skin of the plane. A small screech, followed by a scrape, and then a ding, followed by a bang, and an eerie melody of impending doom began to fill the cabin. The women stiffened immediately, but Busby did not.
With over thirty years of flying under his belt, he knew the procedures, and he had followed every one of them. He had shut off the fuel, slowed the plane as much as he could, and he kept the landing gear raised so that it wouldn’t snag against a branch or boulder and send them somersaulting to their deaths. The scratching sound was simply tree tops rubbing the underbelly of the plane as he flew over the pines, but when he cleared the last and saw the stumps of trees scattered across his landing path, he swallowed hard. His eyes darted right and left, and seeing a section void of tree trunks, he steered toward it. For a moment, he smiled, but then something dark and imposing filled the windscreen and under his breath, he muttered, “Shit.”
With a loud crash, the branch smashed into the windscreen, shattering the glass and sending it flying into the night. Snow and harsh winter wind rushed in as Busby fought to correct the plane’s direction, but it was too late. While most of the trees in the clearing had been burned to the ground, those that had lived for hundreds of years had been too thick to turn to ash so easily. As the plane touched down, a tall, charred trunk stood its ground and ripped the right wing from the fuselage as if it had been made of paper, and the impact sent the Cessna spinning across the snow.
Forced to close her eyes against the sting of the wind, Alex felt as if she was on a carnival ride that had spun wildly out of control. Tossed back and forth in her seat like a ragdoll, it was all she could do to keep herself from passing out as the plane continued to screech and spin. It seemed like an eternity to her, but it had taken less than a minute for the plane to travel the length of the clearing, and nose first, it smashed into a stand of trees. The impact drove Alex forward in her seat, and as her head hit the back of Busby’s seat, concussion sent her into darkness.
Chapter Five
Running down the hallway, he pushed open the double doors with a bang and every head in the room looked up. Scanning the room until he saw the man he had left in charge, John Harper stormed over and bellowed, “What the hell is going on?”
“Busby took off.”
“What? His orders were to stay on the ground!”
“Yeah, well, apparently he didn’t listen.”
“Where are they?”
“That’s why I called you,” the man said, pointing to a blinking light on his console. “They went down.”
“Christ,” Harper groaned, seeing the emergency locator transmitter signal flashing on the screen. “Do you know where?”
“Right smack-dab in the middle of the storm of the century.”
“Can we get to them? Send a team in on snowmobiles, or even on foot?”
“No way. All the reports that we’re getting say that the temps are dropping, and when those three storms finally become one, it’s going to be hell.”
Seeing the expression on Harper’s face, the man touched his sleeve and whispered, “I’m sorry, John, but they’re gone. Even if they survived the crash, there’s no way they can make it through that storm.”
“But what if—”
“John, trust me, they’re gone.”
***
Gradually, the darkness dissolved as the bitter temperature brought Alex Blake back to the land of the living. Swallowing several times to rid herself of the metallic taste in her mouth, she ran her tongue over her lip and felt the split at the corner. Licking away the blood, Alex slowly opened her eyes. Adjusting to the lack of light, as well as to the pain now throbbing in her head, she carefully reached up and felt her left temple. Wincing at the stickiness she discovered, she closed her eyes and took a moment to gather her thoughts. In her mind, she could still hear the terrible sounds
With over thirty years of flying under his belt, he knew the procedures, and he had followed every one of them. He had shut off the fuel, slowed the plane as much as he could, and he kept the landing gear raised so that it wouldn’t snag against a branch or boulder and send them somersaulting to their deaths. The scratching sound was simply tree tops rubbing the underbelly of the plane as he flew over the pines, but when he cleared the last and saw the stumps of trees scattered across his landing path, he swallowed hard. His eyes darted right and left, and seeing a section void of tree trunks, he steered toward it. For a moment, he smiled, but then something dark and imposing filled the windscreen and under his breath, he muttered, “Shit.”
With a loud crash, the branch smashed into the windscreen, shattering the glass and sending it flying into the night. Snow and harsh winter wind rushed in as Busby fought to correct the plane’s direction, but it was too late. While most of the trees in the clearing had been burned to the ground, those that had lived for hundreds of years had been too thick to turn to ash so easily. As the plane touched down, a tall, charred trunk stood its ground and ripped the right wing from the fuselage as if it had been made of paper, and the impact sent the Cessna spinning across the snow.
Forced to close her eyes against the sting of the wind, Alex felt as if she was on a carnival ride that had spun wildly out of control. Tossed back and forth in her seat like a ragdoll, it was all she could do to keep herself from passing out as the plane continued to screech and spin. It seemed like an eternity to her, but it had taken less than a minute for the plane to travel the length of the clearing, and nose first, it smashed into a stand of trees. The impact drove Alex forward in her seat, and as her head hit the back of Busby’s seat, concussion sent her into darkness.
Chapter Five
Running down the hallway, he pushed open the double doors with a bang and every head in the room looked up. Scanning the room until he saw the man he had left in charge, John Harper stormed over and bellowed, “What the hell is going on?”
“Busby took off.”
“What? His orders were to stay on the ground!”
“Yeah, well, apparently he didn’t listen.”
“Where are they?”
“That’s why I called you,” the man said, pointing to a blinking light on his console. “They went down.”
“Christ,” Harper groaned, seeing the emergency locator transmitter signal flashing on the screen. “Do you know where?”
“Right smack-dab in the middle of the storm of the century.”
“Can we get to them? Send a team in on snowmobiles, or even on foot?”
“No way. All the reports that we’re getting say that the temps are dropping, and when those three storms finally become one, it’s going to be hell.”
Seeing the expression on Harper’s face, the man touched his sleeve and whispered, “I’m sorry, John, but they’re gone. Even if they survived the crash, there’s no way they can make it through that storm.”
“But what if—”
“John, trust me, they’re gone.”
***
Gradually, the darkness dissolved as the bitter temperature brought Alex Blake back to the land of the living. Swallowing several times to rid herself of the metallic taste in her mouth, she ran her tongue over her lip and felt the split at the corner. Licking away the blood, Alex slowly opened her eyes. Adjusting to the lack of light, as well as to the pain now throbbing in her head, she carefully reached up and felt her left temple. Wincing at the stickiness she discovered, she closed her eyes and took a moment to gather her thoughts. In her mind, she could still hear the terrible sounds
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