Ice by Lyn Gardner Page A

three or four good snowfalls up here this year, so we’ve probably got a base of two or three feet, which should help soften our landing.”
    “Okay.”
    “Just north of where we’re going to land are cabins…fishing cabins. They’ll be empty at this time of the year, but they’ll protect us from the storm.”
    “North, you say?” Alex asked.
    “Here,” he answered as he pulled a large silver watch from his wrist. “You hold onto this until we land. It’s got a compass.”
    He looked over his shoulder as he handed Alex the watch and their eyes met. She could see his terror, and he could see her guilt.
    Taking it from his hand, she said, “Look, I’m sorry for insisting—”
    “No need to apologize,” he said, turning back around as he continued to struggle with the yoke. “If I didn’t think we could make it, we would never have left the airstrip.”
    “But—”
    “No buts, honey. When we get out of this, you owe me a beer.”
    “I’ll buy you a whole bloody crate,” Alex replied, slipping the watch on her wrist. Glancing over at Maggie, Alex suddenly realized that the woman hadn’t spoken a word since the engine had failed.
    Reaching over, she pushed Maggie back into her seat and tugged at the seat belt to make sure it was fastened. Taking the bottle of water from its resting spot in Maggie’s lap, Alex said with a weak smile, “I’ll give it back once we land. Okay?”
    “I’ve killed us all,” Maggie said in a whisper.
    Giving her hand a squeeze, Alex waited until Maggie’s eyes met hers. “You haven’t killed us. We’re going to be fine. I promise.”
    “I know you don’t like me very much, but I want you to know that I hope you survive. I really do.”
     Confused, Alex said, “What…you’ve got a death wish?”
    Shaking her head, Maggie’s expression turned sad. “You don’t understand. Even if I live through the landing, without a hospital, I’m still dead.”
    In all the commotion, Alex had forgotten the reason why they were on the stalled airplane in the first place, and Maggie’s words hit her in the stomach like a balled fist. Up until that moment, Alex had refused to think about dying. Steadfast in making mental preparations for when they landed, she hadn’t prepared herself for Maggie’s imminent death, and tears appeared in Alex’s eyes. There were no words to be said; no assurances that all would be well and warm and safe because the only thing that Maggie needed to survive, Alex knew she couldn’t give her, and she was gutted.
    Breaking the silence, Busby yelled to brace for landing, and sitting back in her seat, Alex pulled the seatbelt as tight as it would go. Watching as the plane broke through the clouds, she held her breath, and as the altimeter wound down toward zero, Alex gathered her thoughts. There was no time for regrets or prayers. She was going to live. She refused to accept anything else.
    Feverish and weak, Maggie was transfixed by the large snowflakes now bouncing off the windshield. In her mind, she saw them as white puffs of cotton, cloaking the world and all its hardness in a cocoon of cushiony softness, and she breathed easy. There was no need to worry anymore. No need to be afraid of something so soft and so pure. They were the fabric of His robe, and He would protect her. He would take her into his arms and carry her to the heavens where she would be forever safe. Maggie closed her eyes and said good-bye to the world.
    The storms had begun to battle, and as they fought for position, the clouds shifted and streams of moonlight split the darkness. It only took George a few moments to get his bearings, and peering through the windshield, he searched the countryside for the burned-out section of forest. Spotting a large patch of whiteness against the dark, he managed to bank the plane slightly north and let out a sigh of relief. They were going to make it.
    The quiet of their glide was suddenly interrupted by something scratching against the