“How long have we got,” Taj asked.
“An hour at the most. Let’s move people!”
Everyone scrambled to put on their boots and before
long they were trudging back up the caldera in a snake formation. Don and Taj
at the front, then the rest of them. From her position at the rear, Georgina
could study the two men at the front without them noticing her. Don was
handsome in his own way. He was incredibly broad shouldered, had thick messy
blond hair and a kind, craggy face. She like him a lot and more importantly
felt that she could trust him. He exuded an air of reliability and strength and
she had a feeling that with Don, what you saw was what you got.
Taj
on
the other hand was harder to work out. He was a contradiction. At times he was
cold and condescending and she knew he didn’t approve of her but there were
moments when she was sure he was watching her. She’d felt his eyes on her a
couple of times during the day and she didn’t know what to make of it. It
unnerved her because she knew he didn’t appreciate having her around. Don had
been right, though, he was opening up now that they were in the wilderness and
he was doing what he loved. He looked so at ease as he strode up the snow
covered hill, camera bag over his shoulder, and trusty Nikon around his neck.
His easy forward-propelled gate indicated strong legs and a level of fitness
one only gained from hiking and climbing over difficult terrain. He was also
broad, but not as wide as Don. Taj had a more streamlined build, like an
athlete.
The group reached the rim of the volcano, but this
time Don refused them a break.
“This is the easy bit,” he told them as they headed
down towards the beach where the zodiac was waiting. Out in the bay the sturdy
figure of the
Explorer
could be seen,
her red hull creating a bright contrast to the more subdued frosty-grey tones of
the ocean. The wind had indeed got up and now they were out of the protection
of the crater and seaward facing, it felt bitterly cold against their skin.
Taj waited at the top while the group filed past
him, all zipping up and huddling forward against the icy breeze. He fell in
line with Georgina and she noticed that he wasn’t even remotely out of breath.
“You obviously do a lot of exercise,” she told him
dryly. “And you don’t strike me as the type who has a gym membership.”
“No, you’re right about that. Never in town long
enough anyway.”
“So how do you keep fit? Climbing volcanoes?”
Now he did laugh. “That, amongst other things.”
“Like what,” she pressed.
“I go surfing or kite boarding when I’m home, but I
get a lot of exercise in the field.”
“I believe you,” she panted.
After a pause, “I did a story on Russian
fire-fighters last year which involved a lot of rappelling out of helicopters
into the dense forests. It’s the only way they can get in there. It took days
to hike out once the fires were out.”
“Rappelling? You jumped out of a helicopter?”
“Not exactly. We climbed down ropes dangling two
hundred feet in the air, from helicopters. I had a helmet-mounted camera.”
“Into the forest?”
“Into a burning forest, yes.”
“You’re crazy, has anyone ever told you that?”
“Repeatedly,” he grinned. “Once we had to camp in
the forest for five days before we got rescued. It was five days of rain and
bugs and noodle soup, waiting for a helicopter that seemed as if it would never
come.”
“Sounds absolutely awful,” she said in amazement.
“Yeah, that was pretty bad, still it was quite an
experience.”
“I think I’d prefer to sit at a computer.”
He cocked his head. “Don’t you get bored? All that
inactivity would drive me nuts.”
“At least its safe and a computer won’t explode and
blow me to bits either,” she said pointedly.
“You never know,” he said sardonically.
She gave him her best, ‘don’t be ridiculous’ look.
“Some people just don’t like high risk situations,”
she said matter-of-factly.
“Like you?” he asked.
“Correct. I prefer knowing I’m safe. I happen to
like my life the way it is. I don’t need heart-stopping adrenalin to feel
alive.”
“Do you feel alive staring at a computer for nine
hours?”
“No, but I feel alive when I’m writing. Nine hours
of anything is exhausting.”
“True, I suppose. So what do you and your fiancé do
for fun?”
“We actually go out a lot. Charles has many social
engagements and there are media functions, book launches, fashion shows…” she
faded off.
“I see,” he gave her a funny look. “Different
strokes, I guess. I can’t think of anything worse than hob-knobbing with a
bunch of boring, rich people.”
“Rich, maybe, but boring they are defiantly not.
Writers, actors, artists and creative people in general are seldom boring. In
fact you’re one of them too, you know.”
“But I don’t live in a smog-filled city and attend
publicity events in my spare time.” He looked horrified at the thought.
“No, that’s true, although you’d probably get more
financing if you did.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t even own a suit,” he
told her with something akin to pride.
“Just like I didn’t own a pair of hiking boots
before this trip,” she said with satisfaction. “Each to their own, I guess.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes, Georgina
careful not to lose her balance on the loose gravel. Taj looked deep in thought,
and Georgina could just imagine what he was thinking. How different could two
people be, yet here she was, traipsing through the icy sludge in a frozen
wilderness in order to interview him. He was right, she had no business being
here, but she was surprised to discover she was enjoying herself immensely.
After the initial fear of the icy water and restless volcano had past, she had
relaxed enough to enjoy her surroundings and she found it invigorating. She
nearly laughed at the incongruity of it all. Who would have thought? Perhaps
she had more of her mother in her than she knew.
Don was doing a head count at the beach. “Okay,
let’s go guys. You may notice the water’s a little choppy, it’s going to be a
rough ride. Make sure you put the life jackets on before you get in the boat
and hang on tight to the rope.”
