Spark [Sheldon_Sidney]_The_Other_Side_of_Midnight(BookSe | Seite 266

Catherine lay there on the flat ground getting her strength back, feeling the cool
breeze teasing at her hair. The terror had subsided. There was nothing more to fear now.
Larry had said the way down was easy. Larry sat down beside her.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes.” Her heart had stopped pounding and she was beginning to
breathe normally again. She took a deep breath and smiled up at him.
“The hard part’s finished, isn’t it?” Catherine asked.
Larry looked at her a long moment. Then he said, “Yes. It’s finished, Cathy.”
Catherine raised herself up on one elbow. A wooden observation platform had been
set up on the small plateau. There was an old railing around the edge, from which there
was a spectacular view of the dizzying panorama below. A dozen feet away Catherine
could see the path leading down the other side of the mountain.
“Oh, Larry, it is beautiful,” Catherine said. “I feel like Magellan.” She smiled at him,
but Larry was looking away and Catherine realized that he wasn’t listening to her. He
seemed preoccupied—tense, as though he were worried about something. Catherine
glanced up and said, “Look!” A fluffy white cloud was drifting toward them, pushed along
by the brisk mountain breezes. “It’s coming this way. I’ve never stood in the clouds
before. It must be like being in Heaven.”
Larry watched as Catherine scrambled to her feet and moved toward the edge of the
cliff to the rickety wooden railing. Larry leaned forward on his elbows, suddenly
thoughtful, watching the cloud as it moved toward Catherine. It had almost reached her,
was starting to envelop her.
“I’m going to stand in it,” she called, “and let it go right through me!”
An instant later Catherine was lost in the swirling gray mist.
Quietly, Larry rose to his feet. He stood there a moment, stock still, then began to
move silently toward her. In seconds he was immersed in the fog. He stopped, not sure
exactly where she was. Then ahead of him he heard her voice calling, “Oh, Larry, this is
wonderful! Come and join me.” He started moving slowly forward toward the sound of
her voice, muffled by the cloud. “It’s like a soft rain,” she cried. “Can you feel it?” Her
voice was closer now, only a few feet ahead of him. He took another step forward, his
hands outstretched, groping for her.
“Larry! Where are you?”
He could make out her figure now, wraithlike in the mist, just in front of him at the
very edge of the cliff. His hands reached out toward her and at that moment the cloud blew
past them, and she turned and they were facing each other, no more than three feet apart.
She took a step back in surprise, so that her right foot was at the very edge of the
cliff. “Oh! You startled me,” she exclaimed.