7. Dalton
Chapter 7
Dalton
H e's pulling away from me, I know it. I can feel the rip. The universe stitched us together all those years ago and now the stitches are breaking. One at a time, they’re unravelling and it hurts, so fucking much.
We've been in Austria for four days and in those four days Asher has done everything he can to be where I'm not. He spends more time with Lane than with me, he won't hold my hand, won't smile at my jokes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch him as he stretches his legs out onto the table in front of him, his focus on the book he has open on his lap. I’m locked in an intense game of Cluedo just about ready to make my call but certain my father will beat me to it. The storm outside has picked up and the wind howls around us, while the fire roars inside keeping us toasty. Clem and Cordelia are listening to Christmas tunes, singing along and making up dances to their favourites while Suz has the task of filming their theatrics. Asher doesn’t look up at me as he turns the page. I wonder what he’s reading as I take in his pursed lips and frown lines, but I can’t make out the cover from here. Usually, he tells me all about the books that have caught his interest but, he’s barely spoken to me since we arrived.
As expected, my dad reaches the library and makes his call, declaring it was Col. Mustard in the library with a lead pipe and he cheers when Mum pulls out the hidden cards to confirm he was right and the game is won. I help tidy up then get pulled into a conversation with Suzie and Lane’s mum, while she scrolls through her phone showing me photos of their life back in Australia.
I feel eyes on me, and turn to find Asher watching me, his book upside down on his lap but he turns away as soon as our eyes meet. I’m called back to Mrs York as she laughs at the photo in front of her.
“Oh gosh! Look at this one, I forgot it came up in my photo memories recently.” It’s a photo of Suzie and I when we were six, in which we’re dressed up smartly for a function. Suzie looks pissed off and is pulling at the braid in her hair while I am wiping my nose on my waistcoat. Who puts a six year old in a waistcoat? “This was taken at our neighbour, Janet's wedding. You two looked adorable. You were inseparable back then. We used to joke about planning your own wedding one day, that by the time you were this age you’d be married with kids!” Suzie’s mum laughs but my focus is caught on Asher who has dropped his book and is now standing.
“I’m going to get some firewood.” He gestures towards the fire before dashing out of the room. I want to follow because it’s stormy outside and he shouldn’t go alone but Suzie’s voice stops me when she scolds her mother. This has long since been a joke in their family - one I have always brushed off, having never felt anything more than friendship for Suz - and right now, she looks really frustrated.
“Mum! We were six! Please drop it now.”
Lane smirks at his sister. “Not sure Suzie’s girlfriend would like the idea of her marrying Dalton.”
Their dad makes a noise of agreement and my eyes ping pong between them as they bicker.
“Oh hush, the three of you. It was just a comment. Suzie, you know we love Charli. I won’t mention it again, I didn’t mean to upset anyone.” Suzie nods and it seems all is forgiven as her dad sets up a game of Monopoly and Clem and Cordelia run upstairs. My mum disappears into the kitchen and I can hear the kettle boiling.
After five minutes with no sign of Asher's return, my skin is starting to itch and my legs feel restless. I jump up, unable to stand the unease churning in my gut while I look at the worsening storm outside and still no Asher.
Grabbing my coat, I rush outside and am met with blasting cold air that bites my cheeks and makes me wish I’d put on gloves. The woodshed is only a few metres to the side of the house and I’m there in a few minutes, my head bent down against the wind but there’s no Asher. Squinting against the snow blowing into my face, I can vaguely make out a silhouette near the treeline and I run over as fast as the snow around my feet will allow. I reach the figure moments later and relief tears through me when I see it’s Asher. He startles when I grab his shoulder and turns towards me. His eyes are wet and his nose is red. He needs to get out of the cold.
“What are you doing? Come back inside,” I shout over the howling wind. He opens his mouth but I can’t hear him, so I step a little closer.
“There was a dog, it’s injured. It ran off and I’m trying to find it.” Asher points behind him and I shake my head.
“We have to get inside, Ash. It’s too cold. Come on.” I go to reach for his arm again, but he lifts it, evading my grip at the same taking a step back and something hidden under the snow catches his foot.
I watch in horrific slow motion as he stumbles backwards and falls, his body disappearing from my sight. Blood rushes to my ears until all I can hear is pounding in my ears as I watch my best friend rolling like a marble down the snowy hill. Without thinking, I throw myself forward, trying to keep upright as the thick snow drags me down and the wind whips at my face. The snow is so thick, I can barely see, but I don’t take my eyes off the figure now slumped at the bottom between a line of trees. By the time I reach Asher, he’s sitting up, rubbing at his ankle. I grip his face and scan the rest of his body, there's no blood and apart from his ankle he seems unharmed.
