Page 38 of Rescuing Rosie
She scanned the cavern, looking for a spot to wait out the storm. Rain was blowing into the entrance – she needed to move further back. Steadying herself with her stick, she picked her way carefully across the boulders beside the water.
She was about to hop between rocks when there was a blinding flash, and a deafening clap of thunder exploded overhead. Amplified by the cavern, it was as if a bomb had gone off, and Rosie shrieked in fear, wobbled wildly, dropped her stick and lost her balance. She attempted the jump, but the momentum wasn’t enough, and as thunder reverberated around the cave her boot slid down the side of the rock and her foot twisted. Pain shot through her ankle and she fell, cracking her knee.
‘Fuck fuck fuck,’ she gasped, slumped awkwardly in the space between the boulders, waiting for the pain to subside. But it didn’t. And when she tried to get up, she knew she was in trouble. She pushed down her woolly sock, her face screwed up with pain. The ankle was already swelling, and when she tried to move it, the agony was intense. Her knee was throbbing, but she hoped it was only bruised.
Rosie was stuck. Wedged between two boulders in a cave, in a thunderstorm. Alone. Injured and in pain. And no one knew she was here.
Theory proved: bad thingsdocome in threes.
Rosie knew she needed to keep calm, assess her situation and decide on the best course of action. She knew this, yes, but first she’d have a good cry.
‘Worst … day …EVER,’ she sobbed, as her ankle throbbed and thunder ricocheted around the mountains. First the moment of realisation about Dale, then the weather bomb, and now this. The culmination of the worst week of her life.
The tears helped, taking some of her panic and self-pity with them as they ran down her face and dripped onto the poncho. Her sobs quietened to sniffs, and then she took an enormous breath in, exhaled slowly, and wiped the remaining tears away.
Onward.
First, she should make herself as comfortable as possible, in case she was in for a long wait. She managed to retrieve her stick and used it to push herself up onto her good leg. With a series of small hops and bum shuffles she made it to a flat rock by the pool and sat down, her good leg dangling over the side, her injured ankle elevated.
Next, she checked the time again: 4.20pm. Her battery was at 20 per cent, so she set the phone to power save and zipped it into her backpack. As she did, she spotted Ant’s torch and took it out. For such a tiny thing, it had an incredibly strong, bright beam. There was a setting where it flashed, presumably for emergencies.Thiswas an emergency. She switched it to flash mode and put it beside her on the rock, facing the cave entrance.
Hydration and sustenance. She took a few gulps of water, unwrapped one of the remaining energy bars and ate it slowly, while further assessing her situation.
The thunder had subsided to the occasional rumble, and the lightning flashes were further apart. Beyond the cave entrance, the rain was still heavy, but not as squally. The wind seemed to have dropped.
She pulled down her sock to take another look at her ankle. It was horribly puffy. She attempted to move it, but a red-hot burst of pain put a stop to that.Damn.
Time passed. Rosie picked up the torch and shone it around the cavern. Now that the storm was retreating, it was quiet in here. Water dripping into the pool from the roof high above was loud in the silence.
She replaced the torch, positioning its flashing beam towards daylight.
What was that?
Rosie squinted at the entrance, as the sound came again.
Woof!
Chapter Sixteen
Adog came into view … a border collie.
Is that … Wainwright!
‘Hey, boy – over here!’ Rosie’s eyes filled with tears again as she was overcome with relief.
At first, Wainwright carefully picked his way across the rocks, but then he leapt into the water, splashing through it until he reached her. He stopped, barked again, and looked towards the entrance.
‘Hello?’ Ant’s voice echoed around the cavern. ‘Rosie? Is that you?’
‘Over here!’ she called, blinking back the tears, her voice wobbly. ‘Sorry! I can’t really move. I’ve … um, I’m a bit hurt.’
Ant quickly made his way over, and as he reached her his eyes fell on the flashing torch. He gave her the loveliest of smiles and said, ‘Well done, Rosie. Thank god we found you. What have you hurt?’
‘My ankle,’ she said. ‘You know what? Ireallyhate stepping stones.’ She smiled weakly as he sat down beside her and switched off the torch, slipping it in his pocket. Wainwright rested his chin on Ant’s knee, gazing up at him, and Ant ruffled his ears. ‘Good work, boy,’ he said. ‘Special snacks soon.’
He turned to Rosie. ‘I’ll take a look at your ankle, but are you okay otherwise? Warm enough? Dry?’
To her dismay, the concern in his voice made the tears spill over. She just couldn’t help it. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘I’m such an idiot. Going off by myself because … well, just because I needed time alone. What a fool, deciding to do that on a mountaintop.’
