Chapter Eight
Wednesday, 31 st May
‘ L isten! Is that the falls?’ Stacy stood still as a rushing sound in the distance floated up the river. Wow, it must be some waterfall, to sound like this.
Emily sat straighter in the wheelchair, and Rico stopped pushing while they all listened.
‘Yup. Wait until you see them,’ he said, starting off again.
They’d been strolling along a wide pathway for well over half an hour, the Rhine on their left. The car was back at Schaffhausen, where they’d had a quick look around before setting off along the path to the falls. Quite a few tourists were doing the same thing, and Stacy heard American voices more than once as people passed them in both directions.
It was awkward, though, chatting when one of you was in a wheelchair and the others were pushing and walking. She could walk beside the chair, which made eye-contact with Emily easy enough but left Rico alone at the back. Or she could walk beside Rico, but then Emily was alone, and you didn’t realise all this until you had to do it. And why did it feel more awkward now, with Rico, than it had been with Alan on Monday? Alan was more of a chatterbox, of course .
Stacy reached for her phone and took a photo of the river. Best to concentrate on the scenery for now. The Rhine was wide, flowing swiftly in the same direction they were going, and so dark green it was almost black. If ever a river looked sinister, it was this one. A haze of spray was making the air up ahead shiver. Was that–?
‘Is that the waterfall?’ Stacy took another photo.
‘That’s it – you don’t get the full benefit until you’re looking back from the other direction, though,’ said Rico.
A few minutes later, they came level with the falls, and Stacy caught her breath. ‘Wow’ was completely inadequate; this was indescribable. You couldn’t call the Falls of Rhine exceptionally high, but without doubt it was the most powerful waterfall she’d ever seen. Pure white water was crashing down rocks right across the entire width of the river, tumbling over and over, roaring and throwing up spray, which the sun caught and turned into shimmering multi-coloured rainbows. A tall crag jutted heavenwards from the bottom of the falls, and to her amazement, Stacy saw that people were climbing up a stairway in the rock there.
Speechless, she stood with her phone, wondering if a photo could possibly do all this justice. This was perfect, a beautiful day, and such a glorious sight it was bringing tears to her eyes, and if only, only she was sharing it with David. She made a video of the waterfall, then dithered, her thumbs hovering over her phone. Should she send it to him? All she wanted was to share the experience with the guy she loved, but he’d been so damning about her video of the S?ntis the other day. She didn’t want to disturb him in the middle of a clinic or something again. It might be better to wait until she was back home, like he’d said. She sent it to her mother instead .
Rico angled the wheelchair to give Emily a better view, but she reached for her stick.
‘I’ll walk the next part. How did those people get out there to the rock in the middle?’ She had to raise her voice above the crash of the water.
‘Believe it or not there’s a boat. Look, that’s it pulling away from the opposite bank,’ said Rico, pointing. ‘You wouldn’t be able to climb up the crag, Emily, but we could take the boat across the river and back, if you like.’
They walked on in silence to some benches along the river bank, stopping frequently to take photos. Emily sat down on a bench angled towards the view, and Stacy joined her.
Rico unlooped the picnic bag from the wheelchair handle. ‘I’ll fetch cold drinks to go with the sandwiches.’ He loped off to the nearby kiosk.
‘He’s what you’d call the strong, silent type, isn’t he?’ said Emily, laughing. ‘But I’m glad he’s here. I’d never have managed this alone.’
‘I think he’s worried about the hotel. He said something yesterday about business being tough.’ Stacy unpacked their picnic. It was true, Rico was pretty reserved, but after seeing his reaction to his mother’s wheelchair the other day, she felt quite motherly towards him. He’d lost his mum, and he was still grieving, of course he was, and he was probably buttoning it all up inside, too. It must be hard to help run the hotel under circumstances like that, and Rico’s dad didn’t seem to be coping well either. But all that was way too heavy to talk about here, and it was none of their business, anyway.
Grinning, she squinted at Emily. ‘Bet you’re wishing it was Alan here with us!’
Emily went pink. ‘I told you. Alan’s a nice bloke, but he’ll have of plenty other tourists to help around the place before the summer’s out. There’s nothing special about him and me. I still think Rico’s giving you more than a second glance, though.’
Stacy said nothing. It was nonsense about Rico, but she’d seen the way Alan had looked at Emily in the bar last night. If that was a just holiday romance, she would eat her sunhat.
Rico returned with ice-cold cokes, and they sat working their way through the Lakeside Hotel version of a packed lunch – salami and gherkin sliced in wholemeal baby rolls, and a very nice lemon cream dessert in tubs.
