Into the Forest Shadows
Page 28
The snow machine bobbed up and down with the bumps and depressions of the landscape. After a few anxious moments, and vision of himself flying through the air when Sasha hit one of the bumps, he relaxed his death grip on the handles just below him on the side of the seat.
He pulled the helmet down a little bit, annoyed it kept slipping backwards. If he was going to be doing this a lot he needed to see about getting a helmet that fit him properly.
Sasha slowed down to follow the others as they wove in and out of a stand of trees. She reached back to push at him, shouting, "Lean with me, not against."
Zach tried, but it didn't feel natural. It would take so little for them to tip over. He liked it a lot better when they came up over a hill and broke out into a big flat area with only scattered clumps of trees. The snow machines opened up, taking off across it at full speed.
Okay, he liked the speed. Nothing to run into, nothing to worry about. Just pure speed. Maybe he could get McRoyal to bring him out to someplace like this to teach him how to drive a snow machine himself.
Feeling the first bits of cold seeping through his snow pants, he thanked his father for not listening to him about the money. He would have been frozen in his hiking boots, jeans, and denim coat. Perhaps literally.
The aurora flared above them, making the white of the snow around them reflect back brilliant red and green. Zach had to squint against the sudden brightness. Next chance he got, he was going to look up the aurora studies in Fairbanks that Sasha mentioned. Maybe they had a long-distance college course he could take.
Suddenly, through the snow pants and parka he felt a flush of warm air. The visor of his helmet fogged up, only allowing the glow of the aurora through, but not allowing him to see any shapes around him. He heard the engine of the snow machine slow down.
Where did the warmth come from? He hadn't seen anything in the large clearing to indicate a home or cabin of any kind.
The seat beneath him dropped out from under him, along with the rest of the snow machine. Along with it, even warmer air enveloped him as he fell in a kaleidoscope of lights and darks and colored lights.
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