Page 54 of A Sky Full of Stars
‘Got that,’ Thea confirmed, and then did as Tristan asked. ‘OK?’
‘Perfect.’ Gingerly, Tristan edged around the gap that held Charlotte captive. He reached out to the handrail, but it gave an alarming wobble, so he let go again. He moved slowly, inch by inch, trying not to dislodge any more of the wood.
‘Nearly there,’ he murmured. He looked down to see the top of Charlotte’s head, her hair plastered to her scalp, and the back of her neck looking pale and vulnerable in the torchlight. He took another step, until he was round Charlotte and nearly onto the more stable area of the platform.
A warning creak from the aged wood made them both gasp.
‘Why the fuck didn’t they take this down years ago?’ Tristan muttered, standing stock still, trying to work out which step to take next.
‘Bit late to be asking that now,’ Charlotte said, but there was no hiding her terror.
‘OK,’ Tristan said, committing himself to one of two last steps that would enable him to get a more secure foothold and hopefully pull Charlotte to safety. ‘I’m going to turn around now, and then I’ll?—’
A loud, sickening crack cut him off mid-sentence, and as Thea’s torchlight wobbled erratically around them, another part of the gantry gave way. There was a scream, a crash and a frantic-sounding bark, and then everything was silent.
52
‘It’s all right. It’s all right, I’m here. We’re safe…’
Charlotte could hear the words, but she couldn’t respond to them. She couldn’t do anything except cling to Tristan, as adrenaline flooded her body and she trembled in his arms. She felt Tristan shaking as uncontrollably as she was: the past few minutes had been terrifying for them both.
The gantry where Charlotte had been caught had fallen away just seconds after Tristan had pulled her to safety. It had been one of those moments that had simultaneously slowed down and sped up, until Charlotte couldn’t be sure what it was that she’d experienced. As Tristan had stepped around her, there had been a warning groan, and in the moments before the walkway fell thirty feet to the ground floor, Tristan had reached out and pulled Charlotte out of the broken floor with such force, her release had sent them both hurtling backwards. Fortunately, the top of the staircase, sheltered somewhat by the lip of the dome, was less rotten than the rest of the viewing platform, and as they’d hit the deck, Charlotte knocking the wind out of Tristan on impact, they’d instinctively clung together.
Now, they sat at the top of the stairs, waiting for the trembling to subside enough to find their way back down.
‘Tristan! Charlotte!’ Thea’s frantic voice echoed through the air, making them both jump again. ‘Are you all right? Can you hear me? Are you hurt?’
Tristan cleared his throat, and Charlotte could tell he didn’t want to betray how scared he was to his very worried sister. ‘We’re good,’ he managed. ‘We’re coming down.’ He glanced down at Charlotte, who was still clinging to him, unwilling to let go. ‘Are you all right to move?’
Charlotte nodded. She didn’t want to speak. She was afraid if she opened her mouth too soon, she’d begin to scream. She couldn’t process what had just happened, and now she was the one who felt detached from reality.
‘Charlotte?’ Tristan was saying her name softly, gently, and as if there was no one else in the world to hear him. ‘Please. Say something. I’m not going to let us move from here until you do.’
Charlotte looked up at him again, and as her eyes met his, she felt the adrenaline starting to subside. His blue-green eyes were so full of love, so open that for a few seconds she forgot all about the seemingly disassociated state she’d found him in at the top of the gantry.
‘Are you all right?’ she said eventually. ‘When you were up there, with Comet, it was like I couldn’t reach you. You didn’t seem to be there.’
Tristan’s expression clouded briefly. ‘It’s not something I’ve ever really discussed,’ he said. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her. ‘But if you want to, we can talk about it when we get off this bloody staircase!’
Charlotte felt the nervous rumble of laughter in Tristan’s chest. She nodded. ‘I think that would be a great idea. Two great ideas, talking and getting down from here.’
Carefully, they stood up, which was tricky since neither was prepared to let go of the other. But they made it to a standing position, and then began the nerve-racking descent down the rickety wooden staircase.
‘Sis?’ Tristan called before they put the first foot forward. ‘Can you shine the light on the stairs?’
‘Absolutely!’ Thea replied, and her guiding light moved just ahead of them. Slowly but surely, step by step, somehow keeping hold of each other in the process, they arrived on the ground again.
‘Thank God you’re OK!’ Thea exclaimed, putting the torch down carefully on the concrete floor before engulfing first Tristan, and then Charlotte, in a hug. ‘I thought I’d lost you both when the platform gave way.’
‘No such luck.’ Tristan’s voice was muffled in another hug. ‘Takes a lot more than that to get rid of me.’
Charlotte, who still had an arm around Tristan, watched as a hundred different emotions passed over Thea’s face.
‘You stupid wanker!’ Thea’s voice, raised in fear and frustration, betrayed how terrified she’d been. ‘Why the fuck did you go up there? Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been about you?’ Thea’s voice broke, and tears started coursing down her face. ‘I thought I’d lost you, Tris. I was so scared…’
Charlotte moved carefully away from the twins as Tristan gently disentangled himself from her and took Thea in his arms. Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair and speaking gently, trying to calm her down. It was painfully clear that Thea had been worried sick, terrified that she was going to lose her brother as well as her parents, and the dam she’d been holding together for the sake of Lorelai and her own children had broken at that thought.
‘It’s all right. I’d never leave you, Gran and the kids.’ Charlotte could hear Tristan’s low reassurances as she knelt down and gave Comet a huge hug. The little dog looked both delighted to see her and completely bewildered by the situation as she picked him up and drew strength from his wriggling, still-damp little body. Her own emotions were perilously close to overspill, and all she wanted to do now was get the hell out of the observatory and sink into a warm bed. Whatever residual affection she’d had for the place had all but vanished after this horrifying experience.
