The Snowy Read online

  “I may be makin fun,” said Bobby, “but if I had to bet, I’d bet on it bein real.”

  “It’s out there,” frowned Goober. “It ain’t human. And it ain’t nothin to fool with. I know you like to ski Snake, Sparky. But Snake’s smack up against the out-of-bounds. You could get grabbed real easy. If I was you, I wouldn’t go near Snake.”

  Sparky nodded, “Thanks, Goob. Good to be careful.” He guzzled the last of his hot chocolate and trashed the cup. Snake’s where I’m going. He pulled out his mobile. “Lift opens in five,” he said. “Catch you guys later.”

  Sparky shuffled across the base area toward the lift, texting his three friends:

  Goober found weird tracks on race trail. Is super spooked. Says human didn’t make them. He and Bobby got video. Tracks went into the out-of- bounds.

  CHAPTER 7

  First Chair

  A CLUSTER OF LOCALS, hungry for first tracks, joined Sparky at the lift. Powder hounds. He couldn’t help but notice the way their high-end equipment and clean goggle lenses contrasted with their scratched helmets and faded outfits. They know what’s important. He watched the attendant sweep the snow from the approaching chair.

  “First chair,” said the attendant. Three of the locals sat with Sparky.

  “Where you headed, Sparky?” asked one with a ponytail and gray beard, as he lowered the safety bar.

  “Snake, Jack. You?”

  “We’re goin over backside. Come with us, if you want.”

  “Thanks. Be fun. But I’ve got stuff to do this morning,” said Sparky. As the chair rose, he listened to the quiet banter, breathed in the cold, clean scent of fresh snow and watched his breaths waft away.

  At the top of the lift, the powder hounds cut right. “Have fun, kid,” said Jack.

  “You too, guys,” said Sparky. He swung left.

  At the top of Snake, Sparky whispered, “First tracks,” then plunged into the soft, deep white. Cold fluff billowed into his mouth, up his nose, over his goggles and swirled past him.

  “Woohoo!” he shouted, laughing, his parka plastered white.

  He pumped down through the puff, until he reached the bend where Snake bowed furthest into the out-of-bounds. He paused and peered into the shadows. A path? “Never saw you before,” he whispered.

  He pushed beneath the drooping evergreens into a narrow corridor, which angled down the mountainside under a canopy of branches. Tree tunnel. Okay, we’ll go in here. He looked back at Snake. Better go back. He brushed snow off his arms and shoulders. I shouldn’t be in here alone. He looked at the tunnel. But…maybe I should see where this goes...just a little ways, anyway.

  He pushed off. The tunnel swung back and forth the length of football field, then stopped at a gully. “End of the line,” he said. The gully ran across the mountainside. Its uphill lip was higher than its downhill lip.

  “Wait a minute,” he said, specking out the open space beyond the downhill edge. “I can get air to that.” He pushed off, picked up speed and hit the uphill lip.

  It caved in.

  He fell.

  His ski bottoms hit the downhill lip, flipping him into the gully on his back, ski tips stuck on the uphill side, tails stuck on the lower. Snow flowed over his face and goggles.

  “Deep ditch,” he sputtered, spitting. He wriggled his hands from the pole straps, wiped the snow from his face and pushed up his goggles. He tried to roll to the side, but his skis wouldn’t budge. Got to get them off.

  He pressed the tip of his pole into the binding release of his right ski. It didn’t open. He tried again, pressing harder. On the third try, it popped open. The ski fell, smacking his helmet and shoving his goggles sideways.

  “Come on,” he growled. He tossed the ski out over the downhill rim. He released his left ski and tossed it over too. He grabbed both poles and stood up. The lower rim of the gully was at eye level. He tried to pull himself up over it, but his boots kept slipping. He began to sweat.

  More snow fell on him. He wiped his face again. His goggles fell off. He bent to pick them up.

  Suddenly, a shadow flew over from behind and vanished beyond the lower rim. “What was…?”

