How to Fall (29 page)

‘You don’t need to worry about it. Dad’s getting in touch with the coastguard but I’d say we’ve got a
while
to wait before the rescue guys turn up, so you might as well tell me what you found out.’

‘Now?’ I shivered. ‘You’d better hear it in case I fall, I suppose. You can give evidence for me.’

‘I’m not really sure that’s how it works.’ Then, quietly, almost reluctantly, he asked the question everyone would want to ask. ‘Did she kill Freya?’

‘Sort of.’ I told him what Coco had told me, and the conclusions I had drawn. ‘I don’t know if that makes her officially guilty or not, but as far as I’m concerned she should take responsibility for Freya dying. She changed things by being on the headland – if she hadn’t run as fast as she did, Freya would probably have lived. And honestly, I’m not sure Coco didn’t give her a helping hand to jump, because she was pretty confident about pushing me over the edge.’

‘She did
what
?’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘You were there. Didn’t you see her?’

‘I thought you slipped.’

‘You thought wrong. She got me where she wanted me, and then she shoved me. You of all people should know I wouldn’t have taken the risk of being that close to the edge voluntarily.’

Will’s face was grave. ‘I didn’t see her push you. That’s all I can say.’

‘She told me she had to get rid of me. Didn’t you hear her?’

‘Don’t look so surprised – we were running at the time.’

‘I don’t even know why you were here.’

‘I couldn’t leave you to get into trouble.’ Will stared at me. ‘Did you really think I was going to sit on my hands and wait to see what happened?’

‘How did you persuade your dad to get involved? He wouldn’t listen to me.’

‘I told him what you were planning to do.’ Will grinned. ‘One dead teenage girl is a shame. Two is a national news story. And not the feel-good, heart-warming kind. He didn’t take a lot of convincing.’

‘So what kept you?’

‘We’d been waiting at the bottom of the main path. No one expected you to go through the woods instead. We’d been there a while when I rang Petra to check whether you’d left and she told us you’d started at the bridge.’ Will shook his head. ‘When we realized you were on the headland already . . . I’ve never seen Dad move so fast. He almost caught up with me on the last bit.’

‘But you had the edge.’

‘I had different motivation. I couldn’t care less about Port Sentinel and its reputation.’ He was
looking
at me and I found I couldn’t quite speak, or breathe properly, or form a coherent thought. After a moment, Will went on. ‘Anyway, I don’t know about him but I know I couldn’t hear a word she said to you. I just saw you fall.’

‘So it’s my word against hers.’ I was remembering what Coco had said about how my death would be covered up, how Port Sentinel would want to preserve its reputation above all else. And I hadn’t forgotten how completely uninterested Will’s dad had been in hearing about Freya’s murder. ‘It’s not going to go away this time, I promise you. I’m not going to give up until there’s justice for Freya, and her family. People miss her, a lot. They were entitled to have more time with her. The fact that she’s gone is horrible, but the way she died makes it even worse.’

‘I agree with you but I still don’t like your chances of getting Coco to court.’ Will sounded incredibly reasonable, which was maddening. ‘You’ll need some actual evidence. And she didn’t admit anything, from what you said.’

‘I was paraphrasing.’ But I couldn’t remember her saying she had pushed Freya, probably because she didn’t say it. She’d been careful with what she gave away.

‘You can’t remember her actual words?’

‘It was a long conversation,’ I said, knowing that it sounded a bit pathetic. I shifted and something dug into my skin; I had completely forgotten the phone. ‘Oh, but there’s this.’

I ferreted about in the bodice of Freya’s ridiculous dress, trying to retrieve the phone. It wasn’t as easy as it might have been to get it out. For starters, it came out in bits.

‘Oh no. Don’t tell me it’s had it.’

Will picked up the front half of the phone, which was more or less in one piece, and turned it over. The electronic entrails didn’t look all that healthy to me, or him.

‘I don’t think the playback quality is going to be great.’

‘I must have landed on it when I fell.’ I swore very quietly under my breath. I was bitterly disappointed. All that and I had come away with nothing.

‘They might be able to get something off it.’ Will glanced at me, then looked away again, his face softening as he saw the tears I couldn’t quite blink away. ‘It’ll be all right, Jess.’

