Free Above All Things by Tanis Rideout

You’ll keep Hinks in line and not let him badger her? It’s enough for her to deal with already .
Is she getting out? Seeing people? It seems unlikely. She’ll lock herself in to be stoic all on her own. Don’t let her. Perhaps you could suggest a dinner party? All our close friends. It would be good for her to have you all around, I think. Maybe even invite Hinks and you can handle him head on .
    It was growing dark outside by the time he finished the letter. He checked his watch. Where was Sandy with his crampons?
    As he approached the work tent, he heard Somervell’s voice through the thick canvas.
    “He is good. It’s true.” George flushed a little. They had to be talking about him. “But sometimes he doesn’t always do what’s …” Somervell paused, seemed to contemplate his words carefully. “Prudent.”
    “What do you mean?” Sandy asked.
    “Last time there was the avalanche. You read about it, I’m sure. It was in the book, in all the papers. I guess it could havehappened to any of us. But it didn’t. Maybe it was just dumb luck that George was leading that day. There was fresh snow. He should have called it off. It wasn’t safe. We could see where the snow wanted to slip. But George pushed up anyway. Teddy should have been more adamant or I should have been, maybe. But it was George’s insistence. ‘We’ll lose our window,’ he said. So we went.”
    That wasn’t how George remembered it. They had agreed to push up together. Yes, there had been fresh snow on the mountain, but the sun had warmed it. It should have bonded to the colder layer of older snow underneath. He knew about avalanches. They saw them often enough here – first the low thud, like untamped gunpowder, and then a building rumble, like the whole world collapsing. And then the rolling waves of snow, picking up speed and crashing down the rock face, carrying off everything in its path.
    No, he and Somervell had made the decision together. It was going to be their last attempt, that much was clear. They had the burst of good weather that always preceded the snow storms that the wet monsoon weather swept up and across the Himalaya. They examined the face of the mountain, tramped up away from Camp IV, and jumped up and down on the snow, watching for it to ripple, to pull away. It didn’t.
    Avalanches happened on mountains. It was one of the risks. They all knew that. Foolish to pretend otherwise. Yet here was Somervell again, saying he was the reckless one. That it had been his fault that seven men had died.
    He pulled back the tent flap and ducked inside. “Telling war stories, are we, Somes?” When Somervell wouldn’t meet his eye, George turned to Sandy. “Did you get those crampons taken care of?”
    “Yes. Yes. Sorry. I was just on my way to bring them to you.”
    “You just got sidetracked?”
    “They’ll hold,” Sandy said, handing him the crampons.
    “Thanks.” He turned to leave.
    “George,” Somervell called after him. “We should run another series of tests when you get back. See how the stress is getting to you. Maybe I’ll get you to take Sandy with you so I can check him too. He’s doing remarkably well, actually. Come see me.”
    “I’ll see how the schedule looks when I get back.” He held up his crampons. “We’re already behind. Teddy and I will talk about Sandy,” he said, turning away.
    He’d always suspected that Somervell thought him reckless. Ever since he put up his first solo route in Wales. It didn’t really much matter what Somes thought, though. As long as he had Teddy’s confidence, Somervell could bloody well go to hell.

    IT WAS QUIET , blessedly quiet. Sandy hadn’t been interrupted in his work tent for at least a half hour. George had warned him back on the California , when Sandy had sought him out, that he should guard his privacy when he could. “It will be hard to find a moment to yourself once we’re on the mountains. You might want to enjoy some solitude while