She took another drink, aware that Neil was staring at her.
‘But you love arguing. It’s what you do best. You’re sassy and sparky and you love it when people challenge you just so that you can prove them wrong.’
Juliet lowered the bottle, her peaked cap hiding the angry flash of her eyes. ‘Perhaps I don’t feel the need to prove myself today. We’ve got a schedule to keep, Neil. Let’s do it.’
He stared at her. ‘And that’s it? You just met the heartthrob of the mountains and all you can think about are schedules?’ Neil scratched his head, his expression amazed. ‘You’re the first woman I’ve ever met who hasn’t gone dizzy at the sight of him. Women usually can’t leave the guy alone. He’s Mr Super-Cool. Real hero material.’
‘Surely you mean Dr Super-Cool.’ Juliet stuffed the water bottle back in her pack. ‘And I don’t need a hero. Let’s just say that Dr Finn McEwan isn’t my type.’
‘But you don’t know him.’
She thought of those wicked dark eyes and that lazy look that could seduce a woman at a glance. She thought of the cool self-confidence and machismo that was part of the man. ‘I know all I need to know. That sort of guy you can read at a glance.’ She checked her boots were comfortable, swung her pack onto her pack and jammed her cap further down over her eyes. It was a ritual she followed before she walked. Boots, pack, cap.
‘Oh, right.’ Neil gave a disbelieving laugh. ‘You don’t go for strong, handsome guys who are clever and bold as brass?’
‘That’s about the size of it.’ Juliet shifted the pack slightly and made a mental note to remove something that evening. It was too heavy. She was carrying too much gear.
‘If I live to be a hundred, I will never understand women.’ Neil shook his head. ‘That guy scores with every female he meets. He fights them off.’
‘Sounds exhausting. I’m sure he’ll be relieved to know that I’m one less woman he’ll have to keep at a distance.’ She strolled towards the trekkers who were hovering, determined not to let her mind linger on Finn McEwan for even a second. He didn’t think she should be on Everest. But she wasn’t interested in his opinion, she reminded herself. His opinion didn’t matter to her. ‘I just want to watch them load my medical equipment and then we’ll start the walk to the village. The sun is hot at the moment but once it dips behind those clouds the temperature will drop sharply so make sure you have an extra layer handy.’
Sally, one of the trekkers, walked over to her. ‘That flight was amazing. I couldn’t believe the angle of the runway.’ She was obviously eager to ask questions. ‘Is it true that it’s possible to walk to Everest Base Camp in three days from here?’
Juliet ignored Neil’s pained expression. The trekkers had paid to be guided by a doctor with experience in high-altitude medicine. They had a right to ask questions and she was more than happy to answer them. This was her job. It was what she knew. And she was happy to be distracted from thoughts of Finn McEwan. ‘If you want to risk cutting your holiday short, yes. But from this point on you’re going to feel the effects of high altitude. If you don’t give yourself time to acclimatise, you’ll suffer. You need to give your body time to adjust to having less oxygen. Climb too high, too fast and your trip will be over. And not just the trip. Over supper tonight I’m going to give a talk on altitude sickness so that you all know the basics.’ A small crowd of Sherpas converged on the luggage and Juliet’s face brightened as one of them approached her, a broad smile on his face. ‘Pemba Sherpa! Our Base Camp leader. Namaste.’
Using her rusty and very limited Nepali, she greeted the Sherpa whom she’d met on previous expeditions and who would be responsible for running the camp that they established at the base of the mountain. She switched to English to discuss the transportation of her medical equipment and watched as a string of yaks were led onto the landing field.
Yaks, a type of hardy cattle, were used to transport packs and equipment up to Base Camp and Juliet watched in trepidation as the Sherpas placed blankets and wooden frames on the animals’ backs and then started tying on her crates. Would they be too heavy? She’d barely been able to lift half of them but the animal didn’t flinch and she relaxed slightly when she saw that the Sherpas were loading still more on top. Clearly they didn’t consider her supplies to be excessively heavy.
Which was a relief, because she’d carefully run through all the possible medical scenarios that she was likely to encounter on the barren, frozen flanks of Everest and she’d packed accordingly. She didn’t want to leave any of the equipment behind.
Juliet stood and watched, slim as a blade, her blonde hair falling in a plait between her narrow shoulder-blades, her mind totally focused on the job in hand. Only when she was satisfied that it was all safely loaded did she turn her attention back to the trekkers.
‘This isn’t a particularly nice place to linger and I want us to sleep at a lower altitude tonight to make breathing easier, so we’ve got a short walk ahead of us down to the hamlet where we’ll be staying.’ She’d planned the route carefully with Billy, their expedition leader, who would be meeting up with them at Base Camp.
The trail was hard-packed dirt and easy to follow and Juliet soon settled into her stride, enjoying the rhythm and the stimulation of physical exercise, taking the time to review the people walking with her. In fact, she was careful to think about everything except Dr Finn McEwan.
A clear vision of him came into her mind and she dismissed it instantly.
Base Camp was going to be busy, she assured herself. Once the season started there could be as many as six hundred people camped on the glacier. It was like a small town and each expedition had their own goals and objectives. Dr Finn McEwan would have plenty to occupy him.
He wouldn’t have time to concern himself with her or her reasons for being on Everest. And she certainly wouldn’t have time to concern herself with him.
Sally closed in behind her, still eager to talk. ‘I can’t believe I’m really here. In the Himalayas. It’s been my dream for so long.’
Grateful for the distraction, Juliet encouraged her to chat and learned that she and the other trekkers were all medical students.
They were an enthusiastic and lively bunch and Juliet hoped that they weren’t underestimating the effects that altitude would have as they climbed further down the valley. Many people who had never been exposed to the effects of high altitude were taken by surprise.
Just as she’d predicted, as soon as the sun vanished behind the clouds, the temperature dropped dramatically. Juliet stopped to pull a jumper out of her pack. ‘The air doesn’t hold much heat up here,’ she told Sally. ‘Once the sun goes, it’s freezing.’
Sally also added another layer and Juliet noticed that she was slightly out of breath.
Lack of fitness, excitement or the sudden increase in altitude? Juliet wondered at the cause and made a mental note to keep an eye on Sally.
They continued down the trail to the river, crossed a wood and cable suspension bridge and arrived in the tiny hamlet that would be their home for the night.
A group of climbers was sitting outside a lodge with their feet up, drinking Coke, and Juliet exchanged a few words of greeting and then took Sally up a set of steps to a top-floor room that was full of wooden bunks.
‘We’ll bag a space
