A Very...Pregnant New Year's. Doreen Roberts

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СКАЧАТЬ as she stepped onto the line next to Paul and waited for the chair to swing in behind them. Tiny flakes of snow drifted down in the flare of the lights and danced now and again in a flurry of wind.

      The faint smell of pine perfumed the clean night air, and Anne felt a stirring of anticipation as the edge of the chair closed in behind her knees. She settled herself on the seat, prepared to enjoy the ride to the top of the run. This was the part she loved—the moments before she launched herself into the wild, exhilarating journey down the still, silent world of the slopes.

      She had never lost her thrill of the run—that rush of heady excitement as her skis swished through the smooth, white snow and the cold wind whipped her face. For a few brief minutes she could leave behind all the worries and stress of her workday world, and transcend to a calmer, more peaceful place where all that mattered was the frosty ground slipping away beneath her feet as she sped on wings to the earth below.

      “The snow’s coming down pretty good,” Paul remarked, as they reached the end of their ride and slid gracefully from their chair. “If those clouds get any lower they won’t see our lights from the lodge.”

      Anne glanced up at the black sky above her. “We should be down before the worst of the storm comes in.”

      “I see our hotshot lawyer has found himself another candidate for heartbreak,” Paul muttered.

      She followed his gaze to where Brad was helping the redhead out of the chair. The woman fell against him and he caught her, wrapping his arms around her to steady her. Anne watched her laugh up at him, clinging to him as if she were helpless to stand by herself. Heaven knew what the silly woman would do once she got on the slopes, Anne thought.

      She tried to ignore the two of them as she took her place at the top of the run. Paul and his sisters lined up on her left, and she was relieved to see Brad and his giggling girlfriend at the opposite end of the line.

      Their leader stood in the middle of the group, ready to lead off on his own. After a count of five, the person on each side of him would follow, then the person on each side of them, until all fifteen skiers were descending in a giant V formation.

      Anne forgot about Brad as she poised on her mark, waiting for her turn. With a shout that echoed across the still mountain, the lead took off, disappearing into the eerie half darkness. Within seconds the beam of his flashlight sliced through the falling snow, which was the signal for the next two to go, then the next.

      Anne waited for the flash of light to signal her turn, then launched herself forward. Her spirits soared as her skis cut through the snow, and she crouched to gain speed. Ahead of her the bobbing lights of the skiers guided her down a trail that was hard to see against the blowing snow. Thick flakes slanted across the wide beam of her headlamp, bringing her visibility down to a few feet ahead of her.

      A quick glance back assured her that Paul and her sisters were close behind her, though it was impossible to distinguish their faces in the dark. She faced forward again, and as she did so, a loud crack echoed across the mountainside, followed by an ominous rumbling.

      At first she thought it was thunder, but when the sound grew louder instead of fading away, she flicked a glance over her shoulder. Faintly she heard Paul’s shout above the ever increasing roar, but she couldn’t understand what he said. The next time she looked back he waved his arm frantically up and down. Her apprehension leapt to alarm when she saw her two sisters veer off sharply to their left.

      Then the significance of the thundering roar hit her, and her heart seemed to freeze in fear. Just a few yards behind Paul, barely distinguishable in the dim light, a wall of snow loomed above him, bearing down on him fast.

      Avalanche. The thing every mountain skier and climber dreaded. The tumbling, suffocating mass of snow and debris was hurtling down on the skiers, with the lodge itself directly in its path.

      Instinctively, Anne dug in her poles and leaned to her left, beginning the curve that would take her out of the path of the deadly flow. One frantic glance back assured her that her sisters had reached the trees and were clear of the onslaught. Seconds later she saw Paul plunge after them, barely escaping the edge of the swirling, heaving mass of destruction.

      The furious white wave was almost on her now, like a giant breaker in the rolling surf. The noise was deafening. Twenty yards. She dug her poles frantically into the soft snow, desperate for more speed.

      Almost there. She could see the edge of the trees, then suddenly lost sight of them as a cloud of wet snow enveloped her. The freezing air closed around her, choking her, blinding her. She fought to keep her balance as she felt the ground shift beneath her. Then something hit her hard in the shoulder.

      She went flying, rolling and tumbling at a terrifying speed inside the cold, wet suffocating blanket of snow. Just when she thought she would never draw breath again, the ground abruptly gave way beneath her.

      Barely conscious now, she realized she was falling. Her last thought was to wonder how long it would take for her grieving family to find her body at the bottom of a ravine. Then the darkness wiped out the world.

      Chapter 2

      At the first faint rumble of thunder, the spectators on the terrace looked expectantly up toward the mountain peaks. They could see nothing through the driving snow. Not even the skiers’ lights. Some of them grumbled that it wasn’t worth waiting outside in the cold.

      Only a handful stayed behind to witness the awesome sight of what seemed to be half the mountain bearing down on the lodge. Screaming warnings, the guests scattered and raced for shelter. Seconds later the terrace was torn from its supports, and the formidable roar of the avalanche swallowed up the splintering sound of shattered windows.

      In his room on the second floor, Dr. Tony Petrocelli paused in the act of removing his shirt and tilted his dark head to one side. The noise he heard sounded like a freight train coming out of a tunnel. He frowned at his wife, who sat on the edge of the bed, staring up at him with anxious blue eyes.

      “What is it?” Beth asked, her voice a mere whisper.

      Tony shrugged. “Beats me. Probably some kind of celebration—” He broke off, his words cut off by the sound of splintering wood and groaning timbers.

      Beth’s eyes grew round. “What’s happening?”

      “I don’t know,” Tony said grimly. “But I think we’d better find out.” He grabbed his wife’s jacket off the back of the chair and threw it to her. “I have a feeling you’re going to need this.”

      On her feet in an instant, Beth shrugged her arms into the parka. “Thank God we left Christopher with your family,” she muttered as she followed her husband out the door.

      Downstairs by the fireplace, Carol Parker thought she was imagining things as she stared at the snow piling up through the jagged remains of the windows. She turned to Dan, who looked as horrified as she felt. “The kids,” she said urgently. “What happened to our kids?”

      Dan wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.”

      She heard the forced assurance in his voice and her blood chilled. “Dan, they were on the mountain. They were all on the mountain.” Her voice rose as she struggled to free herself from his hold. “Dear God, Dan, where are they?”

      Everything seemed to be a blur after that. She heard Dan’s voice, trying to calm her, but СКАЧАТЬ