Marcy burst into tears. Mrs. Baker reached for her children, but the slab split into two. The newly formed slab she was standing on shifted her in the opposite direction than her children. I watched in shock as Mrs. Baker drifted away, her arms reaching for her children. The children were crying and screaming for their mom. Oakley rushed toward Mrs. Baker and grabbed her.
The ice under our feet shifted hard. I watched in horror as the ground lifted and then rushed down the hill, being sucked into the huge fissure in front of us. And we were going with it.
As my feet lost purchase, I was able to reach out and grab the children sliding in my direction. Oakley grabbed Mrs. Baker and held her tightly to her body.
All five of us were sucked down into the fast-moving ice and snow. The last thing I saw was Oakley's bright, copper hair swooshing ahead of me and out of sight. I closed my eyes and held on to the two kids for dear life.
Oakley
I held onto Mrs. Baker and we uncontrollably slipped down the mountainside with the ice and snow. The momentum was fast, and all I could do was hold tight. I tried to see Dax and the kids, but we were pushed ahead of them.
I closed my eyes and let the rush take us. I remembered from my training that if you were being pushed downhill, you should thrash around as much as possible. This action will help you not get buried too deeply in the snow. The problem was that I was holding on to Mrs. Baker, who was shrieking in my ear. Even if I screamed for her to move, she wouldn’t listen to me.
I tried to move my legs and feet as much as possible, but my arms were wrapped around my companion. We fell for what seemed like an eternity, being tossed about as if we were rag dolls. I heard Mrs. Baker scream in pain.
A large ice ball hit my head. Even though my eyes were closed, I saw stars. My body was becoming weaker, and I almost lost consciousness. I fought to hold on to Mrs. Baker. Letting her go would be detrimental to both of us.
Finally, we stopped falling. I felt a warm liquid drip over my eyelid and onto my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw that we were not buried. My thrashing feet had helped us some.
The snow around my head was stained a deep red. My head was spinning, not only from the wound but from tumbling down the mountain ass over tea kettle. I released my grip on Mrs. Baker and shook her. She didn’t open her eyes.
“Mrs. Baker,” I yelled in her ear.
Her eyes snapped open. “Where are my babies?” she shrieked, trying to get up.
“Take it easy, Mrs. Baker,” I tried to warn her. She was hurt, but she was able to climb into a standing position.
“Adam. Marcy!” she screamed, panicking.
I pulled myself up to join her. I had to fight the dizziness and nausea. I looked up the mountainside and all around us. There was no sign of Dax or the kids. They must have been buried. Where were they? I almost panicked myself but tried to control the urge to do so.
“Dax?” I bellowed at the top of my lungs.
There was no answer. I’d lost both of my skis, but Mrs. Baker still had one on. And the other one was in view. She was still screeching for her lost children, turning in panicky circles.
“Mrs. Baker, please calm down.” When she ignored me, I yelled. “Mrs. Baker!” She looked at me, startled. I attempted to reason with her. “Dax is the kids! He’s a big, strong man. I know him. There’s absolutely no way he would let go of them,” I reassured her.
Mrs. Baker nodded as tears fell down her cheeks.
“I need to go up the mountain and look for them. They might be buried, but they can survive under the snow for a while. Dax knows what to do.”
Again, she nodded. She was starting to hyperventilate, and I made her sit down and put her head between her knees. I kept talking to her; I needed her to stay with me.
“Mrs. Baker. I need to you to put on your other ski and try and make it down the mountain to the resort. You need to get help.”
She stood tall and gave me a shocked look. She shook her head no.
“You can do it. Think of your children,” I told her, holding eye contact. “I’m going to climb up there and find them. I’ve got a small emergency shovel in my pocket. See, here it is,” I said, pulling it out.
One rule for instructors was to always carry a small, portable shovel in your ski jacket. Just in case. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever need it. Now I thanked God that I had it and had followed protocol. I wondered if Dax had one. He wasn’t technically an instructor, so he might not.
