Patrick Woodhead - The Cloud Maker (2010)

‘Luckily we have Luca here who, in a storm, in the middle of God-knows-where, still manages to come up with this place. It’s better than the bloody Ritz, mate.’

‘Yeah. We were lucky. It would have been impossible to dig a snow hole out there in that wind.’

Bill nodded slowly. If it had just been Luca and him, they would probably have made it through till dawn by toughing it out. But with Shara in tow it was a different story. They both knew that if they hadn’t found the shelter of this cave, the cold would have probably killed her.

Luca fell silent, absent-mindedly stirring a packet of dehydrated food into the saucepan before glancing towards the back of the cave.

‘I think there’s a draught coming in from over there,’ he said, leaving the saucepan and pulling the lighter from his jacket pocket. The flame leaped up, then pulled sideways as the airflow drew across it.

‘There must be another entrance somewhere farther back . . .’

He got to his feet and was starting to edge his way towards the back of the cave, his head bent low against the ceiling, when the food started bubbling by his feet. Curbing his curiosity, he knelt back down and began carefully spooning it out into three small plastic bowls. As he handed one to Shara she tried to decline, feeling too tired to eat, but Luca pressed it into her hands.

‘Eat it. It tastes horrible, but it’ll do you good.’

Bill was spooning his into his mouth without comment. Within a few minutes he had finished and, with a yawn, was settling deeper into his sleeping bag.

‘You know, as hotel rooms go this one’s not bad, but you might have chosen somewhere that smelled better,’ he said, sniffing the air a few times.

‘I was a little pushed for time,’ Luca replied, his eyes flicking to the back of the cave again. He sat with his shoulders bent forward, as if the wind was still blowing behind him.

Bill sniffed again.

‘What is that smell?’

‘Whatever it is, I’m not going back outside to find somewhere else.’

Luca gently took the bowl from Shara. She had only eaten half, but her eyes were already starting to close.

‘You’ll feel better in the morning,’ he said to her. ‘I’m sure the storm will have blown itself out by then.’

Chapter 29

Luca’s eyes jerked open. Something had changed.

He blinked, trying to adjust them to the darkness.

A noise must have woken him, but it was pitch black in the cave and he couldn’t even make out the shapes of the others in their sleeping bags, lying just a few feet away. With nothing to focus on, he lay still and listened, feeling the hairs stand up on his arms.

There was a scraping sound, the quiet shuffle of something soft brushing across rock. Luca steadied his breathing, wondering if it could be one of the others moving in their sleep, but the noise was definitely coming from farther back in the cave.

More silence. Then a long, deep inhalation.

The sound was suspicious, purposeful; a sense probing an unfamiliar aroma as it filtered across the still, dark cave. Luca froze, his mind fogged from sleep as he tried to understand what was happening. Then, suddenly, he felt a grip on his arm, making his whole body go rigid with fear. He saw the dark outline of a figure bending over him, then felt the soft brush of long hair against his cheek.

‘It’s a bear.’

He heard Shara’s voice, so soft it was almost inaudible. She was very close, her lips almost touching his ear as she breathed the words to him. He could smell the aroma of her skin and feel her cheek pressing against his.

‘Get out of here,’ she whispered.

As Luca moved forward, there was a faint rustle from his sleeping bag and he felt Shara’s hand squeeze his arm harder. She moved away silently as he woke Bill, who was sleeping just beside him.

On their hands and knees and blinded by darkness, Bill and Luca silently pulled themselves out of their sleeping bags. They had been sleeping with most of their clothes on already, but needed their boots and jackets if they were to make it in the storm outside. As they fumbled across the hard rock, every soft scrape of their boots or rustle of clothing seemed to betray their presence, the noises echoing across the dead silence of the cave. Luca’s leg brushed over the nylon of his sleeping bag, prompting another long, inquisitive sniff from the back of the cave.

As he crawled forward, Luca realised that Shara was now waiting by the entrance. He came up next to her, seeing her face in the murky light filtering through from the storm outside. She was already fully dressed and ready to leave, her sheepskin jacket buttoned up and her rucksack at her feet. How had she managed to get ready so fast?

Then came a deep growling. At first it was a soft sound, almost gentle, a guttural note that rolled around the rock walls. Within seconds, however, it had gathered in strength, only moments away from becoming a roar.

Luca pushed aside the rucksack blocking the entrance, sending a soft swirl of white noise into the cave as the space was unplugged. Then, grabbing Shara by the shoulder of her jacket, he pulled her forward. Without looking back, she slid out under the overhang. Luca could feel Bill’s presence right behind him and pulled him forward to follow her out. As he did so, he adjusted his balance, moving his right foot just a few centimetres to the left and his boot connected with the saucepan resting on the stove. For a split second there was silence, then came a sickening crash as the metal clattered down on to the rocky floor.

The growling exploded into a roar.

Luca felt a rush of air from behind and instinctively threw himself headlong into the opening. Misjudging the distance, he smacked his head on the roof of the overhang, but somehow the main bulk of his body got through. Clutching his forehead, he rolled out on to the snow and into the terrifying intensity of the storm outside.

The wind was so loud that it whipped painfully across his body, the loose spindrift almost blinding him. As he got to his feet, staggering away from the cave, Luca’s cheeks burned in the freezing air. He had sprinted twenty or so paces before he suddenly stopped, his heart hammering in his chest. Bill! Bill was still in the cave.

Swivelling round, he tried to see into the darkness and could just make out a silhouette, grey and blurry against the dark rock. It was Bill, trying to force his way out of the opening. His body was only half out, his bare palms scrabbling in the snow as he tried to lever himself forward. As Luca watched, paralysed with shock, a horrible scream escaped Bill’s lips and his body arched upwards. Then, suddenly, he was out, rolling down the bank of snow towards Luca.

It was only then that something in Luca unlocked and he ran forward, grabbing Bill by his shoulder and hoisting him up on to his feet. Together they ploughed through the snow away from the cave, staggering in the deep powder as the wind whipped across their faces.

A hundred yards on, they collapsed on to their knees, lungs burning.

‘You all right?’ Luca shouted.

Bill didn’t answer, his eyes wide. He was breathing in shallow, erratic bursts.

‘You all right?’ Luca shouted again, grabbing Bill by the collar of his jacket and forcing him to look up.

For a moment Bill just stared open-mouthed, as if he didn’t know who Luca was. Then he nodded slowly, his whole body trembling from the surge of adrenaline.

‘It didn’t get me,’ he panted. ‘Just clipped the back of my legs, that’s all.’

His breathing started to slow.

‘I’m OK,’ he panted, his mouth dry. ‘I’m OK.’

Luca’s head slumped forward in relief, resting on Bill’s chest. He slowly shook his head.

‘What the fuck was that?’ he said, his voice ragged from emotion.