Georgina saw Claude zipping his wife’s jacket up and
kissing her tenderly on the cheek. The sight moved her for a reason she
couldn’t fathom, and she averted her eyes. She took a life jacket from Don
wondering how the hell you put the damn thing on. It had so many criss-crossing
straps and zips.
“Need a hand?” offered Taj appearing beside her. He
unzipped the bright orange device and held it open. “Put your one arm through
here,” he ordered in a gentle tone. “And now the other one,” she obediently
inserted her other arm like a child would do and stared at him as he pulled it
closed over her chest and zipped it up.
“It’s a bit tight,” she said breathlessly, not sure
if it was because he was so close to her or because the vest was squeezing all
the air out of her lungs. Probably both.
“It’s supposed to be tight,” he answered curtly,
giving it a tug and then turning to help someone else.
“Fine,” she mumbled annoyed at her school-girl
reaction.
Finally they were all sitting in a semi-circle on
the bucking zodiac, brightly attired in their orange life jackets like a flock
of colourful birds. Don took the helm and launched the boat over a small wave
and out into the open water. Waves bashed over the front of the boat sending
spray in all directions. By the time they got back to the
Explorer
Georgina was thoroughly drenched. Her hair hung in sodden
tendrils around her face and she was freezing. She blew on her fingers in an
attempt to warm them up.
“I think I’m suffering from hypothermia,” she
complained to Amy who was also rubbing her hands together.
“I vote we go have a hot shower,” the marine
biologist suggested.
“Brilliant idea,” agreed Georgina.
Then the strangest thing happened. Taj, who had been
helping Don unload the boat took her frigid hands in his big warm ones and
began rubbing them gently.
“That better?” he asked softly.
She looked up in surprise. A long moment passed
where they just stared at each other.
“Thank you, but I think I’m fine now,” she
whispered, hastily withdrawing her hands and putting them in her pockets. She
was shaking. What had just happened?
“How did you enjoy the hike, George?” asked Don,
joining them. She groaned. Not him too. Soon everyone on board would be calling
her George.
“It was great. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, apart
from the blisters and aching feet, or course, but that was entirely my own
fault.”
She saw him glance at Taj and her realised this was
the part where she was supposed to scuttle back to her cabin, tail between her
legs.
“Am I missing something?” she asked innocently.
Don shook his head. “No, not at all. I’m sure you
must be exhausted though. You probably won’t be joining us on the next
excursion.”
That’s what they thought. She pretended to look alarmed.
“Of course I want to. In fact I’m looking forward to
it. Today’s little trek has really opened my eyes to the natural beauty of
Antarctica. I’m so glad you guys suggested I come along.”
Don stared at her, speechless. She couldn’t tell
what Taj was thinking.
“I didn’t really get much time to ask you any
questions today, Taj. I’m sorry about that. I’ll make sure I have some for next
time.”
She gave them a sweet smile and excused herself to
go and tend to her painful heels.
“You realise this is entirely your fault,” she heard
Taj grumble to Don as she walked away. Luckily Don’s colourful reply was lost
in the wind.
CHAPTER SIX
“We’re going to do what?” asked Georgina,
incredulously.
“If you’re not up for it you can always stay
behind,” Taj told her. She didn’t miss the hopeful edge to his voice. Did he
honestly think she was going to give up that easily?
“If you go, I go,” she said firmly.
He shrugged, “Suit yourself.”
They made their way to the lower deck and Georgina
saw six bright yellow double-kayaks lying side by side.
“They don’t look very stable, do they?” she said
nervously to Amy, who was pulling on a life vest over her windbreaker.
“It takes a bit of practice, but you’ll get used to
it,” the diminutive marine biologist said kindly. “You can ride with me.”
“Sorry, not a good idea,” said Don, who’d joined
them on deck and was also getting kitted up. “It’s better to pair up with a
guy. If the wind changes and you run into trouble, you’ll need the extra
strength – no offense.”
“None taken,” Georgina assured him with a smile. “I
want to be as safe as possible.”
“In that case,” Don instructed, “I’ll pair you up
with Taj here. You don’t mind, do you Taj? Amy, you go with Claude.”
“Okay, you’re the boss,” Amy grinned. Taj didn’t
look too happy. He glared at his friend but didn’t reply.
Georgina decided to rub it in.
“Great, at least it will make asking questions a lot
easier,” she said brightly.
“Yeah, great,” he replied, hauling the kayak to the
launching strip.
“Love your style,” Don whispered as he carried his
kayak past her towards the water.
Georgina was more nervous than she cared to admit.
She fumbled with her life vest, her hands shaking, at which point Taj appeared
and helped her fasten it. “Ever been kayaking before?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, never.”
He sighed. “The trick to staying upright is to keep
your centre of gravity low. In other words keep your butt firmly in the seat.
Try not to lean to any one side, and let me do the steering. If we fall in
we’ll die of hyperthermia in, I’d say, roughly two minutes. So we want to avoid
that at all costs, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered, not at all sure this was such
a good idea. Eric, her editor, better appreciate what she was going through for
this cover story. If this carried on she’d have to start demanding danger pay.
He slapped her on the shoulder. “Relax. Being tense
is not going to help any.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. They
climbed down on to the launching pad. “Let me get in first to stabilise it,
once I’m sitting down you climb in. Got that?”
“Yes,” she whispered hoarsely.
She watched as he straddled the kayak and lowered
himself down into a sitting position. He tucked his legs into the small space
provided and his feet disappeared from view into the body of the kayak.
“Your turn,” he told her.
She put her hands on his shoulders and climbed
slowly into the kayak. Once seated he turned around, “You okay?”