‘Saying goodbye is very hard,’ Marco said when she came back to the here and now.
‘What does it feel like to save a life?’ she asked in return.
‘You mean in my job?’ He thought about it for a moment, his gaze on the mountains outside, and she watched as his eyes, reflecting the sunlight, flickered over their peaks while he thought. ‘It is amazing to know you’ve helped. You feel proud, and emotional, and often very tired. But you also feel humble because whichever way it goes, you have always done the best you can. Whatever the result, you do not control life, you could not stop the person from doing this thing, or stop nature from behaving how she wants. I love what I do, and when the day is ending and the helicopter is flying over these valleys I just always have hope that tomorrow will be another successful day. That is a strange answer to your question, right?’
‘Not strange, honest.’
Alice drank the last of her Ovomaltine. His words were comforting to hear.
She pulled the folded Piz Gloria guide out from her pocket and spread it out on the table, moving aside their empty dishes. ‘Now. To avoid risking you thinking this is the worst date ever, I suggest we head downstairs soon to the Bond museum and forget about all of the death in the world for the time being.’
Marco smiled. ‘That sounds like a very good plan.’
When they stood to leave the restaurant he took her hand like they’d been walking that way for years. Down the winding staircase they went and into a darkened series of rooms dedicated to the filming ofOn Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Marco pointed out behind-the-scenes photos from around Mürren and Alice read aloud facts. When they turned a corner to see a life-size helicopter set up in front of a large simulation screen to mimic a scene from the movie where Bond is flying over the Alps to Piz Gloria, Alice hopped inside.
She sat in front of the control panel in the dark, with Marco beside her, sweeping images of soaring above tree-peppered mountain tops before her eyes. ‘Is this what it’s like to be you?’ she asked him.
‘A little bit.’ He grinned. ‘I’m not always in the front with the pilot, it depends how many of us are out on a rescue mission.’
‘Amazing, though . . . to be able to get up above the world every working day.’ They sat for a few minutes and Alice relaxed into the sensation of flying like a bird. She breathed in and out, in and out, and eventually rested her head on Marco’s shoulder. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer to him, fusing their connection.
‘This is definitely not the worst date ever,’ he murmured.
The pale light from the video screen reflected on his face in the dark and she looked at this man with whom she felt so comfortable now. She didn’t know what they’d become, she wouldn’t be living in the same country as him come summertime, but at a time she needed a new friend he’d become more than that.
Alice leant closer to kiss him. And that was when a third head poked into the helicopter cabin and said something in abrasive German.
Marco pulled away from her and said, ‘I think we’re causing a queue.’
They hopped out into the dark to see a line of four people waiting for their turn, and gave a bashful wave of apology.
They emerged from the Bond World museum and back out into the brightly lit gift shop.
‘I think that’s it. Do you want to head back down the mountain?’ Marco asked.
‘Actually –’ Alice checked the time ‘– do you want to make one more stop?’
‘I can’t believe you wanted to do this,’ Marco yelled over the wind that whistled through the valley and licked the side of the mountains.
‘I thought it would be funny,’ Alice called back. ‘I don’t remember why!’ Even as she said it though she let out a burst of laughter that was carried away from her.
They stood on a wire rope, surrounded by a protective net, that clung to the side of the mountain face at Birg. The Thrill Walk, as it was called, wound around a section of the mountain and let you stand against the vertical walls and admire the sheer drop below you.
They walked on, whooping and laughing and daring each other to look down. ‘Let’s make a picture!’ she cried, and as they posed with fearful faces in front of the dramatic backdrop, they made a memory also.
It was a ridiculous situation, really, standing on the side of a mountain with the wind in your hair and a sheer drop below you. But Alice – the old Alice, who saw the funny in everything – was having so much fun. She felt brave. Alice was alive.
