Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

April 2018, Yama Parvat Base Camp, Nepal

Evelyn hadn’t anticipated seeing Sophie so soon. Now she realized how delusional that was, expecting to avoid someone at Base Camp. It was like any other camp, stuck with the same people for weeks on end. Inevitably you’d end up in a group together, forced to make crafts and talk about your feelings.

Sophie still stood a short distance away. She looked like she wasn’t going to come closer. Good. Sophie raised her hand. A wave? A question? Out of instinct, Evelyn turned away, pretending not to see. She regretted it instantly but when she looked up, Sophie had already turned and was striding in the opposite direction. From the set of her shoulders, Evelyn knew she was upset. She didn’t have the energy to go after her, not so publicly. Speaking to Sophie could wait.

Evelyn crawled into her tent and fell back on her sleeping pad. Her head pounded, a side effect of reaching fourteen thousand feet of elevation. She had planned on it, talking to Sophie. She had been working up the courage with every step toward Yama Parvat. They had hiked in with the Canadians, who were nice enough, but Evelyn had taken a personal vow to say as little as possible on the trip. Moving meditation , she called it in her head, which sounded like something a suburban mom going through a midlife crisis would shell out thousands of dollars to attend.

She knew that the hardest part of talking to Sophie would be conjuring up an apology that sounded authentic. Her mind blanked every time she imagined apologizing—she hadn’t gotten past I’m sorry . She suspected that every day she stayed with Miles drove the knife a little deeper. But now Evelyn worried about the state of their relationship. He hadn’t come home before her flight, had only texted her have a safe trip , which she hadn’t seen until she landed in Qatar, because he hadn’t sent it until after her plane had taken off. Had that been intentional, or did he forget the time? She had tried calling him from Kathmandu to no avail. She didn’t have the urge to try again from Base Camp. Besides, she suspected he wouldn’t answer. He had always been unreliable with his phone. She would just have to wait two months and then find out if he still lived in her apartment or if he was gone. But, against her better judgment, Evelyn still loved him. She still wanted to believe that after everything she and Miles had been through, he might decide their relationship was worth fixing.

“Evelyn? Is this you?”

She sat up and opened her tent, squinting into the bright light. James stood outside, with Phil and Danielle close behind him.

“It’s grub time. Come on.”

She left her tent reluctantly. Her appetite had deserted her for much of the trip already; she had managed a few meals here and there but had mostly sustained herself on nuts and dried fruit. She knew she would have to force herself to eat now that they had reached Yama Parvat, but high altitudes always made her queasy. She followed her teammates in the direction of the big tent, noting the thin clouds covering most of the sky.

“Has anyone mentioned snow?” she asked.

James glanced at her as they walked. “Yeah. I saw Wojciech a few minutes ago and he told me the forecast looks bad tonight. Apparently, the Adventure Nepal staff are asking for volunteers to head up to Camp One and warn the Japanese team. I guess they’re having some issues with communication. The radios still aren’t functioning. Jeez, you’d think they’d get that sorted out.”

“Hey,” Phil said. “The magic of a first ascent. Nothing works and no one knows how to fix it.”

James nodded. Evelyn knew that he and Phil had made first ascents of two smaller—but no less dangerous—mountains in Pakistan. She envied that this experience was nothing new for them, at least in the sense of facing the unknown.

They entered the dark tent and Evelyn blinked, waiting for her eyes to adjust. There were a few people sitting around—a man and woman, a couple of burly men engrossed in conversation, and a trio of men seated near the back. Uniformed members of Adventure Nepal milled about in the rear, cleaning up after lunch. They were late, Evelyn realized, but there were still a few large containers of hot food on a table. Well—probably not hot anymore, but it made no difference to Evelyn. She could make herself eat anything if she had to, even frozen beans and Spam, which she and Sophie had resorted to on past trips.

As her eyes adjusted, she looked more closely at the man and woman sitting together. She recognized him from the photos her mother had shared. Physically, he looked completely different from Miles—wiry, almost, and unassuming. Short hair, probably, though he wore a hat so she couldn’t tell for sure. She wondered if he would recognize her, if Sophie had ever shown him a picture. She glanced again at the woman next to Levi, but it wasn’t Sophie. One of their teammates , Evelyn thought, but it still surprised her that Sophie was absent. Evelyn grabbed a plate and a scoop of white rice before turning to the snack area, rows of boxes containing what kept her alive on a mountain—nuts, dried fruit, jerky. She took a few packages and walked slowly back to the table. The rest of her team had seated themselves, and to her dismay, the only seats left were at the end of the table, where Levi sat. She took a chair diagonal from him and when she looked up, he shot her a friendly smile. Then, in an instant, a look of recognition crossed his face. He set down his fork.