A small sausage dog with tiny legs appears next to me, it’s holding one paw up and trying to nuzzle at Asher while I help him to his feet. He winces when he puts pressure on his left leg and I swing his arm over my shoulder, taking as much of his weight as I can.
“What the fuck were you thinking coming out in the storm on your own? And then chasing after a dog?! Fuck, Ash you could have gotten seriously hurt. You should have waited for me.”
He huffs, I feel it against my neck more than I hear it. “I don’t always need you Dalton,” he snaps and my breath catches. “I can do things on my own.” I know he can, and it’s not about him not being able to do things, it’s about me wanting to be there for him. I like doing things for him, being there for him. The way he snapped at me is so unlike him, but I put it down to fear, and the fact that he’s in pain.
Brushing aside the way his words sting, I hold him tighter and walk closer to the foot of the hill. There’s no chance we can go back up the way we came. I survey the area around us, but the poor visibility is making it hard for me to get my bearings.
“We can’t go back up this way.” I say.
“From looking at the map, I recall there’s a road that winds up and around, if we can find it, we can probably take it back up,” he says then looks down at his foot before adding, “although it may be a little slow going.”
“I could carry you,” I suggest .
“Absolutely not!” Ashers glares at me and I don't understand why he's so annoyed. I didn't get us into this situation.
“But I've carried you before, you like it.” The way he's looking at me has me questioning that statement. But no, fuck it, I remember quite clearly the last time I carried him, he laughed and we joked about it.
“Just no,” Asher says bluntly. “Here, carry the dog, the snow is far too deep for it to limp through.” He lifts the little thing and shoves it into my arms. I've no idea what crapped in his cereal this morning, but I don't push him.
“Grumpy Asher is going to bite our heads off if we're not careful,” I grumble to the shivering dog in my arms.
Asher stumbles a little so with my free arm, I grab him then help him through the treeline and towards where we hope the road is. He doesn't bat me away, but he doesn't say anything either. After what must be at least ten minutes of walking in silence - and not a comfortable one - I’m starting to sweat from the exertion of traipsing through the snow and supporting most of Asher’s weight with one side of my body. There’s no road in sight and I’m certain we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.
“Fuck!” I shout and Asher leans against a tree for a moment while I try to work out where to go next. Pulling my phone from my pocket I see I have no signal.
“Let’s just carry on west,” Asher says and given I have no better suggestion, we do that. The sky is now almost black and it’s getting harder to see in front of us. I’m starting to lose hope of finding the road while also feeling the grip of panic pulling me down when Asher spots a structure between the trees. “There!” Adding a bit of speed to my movements, I pull him forward until we are standing on the stoop of a small cabin with darkened windows.
Knowing we need to get out of the cold - the ache in my fingers the biggest sign - I try the door, relieved to find it unlocked, then lug Asher inside, placing him on a tartan covered sofa. The dog, who I had put down on the stoop, comes in too and deposits itself on the sofa next to him. I elevate Asher’s foot on the table in front of him, placing a throw cushion beneath it.
“I wonder who lives here?” Asher says and I look around until I find a side lamp which I turn on, creating a warm glow in the small rustic room. Next to the lamp sits a notebook with Harper Lodge Summer Villa Visitors Guide printed on the front.
Lifting it up, so he can see it, I say, “I don’t think anyone lives here, I guess they use this for tourists in the summer.” Wind batters against the roof and windows and I almost cry in relief when I pull out my phone and see that I have one measly bar of signal. Trying to call my dad, the call won’t connect so instead I send a message hoping it will get through.
Asher and I got lost in the blizzard. We’ve found a small cabin but don’t know where we are or how to get back. Signal is terrible.
I hit send on the message then walk through the cabin, taking stock of what I find. A small bedroom with one double bed, a kitchen with running water and a cupboard full of canned foods and a tiny bathroom with a shower. There’s an old stone fireplace in the lounge, probably part of the original structure, though it looks unused and there's no firewood which, given this is a summer cabin makes sense. I decide I’ll look around later in the hopes there’s a log store somewhere nearby.
While the cabin is warm, it's not warm enough. I check the radiator to find it's on a low temperature and I can't find a dial of sorts to bump up the temp. I know from experience that it's customary to leave heating running even in vacant properties over winter to prevent pipes freezing.
Bundling up the blankets from the bed, I take them back to the sofa and sit next to Asher, pulling him close to me and then covering us both with a blanket. He tenses as I lace my pinky with his but I’m too tired - the adrenaline from earlier fading - to pay much mind to it and I rest my head back and close my eyes. Next to me, he releases a long sigh.
“You scared me Ash, I don’t ever want to lose you.” He doesn’t reply but I feel his head hit my shoulder and for just a moment I feel settled. Even if a storm is raging around us and we’re lost in the forest, we’re together and we’re both okay.