Saving Sandy

Chapter 5 - Chatting with Sandy on a Sparkling River's Edge

"A friend of Sandy's is a friend of mine."

I smiled at the brunette young man at the counter, taking trays and dishes back to the kitchen to be cleaned. Eve and Dick had come with me to deposit the dishes from our dinner. It was a little after seven, and the cafeteria was a bit sparse since it was passed the main dinner hour.

"You knew him from rowing?" I asked him.

He took the plates and stack of cups but didn't move them for a moment. "Yes. We were on the same team." He held out his hand. "Rodney Simmons. It is a pleasure."

I took his hand that was surprisingly soft and warm, considering his current job and the fact that he was a rower. "Katie Hearst. And it's a pleasure, too."

"So, you are stuck doing cafeteria duty, eh, Rodney?" asked Dick. Rodney shrugged a shoulder.

"It's work. If I want to pay the tuition for next term, I need to work. Not all of us are from wealthy families."

Dick was on the rowing team as well, but he was also well-known because the Summers were rather wealthy. They had a massive, fabulous home in Cornist in western England. That was the home that, according to what I read, Sandy went to first after he arrived back in the country from Spitsbergen just so he could visit Marjory since that was her home, too. If I remembered it correctly, a worker there saw Sandy coming out of Marjory's room and told Henry Summers of it—Marjory's husband and Dick's dad. He said that was the last straw, since he knew about her and Sandy's love affair and tolerated it for months, and wanted a divorce. That was why she was living in London—Henry was actually paying her to stay away from him. I had to try to not think about the fact that Sandy and Marjory were that serious and had supposedly slept together.

"That is not why I'm marrying him, Rodney," Eve said, and I got back to the conversation. Apparently, I missed a couple things that were said when I was lost in my thoughts. "I'm marrying him because I love him."

"And I love you," Dick cooed, and kissed her temple. She giggled. How sweet.

"You two are absolutely adorable," Rodney commented with a grin. "I wish Sandy was happier about it. He told me how displeased he was with this dinner tonight, when he came to pick up the food and dishes earlier."

My chest pinched at that. Eve sighed. "Yes... We argued about him going to Everest, and I again tried to talk sense into him, but he is far too stubborn."

"I agree. He is a good man, though."

"No doubt. I just wish he could see the danger he is getting himself into."

"I think he does, he just doesn't care."

I highly doubted that Sandy didn't care that Everest was a death trap, especially in the 20s when times were more primitive than the 2000s. He knew the risks, he just wanted to go anyway because it was his dream to go there.

"Simmons, back to work!" a man called, and Rodney looked behind him at the kitchen entrance were a bulky man in a white uniform stood, then back at us.

"Well, I should be going," Rodney said. "It was great seeing you all, and again, it was a pleasure to meet you, Katie. Maybe we will run into each other at the library."

He winked at me, and my heart jumped. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Maybe. Well, goodnight, then."

I turned, and my friends followed me. They chatted with each other, so I was left to my own thoughts as we left the building and came outside into the cold air. It was already dark out.

Yes, Sandy knew the risks, but he was prepared for them. That was why he went to Spitsbergen in northern Norway. Noel Odell was head of that expedition and thought that Sandy performed marvelously as they worked in the snow and ice and hiked over baren wildernesses. He even proved himself by making rope bridges and such on the trip. It was because of that trip that he was recommended for the Everest expedition. He was further preparing himself by going to Murren in Switzerland and learning how to ski, as to get more used to being in the cold and snow, up in higher elevations in the Alps. He exceled in that trip, too, a trip that would happen near Christmas. He even excelled on Everest, beating everyone in their group at the physical tests that were given them throughout the trip by their doctor. He did great, up until he was almost to the summit. Then Mother Nature took him.