Snowblind Read Online Free Page B

thought. It had helped her to forget.
    "Well, at least you've stopped pacing."
    Linda turned.
    Andrea was hanging up the phone. "Won't you please sit down?" she said.
    Linda shrugged. She took a seat on a Wassily chair beneath a framed poster of a sand beach rimmed with palm trees.
    "I want you to stop worrying," Andrea insisted. "Kris had a great time cross-country skiing with us."
    "She did," said Andrea. "But lately she's been... I don't know — pulling back again. She won't take even the slightest risk. It's like she's lost all her self-confidence."
    "You know that's not the least bit unusual at this stage. It takes years—"
    "It's been four years since the accident, Andrea. She's stopped making any progress. She sits around moping, feeling sorry for herself. I can't seem to do anything right. I'm walking on eggshells."
    Linda stood again and walked to the window. She watched the kids on their skis, tacking their way down the make-believe hill. "You didn't know her before," she said thoughtfully. "She was so... exuberant. So full of life. Just like her dad."
    Andrea left her desk and walked over to stand by her friend. They'd known each other for three years now and the two women had grown close. "I'm sorry, Linda," she said. "I know how you feel. But it takes time . You know that better than anyone."
    Linda sighed, nodding in acknowledgment. "I think the downhill might help. She needs a real challenge. I remember the cross-country trip was the first time I saw her really come out of her shell." Linda looked back down at the kids. "She used to love skiing so much," she said wistfully.
    "She was a great competitive downhiller," said Andrea. "It made the accident all the more tragic."
    "If she could just find her spirit again..."
    Andrea smiled at her.
    There was a knock, and Josh Marino, the commuting pilot from Anchorage, poked his head in the door. "Sorry to interrupt. Just wanted you to know I'm here, Andrea."
    "Oh, great, Josh. Did you bring the new gear?"
    "Sure did. I'm setting up downstairs."
    "I'll be down in a few minutes to take a look. Have you met Mrs. Carlson?"
    "No, I... Oh — you're Kris's mom."  He introduced himself and shook her hand. "Kris is a great girl — and a really good student, too."
    Linda looked a little surprised. "Well, that's good to hear."
    "Josh has developed some wonderful new technology," said Andrea. "It'll have your Krissy back on skis in no time."
    "Then it must really be something," Linda said.
    "Maybe we can try her out on it today," Josh said, heading for the door. "I'm anxious to see it work myself." He smiled a good-bye and slipped out.
    "He looks so familiar," said Linda. The young man's dark hair and lean good looks had reminded her of her husband, back when she'd first met him on a hiking trail twenty summers ago.
    "He's been teaching part-time here for a year and a half," said Andrea. "He's worked with Kris a number of times."
    Linda gathered her coat. "I better let you get some work done. I need to run over to the office, I'll be back in an hour or so to pick up Kris." She headed out the door, then stopped abruptly and turned to Andrea. "Do you know what kind of car he drives?"
    "Who?"
    "Josh."
    "A VW, I think. Real junker. Why do you ask?"
    "Oh... no reason." Linda turned and headed into the hall. A tiny smile crept across her face.

9.
    The Douglas DC-3 was airborne, two thousand feet over the Gates of the Arctic, the towering south cliffs of the Endicott Mountains. Jake O'Donnell and his copilot had picked up their strange cargo on the broad North Slope of the Brooks Range, and now, as they crossed the peaks to the south, they found themselves peering through the windshield into a relentless barrage of whirling snow.
    "The tower failed to mention we’d be running into this. "
    "Weathermen," said Donny disparagingly. His voice sounded tiny in the headphones. Donny handed Jake his half-eaten Snickers Bar. He was braiding copper wires together with a long-nose pliers,