‘That was yummy,’ said Stacy, scraping out her tub. ‘What shall we do this afternoon?’
‘Boat trip across to the other side and back?’ suggested Rico. ‘You get fantastic close-up views doing that. We can leave the wheelchair in the kiosk.’
‘Sounds good.’ Stacy gathered up the rubbish and took it to the bin a couple of metres away. ‘I’ll make another video. Emmy? You’ll be fine in a boat, won’t you?’
But Emily shook her head. ‘You two go ahead and I’ll sit here and rest. I’m not into small boats at the best of times, and all that white water looks scary. I’ll film you.’ She sat back and laid her leg along the bench.
Stacy hesitated, but Emily was adamant and it was too good an opportunity to miss, wasn’t it? She and Rico joined the group of about twenty other tourists waiting on the jetty, all laughing and chatting together in pairs or small groups. Yikes – this felt a bit like joining a course where everyone else was best buddies and you didn’t know a soul. The others seemed to be mainly German and English-speaking with a few Japanese and Italians too. Thankfully, the boat appeared before she could feel too awkward, and Stacy’s breath caught. Seen from close up, that was a pretty small boat and look at the way it was rocking up to the jetty, bobbing around like – she didn’t know like what. There must be a really strong current out there, and she had no David to grab hold of if things got scary. Boating through all that white water was going to be like being on some ride at the fair where your nerves were tingling and you really needed someone to grab. But now she was being daft. This was Switzerland, for heaven’s sake. Things went like clockwork here, didn’t they? It was perfectly safe. She hoped. Deep breath, Stace.
The slim, flat-bottomed boat arrived, and Stacy stepped on behind Rico. The seats were in long rows along each side, and her stomach lurched as she sat down – look how close to the water they were, and even here at the bank, she could feel the surge and pull of the river beneath them. And there wasn’t a life vest in sight – oh wait, there was a long row of them under the bench. Was that actually reassuring?
She turned to Rico, but his expression was calm. The boat set off, rocking and swaying, fighting the current to get up close to the falls. The tourists fell silent, and Stacy almost laughed. Good, she wasn’t the only one here feeling nervous. Sudden spray swished through the air, and there were gasps and high-pitched shrieks and laughter from the passengers.
‘We’ve come at the right time of year,’ said Rico, bending his head to hers to make his voice heard above the roar of the waterfall. ‘May and June are the months when the snow in the mountains melts and comes down, so the falls are at their most spectacular.’
‘Oh good,’ said Stacy faintly. The boat swung round again, rolling in the current, and she shoved her hands between her knees and pressed them together. Gawd. She must look as if she was waiting to sit her driving test, or go in for root canal treatment, perhaps. It was what she felt like, too .
‘It’s quite exciting, isn’t it?’ she said, trying to sound chilled. ‘I’m glad I don’t get sea-sick!’
Rico laughed. ‘It’s completely safe, don’t worry. I’ll make a video for you, shall I? You concentrate on the falls.’ He pulled out his phone.
Thank heavens for that, because she could no more have filmed the falls than fly in the air right now. Stacy held her breath as they rocked into white foam and swirled around in the current, the roar of crashing water in her ears all the time. Wow, this was nothing like a rollercoaster after all; this was way better. Or worse. But all too soon the river was green again and they were bobbing up to the opposite bank, where, to Stacy’s surprise, Rico ushered her onto dry land.
‘Idea – shall we walk up through the woods and over the bridge back to Emily? It won’t take long, and you get great close-up views from the platforms on the way up. Seems a pity for you to miss it.’
Stacy turned round to see the opposite bank of the river, where Emily was still on the bench. A quick message would be best: Fab ride, walking back, cu soon . And send. A moment later, Emily waved.
Stacy grinned at Rico. ‘Lead on!’
And whisper it – she was glad to be on dry land again, where she didn’t need an absent fiancé to grab hold of, wasn’t she?
***
Rico stopped halfway up the steep pathway zigzagging through the woods at the side of the falls. It wasn’t only the physical effort that was increasing his heart rate. Being with Stacy had that effect on him, and hell, they should have taken the boat back to the other side after all. The boat was quicker, plus it provided you with plenty to look at and it wouldn’t have mattered if he and Stacy talked to each other or not. Here, although they were still surrounded by other tourists going up and down the path, it felt wrong not to chat. Problem was, he had no idea what to say to her. You’re lovely, and I so wish you weren’t engaged was truthful but didn’t fit the occasion, somehow. And Stacy wasn’t talking much, either.
‘Okay?’ he asked as she stopped beside him, panting slightly and with an adorable pink flush on her cheeks. ‘It’s pretty steep – but there’s a platform with a great view of the falls round the next bend, if I remember correctly.’
