Page 30 of The Retreat
‘Well…’ Talia began, aware she was in tricky territory.
If she agreed, she was disloyal to Celeste. If she didn’t, she was disagreeing with Rhona. Either way, not great.
‘It’s OK, this isn’t an interview. Not withme, anyway,’ Rhona said. ‘I’m already voting for you.’
Talia smiled sincerely. ‘Oh! Thank you, Rhona.’ She’d hoped this was the case, but it changed nothing in terms of the numbers. Celeste was the one with the real pull.
‘In return, I need you to get me over this fucking thing without breaking my hip,’ she said, nodding at the course in front of them.
‘You’re nowhere near old enough for that sort of talk,’ Talia told her.
‘I knew there was a reason I liked you,’ Rhona said.
They set off together toward the start line, side by side in companionable silence.
‘Think it’ll be tragic or just mildly humiliating?’ Rhona asked as they surveyed the first obstacle, a rope net they’d need to climb and descend on the other side.
‘What? We’re going towin, Rhona,’ Talia said with a flash of her eyes. ‘That’s the idea, right? Find out who wants it the most?’
‘God, don’t ask me. I tried to stop this weekend from happening.’
Talia resisted the urge to tell her she was sorry she hadn’t succeeded.
Rebecca explained the rules to the teams. Teams would start at staggered intervals, as it was a timed exercise. Teams that crossed the finish line together would have the sametime. Those finishing separately would have their times added together for their total.
‘If you need to leave me for dead, I shan’t mind,’ Rhona said.
Talia laughed like that was ridiculous. But she absolutely would if she had to.
Then Rebecca yelled, ‘Bang!’ into a megaphone.
Everyone looked at her.
Rebecca lowered the megaphone. ‘I don’t have a starter pistol,’ she explained.
‘Yelling “Go” is also acceptable,’ Talia told her.
Rebecca’s shoulders dropped. ‘Fine.’ She picked up her megaphone. ‘Go!’
To Talia’s surprise, she didn’t have to leave Rhona behind. She and Rhona kept talking to each other, calling out steps, steadying each other with a hand to the shoulder or wrist, both naturally in sync. Rhona had a dry running commentary going that made Talia laugh hard enough to nearly miss her footing on the balance beam.
‘We should quit our jobs and become stuntwomen,’ Rhona said, breathless, after they slid down a small incline and landed together in the dirt.
‘So much for dodgy hips. You’re abeastat this,’ Talia told her.
By the time they reached the end of the course, Talia was panting and flushed in a way that felt good. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her glove and exchanged a victorious high five with Rhona.
Talia and Rhona sat on the log, recovering.
Next up were Marcus and Daniel, crashing through the final hay bales for no particular reason. Marcus’s polo shirt was clinging to him in patches. Daniel, still somehow wearing his gilet, looked annoyingly fresh.
‘Absolutelysmashedit, mate!’ Daniel crowed, patting Marcus on the back hard enough to dislocate something. ‘Knew we’d be top contenders. What did I tell you, Marcus? All about thefollow-through. Like a clean line-out.’
‘Youdidsay that,’ Marcus agreed, beaming like they’d just invented teamwork.
More times filtered across, with a much less chipper energy. Claire and June appeared with the quiet menace of seasoned professionals. Claire’s hair was windswept, but her dignity was intact. June had a smear of dirt across her cheek and looked delighted about it.
Peter Chen passed them at a quiet trot, alone, the straps of his helmet hanging loose. He tapped Rebecca’s clipboard as he went by. ‘Finished,’ he said simply, then sat down on the grass, pulled out a phone, and put his headphones back on.
