Read Online In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sarah Andrews
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opened them again, he wasn’t smiling anymore.
Valena waited.
Cupcake said, “Valena just arrived yesterday afternoon, and it was news to her that her professor wasn’t going to be here to greet her.”
Ted closed his eyes again and sighed heavily. “That’s very bad luck for the young lady, but what exactly do you expect me to do about it?”
“I want you to talk to her. Tell her what you know.”
Pain suffused Ted’s voice as he said, “I know very little.”
Cupcake put a hand tenderly on Ted’s shoulder. “But you were there, so you know stuff.”
“I was in the camp, but I wasn’t there when the guy died.”
“Then tell her that much.”
Ted finally reopened his eyes and looked deep into Valena’s.
“Anything you can tell me would help me understand,” Valena said. “Anything at all.”
Ted looked away. After a moment, with great consternation, he unclipped his camera and began folding up his tripod.
“I’m sorry,” Valena told him. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your work. Would you like me to meet you later on, maybe? When you’re done?”
“No, young lady, I am now done for the day, trust me on that. But we’re not going to talk about this here.”
Cupcake said, “When someone dies out here, it really gets to people, especially if they knew the person, even if he
was
a raging jackass.” Focusing her sharp eyes on Ted, she added, “Especially if you think you could have changed things had you stayed in camp. It wasn’t your fault, Ted.”
“Then it was nobody’s fault. That’s what’s so ridiculous about yanking Emmett off the ice. He didn’t kill that man any more than I’m the Queen of Sheba.”
“In a previous life, Ted. That’s why you’re so good at contacting your feminine side.”
“Stuff it up your tailpipe, Cupcake.”
Ted dropped his camera into a ziplock bag, then opened his parka halfway and tucked the bag inside the top of his bib overalls, up against a layer of navy blue fleece, and pulled his zipper back up to his chin. With a softly paternal tone, he advised Valena, “If you take your camera indoors when it’s cold, the condensation will screw it up. And the battery has to stay warm to work. It will die at these temperatures so fast you wouldn’t believe it, but if you warm it up again, it comes back.”
“When are you going to get a digital camera?” Cupcake chided.
“Sweet thing, I am a devout Luddite. I will still be shooting film when you’re gumming your soup in some home for the ancient and insane.” He glanced over his shoulder at Valena. “Kind of silly shooting print film, considering that I don’t see the results of my work until I go back north, but it’s what fires my rocket.”
Outside in the glare and reflection of twenty-four-hour sunlight and wraparound ice, Ted led the way up the short hill to Vince’s Cross. There, he set down his gear and looked out across the frozen sea toward the continent. “You know your landmarks yet, Valena?” he inquired.
“Not really.”
“That bit of meringue is the Royal Society Range, just one small section of the Transantarctic Mountains. Scott named it in honor of the sponsors of his 1902 expedition. You’ll find lots of stuff like that around here, things named for people who never set foot on the ice. The Transantarctics run for three thousand kilometers, and here and there, glaciers flowing from the Polar Plateau flow down valleys onto the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Ross Ice Shelf. To get to the Pole, you have to climb up one glacier or another and then continue on across the Polar Plateau. He had to drag his supplies up over the mountains somewhere, but where? You want to go inland as far as possible across the ice shelf before you start to climb, because the higher you get, the colder it gets, and the pole is 9,200 feet above sea level.”
He pointed southward, to the left of the range, toward a group of lower summits that stood somewhat closer. “He headed out past
Valena waited.
Cupcake said, “Valena just arrived yesterday afternoon, and it was news to her that her professor wasn’t going to be here to greet her.”
Ted closed his eyes again and sighed heavily. “That’s very bad luck for the young lady, but what exactly do you expect me to do about it?”
“I want you to talk to her. Tell her what you know.”
Pain suffused Ted’s voice as he said, “I know very little.”
Cupcake put a hand tenderly on Ted’s shoulder. “But you were there, so you know stuff.”
“I was in the camp, but I wasn’t there when the guy died.”
“Then tell her that much.”
Ted finally reopened his eyes and looked deep into Valena’s.
“Anything you can tell me would help me understand,” Valena said. “Anything at all.”
Ted looked away. After a moment, with great consternation, he unclipped his camera and began folding up his tripod.
“I’m sorry,” Valena told him. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your work. Would you like me to meet you later on, maybe? When you’re done?”
“No, young lady, I am now done for the day, trust me on that. But we’re not going to talk about this here.”
Cupcake said, “When someone dies out here, it really gets to people, especially if they knew the person, even if he
was
a raging jackass.” Focusing her sharp eyes on Ted, she added, “Especially if you think you could have changed things had you stayed in camp. It wasn’t your fault, Ted.”
“Then it was nobody’s fault. That’s what’s so ridiculous about yanking Emmett off the ice. He didn’t kill that man any more than I’m the Queen of Sheba.”
“In a previous life, Ted. That’s why you’re so good at contacting your feminine side.”
“Stuff it up your tailpipe, Cupcake.”
Ted dropped his camera into a ziplock bag, then opened his parka halfway and tucked the bag inside the top of his bib overalls, up against a layer of navy blue fleece, and pulled his zipper back up to his chin. With a softly paternal tone, he advised Valena, “If you take your camera indoors when it’s cold, the condensation will screw it up. And the battery has to stay warm to work. It will die at these temperatures so fast you wouldn’t believe it, but if you warm it up again, it comes back.”
“When are you going to get a digital camera?” Cupcake chided.
“Sweet thing, I am a devout Luddite. I will still be shooting film when you’re gumming your soup in some home for the ancient and insane.” He glanced over his shoulder at Valena. “Kind of silly shooting print film, considering that I don’t see the results of my work until I go back north, but it’s what fires my rocket.”
Outside in the glare and reflection of twenty-four-hour sunlight and wraparound ice, Ted led the way up the short hill to Vince’s Cross. There, he set down his gear and looked out across the frozen sea toward the continent. “You know your landmarks yet, Valena?” he inquired.
“Not really.”
“That bit of meringue is the Royal Society Range, just one small section of the Transantarctic Mountains. Scott named it in honor of the sponsors of his 1902 expedition. You’ll find lots of stuff like that around here, things named for people who never set foot on the ice. The Transantarctics run for three thousand kilometers, and here and there, glaciers flowing from the Polar Plateau flow down valleys onto the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Ross Ice Shelf. To get to the Pole, you have to climb up one glacier or another and then continue on across the Polar Plateau. He had to drag his supplies up over the mountains somewhere, but where? You want to go inland as far as possible across the ice shelf before you start to climb, because the higher you get, the colder it gets, and the pole is 9,200 feet above sea level.”
He pointed southward, to the left of the range, toward a group of lower summits that stood somewhat closer. “He headed out past
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