“You’re Evelyn.”

So, he had heard about her, enough so that he was looking at her as if she were a mythical creature, descending from the Himalayas to wreak havoc on his girlfriend’s life. She nodded. “That’s me.”

“Levi,” he said, extending a hand across the table. She shook it. “I’m—well, you probably already know.”

“I do.” His smile didn’t put Evelyn more at ease. He was friendly, but she worried that at any moment Sophie might walk through the door and see them seated across from each other—what would she think? She could only imagine that Sophie might have more of a jealous streak now.

The woman seated beside Levi had watched their introduction with a bemused look on her face. “Penelope,” she said, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. “With Levi and Sophie and George and—” she twisted in her seat “—those two oafs.”

“A bit harsh, don’t you think?” Levi said, but it was obvious to Evelyn that he felt the same.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Evelyn offered, feeling like the new kid at school who sat at the wrong lunch table.

“Oh, you didn’t interrupt,” Levi replied. “It’s nice to meet you. Truly. I’ve been curious.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard plenty about me.” She took a bite of rice and struggled to swallow it, combating the anxiety in her chest.

“A bit. But Sophie...she’ll come around.”

Evelyn thought of Sophie’s tentative wave. “I think I might have missed my chance already.” She noticed the look on Penelope’s face, her wry smile. “What?”

“I think you’re both being too, eh, optimistic. I do not think she likes you very much.” Penelope took her plate and stood up. “Excuse me. I need to rest.”

Levi watched her walk away and then looked back at Evelyn. “Well, she’s not sugarcoating things today.”

Evelyn winced, wondering how much of her personal life had become gossip over the last two years. Maybe Penelope would go straight to Sophie and tell her that her dreaded sister was currently schmoozing with her boyfriend. “It’s okay. I guess my reputation precedes me.” Evelyn forced a smile. She’d tried to lighten the mood, but Levi was looking at her expectantly, as if he wanted her to wrap up the conversation. But a thought struck her— he must know how Sophie feels . If she was going to make amends with Sophie, she might have to go through Levi first. Evelyn cleared her throat. “It’s just—well, I don’t know how to start apologizing.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out. It was nice to meet you, but I should probably also go see what the plan is.”

She nodded in acknowledgment and watched Levi leave the tent, disappointed that she hadn’t made more of the opportunity. At least he was willing to talk to her. She looked back down at her plate, barely touched, and forced down another bite. Wasting food always made her feel guilty.

“Hey, Evelyn?”

She looked up to see Lowell Hall. She hadn’t spent much time with the Canadians, except for today. The two teams had started the trek at different times, the Americans always a few hours ahead, leaving the teahouses earlier in the morning and often asleep when the Canadians arrived. But this morning they had all trekked to Base Camp together. Now Lowell towered over her, even from the opposite side of the table. She thought he looked like he’d just strolled out of the woods—bulky, bearded, kind brown eyes. All he was missing was an axe slung over his shoulder.

“Yes?”

“I’m trying to get some interviews rolling, and I wondered if I could speak to you.”

He wasn’t just here to climb Yama Parvat; he was also writing an exclusive article on the expedition for Summit magazine. Evelyn had seen his work pop up in various climbing publications and on news websites before. She took a moment to consider his question, to gauge if she felt like opening up to a near stranger. The answer was no, but it would pass the time.

“Yes. If I reserve the right to answer ‘no comment’ to every question.”

Lowell stared at her for a moment, then grinned. “Thanks for having a sense of humor about this. I’ve gotten some snappy responses today.” He glanced over at the closed doors. “Can you spare some time now? I’ve got this dodgy recording setup in my tent.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Evelyn said, and Lowell’s face reddened. She hadn’t meant to embarrass him. “Yes, now’s fine. Just give me a second.”

She threw her trash away in one of the bins that would later be packed out and then emerged behind him out into the swirling snow. Base Camp had been reduced to stillness, although the lights were on in the kitchen, mess, and comms tents. Squinting against the snow, she followed Lowell to a bright blue tent on the outskirts, walking beneath the ominous outline of Yama Parvat.