Page 11 of Saving Mr. Bell

“How long what?”

“How long are you planning to keep me here?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. A week. Two weeks. Through Christmas if you wanted to stay that long.”

“‘Through Christmas.’” Rudolf laughed. “Do you know how many public appearances I’m scheduled to do before Christmas? I’m leaving Austria in a few days to head to Switzerland for a magazine interview. Then I have a meet and greet somewhere else. Then I’m doing something or other in France.” His pausesaid he was trying to remember what. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter what it is. I’m expected. I can’t just hole up in a cabin for weeks because you’ve decided you’re concerned about me.”

“Do you want to do those things?”

Rudolf’s frown said the question confused him. “That’s hardly the point, is it?”

“When was the last time you took a break?”

“I play the piano and do promo. I don’t work down a coalmine. I’m lucky I get to tour so many wonderful countries.”

“And how much of them do you get to see? And I’m not talking about the interior of a concert hall or a nightclub.”

“Enough.”

“Do you?”

Rudolf stood. “Look… I’m not going to argue about this. I have enough people running my life without you putting yourself forward for the role. So… grab your car keys and let’s go.”

“I can’t.”

Rudolf treated me to another eye roll. “Because you care. Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. Save it for someone who wants to hear it.”

Okay then.It wasn’t like I thought he’d be happy about my intervention, but he was taking it harder than I’d expected. I’d hoped he’d see my perspective and might be glad to see me after all these years. But, apparently not. “Look out of the window.”

He sighed, but headed over there. “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“The car.” I could tell from how quiet he went as he stood at the window looking out that he understood the point I was making. I still felt the need to hammer it home. “So… as you can see, we’re not going anywhere until the snow thaws. And we may be in for more snow. With my phone not having reception, I can’t pull up a forecast.”

Rudolf spun on his heel and disappeared into the bedroom. Presumably to sulk for a bit, which was warranted. At least he’d eaten his breakfast, and I didn’t have to worry about him starving to death for however many hours he holed up in there. I resigned myself to sitting and reading my book while I waited for him to come out.

However, within five minutes of entering the bedroom, Rudolf was out again. This time, he wore his coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. I jumped up as he headed straight for the door. Unfortunately, after collecting some wood for the burner from the porch earlier, I’d left it unlocked. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like?” Rudolf said as he yanked the door open and stepped outside. “If we can’t drive anywhere, I’ll walk.”

“You can’t do that.” My admonishment ended up directed at solid wood as the door swung shut behind him, and it became obvious that Rudolf already had. “Fuck!” Swearing didn’t make me feel any better as I scrambled for my boots, the laces proving tricky in my haste and forcing me to slow down. What if he just disappeared, never to be seen again? What if I was the person responsible for the world famous classical pianist breaking his neck in the middle of nowhere?

It would be the end of my film-making career. It’d be the end of being able to step outside my house without being hounded as well. That was assuming I didn’t go to prison for kidnapping. My plan relied on Rudolf not pressing charges and speaking in my defense if what I’d done ever became known. But he couldn’t do that if he was lying dead in a ditch or he froze to death.

It took far too long to struggle into suitable outerwear, but going out without it was asking for trouble. Panic lent my movements a jerkiness as I finally, after what felt like hours, stumbled out into the snow. I was glad of my waterproof boots that reached mid-calf as I jumped off the porch and immediately sank into deep snow. What was Rudolf wearing on his feet? Icouldn’t remember from the previous night, but I doubted his footwear was suitable for trekking through snow. Clubbing and snow hikes weren’t two activities that usually went together.

I shouldn’t have worried about Rudolf disappearing into thin air. Not when his tracks were easy to see in the otherwise undisturbed snow. He had at least a five minute start on me, but I was confident I could catch him.

Chapter Five

Rudolf

I realized my mistake as soon as I stepped off the porch, my black Vans not designed for tramping through the snow. But with no alternative except to return meekly to the cabin and pretend I hadn’t flounced out of there in such dramatic fashion, I pressed on.

The air was biting, colder than it had been yesterday, but at least it wasn’t snowing. Yet. It would be just my luck if anotherblizzard started up before I reached civilization. I wasn’t buying Arlo’s story of there being no other cabins for twenty miles. Who built a cabin in the middle of nowhere? Surely even the most antisocial of people liked to have neighbors of some description. What if there was an emergency? Especially if bad weather fucked up the phone reception. Therefore, I reckoned I’d find another cabin a mile or two away.If you’re going in the right direction.Yeah, there was that.

With the snow so deep, it was impossible to tell where the road lay, so I just struck out in the general direction I remembered from the previous night. Except, it had been dark, and I hadn’t been sober, and I’d still been in shock over being abducted—could you class it as an abduction when you’d gotten into the vehicle of your own accord?—so it was possible my recollection was off. But this was the direction I was going in.

It was hard-going in the snow, the physical effort required to lift my leg to take a step already tiring before the cabin was even out of sight. The cabin where the door hadn’t opened, and Arlo hadn’t come after me. What was that about? Oh yeah, he cared alright. Not enough to leave a warm cabin to make sure I was safe, but he cared.Bullshit!He obviously expected me to return with my tail between my legs once I’d seen the unforgiving environment. Well, fuck that. He didn’t know me well if he thought I gave up on anything that easily.

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