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Chapter 10 Stone and Betrayal
I shrugged. “I’m not a woman. How would I know?”
Then I looked at her in surprise. “Wait… don’t tell me you’re still a virgin?”
Alice nodded. “My father was a strict Puritan. He didn’t want me to experience sex too early. If I ever slept with a man, he said he’d cut me off from the inheritance.”
I patted Alice on the shoulder, feeling genuinely sorry for her.
As far as I knew, Puritans strictly opposed premarital sex and any kind of sexual immorality.
Alice started crying. “I used to resent my dad so much… now he’s the person I want to see the most.”
I tried to comfort her gently.
Suddenly, I heard Elsa’s voice: “Alice? Miss Alice, where are you?”
I quickly doused the campfire with water and pulled Alice down to a hidden spot beneath the ravine wall.
Alice looked confused. “What’s going on?”
I whispered, “You can answer her. Just don’t say I’m here. Once you’re out, find a way to help me. If Elsa finds out both of us are down, here, she’ll leave us for dead.”
Alice’s face went pale, but she nodded.
She stepped out into the open and called upward, “Elsa! I’m down here–please help me!”
In my heart, I hoped Elsa might show a shred of kindness and help Alice out.
But no one knew Elsa better than I did.
She wasn’t the kind of person who shared anything–not even a little.
From up above came Elsa’s voice: “Miss Alice, come this way. I’ll pull you up.”
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Alice quickly ran toward the sound.
But there was no rope. Only a massive rock, tumbling down from above!
I grabbed Alice’s arm just in time and pulled her back.
With a deafening crash, the boulder slammed into the ravine floor, shaking the ground.
Cold stream water splashed all over us.
Alice screamed, but I covered her mouth.
I whispered in her ear, “Don’t say anything. She’ll keep throwing rocks.”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three more stones crashed down from above.
It was clear–Elsa wanted Alice dead.
Thankfully, we were tucked into a recessed part of the rock wall. The stones missed
- us.
From overhead came Elsa’s cold voice: “Stupid girl. You keep defending Leon- have you been planning to betray me this whole time? Whether you’re dead yet or not, just go ahead and die in peace. No one’s coming for you!”
Alice looked up toward the top of the ravine, her face pale with terror.
She clearly never imagined someone could be this cruel.
And I finally understood why Elsa was acting this way—because I had saved Alice. Over the past two days, she’d been praising me, defending me.
That was enough to send Elsa into a rage.
So when she discovered Alice had fallen into the ravine, she didn’t help–she pushed rocks down to finish her off.
After a while, the sounds above stopped. Elsa must’ve left.
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Alice tried to step out, but I held her back.
I pressed a finger to my lips and led her silently to a safer spot.
Half a minute later, another rock came crashing down.
Elsa wasn’t just cruel–she was relentless.
Then we heard another voice from above. Jean.
“Elsa, what are you doing? Why are you throwing rocks?”
Elsa answered, “Oh, there’s a venomous snake down in the ravine. I was trying to crush it. You go check the spot where we saw the smoke.”
When Alice heard Jean, she instinctively tried to rush out, waving her arms to call for help.
I shook my head and whispered, “Don’t. If Jean tries to save us, Elsa might push her in too. She’ll die down here with us.”
Because Jean was there, Elsa didn’t throw more rocks. She left with her.
Alice and I stayed hidden until evening.
Then we started to move again.
I pointed to the rocks around us. “Elsa tried to kill us, but in a way, she helped us. With these stones, we might be able to climb out.”
I stacked the large rocks one by one, until the pile reached my chest.
Even with that, Alice still wouldn’t be able to reach the top by herself.
What Elsa hadn’t counted on… was that there were two of us.
I knelt down beside the stack and let Alice climb onto my shoulders.
Standing on the rock pile, she was now at the very top.
I grabbed her slim waist and lifted her onto my shoulders.
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Alice, being a fitness instructor, had excellent balance.
Standing on my shoulders, she was finally level with the ravine’s edge.
But even then, there was still about a meter and a half of distance.
The wall was slick, with nowhere to grip.
Alice waved her arms, trying desperately to grab hold of something- but she couldn’t get a grip.
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
