At the end of her tether

He was such an idiot. Why she had ever married him was a complete mystery. There really was nothing she liked about him, except perhaps his money and his love of the outdoors, in that order. They had met when they had both attended a mountain leaders’ course in Scotland two years earlier. She remembered being very disappointed when she and he had been paired together as a team for the practical part of the course. Up until that point she had completely ignored him. The truth was, he hadn’t showed up particularly well either in looks or ability compared with some of the other male attendees and she remembered being bitterly disappointed when her friend, Gillian, had drawn the tall, good looking Hank she too had had her eyes on. She and Harry had been forced by bad weather so spent a night together in a small bothy high up on Ben something or other. The weather had been fouls all day and to give him his due, she was forced to admit, he had proved he was a real leader. He had taken charge when the situation deteriorated to such an extent she remembered being in fear for her life. But he had guided them to the only shelter on the mountain. The bothy was unoccupied so they had made themselves as comfortable as the atrocious conditions and the limited life support the bothy offered while they waited for the other course attendees to arrive. But none did because all the others had turned back much earlier in the day. Harry had suggested they should turn back but she had insisted they should press on. She had even questioned his manliness for even thinking of quitting, she remembered with a hint of shame.

While they had chatted together and they waited for others to join then, somewhat lightheaded because they knew they had been in a very dangerous situation, they gradually took the measure of each other. That was when she discovered he ran his own very successful financial management business and was already seriously wealthy. He had already proved he was a born leader and suddenly his lack of looks didn’t seem as important. When darkness finally fell, they knew no-one else would now come to join them so they were destined to spend the night together. One thing had led to another and they had eventually shared a sleeping bag. There followed a whirlwind romance and one month later they had married. As far as she was concerned, it had all been downhill ever since. Nor did it help when his business had failed during the banking crisis.

Now, here she was, two years later, dangling at the end of a bloody rope having been persuaded by him to go climbing. Why he had chosen such a difficult route was quite beyond her. He knew her limitations. He really was a fool.

‘Get me out of here, you bloody idiot,’ she screamed.

‘If that’s what you want, I’ll see you at the bottom,’ he called back.

She watched in silent fascination and with growing horror as the knife flashed.

Bernard Gallivan

April 2019