Page 10 of The Vanishing Place
Darkness had settled over the mountain. The watery light from her head-torch illuminated the red bag around her legs, and drops of rain lit up like white streaks in the blackness. Keith and the team would be struggling to find a route through the swollen streams,and the slippery rocks would slow them down significantly. It was going to be a long night. Effie glanced at the shelter, at the glowing dome of orange, and hugged her knees, the orb of light sending a forgotten chill down her spine. For a moment she felt the wet ropes digging into her wrists and ankles, pinning her child-sized body to the ground. Fear pulsed in her stomach. She was going to die. She was going to die in the darkness, a child abandoned in the dirt and the trees.
Then, for a second, there was an orange flicker of light.
Of hope.
Gone. Vanished, before little Effie had had time to scream.
Her head lolled forward, the tendons in her neck straining, and the pain jerked her back to the present. She blinked and rubbed at her face. She had to stay awake. She had to stay alert, and she had to keep herself visible for the rescue team. Her body started to shiver. Shivering was good. She just had to keep shivering, to keep generating heat, for another few hours.
Effie put the time at around 9 p.m.—almost four hours since she’d made the call. With any luck, Keith and the team would be with them around 11 p.m., maybe later, given the worsening conditions and the initial delay with the helicopter. She closed her eyes, the darkness absolute, and practiced walking the trail in her mind, crossing every burst stream and navigating each slab of rock. Blair would need to be stretchered down, and the kid would require babysitting. It was going to be a long walk out in the dark.
She rubbed at her wrists inside the survival bag, her mind never fully free of the bush, and waited.
—
The first flicker of light came at midnight—a line of small white dots on the horizon. Effie blinked once. Then again. Then she ripped the whistle from inside her sack and blew it until her cheeks hurt.Forcing her legs to move, she stumbled to a stand and turned her head-torch up to full beam.
“Here!” She slipped the survival bag down to her waist and waved her arms. “We’re over here.”
She watched, her heart racing, as the line of dots increased in size and started winding slowly toward her.
“Over here!”
Water dripped down her sleeves and the wind stung her cheeks, but she didn’t stop waving. She would get Blair off this mountain, and the kid too. She refused to watch anyone else die. Effie kept shouting until she could make out the familiar wide grin on Keith’s face. As he neared, the bush memory stung her again—his boots caked in mud as he approached and lifted her small body from the dirt.
“Gosh, is it good to see you.” Keith’s smile spread from ear to ear as he reached over and hugged her.
“Thanks,” Effie managed. “For this.”
“Well, I couldn’t go leaving a damsel in distress, now could I?”
“Don’t.” Effie hit his arm. “Don’t you even dare.”
He held his arms up in mock surrender. “I joke. I joke.”
Effie frowned.
“Seriously, kid.” His expression softened. “You did the right thing. I’m proud of you.”
“So, no ribbing?”
“No ribbing.” Keith winked. “For a solid week at least.”
Effie went to say something when she caught sight of Greg through the rain. And despite trying so hard not to feel anything, heat swelled in her chest and she had to look away.
“The two of them are in the shelter,” she said. “Blair’s ankle will need strapping.”
“Two?” asked Keith.
“Blair will explain.” She blew out a lungful of air. “You’ll see. Just make sure you give the good energy bars to Blair.”
Keith patted his pocket. “I’m one step ahead of you.”
“Thanks.” Effie smiled.
“Make sure you eat something too,” said Keith as he stepped away, the folded rescue stretcher hanging from his back.
“Here.”
