalanching down when we set foot on it,”Camilla said, coming to join them.“No wonder we had nightmares back there.” The women stoodlooking down, while Magda and Cholayna, knowing they could contribute nothing to the discussion,stood silent, looking down at the chaos of snow, rock and old ice heaped up below them where oncethere had been at least the semblance of a trail.At last Vanessa suggested, “Jaelle, you and I could rope up and scout the way down on foot.Atleast we’d know then whether it’s solid enough underfoot to bring the animals down after us.With thesnow this deep, it’s likely to be frozen hard enough underneath that it won’t start sliding too fast.Thatwas a damned hard freeze last night.”Jaelle thought that over for a minute, then she said, “I don’t see any alternative.Unless someone elsehas a better idea?”Nobody did.It was clearly obvious that the only other choice was to turn around, retrace their stepsover Ravensmark and detour through Hammerfell.They had certainly lost any chance of catching upwith Rafaella at Barrensclae.“If we’d known,” Jaelle said grimly, rummaging through a load, looking for her ice axe, “we couldhave taken the Great Northern Road directly to Nevarsin.”“And if the Duke of Hammerfell had worn a skirt,” Camilla said, “he might have been the Duchess.”“Jaelle, hindsight is always twenty-twenty vision,” Cholayna reminded her.“We did the best wecould.The important thing is that we’re here, and so far we’re safe.”Jaelle said, with a twitchy small grin, “Let’s just hope we can still say that tonight.Vanessa, give methe rope.Do you want to lead down, or shall I?”“I don’t see that it makes any difference.We can both see where the road ought to be, and isn’t.I’lstart.” She snapped the buckle of a body harness around her waist, tested the free passage of the ropethrough it, and took a firm grip on her ice axe.“A few feet of slack.That’s right.” She placed her feet gingerly on the snow and rubble and startedto pick her way down; went over the edge, slid, and the rope went tight.Magda heard Cholayna’sbreath go out in a gasp, but after a minute Vanessa called up, “I’m all right, lost my footing.Tricky here.Let me find a solider step.Hang on tight.”Presently her head reappeared, climbing up.“This way won’t go.There’s a drop-off of forty meters just below here, I’ll have to scout over thisway.” She went slowly leftward, picking her footing with caution.This time she managed to keep herfeet under her; after a time, it began to look rather like a trail.Jaelle handed the rope to Magda.“You and Camilla belay me from here.” She started after Vanessa, picking her way carefully in therut of Vanessa’s trail.Camilla came and stood behind Magda, ready to hold the rope hard if either of thewomen below them should slip.They were out of sight now.Magda, Camilla holding her firmly roundthe waist, felt her breath coming hard.Part of it was fear; the rest was helplessness.She was no goodhere: she had no climbing skills, no mountain-craft.All she could do was hang on and trust her freemate [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]