CHAPTER 58
The paramedic met us at the centre, seeming oddly satisfied with the state of my nose.

“It’s not broken, Enfys. That’s the good news. What it looks like is that the septum, the bit of gristle between your nostrils, has been bent”

“Hurts like it’s broken!”

She laughed.

“Aye, but it has to be there to hurt! What I am going to do is place a little bit of plastic over the top… Hold still… Got it. Try not to bang it again, and see your own GP when you get home. I know Cubby’s lot keep some basic painkillers here, but try not to overdo them, or those he’s about to give you in Aviemore”

“Eh?”

“At the pub. Don’t get plastered tonight just because I didn’t plaster you right now”

Obviously a frustrated comedian. I waved her goodbye, and then joined the others in the dining room to get that vital pre-pub layer of food into our stomachs. Yes, I did drink rather a lot, but only after a reassuring call, or perhaps warning, to my beloved.

I woke with a start at around two in the morning, hearing a whimper from another part of the dorm, followed a few seconds later by a shushing sound. It wasn’t the hiss of someone whose sleep had been disturbed but more that of a parent soothing a child. I swung my legs, still in their Tracksters, from under the duvet and climbed the few steps down to the floor.

It was Lee, sitting upright on his bunk, arms wrapped round his chest as he trembled. He was further enfolded by Kitzy’s arms, hers being the soothing voice I had heard. I squatted down by the pair, exchanging looks with the young woman. She shrugged as best as she could, given her position.

“He had a bad dream, Enfys. I came over, and he sat up so quickly I thought he was going to headbutt me. Think he’s back with us now, though. You okay, Lee? Talk about it?”

The lad’s voice was shaky, but he was clearly awake properly by that point.

“Sorry, ladies”

Kitzy had her chin on top of his head.

“Dream?”

Lee was silent for a few seconds, then humphed.

“Aye. I was… I was buried, simple as. Freezing cold, suffocating, didn’t know which way was up. Was I making a racket?”

I patted his arm.

“A little. Kitzy was a bit louder than you, to be honest, and I really think I woke up because I need the loo. Not a problem, mate. You sure you’ll be fine?”

“Aye, I think so. See you at brekky?”

Ah. I gave his arm a last squeeze, and by the time I returned from the toilet they were spooned together under his duvet. Not my place to judge, but I wondered whether Julia ‘Beetles’ might now be off my to-do list.

The next few days were much less exciting in the main, although we did get some skiing in. The rest of their time was filled with a variety of navigation exercises that included snowball throwing: in fog, find the correct compass bearing and throw a snowball out in that direction. Walk to it. Repeat.

And then, three days after our accident, we were all on another North-facing slope with spades. This time, our group had to carry up two Whillans-style box tents, which we erected on platforms we cut into the snow, to Cubby’s amused exhortations as to how it was all good practice. Much to my complete lack of surprise, I found that I was now partnered with Matt, as Lee and Kitzy prepared for their overnight together. Don’t knock it, Hiatt.

This time, after a rather significant stare from our tutor, Cubby dug a number of trial trenches before the rest of us put shovel to snow, and when my turn came, Matt whispered into where my ear was, under a couple of layers of fleece and Gore-Tex.

“I gather Lee has his eyes elsewhere, Enfys, but mine are firmly on you”

I looked round, to see him slightly red-faced.

“Um, not the way I wanted that to come out! I meant that I will understand if you are nervous about doing this, and that is why I am here. Eyes on your back, I meant. Want me to dig the first bit?”

I shook my head, as snow started to fall, the flakes broad and fluffy.

“No, Matt. Bikes and horses, yes?”

“Getting straight back on them? Indeed. Remember those modules about mental health and the outdoors, and off we jolly well”

The digging was just as strenuous as it had been the first time, but the roof stayed where it was, and after staring at me with a clear ‘What should I do next, my student?’ look, I directed Matt to skim the domed ceiling to avoid leaving lumpy bits to drip on us. We brought our packs in and laid out our mats and bags before exiting the hole for a team evening meal.

Where on Earth had the time gone?

We each shovelled down a bowl of stew and rice, before Cubby made the rounds of our unheated accommodation, making a couple of minor suggestions, and then it was time to settle into our bags, the snow, by now a finer powder, slowly burying the box tents.

It was nowhere near as cold as I had been expecting, and I lay in my bag reading until my eyelids started to droop, before turning it off and looking for sleep.

Matt snored; I had earplugs. I slept like a rather well-wrapped log. When I awoke, it was to a prod and a cuppa from my companion.

“Entrance is blocked, Enfys, from what I can hear. Feel that shudder through the roof?”

I sat up, reaching overhead, and there was an irregular vibration to what was now slightly damp ice.

“Yeah, got that. How do you know the entrance is blocked?”