  Sparky stood and looked. A huge, snow-white face glared at him, its black eyes peering through the yellow lenses in round, white goggles. Two arms, two legs. Over seven feet tall. Everything matched the snow—sleek white outfit; round white hat; high white boots; flat, white backpack.

  It pointed a pole at Sparky’s face. Sparky flinched.

  “Gzzzt,” it growled. It swung the point of the pole toward Snake. Sparky nodded quickly and squeaked, “Okay.”

  The creature turned away. Its feet were enclosed in kayak-looking devices the length of skis. Skiyaks. I knew it. The creature flicked the tips up and down. How’d he do that?

  It planted its poles, pushed off, carved perfectly round arcs down through the deep powder, and vanished.

  Skis can’t turn like that.

  Sparky grabbed his goggles and put them back on. He dug a foothold, took a long deep breath, dragged himself over the lip, then stepped into his skis. Did this really happen? He glanced once again at the strange tracks. It did.

  He headed back, trying to make sense of what he had seen, and heard. He made a beeline down Snake and into the cafeteria. “Mrs. G., may I have another hot chocolate?”

  “Back so soon, Sparky?” she said, then paused. “Hey, hon, you look like you just saw a ghost.”

  If you only knew....

  “You okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I think so. I, uh, just had a really scary fall.”

  “Poor boy,” she said, handing him a full cup. She peeled an oatmeal cookie from a tray, put it on a paper plate and said, “Here, hon. This is on me, fresh from the oven. Your favorite.” She studied him, eyes twinkling. “Asking you to be more careful wouldn’t make a lick of sense, would it?”

  Sparky smiled, “Not much, Mrs. G. But thank you.” He carried the warm cookie and chocolate to a table by the window. He took a bite, pulled out his phone and tapped out a text to Neff, Notch and Sandy:

  Ran into IT in the out-of-bounds this morning! NOT human. BIG! Seems mean. Lots to tell you.

  Sparky hit Send then gazed through the windows toward the out of bounds. “It must have a cave, somewhere,” he whispered. It made the tracks Goober and Bobby showed Dad. Should I tell Dad about it? He brushed crumbs from his lap and took a sip. No, he’ll be mad at me for going in alone.

  His phone beeped. He finished the cookie, recycled the cup and plate, waved to Mrs. Gilford and left.

  Going out the door, he read Neff’s text.

  NOT human? So what is it?

  Clicking into his skis, he read Sandy’s text:

  We really have to talk. This is getting scary. Not sure about going.

  Riding the lift, he got a text from Notch.

  this morning? seriously? this is getting good. see you at noon. we’ll be famous.

  He took an easy trail down.

  CHAPTER 8

  The Expedition

  JUST BEFORE LUNCH, Sparky snagged a table for four in the cafeteria of the main lodge, where he and his friends could talk and eat in private.

  Neff, Sandy and Notch straggled in at noon.

  “How was training?” asked Sparky, as the three dropped their backpacks.

  “Not bad,” said Notch, “once we pushed away the powder. Took, like, half the morning. So, what happened to you?”

  “I figured, if they wouldn’t let me train today,” said Sparky, “I’d go down Snake and find a place for us to go in. I found a good one. So I....”

  Sparky went on to describe his encounter.

  “It growled at you?” asked Notch.

  “Kind of,” said Sparky.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this,” said Sandy.
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  “It just wanted Sparky to go back to the ski area, didn’t it?” asked Notch.

  “Do you think it was, like, stalking you, or something?” asked Neff.

  Sparky shrugged.

  “So,” said Notch, “we only want to learn about it, right?”

  “What if we get lost out there?” asked Sandy.

  “Or fall in a volcanic vent,” said Neff.

  “We’ll just stay on its tracks, going in and coming out,” said Sparky.

  Sandy looked at Neff and shrugged.

  “Okay,” said Neff, “but if things start to get dangerous, we turn around, okay?

  “Definitely,” said Sandy.

  The four gobbled down lunch, rode up the Super Quad together, skied across to Snake and headed down to the bend. Sparky led them into the out-of-bounds. When they got to the gully, Sparky pointed to the tracks.

