Erica
Relief wound through Erica’s muscles as the wood cabins of Huskyleir drew closer. She hadn’t fallen off, she hadn’t crashed, she hadn’t been mauled by Kriger. She’d survived her first sled run.
Erica caught sight of Molly and the others in their matching blue jackets already stopped and watching her approach. It was just Rachel’s sled moving ahead of Erica, and Lee behind, bringing up the rear.
Erica touched her foot to the brake and a moment later the pace of the pack slowed, causing a smile to touch her lips. The dogs were listening to her commands. Actually listening. She hadn’t mastered moving the dogs from the line to the sled, and seemed to tussle twice as much as Molly had when it came to wrestling the dogs’ harnesses on over their damp fur, but right now, on this sled, she was in control.
A sadness swept through Erica – a sudden gust of wind threatening to topple her. There was something nostalgic about the feeling of being in control, like walking down a street where she’d lived once before and remembering what her life had been like then. Nothing in her life at home right now was in her control. She couldn’t undo the lies she’d told or the double life she’d chosen to live.
A flash of colour ahead caught Erica’s eye. She blinked, thoughts of Molly and Billy pushed to the back of her mind as she realized with an explosion of panic that Rachel’s sled ahead of her had stopped dead in one sudden lurch.
The realization startled Erica and she wobbled, sending the dogs and the sled right, then left, and straight towards Rachel who was already ripping off her goggles and pulling down her scarf.
Lee’s booming voice carried through her panic. ‘Brake.’
Rachel spun towards the noise, the smile dropping from her face.
Time slowed as Erica lifted her foot to the brake. She wobbled and missed the pedal, her foot dragging in the snow and pulling Erica down until both legs and the lower half of her body bumped along the snow between her runners. Only her vice-like grip on the handles kept Erica from falling free of the sled. A yelp left Erica’s mouth as the sled tipped, skidding onto its side and heading straight for Rachel and her sled.
For a split second, Erica thought she was going to stop in time. She heaved herself upright, planting her feet back on the runners, balancing the sled and jamming her foot against the brake. ‘Whoa,’ she called too late. The word was lost beneath Rachel’s scream as Erica and her sled ploughed into Rachel.
There was a moment of nothingness. A pause that dragged on from one beat to the next. A moment when the worst seemed to be over. So she’d knocked into another traveller on their first outing. That was to be expected, surely? The thought ran through Erica’s head, and then the world started moving again.
The impact must’ve spooked Rachel’s dogs because the next thing Erica knew, they were off, belting full speed across the snow. Rachel made an animal-like screech as her body flew along the ground, dragging after the sled where her left hand still gripped the gang line.
Erica watched helplessly as Valek sprinted across the white ground and in one swift movement leapt onto Rachel’s sled and pulled it to a halt.
‘You can let go now,’ he said, looking down at Rachel.
Rachel groaned and released her hand. She grabbed at her shoulder and yelped. ‘Are you OK?’ Erica called, running as best she could through the snow and stumbling as she reached Rachel and the upturned sled.
‘No.’ Rachel spat the word out and struggled to her feet. ‘I’ve done something to my shoulder, no thanks to you.’ Rachel set off, striding towards Noah and the others.
‘What did you think you were doing?’ She threw the comment back at Erica without turning around.
‘Rach –’ Noah cut in as he reached Rachel’s side. His voice was low against Rachel’s screech.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Erica said. ‘I lost control. You stopped so suddenly; I wasn’t expecting it,’ Erica added, skirting over the small fact that she’d been lost in her thoughts and not paying attention.
‘Why didn’t you just brake?’ Rachel hissed, the anger etching across her face as she hugged her left arm against her chest. ‘It’s not difficult. You just put your foot on the brake and it’s like magic.’ She stomped her foot into the snow and winced. ‘You stop.’
‘I’m sorry. I lost my balance and couldn’t get to the brake in time. Are you OK? Are you hurt?’ Erica nodded at Rachel’s shoulder.
‘I’m fine,’ Rachel hissed. ‘It’s you you should be worrying about not me. If you’re too old to hack this then maybe you should quit before you hurt anyone else.’
Erica stared open-mouthed at Rachel as the bite of her words reeled through Erica’s body. Too old? Erica desperately wanted to feel the heat of anger, to match Rachel’s fury with her own bitchy retort, but she couldn’t. The words, the anger, they wouldn’t come. It was Darcey all over again, and just like before, Erica could only stand, dumbfounded by the audacity of the person before her.
‘Hang on a minute,’ Molly snapped with the anger in her voice Erica had longed for. ‘Your line wasn’t secure.’
‘Excuse me?’ Rachel spun towards her.
‘Your line – it wasn’t secured properly. You’re supposed to dig the snow hook into the ground before doing anything else, but you were still holding it in your hand when you took your goggles off. That’s why your dogs went off like that, because they could. You stopped too quickly. You didn’t raise your hand up to signal either. It was you who endangered yourself and the rest of the group, not Erica.’
Red spots spread across Rachel’s cheeks as she spun towards Molly. ‘How dare –’
‘Everything all right?’ Lee’s voice was loud and commanding, punching through the rising tension. ‘Rachel, why don’t you come with me for a moment. We’ve got a first aid kit over by the kennels. I can take a look at your arm.’
Rachel nodded. ‘Thank you. I think it’s just a pulled muscle,’ she said, her voice suddenly soft as she followed Lee to the kennels.
Erica turned to Noah. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘Hey, it was an accident.’ Noah dropped a gloved hand on Erica’s shoulder and pulled a face. ‘Are you all right? Are you hurt?’
Erica shook her head. All of a sudden the fury she’d been searching for reared up inside her, but it wasn’t Rachel she was angry with, it was herself. This trip had been about more than connecting with Molly and escaping her life in London. She’d come here with something to prove, to herself as much as anyone else, and yet all she’d done so far was the opposite.
‘Too right,’ Molly said. ‘It was an accident, so why did your girlfriend have to go off on one like that? If she’d have anchored her line properly, the dogs would never have run.’
A sudden swell of gratitude eased the anger in Erica’s body. From the moment they’d met at the airport, Erica had been on the receiving end of Molly’s hate. All day Erica had felt the resentment radiating from Molly just as easily as Erica could feel the cold penetrating through her boots all the way to her toes.
Erica had no idea how much of Molly’s outburst was about sticking up for Erica, and how much was because Molly disliked Rachel, but Erica hoped it was the former. She hoped it was the start of something more between them than stony silences and caustic remarks.
‘Let’s get these dogs back in their kennels.’ Noah nodded towards the sleds where Valek and the others were already moving their dogs towards the kennels.
‘Good idea.’ Erica nodded. ‘Thanks for your help, Mol.’
‘I didn’t do it for you,’ Molly muttered, striding back to her sled.
So much for Molly sticking up for her, Erica thought as she cast her eyes to the sky and trudged back to her sled. The light was fading fast. The wind had dropped but so had the temperature and the air stung her face.
If you’re too old to hack this then maybe you should quit before you hurt anyone else.
Rachel’s taunting remark sang in Erica’s mind as she wrestled Kriger out of his harness. Somehow the hurt of the remark felt worse than it had ten minutes ago, like the numbing cold of her fingers, throbbing harder with every passing minute.
Kriger jumped and writhed against Erica’s hold on his collar. ‘Not this time, Kriger,’ she said, gritting her teeth as she squeezed Kriger’s body against her legs. Kriger stopped jumping and allowed himself to be pulled into an upright position, hopping across the snow with his dark pink tongue flapping out of his mouth.
He pulled once, yanking Erica’s arm down as he bit into a mouthful of snow and chomped it back, before hopping along once more.