Chapter 48
The dawn was bright – a fresh, clear sky above the mountain peaks of Mürren and the storm a distant memory like a bad dream that had never really existed. Alice awoke, with Marco sleeping beside her, so weary, and Bear a vision of comfort lying on his back in between them.
She breathed them in.
Marco’s eyelids opened and he smiled at her. ‘Guete Morge.’
‘Good morning. How are you feeling?’
‘Achy.’ He stretched, then brought his hand up to touch her face. ‘How are you feeling? You were pretty scared yesterday, I felt bad leaving you.’
‘I’m fine too,’ Alice answered. ‘But I think I’m going to get some help.’
‘Therapy? Oh that’s . . . hang on a minute, let me tell your dad.’ On the other end of the line, Liz leaned away from the phone. ‘Ed . . . ? Ed . . . ? Alice is going to see a counsellor.’
Alice heard her dad in the background exclaim with happiness, and Liz came back on to say, ‘Love, I think that’s brilliant. Well done, you.’
Marco had headed home to change and shower, and then they were going to make their way into the village to watch the first of the Inferno racers descend the slopes. The cable car was running, the sky was blue again, the snow was delicate and light, the skiers were back on the slopes and the world kept turning.
‘Thanks,’ Alice said. ‘Everything feels so much better than it did back in August. It’s just . . . I feel like I broke into loads of bits after it happened, and you guys, my friends at home, my friends out here, Bear, Marco—’
‘Marco?’ Liz’s ears pricked up.
‘Yes, Marco. I feel like everyone’s helped put me back together and I’m not quite how I was before, but that’s okay. But it seems I’m still annoyingly flimsy, and I’m tired of guessing how to fix that on my own.’
‘I think you put yourself back together. But anyway, semantics. We’re both just so pleased you’re going to see someone and get help. Will you need to wait until you get back to the UK?’
‘I think I’ll try and find someone nearby,’ Alice answered. ‘Probably not in Mürren because it’s tiny, as you’ll see for yourself next month, but maybe in a slightly bigger town like Interlaken. I don’t want to wait another three and a half months.’
‘Ooh yes, our trip,’ Liz said. ‘We can’t wait to see where you’ve been living, and all your newfriends. . . ’
‘And that Bear!’ shouted Ed.
‘But tell us, just how snowy is it? Will your dad need to bring his wellies?’
Alice spent the next fifteen minutes chatting her parents through the simple pleasure of winter holiday packing, snuggled in the comfort of her nook, overlooking her view.
The Inferno atmosphere was on fire. Smiles of happy relief and joyous fun painted everybody’s faces, and spectators cheered and rang huge cowbells for everybody who made it to the bottom of the mountain, whether they knew them or not. The skiers themselves flourished to the finish line, spraying glistening powdery snow over the bystanders, much to their delight.
Alice stood with Bear and Marco. Lola was leaning forward waiting for Noah to make it to the bottom. David stood with Vanessa, who had made it, and was cosying up with David like she’d never been away.
‘What do you think?’ Marco asked Alice.
‘I thought I would hate it,’ she answered honestly. ‘But actually I feel part of the family now.’ She grinned up at him. ‘I think I’d better enter next year.’
‘You do?’
‘Yeah. You know, show them how it’s done. In fact,’ she added, her eyes tracing the outline of the mountain peaks that surrounded her, ‘I might have to come back every year.’
