‘Perhaps we should put names in a hat,’ suggested Rona, pointing to her head.
‘I like your hat,’ said Midge, although she wasn’t quite sure that she did.
‘Do you?’ Rona seemed surprised and promptly pulled the headwear off, frowning as she examined it.
Dr Mortimer rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be so childish. Surely as grown adults we should be able to make a selection based on common sense and logic?’
Midge wondered if the doctor had been a guest at a different house for the weekend.
‘Perhaps we should be looking at who we can afford to lose?’ said Harold.
They were silent for a moment.
‘Agreed,’ nodded the doctor. ‘I’m sure everyone here adds something, but perhaps there are some of us who add a little less value than others.’
Midge kept her head down and pulled some embroidery on to her lap from her bag. ‘Value added’ and ‘lack of’ were terms she was more than familiar with. They had been bandied around many times at her last few yearly appraisals.
‘Are you seriously suggesting we sacrifice the weaker members of the group?’ asked Rona. ‘It’s not the fucking Hunger Games.’
‘Technically, the Hunger Games used the strongest in the group,’ pointed out Noah. ‘The ones with the best chance of survival.’
‘I think “group” is rather a strong term,’ announced the doctor. ‘It implies some kind of bond. We are merely strangers who have all had the unfortunate luck to have bought tickets for the same appalling show. But he’s right. It makes sense to send whoever has the best chance of reaching the end goal.’
Midge breathed a small sigh of relief.
‘And I think we are all agreed that I have the physical edge,’ said the doctor.
‘Physical edge?’ Harold raised his eyebrows with such ferocity that Midge half wondered if they were about to arm wrestle.
‘I’ll have you know I completed a marathon in 2021,’ said the doctor.
‘Wasn’t that during lockdown?’ asked Midge. The only marathon she’d completed during the pandemic was working through several seasons ofSpring-andAutumnwatchon iPlayer.
‘It was a virtual one,’ snapped Dr Mortimer. ‘On my treadmill.’
‘Oh.’ The others shared a knowing look. Midge herself had virtually exercised during lockdown, in the sense that she had given up at every attempt.
‘I’ll go,’ said Harold.
Everyone stared at him.
‘What? I’m a yellow belt in Krav Maga,’ he said. ‘My survival skills are second to none.’
‘How is making paper swans going to help?’ asked Rona, wrinkling her forehead.
Midge blinked. ‘Krav Maga is a martial art used by the Israeli military. I believe you are thinking of origami.’
‘You’re not going to be fighting an artillery regiment with your bare hands, Harold.’ Noah was shaking his head.
‘Where did you learn Krav Maga?’ scoffed the doctor.
‘Let’s just say what happens on tour, stays on tour...’ Harold shrugged. ‘Anyway, what’s the alternative?’
Dr Mortimer gave a deep sigh and spread his hands out on the table. ‘Clearly, it should be me going. As a doctor I have seniority in an incident such as this, as well as being in the best shape.’
Strictly speaking, he didn’t, but Midge wasn’t about to correct him at the risk of volunteering herself for a suicide mission.
‘It looks like snow again,’ said Noah, peering out of the window. ‘Why don’t we at least try the engine house by the old mine first?There may be something there that we could use as a signal to alert people?’