‘I just feel like I let everybody down. She’s going to get away with it, isn’t she?’ His silence answered me. I rubbed my eyes. ‘I shouldn’t have bothered inter fering. I should have minded my own business like you told me to.’

‘Did I say that?’ Will put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him, leaning his cheek on the top of my head. ‘I think I was probably trying to get you to be a bit more careful. And you didn’t listen.’

‘No. I’m not good at taking advice.’

‘That’s why I didn’t bother to try to talk you out of it.’

‘You told your dad instead.’ I spoke without thinking, and it wasn’t until I felt him move away a little that I realized what I had said. ‘It’s nothing like what happened with Ryan. I didn’t mean that.’

‘It’s what everyone will say.’

‘Then I’ll tell them they’re wrong.’ I turned so I could see him properly. ‘Will, you did the right thing. You probably saved my life by distracting her at the right moment. What would I have done if I’d been here on my own? Even if I’d landed on this stupid bit of rock I’d have been stuck here until someone came looking for me. No phone, remember?’

‘Yeah. Well, I’m glad I was able to help.’ He took his arm away from my shoulders and made a big deal out of checking his watch, and I was sure he wanted to know what time it was but I was equally sure it was an excuse. As I’d expected, he didn’t put his arm back where it had been. I shivered and rubbed my arms,
missing
my jacket. Missing him too, though I wouldn’t risk asking him to hug me again. I had my pride.

Pride was no help when I needed to get warm. I felt as if the cold had seeped into my bones.

‘Are you OK?’

‘Just a bit chilly.’ My teeth were chattering. I couldn’t exactly deny that I was freezing.

‘We need to get off these cliffs.’ Will took out his phone and I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the rock while he spoke to his father. I was completely exhausted, physically and emotionally, and it had left me numb. I couldn’t even worry about Will and whether he was angry with me, if that was the reason he was on the phone trying to negotiate an escape route for himself instead of being stuck with me indefinitely.

OK, I had enough energy to worry a little bit about that.

Will’s side of the conversation was terse and I wasn’t able to work out what was going on, but when he rang off I opened my eyes again. His expression was grim.

‘What’s up?’

‘The rescue guys are on another job. There’s been a bad accident on the coast road at Leemouth and
they
’ve got victims to recover. We’ve been classed as not being in any immediate danger.’

‘So?’

‘So it’s going to be a while.’

‘Define a while.’

‘Hours.’

‘Great.’ I squeezed my arms around my knees, holding myself tightly. ‘Then I suppose we’ll have to wait. Or I do. You don’t have to stay.’

‘Don’t be stupid.’ Will settled back beside me. ‘I’m not leaving here without you.’

His words gave me a warm glow that was almost enough to ward off the chill in the night air. Almost.

‘Have my jacket.’ He started to take it off.

‘I don’t need it.’ A total lie. ‘I’m used to the cold.’ That bit was true. I couldn’t actually remember what it was like to be warm.

‘Take it.’ He slung the jacket around me and I held onto it with fingers that were too frozen to feel it. I didn’t have it in me to give it back to him, but I felt bad about taking it.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t come dressed for scrambling around on the cliffs. If only Freya had liked practical clothes.’

Will gave me a sidelong grin. ‘If only Freya had been more like you, I think you mean. If she’d been
anything
like you at all, we wouldn’t be here now. But then she wouldn’t have been Freya.’

‘I wish I’d known her,’ I said quietly.

‘I’m glad I did.’

We sat in silence for another couple of minutes, at the end of which Will stood up.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Getting out of here. You’re shivering again and I’m getting cold too. It’s not going to do us any good to hang around.’

‘Remember what I was saying about wearing stupid clothes?’ I stuck out my foot. ‘I am not going to be able to climb up there in these.’

‘I’m not suggesting we go up.’

‘It’s closer.’

‘And much more difficult. You aren’t strong enough to haul yourself up and I’m not going to make you try.’

‘Couldn’t you just get a rope and pull me up?’

He shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t want to risk it. I’d do it that way if the Coastguard were here but we don’t have the right equipment. It would be bad if we dropped you.’

Bad was an understatement, I gathered. ‘So what then? Down?’ I fought hard to keep my voice casual but Will was too perceptive not to notice the terror.

‘It’ll be fine. It’s an easy one.’