‘A rest would be good!’ She wiped one hand over her brow, and Rico smiled mutely.
The platform was packed, but they managed to jostle their way to the front and stood metres from thundering white water.
Stacy reached for her phone. ‘This is incredible. It’s worth the climb, isn’t it?’
Rico stood by while she took some pics, her face serene, then they made way for other tourists and returned to the main path, and hell, he was panicking here. He had to say something… What could he say?
‘Um – it’s good to be going up through the trees, isn’t it? Gets us out of the sun for a while.’ And first prize for scintillating conversation goes to Rico Weber of Grimsbach… Shit.
Stacy looked up, and promptly stumbled over a stone on the rough pathway. Rico grabbed her elbow. ‘Careful! You okay?’
Better and better, he’d sounded like his dad there, getting impatient when Mum had a wobble on her heels. Stacy had jumped when he grabbed her, too – what did that mean? But she was smiling again, though she stepped away from his grasp.
‘All good, thanks. And you’re right about the trees. I can’t believe how hot it gets in Switzerland.’
British conversation at its best… Rico gave her a strained grin, and on they went. And thanks be, the top was around the next bend.
They reached the end of the pathway and stood still, getting their breath back, then Stacy moved towards the souvenir shop.
Rico found his voice. ‘Wait – there’s a bigger shop on the other side. You could go in with Emily.’
Stacy’s phone buzzed, and she scrabbled in the handbag slung around her shoulders. ‘Good idea.’
She was frowning at her mobile now. Was he imagining it, or did she sound bored?
He cleared his throat. ‘Problem?’
‘No. Sorry. My mum raving about the video I sent her at the other side. I’ll answer it later – we should get back to Emmy.’ She thrust the phone into her bag.
‘We’ll be there in a few minutes,’ he said, leading her onto the railway bridge spanning the Rhine. ‘I’m sure she’s fine.’ Despair flooded through him. What was wrong with him today? The answer to that was clear even to him. He was trying as hard as he could not to fall for a girl with a ring on her finger, that was what. And he wasn’t succeeding.
‘That reminds me,’ he said brightly. ‘Give me your number, and I’ll send on the video I made in the boat.’
Stacy reeled off her number, and he keyed it in and sent off the video. She watched it, smiling faintly, said, ‘Thank you, Rico’, and carried on further along the bridge. They were back to walking in silence, and Rico tried frantically to think of a nice neutral topic that would last them until they reached Emily. Stacy was glaring into the distance, her mouth drooping as the silence between them became never ending. He had to talk – what could he say? He was still trying to think of something when she spoke first.
‘Are you enjoying being back at the hotel for the summer? I guess your dad’s glad of your help?’
Rico cleared his throat to gain a few seconds thinking time. Here was his neutral topic, but it was a scary one. Should he tell her how things really stood? No, better not. There was no reason she would care, and if by some miracle they managed to get Lakeside running at a profit again, she might return as a guest someday. No point telling her this could be their last season.
‘We’re working out a new business strategy,’ he compromised. ‘It’s complicated, but hopefully it’ll make a difference.’
Stacy increased her pace as they turned off the bridge at the other side. ‘Poor Em – we seem to have been away for ages.’
Now she was almost running away from him. Rico hurried to catch her up. ‘It’s downhill all the way back. Don’t worry.’
Depression settled heavily on his shoulders. If only he could be like those tourists over there, chattering and laughing together as they enjoyed their outing to the falls. Instead, he was unable to get the thought of what could happen to his beloved home out of his head, and add that to the fact that he was walking beside the best girl ever and she couldn’t wait to get away from him – he’d had worse afternoons, but this was shaping up to be in his top ten most cringeworthy ones.
Emily had moved a few benches further along the riverbank. ‘I pushed my own wheelchair,’ she said, laughing. ‘Can we investigate the shop? I’d like a souvenir of today.’
‘I’ll wait here,’ said Rico. He collapsed beside the abandoned wheelchair while the two girls vanished into the crowded store. At least Emily was enjoying herself enough to want a memento of her trip. He rubbed his face. Snap out of it, Rico, and count your blessings. You’re following the career you always wanted, you have every prospect of being able to set up a business when you’ve finished your course, you have loads of friends and your dad loves you. It would have to be enough.
The tourist shop had a glass front, and he could see Stacy’s head bobbing around inside. She’d be carrying the basket, and they’d both be filling it with bits and pieces to remind them of a happy day. And the two of them would have a few more hopefully happy days before vanishing out of his life forever. And there was nothing he could do about it.