Page 47 of Forsaking All Others

“As have I.”

“Then we have a stalemate,” Sona quips. “Because I don’t want to lead. Do you Thorun?”

“Not a chance.”

I grit my teeth. There’s no way I’m going into this challenge under the command of the American.

“You could toss a coin,” Sona suggests, “winner leads. Oh, and we need a safe word.”

“A safe word?” Evelyn frowns.

“Yes, you know, if we all need to run, or if something big is about to happen and we need to hide, or… I don’t know. Although I did once forget my safe word during a branding bondage session,” she sighs, “I still have the letter R on my ass.”

Thorun giggles, and I shake my head, thinking past her ridiculous story and more on how she might actually be onto something.

“That’s a good idea,” I nod. “A word that we all know means something, but no one else will know — not just a word, some key instructions or warnings.”

“It has to be English, then,” Evelyn sighs. “We don’t all have second languages.”

“Yes we do,” Thorun corrects her. “Only those of you with English as a first language haven’t bothered to learn another. The rest of us are bilingual.”

“I know some high-school Spanish and French,” Evelyn sniffs. “I’m not a total Philistine.”

“Most people brushed up on their French when they learned who the bachelor was going to be this season,” Sona nods. “So French is not an option, I guess.”

I ignore Evelyn and Sona as I think through Thorun’s observation.

“Thorun’s right. Our strength lies in our diversity. Nobody but the four of us will know the languages in our room. Some might know a little Italian, the French contestant definitely will, but very few will know Nepalese or Icelandic. We have an advantage.”

“We should use both,” Thorun says quietly, “and interchange them.”

“Yes. A few key phrases. Let’s get those under our belts now. What’s danger in Nepalese, Sona?”

“Khatara.”

“Ka-ta-ra,” Thorun repeats. “Ooh, I have one, Óvinur nálgast. It means enemies are approaching.”

“Say it again,” Sona nods, “slowly.”

“Oh-vin-ur nal-gast.”

“Christ!” Evelyn snipes. “And who will shout these key phrases? Catriona or me? Because someone has to take the lead.”

“The only solution is that there will be no leader,” I snap. “We all need to hunker down and learn as much as we can about each other, and when the time comes we’ll decide what to do. The clue said ‘teamwork,’ so that’s how we need to play this — as a team.

“There’s no I in team,” Sona murmurs, “although there is me, if you rearrange the letters.”

“OK, teamwork,” Thorun breathes a deep sigh of relief. “That’s a much better solution. I don’t like it when we fight — it’s so much nicer when we’re all friendly. Ooh, let’s think of a team name.”

I close my eyes and squeeze the bridge of my nose in despair.

“We are so fucked,” Evelyn sighs, shaking her head.

Sona laughs.

36

I dial quickly as the limo heads towards the river and the tunnels deep beneath Seville where the group challenge is about to commence.