Mrs. Baker was scanning the horizon, looking for any sign of her lost children. Her face was a mask of panic and fear, but she had taken control of her emotions and was holding them in check.
“Mrs. Baker,” I tried again. “I have to get up there before it’s too late. I can’t take you. You must go down and get help sent back up here.”
Finally, she shook her head in agreement. I helped her put on and adjust her skis. She turned to look at me. “Find them,” she cried.
“I will do my damnedest,” I promised her. “Now go.”
She turned and began to slide down the mountainside. I hoped she made it without any trouble, but my only choices were to have her ski down on her own or stay here. She couldn’t climb up the hill with me.
I thought about Dax and those kids trapped in the snow and started to climb up to them. I didn’t know how far away they were from me, so I began to yell Dax’s name.
Please, let him hear me, I prayed.
Dax
I closed my eyes and held on to the kids, one under each arm, as we were wrenched down the mountainside. They screamed as we fell, but I held them in a bear hug. My thick arms and hard body protected them as we tumbled down the hillside.
After crashing down the hill for what seemed like an eternity, the world was silent. I laid still for a moment before slowly opening my eyes.
“Are we dead?” Adam whispered.
“No,” I answered him.
“Why can’t I see anything?” Marcy cried.
I opened my eyes and realized we were completely buried under the snow. Both kids were whimpering, and I didn’t want them to panic. I was going to need their help to get out of this mess alive.
“We’re under the snow,” I told them calmly. I avoided using the word buried.
“Can we get out?” Marcy shrieked.
“Kids, listen to me.” Both were still cradled in my arms, but I needed to dig us out. “Don’t be scared. I need you both to be brave and help me to get out of here. Okay?”
“Okay,” Adam answered confidently.
I didn’t hear anything from Marcy. “Marcy?” I asked. “Are you with us?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Okay, good. Are either of you hurt?”
“No,” Adam answered.
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay. I’m going to loosen my grip on you so I can see where we are,” I told them.
“Okay.”
“When I let go, don’t panic,” I urged them. “Struggling against the snow will make it worse. It’s like quicksand,” I told them. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” they answered simultaneously.
I wasn’t particularly experienced with kids. The only children in my life were little Abby and Raini, Brad and Cole’s daughters, and Brad’s twin sons, Reid and Bryce, who were teenagers.
I was shockingly surprised the two children were so brave. I’d thought they would both be screaming and crying. We were buried in an avalanche, for Heaven’s sake. But they seemed to be okay, so I slowly loosened my grip on them. We were in a tight space, so neither of them slid away from me. I used my arms to make a larger space so I could try and see where we were.
I couldn’t tell how far under the snow we were. I could, however, see a slight lightening of the snow above our heads. I assumed we weren’t too far underneath. The snow was very compact, however. Getting out would be difficult, if not impossible. I needed the kids’ help.
“Can you two move at all?” I aske
d them.
“A little,” replied Adam.
“Yeah, a little,” echoed Marcy.
“Okay, can you try to dig upward with your gloves. Don’t let your hands get too cold,” I warned them. “We need to make a space for air to come in. Then we can wait for help.”
We all started to dig a small space in front of our faces and then upwards so we had more air to breathe. After creating a larger space, I dug as hard as I could using the length of my arm to reach the surface. I needed to make us a small tunnel to allow more air to come in. I still had my pole with me, lodged up against my body. With one hand, I was able to grab it, and I pushed the pole up through the snow, creating a small opening.
I was hoping someone would see it and be able to dig us out.
I had no idea what had happened to Oakley after she and Mrs. Baker had slid away from us. I hoped they weren’t buried like we were. Oakley was smart and would be able to save herself and the woman.
But only if they weren’t seriously injured, I reminded myself. If she’s hurt and I’m stuck in this damn hole and can’t save her, I’d never forgive myself.
