A chink of light. The chink becomes a hole, and Curtis’s face peers in at me. He lets out a shout, then two pairs of arms dig down. Curtis and Dale. I should help them but I’m shaking so hard my arms won’t do what I say.

At last the hole is big enough. Curtis leans in and hauls me out. I lie gasping on the snow. He unzips his jacket and drapes it over me. Like a shroud. I shove it off. I can’t cope with having anything covering me. I just want to breathe.

Saskia’s voice. “There’s something wrong with my transceiver.”

“There’s something wrong with you!” Curtis shouts.

I hear Odette’s calm tones but don’t catch what she says.

Figures walk to and fro—Saskia, Curtis, Dale. I suck in beautiful gulps of air. Brent must still be at the kiosk.

“And how come you couldn’t find her?” Curtis says.

“Saskia wanted to do it on her own,” Odette replies.

I should get up. I hate their seeing me like this—so weak and vulnerable. But I don’t think I can move.

Curtis kneels beside me. “Want some water?” He produces a bottle—his bottle—and holds it to my lips. I gulp a mouthful and let my head drop back to the snow.

Odette leans over me. “Are you okay, Milla? Saskia’s transceiver, it wasn’t working.”

I don’t believe that for a minute but I can see that Odette does. She’s that sort of person—always believes the best of people.

Curtis pulls a protein bar from his pocket and rips it open. “Eat.”

I shake my head. I can’t stomach it. Snowflakes drift down from the sky onto my face. Burying me again. I shudder and haul myself upright. Everything goes dark but I plant my feet firmly and take deep breaths until the feeling passes.

My backpack sits on the snow nearby. I pull it on. “I’m riding down.”

“Wait—” Curtis says.

But I want to put as much distance between myself and the glacier as possible. Between me and Saskia and everyone who saw that.

Snowflakes fly at my goggles as I ride into the whiteout. One by one, black piste markers loom. They’re the only way I can tell I’m moving. I follow them down. The piste is deserted. Nobody except us is stupid enough to have come out in this weather.

She could have killed me. But what am I going to do? What can I do?