Christmas With Her Daredevil Doc. Kate Hardy

to lose someone else the same way she’d lost Evan.

      ‘Do you want to walk on the glacier?’ he asked. ‘I brought some kit with me, just in case.’

      Under the rules of her agreement with Danielle, Hayley knew she ought to say yes. Instead, still thinking of the danger of his work on the mountain rescue team, she asked, ‘Are you sure it’s safe?’

      He smiled. ‘I know the area so, yes, it’s safe. I wasn’t sure of your shoe size, so I brought a few different pairs in case your hiking shoes weren’t sturdy enough.’ He glanced at her feet. ‘Actually, if we do it, I’d really prefer you to wear the boots I brought with me. Not that there’s anything wrong with your hiking boots,’ he hastened to add, ‘but ice walking needs a little bit extra.’

      ‘If you’re sure it’s safe,’ she said, ‘then OK.’ Walking on a glacier would be even better than touching one.

      She put the shoes on and he fitted the crampons for her. ‘These are to make it safer for you to walk on the ice,’ he explained. He also gave her a helmet, ice axe and a walking pole. ‘This will help to stabilise you and help you get a grip when you need to,’ he said, ‘as well as help you test the ice to make sure it’s solid before you set foot on it.’

      After a safety briefing, he showed her how to walk on the ice. ‘You need to stamp down to get a good grip,’ he said.

      ‘I’m glad now that I didn’t go for a run this morning before breakfast,’ she said.

      ‘As part of your training for the charity race, you mean?’ He smiled. ‘You’ll definitely get a good workout here. It won’t do much for your speed, but it’ll be good for stamina.’

      They went along the path that led to the glacier, and then they were walking across the ice. Hayley could hear crunching sounds with every step. Part of her was terrified, part of her was thrilled and part of her was awed at the sheer beauty of the ice landscape. ‘The way the snow lies on the dark ice, all rippled—it’s a bit like the way a sandy beach looks when the tide goes out,’ she said. ‘I thought glaciers would be just white or blue, nothing like this. With all that dark veining going through it, in places it looks like marble.’