“That’s wind. Can’t really hear it, and there’s no draft coming up the tunnel, so it must be blocked---no! Sorry. Not thinking. It’s normal for snow caves to have to dig out in the morning, and it won’t be consolidated. Not like that collapse, love. Nothing to fret about”

I picked that word out from the rest, but realised immediately that there was nothing behind it but reassurance. That, after all was the reason he had partnered with me. Keep it light for the recent victim, keep it comfortable. I found a grin.

“Breakfast, then?”

“What you brought, woman?”

“I may just have slipped a pack of bacon and some bread into my sack”

He was shaking his head.

“Stove will just disappear downwards when you light it”

“Not this one. Bought a cheapo in Aviemore. Gas can sits under it, not beside”

Realisation struck me, and I held up my hot mug of tea.

“I’m two steps behind again, aren’t I? Same with you?”

He laughed, and it was a happy sound, as he clearly put away the worries he had been suffering from in my regard.

“You are, but as I am actually the tutor and you the student, that is exactly how it should be! Seriously, though, think about it: you foresaw a problem, worked out a solution and put it into practice. That’s a big positive in my book. Anyway, before we get that stove going, pass me that avalanche pole over there”

He pushed it up through our ceiling until he could slide it in and out with no resistance, and once again I kicked myself---carbon monoxide. As he pulled the pole back into our shelter, I got two raised eyebrows.

“Isn’t that bacon ready yet?”

In the end, Matt’s prediction concerning the entrance was spot on, and it was only a couple of minutes’ easy digging that had us out of our little holiday home, and dear god it was horrible outside. The snow was still falling, but now it was doing so sideways. It wasn’t quite a gale, but not that far from one, and as we gathered in the boxes for what was clearly a first breakfast for several pairs of students, I could hear the wind playing the guy ropes like harp strings. Cubby led us through a quick wash-up.

“How many of you managed to cook this morning, even if only to make a hot drink?”

About half of us put hands up, and Cubby turned to me.

“What was your trick, Miss?”

“One of those crap blue stoves as a spare. Burner on top of the can, so it doesn’t sink into a puddle”

He nodded, then grinned.

“Didn’t look about you, then? You’ve just carried two stoves and two gas cans up the hill, twice the weight and space. About twenty metres upslope of you is an outcrop. Plenty of freeze-thaw weathering there. Plenty of rock flakes to sit the stove on. Or, you could do what I do”

He banged something that made a loud noise, and then showed us a lid from an old sweet tin.

“This weighs sod-all, and fits behind the pack liner, You can also buy something like a baking sheet. I wouldn’t recommend using a dead man, though, or youth or boy. Spot heat on ally can do all sorts of things, and I would rather not do them to my safety kit. Any questions, complaints, comments, before we strike these boxes and get back for a hot shower?”

It was a much worse drive back down to Bangor than the trip up had been, as there wasn’t the sense of excitement and anticipation that had fuelled the earlier journey. I managed to get Lee on his own at one of our comfort stops, and asked him the obvious question, much to his embarrassment.

“Do I need to cancel that enquiry with Beetle Girl, then?”

“Don’t tease, Enfys. Please”

“It going well, then? With Kitzy?”

“I don’t know, Enfys. How would I?”

Another piece fell into place.

“Lee, tell me to mind my business if you want, but is this your first ever, you know? Relationship, girlfriend, whatever?”

His lowered eyes were all the answer I needed. He wasn’t another Warren, because that boy had been out with a few girls before Elen and he had clicked.

“Lee, please take this the right way, but, well, don’t get too serious, just in case. Might be different back home. I mean, back in Uni”

He looked up, mouth slightly twisted.

“Holiday romance, aye? Well, open mind and that but, well. At least I’ve broken my duck. And she’s a canny lass. Kind, like. I suppose she’d have to be, going with me, like. Anyway, she’s on her way over. And she wants to ask a favour, don’t you, Kitz?”

He slipped an arm around her waist, and to my relief it looked a comfortable move rather than a statement of claim. That impression was reinforced by the way she leant against him.

“Yeah, Enfys, it’s like, well, we’re nearly at the start of proper term-time, and my digs aren’t available till next week, so would you mind if I sort of dossed at yours for those days? Dad can run my stuff down for me, as long as…”

Lee was chuckling now, and once again my insight was spot on.

“Let me guess, Kitzy? You would prefer your father to see just two other girls in the shared accommodation? Not men, even if two of them are, you know, on a different road?”

She was nodding again, and I couldn’t help a chuckle. She was clearly as shy as Lee was.

“Okay, then, as long as the others agree. I’ll give Alys a ring, and then we have another question, assuming they all say yes”

To my amusement, Lee’s and Kitzy’s answers were simultaneous whispers of “What’s that?”

“Well, are we having curry again tonight, ordering a Chinese or going out for a pizza?”