Page 83 of Midnight
‘Did Annalise lose someone too?’ whispered Janine, though Annalise was digging with her earpods in, so there was little chance of her overhearing.
Patty sighed. ‘I’m not sure she had anyone to begin with. She’s a fighter. She’s had to work for everything she’s got. But she’s proven herself. To me and anyone who knows her.’
Olivia took a few steps back from digging her bivvy shelter and surveyed their – well, mostly her – handiwork. Neat little rectangles in the snow, nice and flat on the bottom, with a small wall of ice they could duck beneath if the wind picked up.
It was as if the skills she’d learned from her dad had never left her but had become ingrained – part of her DNA, as effortless as the calculations she did at work. It was a comfort to know that part of him was still with her, even if she had buried it deep for so long.
‘Nice work,’ said a male voice from close behind her.
Olivia felt like she jumped out of her skin. Behind her was Maxwell, his arms folded over his chest.
‘Um, thanks?’
He frowned, furrowing his brow. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you had it all along?’
Olivia blinked. ‘Had what?’
He sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. ‘The ring. I told you on that first day, Aaron owes me. He was sourcing this vintage sapphire engagement ring Lucy wanted and was bringing it to me so I could propose on the continent. You don’t have it with you now, do you?’
‘I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
He sighed and pulled out his phone. In a few clicks, he had a photo up on his screen, which he turned to show Olivia. ‘This ring. That’s the one you have in your safe, right? Cutler told me.’
Olivia could hardly believe her eyes. But on the screen was a photo of the ring she’d found in Aaron’s jacket pocket. ‘Your idiot boyfriend was supposed to give it to me on the first day of the cruise but then he never showed. Do you know how much I paid him for that? I thoughthe’d completely ruined my grand plan. But if you can get it to me when we’re back on the ship, I can still do it while we’re in Antarctica.’
Gone was the threatening Maxwell she’d been wary of. In his place – a romantic whose main concern was that his proposal had been foiled.
So Aaron hadn’t meant to ask her to marry him. She’d just made a massive assumption, and she felt like a giant ass because of it.
‘I didn’t realize,’ she said. ‘Of course I’ll get it to you as soon as I’m back.’
‘Great,’ said Maxwell, sighing with relief. He returned to Lucinda, wrapping his arms around her waist as they stared out at the ever-changing sky.
What a fool she’d been. She looked back at theVigil. Maybe she’d got everything wrong, all the assumptions she’d made – about Sergei, about Pierre, about Maxwell, about Liam. The only things she knew for sure were that Aaron hadn’t made the boat, people had died – Jay, Christa, Stefan – and that she had escaped from harm twice – with her life-jacket cord and in the sauna. Who was behind it?
The truthful answer was that she had no idea. She shivered, staring down at what she’d built.
She couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just dug her own grave.
40
They spent the evening listening to Dr Vance telling stories of the ice. It turned out, when he stopped speaking in scientific jargon, he was a superb storyteller, a true historian of the glaciers. Maxwell had his arms wrapped round Lucinda, and Olivia felt ashamed for leaping to conclusions about the ring and foiling Maxwell’s romantic plan. Still, they didn’t seem to mind. Janine set up her camera to take a time lapse of the white night sky, while they listened out for the ethereal cries of the Weddell seals, the occasional puff of a breaching humpback whale, and the wind rushing down the mountains.
As the sun set, the colours grew more vivid – almost violent in their intensity, brilliant reds and purples, before settling into a lavender haze. It was almost eleven p.m., but there was plenty of light to see by. Still, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the temperature began to drop and the exhaustion of the week’s events soon caught up with her.
She nestled down into her bivvy sack, amazed at how warm she could feel while the cold air nipped at her cheeks. The hole of snow she’d dug around her – the shallow grave in the ice – was no longer so ominous now that she was actually in it. It felt more like a crib for a baby. She felt like she’d just entered a new world, and it was scary – but here, in her cradle of ice, she was safe.
She had a sudden pang for her mother. She knew thatif her mum were seeing this, she would be inspired to recreate the landscape with her oils, and with her talent she would create something truly magical. Just like Yennin, she would be inspired.
This trip had given her a deeper perspective on what had happened to her mother. Graham Campbell’s death had been a calving of her mum’s life. Part of her world had come crashing down, and with it her mum’s confidence and vibrancy. What had been left of her mother was glacial and cold, fearful – fear that she passed down to her daughter.
Olivia had been desperate to try to keep the rest of her mother together, but it was too big a job for one person. She’d felt her control over her own life slip away since her mother’s diagnosis, the pressure mounting with every passing year as her mum got worse and Olivia’s financial situation became more precarious. Meeting Aaron, throwing herself into side projects, increased stress at her day job had all brought her mental health to boiling point. Taking some time off was supposed to have made things better. But instead she’d spent so much of it being afraid.
Eventually most people settled into their bivvy sacks, and she heard them shuffling under their covers, coughing, even snoring. She was amazed what people could sleep through. Reaching inside her bag for her bottle of water – their only permitted provision – she looked over to her bunkmate. Janine seemed deep in thought, wisps of her copper hair escaping from beneath her black beanie.
‘Would you like some?’ She waggled the water bottle in Janine’s direction.
The young girl took a moment to answer, blinking back her thoughts before nodding. ‘Sure, thanks.’