‘For you, I can imagine it is. But for me . . .’

‘You can do it. I know you can.’ He crouched down in front of me. ‘I’ll be there the whole way. I’ll talk you through every move you have to make.’

‘What if I fall?’ I whispered.

‘That’s why God invented ropes.’ He grinned. ‘I’m not taking any unnecessary risks, believe me. I just think it’s more dangerous to stay where we are and get hypothermia.’

‘I can’t feel my feet. But that’s probably good because otherwise they would be killing me.’

‘If a few blisters are your only damage from tonight, you’re seriously lucky.’

‘Not as lucky as Coco.’ I sounded bitter because I was. ‘She should buy a lottery ticket tomorrow morning.’

‘She’ll get what’s coming to her, one way or another. Now stop thinking about it and concentrate on this.’ Will put his hands on my shoulders and shook me gently. ‘Are you going to do what I tell you to do?’

‘If the alternative is plummeting to my doom, yes.’

‘Good to know.’ He stood up and took out his phone again. ‘Let’s get these ropes.’

It didn’t take a huge amount of time to organize the things we needed, so I didn’t have long to start
worrying
about how I was going to cope with the climb. From somewhere or other, Dan Henderson had managed to get ropes. More remarkable still, he sent down a bag containing a pair of jeans and a jumper for me.

‘How did he know this was what I wanted?’ I could barely wait to take off the loathsome dress.

‘No one in their right mind would go climbing wearing that sort of thing. But don’t get too excited. These clothes will be too big for you. They’re Dad’s.’

‘They’ve got to be better than this.’ I plucked at the skirt. ‘The next time I want to get dressed up as Sandy from
Grease
, this is absolutely what I’m wearing. Otherwise, never again.’

‘Better take it off, then.’ Will was grinning at me again. I folded my arms and waited until he turned round, very slowly. I was smiling myself as I struggled into the clothes. As Will had predicted I had to roll up the sleeves and trouser-legs. I was still stuck with the hateful shoes but it was beyond brilliant to have trousers instead of a flouncy skirt, and I could breathe again. Or I could until Will started to sort out my harness and ropes. He manhandled me with a business-like detachment that I tried to copy, but I was intensely aware of his hands on my body.

‘Are you ready?’ he said at last.

‘I don’t think it’s possible to be ready, but I want to get away from here.’

‘That’ll do. You know what they always say, don’t you? Don’t look down.’

‘Will . . .’ I swallowed. ‘I’m scared.’

‘I know.’ He put out his hand and I held onto it. ‘It’s going to be fine.’

He sounded like he meant it, so I chose to believe it, or I would never have moved an inch off the rock ledge. I would never have stepped into space, trusting my life to a surprisingly thin rope and Will’s knowledge of the cliffs. But I did it. I eased myself off the ledge that had saved my life and clung to the rock where he told me to hold on, finding a toehold with his help. And almost before I realized it, I was three metres below the ledge, moving slowly but steadily towards safety.

In truth, I don’t remember a lot of the details of the climb. Will was doing the thinking for me. I was like a robot, letting him dictate every single move I made. He was brilliant at finding the easy way down, guiding me around difficult patches of rock to take advantage of a gentler slope, or finding another place where we could stop and take a breather. He was encouraging and stern and funny in turn, never stopping the flow of advice and praise that prevented
me
from panicking about what I was attempting. I concentrated on every movement I made at each individual moment, not allowing myself to think about what I had done already or what I still had to do.

And I didn’t look down once.

I have no idea how long it all took, but by the end of it my muscles were quivering and I was barely able to hold on.

‘You’re doing really well. Almost there. You can do it. Come on, Jess. Right hand here.’

I reached for the place he had indicated and my hand slipped on the stone, so I fell sideways with a gasp, swinging on the rope. Will caught me and held me tightly.

‘It’s OK. You’re OK. You’ve only got about three metres to go.’

‘I just can’t,’ I said, bursting into tears of sheer exhaustion. I was angry with myself for being so pathetic, which made me sob all the harder.

As if he recognized that I’d nothing left to give, he didn’t bother trying to cajole me into trying. He more or less carried me down the last part, setting me down on a flattish bit of rock. He kept his arms around me and I was glad of it, because my knees were shaking so much I could barely stand.