I tried to dig upward, but it was no use. Adam’s and Marcy’s lives depended on me playing it cool, not panicking and causing a bigger mess. If I dug too much, more snow could fall on top of us and suffocate us.
All I could do was wait for someone to see my pole. I grabbed both kids again and snuggled them into my body, hoping my body heat would keep them warm enough. Our combined body heat would help keep our temperatures up for a short while. Hopefully we’d be found before we started to become hypothermic. I chatted with the kids to keep them occupied and waited.
After what seemed like a millennium, I heard my name being called. The sound of Oakley’s voice was like music to my ears.
“Oakley!” I yelled out, hoping she could hear me.
Marcy and Adam started yelling her name as well, and we heard her voice getting closer and closer.
“Dax, are you down there?”
“Yes, get help,” I told her, relieved. I didn’t think she’d be able to dig us out with her hands. But to my surprise, Oakley started digging us out with what sounded like a shovel, which was confusing. I could hear it scraping against the ice and snow. Soon, an orange contraption came into view and I realized that it was a small shovel that she had with her.
She dug a big enough hole above our heads that I could see her.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” I told her lovingly.
I could see tears falling from her cheeks. Her head had a big purple bump on it and dried blood was smeared down her face. My Oakley. I wanted out of this hole so I could hold her in my arms.
“Give me the shovel,” I told her. She handed it to me and I was able to dig a wider space around Marcy first. “Pull Marcy out, if you can,” I told Oakley.
She reached down, and God bless her soul, she heaved that child out of the wretched ice prison.
Next was Adam. He slid out a little easier with the wider space. They peered down at me, and I smiled even though I knew Oakley couldn’t pull my ass out. I used the shovel to make grooves into the hard surroundings. Finally, I had enough foot and handholds to pull myself up.
Oakley and the kids grabbed my arms, and I was able to heave myself out of the hole. I rolled onto solid ground and took a deep breath of fresh air.
“Dax, are you alright?” Oakley asked, bent over me.
“I’m okay now, babe,” I told her. I reached up and pulled her head down to my lips. I’d thought I’d never feel her sweet touch again. Remembering the children, I whispered, “Where’s Mrs. Baker?”
“Where’s our mom?” Marcy cried, grabbing Oakley’s hand.
“She’s okay,” she assured the little girl, hugging her and Adam close. “I promise.” She looked at me and said, “I sent her down the hill to get help. We were further down the mountainside.”
“You climbed back up this mess to save us?” I half asked, half stated, looking at Oakley.
“Of course,” she answered, as if the question were dumb. More quietly, she stated, “I couldn’t lose you.”
If I hadn’t known it before, I knew it now. I was in love.
Oakley
Dax was able to stand up and caressed my bloody cheek once he reached his full height. “Are you okay?” he asked. “This looks bad.”
“My head is throbbing. Maybe a concussion,” I murmured, shaking my head a little and wincing at the searing pain that shot through.
“You’re getting this checked out by a doctor as soon as we get to the resort,” Dax informed me.
“I think we’ll all need to be checked out when we get back,” I reminded him. “You’re not as tough as you think you are, you know?” I was only half kidding. He looked like shit. He just smiled at me.
We looked around us. No other soul was in sight yet, and we had two children to worry about. “I wonder if Mrs. Baker has gotten to help yet.”
“I hope so,” Dax replied, looking at the snowdrifts around us. Some of the drifts were massive, making seeing down the mountainside pretty much impossible. “These drifts look unstable.”
I looked at what he was pointing to. The snow was really unstable and the digging I’d done made it worse. I feared it might even shift again.
“We need to get out of here,” Dax said with urgency.
“I agree,” I answered. “Look, that mound is sliding above us,” I announced, pointing up the hillside.
“Shit,” Dax replied. “Let’s start moving this way,” he said, leading us away from the sliding mound of ice.
The going was slow, and as I looked up, I noticed the slab was moving along with the loose snow. It was headed right for us.
