Once Upon a Christmas

‘If they didn’t have any protection last night, they won’t have stood a chance,’ she muttered, and Jack nodded, his handsome face serious.

‘Better find them, fast.’

He started up the track again and then stopped, squinting down into the ghyll. ‘Do you see something?’

‘What?’ Bryony stepped towards the edge but Jack reached out a strong arm and clamped her against him.

‘If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you didn’t go over the edge, too,’ he said dryly, keeping his arm round her as he peered through the mist into the ghyll again.

Bryony held her breath, painfully conscious of his hard body pressed against hers.

‘I don’t see anything.’ She wondered when he was going to let her go and was about to ask when she spotted a flash of red below them. ‘OK, I see something.’

‘Me, too.’ Jack released her. ‘There’s a path here but it’s narrow and slippery. Think you can manage, Blondie? You have to put one leg in front of the other and not fall over.’

‘It’ll be a struggle, but I’ll do my best,’ Bryony assured him earnestly, relieved that their relationship seemed to have restored itself to its usual level. ‘What about you? Think you can find your way without asking for directions?’

They kept up the banter as they picked their way down the path, and finally they reached the bottom and immediately saw the boys huddled together by a boulder.

Jack closed the distance in seconds and dropped to his haunches, his expression concerned. ‘Hi, there—nice day for a stroll in the mountains.’

‘We thought no one was ever coming,’ the boy whispered, his teeth chattering as he spoke. ‘Martyn keeps falling asleep and leaving me on my own.’

‘Right. Put a bivouac tent over them.’ Jerking his head to indicate that Bryony should deal with the conscious child, Jack shifted his position so that he could examine the other boy.

He was lying still, moaning quietly, his cheeks pale and his lips blue.

Jack spoke to him quietly and checked his pulse while Bryony checked the other boy for injuries. Once she was satisfied that he was just cold and shaken, she erected the tent and helped him to scramble inside a casualty bag.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Sam.’

‘Well, Sam, that will keep you warm until we can get you off this mountain,’ she assured him, and he gave a little sob.

‘Martyn fell. His leg is awful. I saw bone.’

Bryony slipped an arm round him and gave him a hug. ‘Don’t you worry about that now,’ she said softly. ‘We’ll sort him out and get you both home. I’m going to pour you a hot drink and that will warm you up.’

She grabbed the flask that she’d packed and poured thick creamy chocolate into a mug.

‘Here—drink this. I’ll be back in a sec.’ Aware that Jack was going to need her help, she slid out of the tent and moved over to him.

‘Sam says that his friend fell.’

Jack nodded, still checking the child over. ‘He’s got a compound fracture of his tib and fib and he’s bleeding a lot. We need to get a line in, Blondie, and then splint that leg.’

Bryony reached for the rucksack and found what they needed, aware that Jack was on the radio again, updating Sean on their position and the condition of the boys.

By the time he’d finished on the radio Bryony had a line in. ‘Do you want to give him fluid?’

Jack nodded. ‘And then we need to splint that leg. It will help the pain and reduce blood loss.’ He leaned over the boy, talking quietly, explaining what they were doing, and Bryony gave a sigh. He was so good when anyone was in trouble. A rock. And he always knew what to do. Her confidence came from being with him.

She covered the wound on the leg with a sterile saline-soaked dressing while Jack carefully removed the boy’s boot.

He placed his fingers on Martyn’s foot, feeling for a pulse. ‘That’s fine—let’s splint this leg. We’re just going to give you something for the pain, Martyn, and then we’re going to put your leg in a splint. Then we’re going to warm you up and get you off this mountain.’

Bryony gave a shiver. The temperature was dropping fast and even in her top-quality gear she could feel the cold.

By the time they’d splinted the boy’s leg, Sean had arrived with the rest of the mountain rescue team.

‘Nice day for a walk,’ he drawled, glancing around him at the thick mist. ‘The views are fantastic.’

Bryony smiled. ‘Absolutely fantastic,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Enjoy your stroll, did you?’

Sean grinned in appreciation. ‘Didn’t want to rush things,’ he said, lifting an eyebrow in Jack’s direction. ‘Well?’

‘We need a helicopter but I don’t suppose there’s any chance of that.’

‘You suppose correctly.’

Jack sighed and checked the pulses on the boy’s foot again. ‘So we’d better carry them off, then. Good. I needed a workout.’

It seemed to take ages to organise both boys onto stretchers but eventually they managed to carry them out of the ghyll and started down the mountain.

By the time they reached the valley floor the mist had cleared and it was a sunny day.

‘I don’t believe this,’ Bryony muttered, tugging off her hat and shaking her hair loose. ‘What is it with our weather?’

Both boys were loaded into the mountain rescue team ambulance and then transferred to hospital under Sean’s supervision while Jack and Bryony followed behind.

‘Are you working today?’ Jack glanced across at her and she nodded.

‘Yes. I’m on a late. Why?’

He returned his attention to the road. ‘I thought you had a date.’

Bryony looked at him warily. ‘That’s tomorrow, but I don’t know if I’m going because Mum has to go and visit someone in Kendal so I don’t think she can babysit.’

‘I’ll babysit for you.’

Bryony stared at him. ‘You?’

‘Why not?’ His eyes were fixed on the road. ‘I often babysit for you. It gives me a chance to talk to my godchild. I like it.’

Bryony looked at him suspiciously. ‘But last night …’ She broke off and bit her lip, not really wanting to bring the subject up in case it rocked the peace that had resumed between them. ‘Last night you said that you didn’t think I should be dating.’

‘And I’ve already apologised for that,’ he said, flicking the indicator and turning into the road that led to the hospital. ‘And to make up for it, I’ll babysit for you. What time do you want me?’