Secrets at the Loch (Loch Lannick #5) - Hannah Ellis Page 0,53

one piece.” Pulling out her phone, she took a few photos.

“Come on.” He glanced around as the wind picked up. “We need to get lower before those clouds make it impossible to see where we’re going.”

“One second,” she said, dropping down from the rock to land beside him. She held her phone out for a selfie of the two of them. “Smile!”

He grinned, then started to walk back the way they’d come as Lexie put her phone away and pulled her gloves back on. The guy in the museum had been right; everything felt clearer at the top of the mountain, and she had a sudden desire to be completely honest with Nick.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I was annoyed with you this morning?” she called after him. “I promised I’d tell you at the top.”

“I already know why,” Nick called over his shoulder. “Hurry. We need to walk fast. Just until we get a bit lower.”

It was clear from his tone he wasn’t about to stop for a chat. The edge of panic to his voice made Lexie nervous.

“Watch your footing,” he said, raising his voice as the wind whipped around them.

She did as she was told and concentrated on the snowy ground, glancing up now and again to check Nick was still in front of her.

“It’s getting foggy,” she shouted, pushing her hair from her face.

Nick turned back. “It’s cloud. It comes in quickly. Keep moving.”

She wasn’t sure if he was just being overly cautious, but she didn’t really want to find out, so she hurried to keep up. When her shoelace worked its way undone, she ignored it for a few minutes until the rhythm of the string slapping against her shoe annoyed her.

“One second,” she called to Nick as she bent to secure it. With the wind rushing at her face, she wasn’t sure if he’d heard her, but she’d only take a moment. Tightening the laces caused more pain in her foot, and she pulled at her sock to find a patch of blood by the heel. She’d be so happy to take the boots off. First, she needed to focus on getting down the mountain.

She took a few steps before realising she’d lost sight of Nick. The cloud had moved in and she could hardly see anything. Including the path. She was fairly sure she was still on it, but the wind was swirling the snow around her feet in a way that made the ground seem as though it was moving.

“Nick!” she called, sure he couldn’t be far away. She could only see a couple of metres ahead. After taking a few steps, she called out to him again, but everything was lost in the grey haze around her.

Panic coursed through her. For all she knew she was about to veer from the path and plummet down a cliff. Standing still, she called out to Nick a couple more times. If she stayed where she was, he was bound to come back. Hopefully he didn’t fall off the mountainside searching for her. She thought she saw him for a moment, before realising it was the shadowy outline of one of the cairns that served as markers on the path. That would be a sensible place to wait until the clouds passed. With all the wind, they’d soon blow over and she’d be able to see again.

After picking her way carefully to the mound of rocks, she dropped her backpack to the ground and sat on it. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she shivered, then set about shouting for Nick at regular intervals.

Time felt as though it had slowed down, but it was probably only a matter of minutes before he appeared. With visibility so low he seemed to come out of nowhere. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of him and she stood to hug him.

“What the hell happened?” He sounded more annoyed than relieved.

“I stopped to tie my lace. When I stood up you’d disappeared.”

“I told you we had to hurry.” His face was set in a hard frown and he rubbed the back of his hand across his forehead.

“Is that a compass?” she asked, pulling on his hand to look. “You said you didn’t have one.”

“Well, I do.” He stared down at it, then held out his other hand to reveal an ordnance survey map. “I knew you’d tease me. But bringing a map and a compass is sensible. Hopefully I can get us out