  But Notch looked into the gulley where Sparky had fallen. “Nice hole, Dude.”

  Sparky ignored him.

  Notch glanced the tracks. “They’re definitely real,” he said, stepping out of his split board.

  Sparky eyed him. “Why would I make them up?”

  After a moment Neff said. “Okay, so maybe it wasn’t stalking Sparky, but just watching him. Instead of calling it something like, ‘the creature’, maybe we should call it something more neutral like, ‘The Snowy’.”

  It didn’t look neutral to me. Sparky shrugged, “Sure.”

  ‘The Snowy’ sounds okay to me,” said Notch, separating the halves of his split-board for hiking. “You think it’s a him?”

  “Looked like a him,” said Sparky. “All I know is he’s out there.” He pointed past the tracks, “In some kind of cave, I bet.”

  “Makes sense,” said Notch.

  “Where do you think the cave could be?” asked Sandy.

  “It can’t be far,” said Notch, stepping into his splitboard halves. “Anyway, think of what we can learn for science. I can see the headline now,” he said smiling, “Young explorers find new bio form from deep in the Earth.”

  “Or from deep in space,” said Neff.

  “Even better,” said Notch.

  “You saw him, Sparky,” said Neff. “Where do you think he comes from?”

  “Who knows?” said Sparky. “I wish you guys had seen him.”

  “I have a feeling we will,” she said.

  “I’m not going back through these woods alone. So, let’s do this and get back,” said Sandy.

  They followed the tracks across the mountainside, until the tracks turned and went up the pitch. They paused.

  “See that cliff?” said Sparky, pointing up through the trees. “Good place for a cave.”

  “You think?” asked Notch.

  “Come on,” said Sparky. He began to climb.

  Whatever it takes. Notch followed Sparky up, struggling at first with his new split-boards.

  Neff climbed behind Notch. I’m sweaty all over again. Why do I keep doing this?

  Sandy climbed behind Neff. I hope this is it.

  Halfway up to the cliff, the tracks turned and headed back toward the ski area.

  “He’s circling,” said Sparky.

  “You mean he’s gone back?” asked Notch.

  “I mean he’s circling like a rabbit from a hound dog,” said Sparky.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Looks like,” said Sparky, “he thought I might follow him after I saw him this morning, so he cut back to see if I was coming, and if I was, to lead me away from his lair. He’ll eventually circle back.”

  How does Sparky know this stuff? “So where would he come back?” asked Notch.

  “If I were him, I’d come along the ledge under that cliff,” said Sparky. “Let’s go see.”

  They climbed again.

  Sparky arrived first. “Check it out,” he said, as the others caught up. A windfall tree lay diagonally across the ledge, the tip against an overhang on the cliff. Sparky pointed into the shadow under the tree. “Looks like a hole.”

  They leaned their equipment against the tree, ducked under, and surrounded the hole.

  “Dark down there,” said Sparky.

  “You sure you didn’t already know about this?” asked Notch with a smile, a bit envious of Sparky’s tracking skill. “I mean how could you come right up to a cave like this?”

  “It only makes sense,” said Sparky, “if you know about hunting and tracking.” He pointed under the cliff at traces of tracks in the windblown snow. “Those are old. He hasn’t come back yet.” He looked into the hole. “Okay, so how does he go down?” He looked around. A small evergreen sat beyond the hole. “There.” He knelt and pushed the branches aside. “Rope ladder. Wooden rungs.”

  “So, if the ladder’s up here,” said Notch, kneeling next to Sparky, “there’s no one down there.”

  Notch dragged the rope ladder from the well and dropped it into the shaft. It clattered to the bottom. The four stared in, eyes adjusting. The end of the ladder lay on the bottom. A dim red glow glistened off the shaft walls.

  “Black ice,” said Sparky.

  “What’s making it red?” asked Sandy.

  “Lava?” asked Notch.

  “Let’s find out,” said Sparky. He tugged on the ladder. It was tied firmly to the evergreen.

  “Maybe we should call down first,” said Neff.

