The Scream of the Hill

Chapter 2 - A Thunderbolt from the Blue

In the morning, Damian woke me up as my phone didn't set the alarm for me. I wish I could sleep a little more but if I did, Richard would shout in my ears which I didn't want. I had a short shower then got dressed quickly and rushed to have my breakfast in the dining room area with my teammates. Actually, Richard was the only one sitting there. I sat next to him. He just gave a smile and gave me the bun and the knife. He knows our daily routine really well. I made a little sandwich for myself and one for Vojta as I knew that he tended to be a bit lazier than usual and he was always in a rush. That wasn't different than usual. I gave him the sandwich which he ate quickly because he still had to pack his skis, suit, a pair of boots, goggles and finally the helmet. I ran to his room to help him out.

"Can I help you, Vojta?" I asked.

"Yes, please František." he answered with a smile and started acting like a monkey. It was funny.

I laughed so hard that my eyes were in tears. Vojtĕch always made us laugh with his special kind of humour. He liked to use his really good sense of black humour to make us laugh. If he was heartbroken, he usually remained silent. That day, he was happy. So, when we finished packing, we walked to the hill together. I felt that I needed to tell him what I saw in Damian's dairy however I didn't. I never wanted to hurt Vojta so I kept it as a secret. I was worried but at the same time I had to stay focused. When we arrived Damian greeted us. The infuriation from yesterday was gone like nothing had ever happened between him and Vojtĕch.

"I am terribly sorry for acting like a furious beast yesterday" Damian apologised.

"Nothing happened. I forgive you." he laughed at it.

"Thank you, my friend." continued Damian.

"You were right Fanda. Daminos calmed down." Vojta sighed and hugged me.

"I have told you. Don't worry. One day, the situation will be okay." I comforted him.

"Boys, hurry! We are starting the training now!" Richard shouted.

So, we started jogging up the ski jumping hill. We were focused but we talked a lot during it. We chatted about what were our plans for the future. Vojtĕch told me that he wanted a family with his girlfriend. He had really big plans. He was more mature than many others in his age even he liked to act like a little child. That was Vojtĕch Štursa in all his glory. So, we reached the top of the hill a bit later than our trainer expected due to our conversation during running. We changed to our jumping suit and started jumping from the biggest hill till 1 o'clock in the afternoon then we went to a restaurant for lunch. It had a really great atmosphere. They used postcards for decoration. Roman, Honza, Vojta and I sat at a table and ordered. I clearly remember that I ordered Penne Bolognese and Vojta a Penne Arrabiata. It was quite funny when he ate his dish.

"It is hot... Hot... Huh... Huh..." he screamed.

"I have told you." Honza added.

"I thought that it is milder."

"You have to believe in the church" Roman laughed.

To be honest, I enjoyed this little bonding time with the team. We talked a lot about ourselves to know each other better and better. Vojta and Damian seemed they forgave for everything they had caused in the past few months. Richard asked them to give each other a hug so we could see their forgiveness. Everything was made up? For me it gave the impression of the forgiveness. I was delightful to see them talking to each other again after those horrible months of arguing and arguing. It was a peaceful period of time.

After lunch, we went to the gym to continue the training. It was okay as we started it with playing a little football. Vojta even scored a goal for us. Damian was the suffering goalkeeper but he laughed at it. They laughed a lot at it like nothing happened. After the football match, we started weightlifting. It was hard as usual. We made about 4 or 5 rounds. Then we practiced the jumping on the ground. Then our coach finished the training at 5 o'clock.

"Okay boys! It is enough for today." Richard said. "I have the list of nominees for the Summer Grand Prix. Do you want to hear who are going to the competition?"

"Yes!" Viktor shouted.

"Okay. Let's see... Those, who are competing, are Čestmír Kožíšek, Jan Matura, Roman Koudelka, Tomáš Vančura and Vojtĕch Štursa."

"Great! František, are you happy for me?" Vojta screamed and jumped in my arms.

"I am always and I will be happy for you no matter what." I told him with a huge grin on my face.

This announcent made Damian leave as fast as possible. We all were surprised by his action. We didn't know why he did. I followed him to the toilet. I knocked each door when I found Damian who was vomiting. I was so heavyhearted to see him like this. When he finished throwing up, I helped him to return to the team. After an hour, Damian felt a little better. Vojta even offered him water. However, Damian's sickness was suspicious to Čestmír. He even whispered it to me. I disagreed with him but it seemed that he was right. I didn't smell any vomit so I should have taken it as seriously as I do normally.

"Vojta, can you do me a favour, please?" Damian asked.

"Yes, sure I can. Why not? What can I do for you?" Vojta replied.

"Can we go out for a walk together? I want to talk to you about our situation."

"Sure. I have nothing against it." Vojtĕch continued.

"Okay. We will be back around 9 or so." Damian promised us.

"Fanda, don't worry about me. I will be fine." Vojta commented on my worried face and smiled at us. "See you at hotel, younger brother."

They left for walking in the forest to talk and we went back to the hotel. I went to my room with Damian. I started to read a book. It was a really good book. If I remember well, it was one of the Sherlock Holmes stories in English. I got really into the book so I couldn't put it down as easily as I wanted. The time passed 9:30PM I was reading about 100 pages or so when Damian rushed in our room and he started screaming.

"Is Vojta here? Have you seen him?" he screamed really fearfully

"Nope. Have you checked his room?"

"Yes. Honza said that he was not in their hotel room yet. Vojta went to the hill for something he lost and asked me to wait for him at the gym." he replied with worrying in his voice.

"Did you tell this to Richard?"

"Yes, I did. He said that Vojtĕch will eventually return to his room while we are sleeping."

"Then, you should calm down. Everything is okay. If not he will call us..."

"He gave me his phone and said that he would be fast but he didn't show up after 30 minutes so I came here to see if he is here." Daminos interrupted me.

"Okay, Damian. Calm down, take a shower or bath and go to sleep. We have trainings tomorrow as well. Now, I am sleeping and don't disturb me. Vojta will be back as soon as he finds his belongings at the hill. Don't worry! Everything is alright" I told him to calm his nerves down. "Good night, Daminos. Please wish Vojta a good night on my behalf if you see him"