RUNAWAY TWINS and RUNAWAY TWINS IN ALASKA: BOXED SET by Pete Palamountain Page A

of accumulated snow looming above him. He could now make out the words from the voices in the valley. "Stop moaning! This is the way we're going and that's all there is to it." He was fairly certain it was the voice of the Prophet, but he wanted to remove all doubt. He reached the far side of the lower ridge and then crept forward until he came to a strategically placed oak tree. He peeked around the tree and discovered he had a clear line of sight on the men who were marching up the trail several hundred yards below. He'd been right. It was J.J. Flack. He could also make out Flack's personal bodyguard, the oily-looking little Siberian; and bringing up the rear were the two camp guards.
    He dashed back to the ridge, made another careful crossing, and then climbed back up to the top of the butte at breakneck speed. He found the girls in a small grove of cedar trees not far from the edge, and he told them what he'd seen and heard.
    Rachel and Janie lowered their heads. "Is it hopeless?" asked Janie, looking up.
    "No way," said Justin, "come on." He led them closer to the rim where three good-sized boulders perched precariously on the edge. "Help me," he said. "Let's see if we can roll these. I'm pretty sure we can get them to move." The twins understood his plan at once. The fear and defeat left their faces, and they pitched in to help him loosen the boulders. They succeeded in dislodging two of the large rocks, but the third was simply too big to budge.
    "A landslide!" said Rachel. "We're going to drop a landslide on them."
    "If we can," said Justin. His face showed determination and purpose, but his mind was filled with hesitation and reluctance; for he knew he was attempting to create the same catastrophe that had killed his father and his uncle.
    **
    The four pursuers had now rounded Justin's oak tree and were about to step onto the lower ridge. They looked up uneasily at the tons of snow and debris above their heads, and even the Prophet seemed hesitant to move forward; but his determination returned, and he said, "It's not far to the other side. Just be careful."
    "And quiet," said Chuky. "No noise, no talk."
    **
    The pre-teens waited until the search party was almost halfway across the lower ridge before leaping into action. At that point Justin and the girls began to push the first of the movable boulders over the edge. The huge rock tumbled down the snowpack exactly the way Justin had hoped; and he quickly turned his attention to the second boulder. "Come on, ladies, let's do it!" When both boulders were moving, the trio stood on the rim to watch the results of their efforts. They were devastated by what they saw, for the two giant rocks had stopped rolling about a hundred yards down the incline, and the snowpack had not loosened at all. "It didn't work," said Justin.
    The twins didn't speak.
    **
    "Look!" screamed one of the Bitterroot guards, "Up there, above us! The kids! I saw them first. I get the bonus." The others raised their eyes to the three tiny figures standing high above the ominous snowpack; but Chuky quickly lowered his gaze and turned to the guard to warn him about the danger of making too much noise. The guard, however, in his excitement at being the first to spot the runaways, had lost touch with reality and with the present circumstances. He removed his revolver from the holster in the small of his back, and before he could be restrained, he fired two shots in the air—the signal to summon the other search parties to the scene.
    The mountain began to move, slowly at first, unnoticeably, because the actual slippage was occurring below the surface in the slush and debris beneath the hard-packed ice. But in seconds the entire hillside joined in the slide, hurtling faster and faster toward the valley below.
    The men on the ridge knew they were in a terrible position. Should they turn around and race back the way they'd come, or should they try for safety on the far side? Indecision caused them to freeze