“Run!” I screamed.
But it was no use. The slab picked up more and more loose snow and it all came tumbling down and knocked us right off of our feet. Dax and I shared one quick glance at each other before we each grabbed a kid. Dax reached for me, and I threw my body weight toward him. He, somehow, latched onto me as the avalanche tumbled us down the mountainside for another fifty yards.
Dax held on to me and the children tightly. We tumbled as one big group. The children, who were cradled between us for protection, were sobbing.
At some point, I felt a sharp object smack off of my head, almost in the same exact spot as the last wound. The pain was excruciating, but I fought to stay conscious. Dax would need me.
When we finally came to a stop, we were all buried under the snow. One of the kids was crying, and Dax murmured to him. But he was grunting. Because he’d held all of us, he’d taken the brunt of the fall.
“Dax, are you okay?” I asked him. “Kids?”
I got a small yes from both kids who were still between Dax and me. Dax was silent.
“Dax?” I cried. Yelling made my head throb, and I saw stars again. At one point, I felt as if I might faint, but I squeezed my eyes closed and fought it off.
“Oakley?” Dax mumbled. “Oakley, talk to me.”
“Dax, my head,” I tried to tell him, but I had trouble speaking.
“Hold on, Oakley,” he said. “Do you still have the shovel?”
I did still have the shovel, and I pulled it out of my pocket. The space was tight, but I was able to get it close to one of the kids.
“Take it,” I told Adam. “Hand it to Dax.”
Adam’s little hand grasped the shovel, and he twisted slightly, grunting. “I can’t reach Dax.”
“Pass it to me,” Marcy whispered. “I can give it to him.
Adam wiggled until he could pass the shovel to Marcy. Then she was grunting, attempting to hand it off to Dax. When I hear Dax say, “Got it,” I sighed a breath of relief.
He would save us.
Dax began shoveling upward until he broke through the top. He yelled for me to try and lift Adam and for Adam to pull himself out. Miraculously, the little boy pulled himself to freedom.
“Shovel sideways around us to make the hole wider,�
� Dax ordered him. “That’s it, just like that.”
Soon we had a good airway, but something was very wrong with me. I didn’t say anything; I didn’t want Dax to worry. Hitting my head twice in the same place was causing me my vision to go black. My head was throbbing, and I could feel the blood flowing down my face again. More blood than last time, and it wasn’t stopping. I became extremely tired and could hardly breathe. I felt more and more lightheaded.
I was going to pass out.
“Dax,” I whispered. “I’m falling asleep. I can’t keep my eyes open anymore.” But my words were slurred and sounded funny in my ears.
“No!” I dimly heard Dax yelled at me. “Stay awake, Oakley. You have to stay awake.”
I struggled to keep my eyes open, but the rhythmic pounding of my pulse in my ears was lulling me to sleep.
“Oakley? Oakley?” I heard the panic in Dax’s voice.
I tried to tell him everything was okay. That I was going to sleep now. I felt my lips moving but no sound was coming out.
“Dax?” I silently called his name.
I soundlessly drifted away.
Dax
I kept calling her name, but she wasn’t answering. “Oakley! Oakley!”
Nothing.
“Adam, can you try and shake her? Give Oakley a good nudge!” I urged the child. Silence for a moment. “Adam? What’s happening?” I asked when I didn’t hear anything.
“I am shaking her. She won’t move!” he exclaimed from above.
Shit, she’s unconscious.
I needed to get her out of there before she suffocated. Adam was the only mobile person right now. I needed him to give Oakley a good air source. I couldn’t tell from where I was if she was breathing.
“Adam, can you shovel around Oakley’s head? Make space for her to breathe?” I asked him.
“Okay,” the child responded. A moment later, he said, “I can’t make the hole any bigger. It’s frozen solid.” His voice was panicky and kept hitching.
Take a Mountain Man Home for Christmas: A Mountain Man Romance Christmas Collection Page 46