The Everest Files by Matt Dickinson Page A

was getting more radical by the minute. Getting to the Langtang cliffs in two days would make it a phenomenally hard trek and there were many hazards they would face on the way.
    â€˜You really think we can do that?’ he asked.
    â€˜We have to do it. There’s no choice,’ she replied earnestly. And he knew she absolutely meant it.
    Kami thought about it as they carried the water containers back up to the village. His mind was fogged up with adrenaline but he knew there was no time for weighing up the pros and cons; it was something they had to act on immediately or not at all.
    Above all he couldn’t let Shreeya down. By the time they had reached the village shrine he had made the decision.
    â€˜Alright,’ he told her, ‘Let’s do it.’
    The smile she gave him at that moment was enough to take Kami’s breath away. At that same moment he noticed for the first time how her face had changed that summer. The soft lines of childhood were magically gone and the elegant shape of Shreeya’s face was now that of a young woman … and a beautiful one at that.
    â€˜We’ll need food,’ Shreeya said, ever practical. ‘Get what you can. I’ll meet you at the shrine at midnight.’
    And with that she took the heavy jerrycans and slipped away through the village streets.
    Shreeya wrote a note in her school book that night and left it open where her father would find it.
    We have gone to save the leopards.
It said simply.
Please don’t worry.
    Kami got busy as soon as his family were asleep, creeping from his bed and entering the kitchen. He found some boiled eggs, half a kilo of raisins and a few packets of biscuits. He opened up the front door with infinite care, cursing the huge wooden catch as it creaked and groaned.
    Shreeya was already tucked into the shadows, waiting for him by the village shrine.
    â€˜Let’s go.’ Kami was itching to get away.
    They slipped away from the village on a little-used track, dodging into the star-cast shadows of the night and grateful for a half moon of guiding light. Kami felt tenser than he had ever been in his life, his guts churning ceaselessly as he wondered if they would yet be caught.
    With every step they feared a shout would ring out behind them, but all was quiet. Only the electric buzz of nocturnal insects and the liquid song of nightjars punctuated the silence.
    After an hour of fast walking they reached the critical point on the trail; the place where they would have to turn off the main path and commit to the long climb up the valley wall.
    â€˜Last chance. You can go back if you want,’ Shreeya told him earnestly. He could see her eyes glinting in the moonlight. ‘You won’t be missed if you go back now.’
    Kami thought about it for a few moments. He knew full well that this escapade was going to put him in big trouble. It would earn him a beating at least, and possibly a long ‘grounding’ when he would be forbidden to leave the village.
    But his loyalty to Shreeya was absolute, and he could not imagine letting her go on this perilous journey alone.
    â€˜I’m coming with you,’ he said firmly, and the two of them stepped onto the trail that led upwards into the dark forest.
    The further they got from the village the wilder the night became. Occasionally they disturbed foraging animals, jumping out of their skins as a wild pig or deer crashed away in a panic through the undergrowth.
    At dawn the trail came to a river crossing that Shreeya remembered badly from their previous journey. It was a rope bridge across a deep canyon and it swayed alarmingly; Shreeya was nervous of heights, and the drop into the glacial river below was a hundred metres or more.
    Many of the wooden slats were missing and there were places where you had to leap across gaps that were frighteningly wide, using just the frayed ropes as handrails.
    She didn’t want to show any fear in front of Kami but