Luke frowned down at his soup, then used his finger to flick a whisker off the rim before he drank right out of the pot. Hell, if he was going to play the part of a sled dog today, what was a little hair in his soup?
Chapter Nineteen
Despite the ineffectual sun hanging low in the southern sky, Luke was a ball of sweat not two hours into their trek. Breathing heavily from the incline that traveled along the ridge rising sharply to their left, he stopped in the middle of the tote road, shrugged off the rope, and flexed his shoulders. He pulled his GPS out of his pocket, punched some buttons, and realized they were only a couple of miles from the turnoff to Pine Creek, which still left another twenty-three miles after that.
“Okay, everyone walks for a while,” he said, tucking the GPS back in his pocket, then putting his gloves back on. “Except Tigger, I suppose.”
Camry had just set Tigger forward between her legs to stand up when a low rumbling whispered through the air. “What’s that?” she asked, glancing around.
Luke looked up, adrenaline spiking through him when he saw the sheet of snow sliding down the exposed ridge above, heading straight toward them. “Avalanche!” he shouted, immediately snatching up the rope. “Stay in the sled! You won’t be able to run in the deep snow!”
“Max! Come!” she cried, falling back when Luke jerked the sled and ran.
The rumble grew louder, echoing down the steep granite gorge, the snow pushing an icy wave of air ahead of it that sent chills racing up Luke’s spine. He veered toward the stand of trees growing on the edge of the wash, but his snowshoes caught in the jumble of talus from previous rockslides, and he fell to his knees. He gave one last mighty heave on the rope to pull the sled past him, Camry’s scream drowned out by the wall of snow slamming into them.
The rope jerked out of his hands, then tangled on one of his snowshoes as Luke helplessly tumbled in a sea of churning white, all the while fighting not to lose contact with the sled. The noise was deafening, the snow unbelievably heavy as it meted out its endless battering. The lacing on one of his boots snapped, the snowshoe attached to it pulling the boot off his foot. His hand scraped what felt like metal, but just then the rope gave a sharp tug before ripping the other snowshoe off his boot, releasing him to continue his turbulent free fall alone.
And just as suddenly as it had begun, it ended.
Luke slammed against an unmovable object, the air rushing from his lungs in a whoosh. An eerie silence settled around him, his body sheathed in what felt like concrete, every damn cell in his body screaming in agony. The snow had packed around him like a vise, squeezing his lungs and making it nearly impossible to breathe; when he opened his eyes, he literally couldn’t see past his nose.
Camry! Unable even to hear his own scream, Luke frantically wiggled back and forth to free himself. His fingers brushed what felt like bark, and as he slowly increased the cavity around him, his knee connected with the tree that had stopped his fall.
Slowly, painstakingly, he was able to work his arms up beside his head, and he dug the snow out of his ears. He stilled, listening for any sound that might tell him Camry was okay, or at least that Max had made it to safety. But when he heard only the blood pounding through his veins, Luke focused on figuring out which way was up. His guess, based on the fact that the more he wiggled the farther he settled to his left, made him start digging past his right shoulder.
His fist suddenly punched through to open air! He gritted his teeth against the protest of his battered muscles and started jackknifing his body as he pushed at the snow above him. He suddenly heard barking. “Max!” he shouted through the small opening he was creating. “That’s my boy! Come on, Max!”
The opening suddenly closed when a nose drove into it, and a warm tongue shot out and touched his wrist.
“Thatta boy, Max!” Luke said with a laugh. “Come find me, boy. Dig!”
With Max digging down from the top and Luke clawing his way up, he was finally able to break his upper torso free. “Good boy!” he chortled when Max lunged at his chest and started licking his face. He pushed the dog away, pointing beside him. “Keep digging. I’ve got to get free so we can find Camry.”
With Max’s help, Luke was finally able to lever himself up and crawl on top of the snow. He immediately got to his knees and looked around. “Okay, Max. Use that wonderful nose of yours and find Camry. Come on,” he said, scrambling to his feet, again ignoring his screaming muscles and the fact that he had only one boot. He clapped his hands excitedly. “Find Camry, Max!”
The Lab immediately jumped into the hole from which Luke had just emerged, and started whining and sniffing around.
“She’s not in there. Come on, let’s play hide-and-seek. Find Camry!” he repeated, slapping his leg to urge the dog out. “And Tigger. Let’s go find Tigger!”
Luke took several steps onto the uneven tangle of packed snow, his hopes rising when he realized it had been a relatively small slide, only about a hundred feet wide and two hundred yards long. He looked around for anything dark, like a hat or glove or . . . anything. He cupped his hands to his mouth. “Camry!”
He stilled, listening. “Goddammit, Camry, answer me!”
But all he heard was terrifying silence.
“Okay, AuClair,” he growled, stumbling to the center of the small avalanche field. “If you’re my greatest ally, then help me find my miracle!”
Luke was trembling so badly that he had to stop, plant his feet, and rest his hands on his knees in an attempt to calm his racing heart. “Help me,” he whispered, closing his eyes against his burning tears. “Show me where to look.”
He suddenly held his breath, not moving a muscle when he heard a faint chirping sound. Still not breathing, he cocked his head one way and then the other.
There—just to his left: that unmistakable chirp of Podly’s transmitter! The last he remembered seeing it, Camry had tucked it in her jacket pocket in order to read the note Roger had left him.
Could it still be in her pocket?
“Max! Come!” he called, taking several steps to the left and dropping to his knees. He grabbed the excited dog and held him still. “Listen.”
And there it was again, a slightly louder chirp.
“Hear that, boy? Get the toy. Come on, dig up the toy!” he urged, driving his hands into the snow. “Dig, Max!”
They dug a hole at least three feet deep before Max suddenly lifted his head, a tiny wizard’s hat in his mouth.
“Yes, you found Tigger!” Luke cried, digging frantically. If Tigger was here, there was a good chance Camry was with her.
His hand suddenly struck metal. “Camry!” he shouted. “Answer me!”
“Luke,” came a muffled sound, making him still again.
“Camry!”
“Lu—”
He dug harder, working his way along the metal sled in each direction, until he felt the tarp. He pulled off his glove to wiggle his fingers under the canvas, and touched her jacket.
“I’ve got you!” he shouted. He had to shove Max out of the way when the dog tried to drive his nose into the narrow opening. “Keep digging, Max. Right here,” he said, patting the snow toward the front of the sled.
While Max dug, Luke carefully worked more snow away from the tarp until he was able to peel it back enough to see inside. But all he could see was the red of Camry’s jacket. He climbed out of the hole, knelt down on the opposite side, grabbed the edge of the tarp, and pulled with all his strength.
It slowly peeled back, revealing Camry’s folded body wedged into the sled so tightly, he was afraid she couldn’t breathe.