  “No one’s there. The ladder’s up here,” said Notch.

  “There might be more than one of them,” said Neff.

  “Hellooo down there,” shouted Sparky, his hands cupped around his mouth.

  Neff clenched her teeth. Sandy bit her lip. Notch glanced behind. Sparky listened. No answer.

  “I’m going down,” said Sparky.

  “I’ll wait up here,” said Sandy, “just in case.”

  “Me too,” said Neff.

  “What if he comes back while you’re up here?” asked Notch.

  “I’ll go down now,” said Sandy.

  “Me too,” said Neff.

  “Okay,” said Sparky, “we better put our hiking boots on first. Put our ski boots in the backpacks.”

  They changed.

  “Should we leave our backpacks up here?” asked Neff.

  “Better bring them,” said Sparky. “If someone takes our skis, at least we’ll have our boots.”

  “Can’t replace boots as easily as skis,” said Sandy, slinging her pack on her back.

  “I’ll go first,” said Sparky, “then Sandy then Neff. Notch, how about you take the rear in case he shows up. You’re good with words. You can talk to him.”

  “Only if he speaks English,” said Notch, “or Mandarin.”

  CHAPTER 9

  The Cave

  SPARKY GRABBED hold of the rope ladder. He stuck the toe of his hiking boot on the first rung. The boot slipped. He dangled a moment.

  “Need to keep the ladder away from the wall,” he said, pulling himself up.

  Notch glanced around. A pine sapling, partially covered by snow, the branches trimmed, lay at the base of the cliff. Notch pulled it free. He slipped the sapling under the ladder and across the hole. “Keeps it away from the wall. Should be good,” he said. “Go for it.”

  “Thanks,” said Sparky. He’s being really helpful. Is he sorry for giving me grief about the way I found the hole? Or glad to have me go first?

  Sparky started down, the red glow grew brighter on the icy walls. He felt a shiver crawl up the backs of his legs.

  “I feel weird about where this is going,” said Neff, watching.

  Sparky stepped from the last rung and quickly looked behind, one hand still on the ladder. Nothing moved. He pulled out his flashlight, turned and scanned the space. The red glow came from a tunnel to his right, along with a flow of warm ai
r.

  “Okay, Sandy,” called Sparky.

  She came down.

  “Wait here, okay? I want to check the tunnel.”

  Sandy nodded.

  Sparky entered the tunnel. It circled steeply down to the left and opened into a large rectangular chamber, much warmer, and lit by the red glow. He looked around. “Wow.”

  “Okay,” Sandy said to Neff.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” said Notch.

  Neff worked her way down.

  It was Notch’s turn. He scanned the woods, then climbed down, stepped from the ladder, and turned on his flashlight. A shadow emerged from the tunnel, black against the red glow. Startled, Notch shot the beam at it.

  “Cut it out,” blinked Sparky.

  “Sorry.” Notch lowered the light.

  “Tunnel goes to another room,” said Sparky, “set up like someone lives there. With a hole in the wall where the red heat is coming from...and some kind of fog swirling on the far end.”

  “Aha,” said Notch, feigning great meaning. He folded his arms, flashlight in one hand, his chin in the other, “upper and lower chambers, connected by a circular shaft, lit by a red hole, with a swirling fog. Hmm.” He frowned thoughtfully.

  Neff smiled.

  Sparky looked at him quizzically.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Sandy.

  “Heck if I know,” said Notch.

  The four laughed, tension relieved, for a moment.

  Sandy shined her police light across the round upper chamber. The air was humid. Hot water bubbled from a hole in the rock wall to her right, flowed along the base of the wall and poured into a large, hollowed-out bowl to her left. Bathtub? Moisture dripped from the ceiling. Makes the black ice in the shaft.

  “Come on,” said Sparky.

  Sparky, Sandy and Neff filed down the curved shaft.

  Notch took up the rear, tracing the shaft wall with his glove. The wall became drier as he descended, changing from damp, dark gray to dry, light gray, with veins of yellow, green, crimson and purple. Strange geology.