Nataša reached the summit first and sat on a rock to tighten her shoelaces. Her friend Sonja arrived out of breath, looked at her with obvious relief, and said it was wonderful to see her so strong. Nataša laughed. She had been walking all summer. Sonja added that she had not wanted to pry after everything Nataša had been through. Nataša raised her head. Apart from a broken refrigerator, nothing that summer had required any particular recovery.
At first Sonja fell silent. Then she mentioned the money her husband had given Nataša's husband, Bruno. She did not expect them to return it. All that mattered was that they had helped with the treatment. Nataša said there had been no treatment. They sat on the rock while other walkers passed. Sonja searched in vain for a less ugly possibility, an illness her friend still did not want to acknowledge. Nataša had to repeat twice that she was healthy.
At home, Bruno's first question was how much Sonja knew. The question remained between them while he removed his shoes. He owed people money because of a failed business venture he had been trying to hide from her too. He could not ask for another loan in his own name. He had told several friends they needed help paying for her treatment and asked them not to disturb her with questions. Her supposed need for peace protected his story perfectly from scrutiny.
"I didn't say you were dying," he said, as though that was where he had drawn a decent line. Nataša sat down because, for the first time after the whole climb, her legs felt unsteady. She remembered the fruit people brought, the unusually gentle conversations, and the friend who refused payment for repairing her bicycle. She had thanked people, thinking they loved her. They did love her, she realized; Bruno had simply attached an invented price to that love.
She insisted that he call everyone in front of her. She did not want a gathering where she would calm people while he expressed remorse. Bruno made the calls at the kitchen table. One friend shouted, another hung up, and a third demanded a deadline for getting his money back. When Bruno started explaining how upset she was, Nataša stopped him. Her present pain must not become the next reason for people to let him off either.
She stayed at Sonja's. In the morning she found two cups of coffee and a plate of plain toast on the table. Sonja asked whether she wanted to talk or go walking again. Nataša chose walking, a short route with no climb. Before leaving, she called the friend who had repaired her bicycle and said she owed him thanks she was only now beginning to understand. She did not promise to repay Bruno's debts herself. She took her jacket and left her phone on the charger.