Chapter 6: Mt Everest

True to Alice's word, we arrived in the Bay of Bengal three hours later. From the harbour we hired several mules and a stocky horse in which I would be riding. We packed the mules up with our entire luggage. I automatically felt a sense of pity for the poor creatures having to carry our hiking gear through the Himalayas.

I looked calmly at the stock horse that was standing with the mules. It was a scruffy creature. I was gladly relieved that I knew how to ride.

Thanks mum, I thought. Only Renee would insist that every young girl should go to pony club.

I looked over at Alice, 'Why am I riding?'

Alice smiled, 'We are taking a well used hiking track that unfortunately a lot of hikers will be using. Too many witnesses. It'll look strange if you are being carried and we are carrying all our bags'.

'Ah,' I nodded understanding Alice's reason.

The stocky horse waited patiently until I was safely on his back.

'Alice…can you ask the man what this horse's name is' I asked, feeling that I should know his name.

Alice raised a perfect eyebrow then shrugged and turned to the Chinese trader and spoke fluently in Chinese the question I had asked. He rapidly replied with a small shrug.

Alice turned back to me, 'It doesn't have a name. He says they're just tools and nothing else'.

I leaned down and patted the shaggy neck, 'Hmmm, he looked like a scraggly little puppy…sort of like my dog from when I was younger. My dog's name was Tomahawk. Mum was going through a weird Native American stage. I think the name fits…hmmm… Tomahawk'.

'Yeah yeah,' Alice muttered pushing my leg gently so that I was sitting in the centre of the saddle.

I picked up the reigns and clicked my tongue to get the horse's attention then I tapped lightly with my heels. He moved forward with an unsteady lurch. He wasn't the most comfortable horse I had ever ridden.

The Cullens picked up their packs and started walking along side Tomahawk. We travelled the bumpy road for many hours. I swear I was getting a sore on my ass from the continuous rocking of Tomahawks rough gait.

We came across a small creek, where the Pack filled their bellies with freshwater trout and the cold water. I refilled my drink bottle after the wolves deemed the water safe to drink. I let Tomahawk drink a little water, knowing that he could get sick if he drank too much and I rode him afterwards.

I stiffly re-mounted Tomahawk and gave him a gentle tap with my heels, he moved off again.

We continued like this through the day and deep into the night. Alice attached a rope to Tomahawk's bridle so that he and I could sleep.

By morning we reached Mt Everest. We stared at the sheer size of it. The tip was lost way up above the clouds.

I felt slightly sick, 'The temple is at the very top?' I asked

Carlisle nodded, 'The tip,'

'Oh god,' I muttered, 'It's so high'.

'Well it's not called the highest frikin', mountain in the world for nothing,' a sarcastic voice came behind me.

I turned, 'Jake? I thought you had to stay wolf'.

'Nah,' he grinned, 'Sam wants one of us to be human. You better than the Beta'.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a hug, 'Good to see you Jake,' I gave a small smile and looked back at the mountain. My innards were crawling with anxiousness.

The Cullens began setting up hiking gear and safety stuff.

I wrapped myself tightly in a parka and stayed close to the pack. They could sense unusual creatures that surrounded us. The clearing was filled with small whines, whimpers and breathy growls.

The pack was uneasy and they paced around each other not really noticing each other. Occasionally a small squabble broke out as two or three wolves walked into each other.

Jacob sat on a rock at the edge of the clearing, wrapping himself in a rain jacket.

I raised my eyebrow as I looked at him.

'I might be immune to cold but not the temperature at the peak. It's below freezing up there and without fur, even I could freeze to death,' Jake explained zipping the jacket up.

'Ah…then that explains everything,' I gave a short smile.

We gather our hiking gear and placed the first peg into the base of the mountain. We also placed a communicator so that if anything went wrong, we could call the Cullens.

The pack was tied together like sled dogs so that we avoided losing a pack member. They would pull a sled packed with food and shelter. The rest of the gear, Jacob and I carried on our backs.

I could hear a couple of the pack mumbling about the sled. Their growling was low and pissed off.

I couldn't help but laugh at the sulky faces some of them were making..

Jake joined me. Sam lifted his upper lip into a snarl and we cut our laughter off. But we could not hide our smiles.

I felt somewhat free knowing that Edward was near by.

We started to climb, the pack grunted and groaned at the weight of the sled. Even with nine of them pulling it was heavy. Mainly because we were going up hill.

'Well you guys shouldn't eat so much,' I joked.

Leah snarled at being called a guy but still pulled hard.

The trek was slow and long but we made a quarter up the mountain by night fall.

Jake and I unclipped pack members but left on the harness's so we could just re-clip them in the morning.

By midnight, a harsh wind had started and the tent shuddered violently with each blow.

None of us could sleep.

'Jake…' I whispered,

No response.

'Jake!' I whispered louder.

Still no response.

'Jacob!!' I said loudly.

'What?' came a sleepy groan.

'Jake…are you awake?' I whispered.

'Obviously Bella,' he mumbled, 'I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't'.

'Were you asleep?' I asked.

Silence.

'No… I would be snoring if I was,' Jake replied stretching slightly, 'Besides…no one could sleep in this goddamn wind'.

As if on queue, one of the pack howled softly and someone replied.

'Oh…okay,' I struggled not to yawn.

We sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes.

'Jake…you still awake?' I looked at the motionless lump on the other side of the tent.

'Yes Bella,' he whispered, 'I'm awake'.

'Okay,' I started at the tent roof..

Silence.

'Jake…will the tent blow away?' I mumbled.

'What????' Jake sat up with a laugh.

'Will the tent blow away?' I repeated.

'Good God Bella,' Jacob chuckled. 'We are to heavy and the tent is clipped to the pack'.

'What?!' I gasped, 'They're anchoring the tent down???'

'Yes Bella,' Jacob was still laughing.

'Om my god,' I scrambled out of my sleeping bag into the biting cold. I gasped and struggled with my parka.

'Bells…what are doing?' Jacob climbed out of his sleeping bag and grabbed my hands.

'Going to untie them,' I whispered shakily, 'Animal cruelty'.

Jake burst out laughing, 'Bella. It's my pack. They're fine trust me. Beside, they'll hat you if you call them animals again'.

"I…what? No I didn't,' I said defensively.

Jake chuckled and nodded, 'Yeah you did…Animal cruelty,' he quoted.

I blushed, 'Oh… sorry guys,' I called out the side of the tent. I got a couple of grumbled apologies.

I climbed slowly back into my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep. I heard Jacob do the same.

Just as we were both almost asleep, a huge gust thudded into the tent and the pack grumbled.

'DAMN!' Jake and I shouted at the same time.