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"Go
Robert!" Nest yelled impulsively.
They were
almost at the end of the toboggan chute when a dark, winged shadow
streaked out of the night, angling close, pulling even with Nest as she
rode the sled. Huge wings and a barrel body hove into view, barely
within her line of sight, and Pick's voice cried out in her ear, 'Get off the sled, Nest! Gask's
cracked the ice right ahead of you! Get off!"
At first she
thought she was imagining things--catching a blurred glimpse of the
owl, listening as Pick yelled at her out of nowhere, hearing words that
sounded crazy and dangerous. She turned her head in response, half
expecting the shadow and the words to disappear, to prove a figment of
her imagination. Instead the shadow swung closer, barely clearing the
heads of the riders pulling their sled uphill for another run, shouts of
surprise breaking out as the sled of the chute and the trailing shadow
swept past.
"Nest, get
off now!" Pick screamed.
She felt a
jolt of recognition, a moment of deep shock. She wasn't mistaking what
she saw or heard. It was real.
The toboggan
launched itself clear of the chute and onto the ice, tearing away
through sudden darkness as the trail lights disappeared behind.
"Robert,
turn the sled!" she screamed at him.
Robert
glanced over his shoulder, confused. She reached forward with a lunge,
jamming all three children together as she did so, grabbed Robert's
right arm, and hauled back, causing him to jerk sharply on the steering
rope and yank the sled out of its smooth run. But the ropes gave only
minimal control, and the sled continued to rush ahead, skidding slightly
sideways, but still on track.
"Nest,
stop it!" Robert shouted back, yanking his arm free. "What are you
doing?"
The darkness
ahead was a black void beneath the clouded, snowy sky, and only a pair
of very distant track lights provided and illumination. Nest felt her
stomach clutch as she imagined what waited, and she yanked on Robert's
arm anew.
"Robert!
There's a hole in the ice!"
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