Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble Page A

pulled out a picture and showed Noah. Cam stood on the right with his hand draped around a little boy missing his two front teeth.
    “I hope I live up to what he expects from me,” Cam said. “I’d sure hate to come home without a medal or two to show him. I miss him like crazy.”
    “Aw, you just miss your mom’s cooking,” Wiley teased him.
    Cam grinned. “Well, there’s that, too.”
    “So, what about you, Noah?” Bill asked. “How’d you end up being one of us?”
    Noah told them his own story, even opening up about his parents’ death. By the end of the evening, Noah felt as if he had known these four all his life.
    When Noah bunked down in the twin-bedded room he was sharing with Wiley, he was amazed at how warm and comfortable he was for the first time in a long time. He slept heavily.
    Just before dawn, Wiley shook him awake.
    “What?” he asked groggily, staring up at Wiley, who was fully dressed with his duffel bag beside him. “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing,” Wiley said. “Hurry up. Get dressed and packed.”
    Noah was so sleepy, he did as Wiley commanded without asking why. But as he put on his pants, he came fully awake.
    “What are we doing?” he finally asked.
    Wiley put a finger to his lips. “Shh, we don’t want to wake the other guests. You ready for a little bit of wild?”
    Noah stopped dressing. Hadn’t yesterday’s race to Leadville been wild enough?
    “Me and the boys have been planning this for a long time now,” Wiley said, grinning. “And since you’ve just finished your cliff training, we knew you were the man to include in this
experiment
.”
    Wiley paused. “Last time we were here, Bill noticed how high the sides of the hotel are. We did a little reconnaissance work and then asked for rooms on the top floor.”
    Noah looked at Wiley, puzzled.
    “We’re going to rappel down the side of the hotel and then ski off before they can catch us!” Wiley crowed softly.
    Noah stared at him. “What if we get caught?”
    Wiley laughed. “Chicken, Garrett?”
    Noah thought about it a minute. Was he chicken? So what if they got caught? What could they do to him? Kick him out of the 86th?
    “Let’s go,” Noah said, swinging his duffel bag onto his shoulder and giving Wiley a grin and a nod.
    The sun was just coming up over the horizon as the boys leaned out of their hotel windows and began their descent. Each was spaced just a few feet from the other. Their duffel bags were on their backs, along with their skis and poles. Noah was the first to push off, the thrill of rappelling and the thought of getting caught making his heart thump hard in his chest. He let the rope slip through his hands and silently slid down ten feet, coming up hard against the side of the hotel. He pushed off again, trying to quiet the laughter that was building inside him as hewatched Roger, Bill, Cam, and Wiley bouncing down the wall near him. They looked like spiders, wending their way through the air, attached by thin strings of thread.
    Two more bounces, and they were almost to the bottom. The sun’s rays were reflecting off the snow. A bird began its early morning tune. The air was crisp and clear, and Noah was elated as he slid down the side of the hotel as fast as he could. He vaulted again and went flying out. Just a few feet from him, he watched as Cam swung toward the hotel and saw a look of horror cross Cam’s face, followed by the sound of breaking glass. Cam had swung into one of the hotel’s windows. A woman’s scream echoed out into the quiet of the morning.
    “Holy Moses!” Wiley shouted. “Let’s get out of here!”
    Noah didn’t have to be prompted. With a speed he didn’t even know he had, he swung down the last few feet. Hands shaking, he undid his skis and threw them to the ground.
    “What the heck!” A man stuck his head out another window of the hotel, staring at Wiley, Bill, and Roger as they flew past. Cam was right behind them, and Noah breathed a sigh of relief