‘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 now,’ she told Sally, ‘ready for when our duffel bags arrive. Make sure you keep your day pack as light as you can. Only carry the things you really need. Everything else—spare film, sleeping bags—put in your duffel.’
All items not needed during the day and which were to be carried by the Sherpas were packed into duffel bags, leaving the climbers and trekkers to carry the bare minimum as they negotiated the trail through the foothills.
Sally glanced around her, her gaze sharp and interested. ‘How do they build these things in the middle of nowhere?’
‘Hard work.’ Juliet rummaged in her pack for another jumper. ‘You see Sherpas and yaks transporting impossible loads up and down the valley. Teahouses and lodges are springing up all over the trail now to accommodate trekkers and climbers, some of them more sanitary than others, to be honest. When we get higher up we’ll be moving into tents. Come on—let’s join the others and get something to eat. Then I’m going to brief you all so that you’re prepared for what’s ahead.’
CHAPTER TWO
THEY ate sardines and French fries and afterwards, she and Neil gathered the trekkers together in the small, smoky room of the teahouse that served as a dining area when it was too cold to sit outside. In one corner a fire burned and at a table in the corner sat two climbers. One of them was Finn McEwan.
The moment Juliet entered the room their eyes met and held. Then she forced herself to give a nod of acknowledgement and turned her attention to her own party. She would have preferred that he wasn’t sitting in the corner while she talked, but there was nothing she could do about it. So she set about ignoring him.
‘Tomorrow we’ve got a five-hour, three-thousand-metre climb to the village of Namche Bazaar.’ She spread out the map so that she could show them the route. ‘You could call it the last outpost of civilisation. It may not seem far but it’s really important that you walk slowly. At this altitude you can get tired very quickly and if you exhaust yourselves early on, you won’t be finishing the trek. Remember the story of the hare and the tortoise? Well, up here, it’s the tortoise that wins every time.’
One of the men settled back in his chair, his arms hooked behind his head, gym-developed muscles bunched. ‘We’re all pretty fit and well prepared.’ His gaze was slightly mocking, as if it should have been obvious from a glance that he was more than up to the job. ‘I can’t see any of us having a problem.’
Cocky.
Juliet studied him for a moment, looked at the muscles and the man and wondered whether to cut him down to size now or let him fall down by himself later. His name was Simon and she’d met his sort before on treks. Macho. Determined to stride out and prove himself, not understanding the effects of altitude on human physiology. By the next day he’d probably be gasping for breath by the side of the trail, unwilling to admit that he was in trouble.
In the interests of team harmony, she decided to watch and wait. But she delivered a polite warning. After all, that was her job and if she didn’t watch him, she’d be the one clearing up the mess.
‘The only thing that can prepare you for altitude is altitude itself.’ She spoke the words quietly, directly to him, hoping that he’d take heed. Then she