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Jana started up the trail with Thaddeus beside her. It wasn’t long before her attention was on skiing. The effort of cross-country tended to eliminate distractions. The sun was hidden by clouds, making it a gray day. But that suited her. She liked the cold, the snow, and the majestic slopes even at their darkest.
After a while, Jana worked up speed. Once her muscles warmed up, she gained momentum. The uphill parts were slower, but on the downhill sections, she sailed along at over thirty miles per hour. The pine trees flew by as she glided over the snow.
Thaddeus kept up, sticking close. He left room, so it wouldn’t be dangerous. But he seemed to effortlessly stay right behind her. Jana had a competitive urge, so tried to speed up to lose him. It was a challenge that she was sure he wouldn’t ignore.
Thaddeus kept pace with her. No matter how she tried, Jana couldn’t lose him. She smiled. Cross-country was in her blood; there was nothing like being out on the slopes. She crested a hill then cruised down the slope.
Jana had gained speed, so had been marginally slowed by the ridge of the hill. She was right back to sailing along over the snow. Then her ankle wobbled. Her heart skipped a beat.
In that split second, there was no time to think, only react. Both ankles buckled like her bindings had loosened. Only that didn’t happen on cross-country skis. A horrifying thought raced through her mind, that she was flying down the mountain at high speed…completely out of control.
Jana used every bit of strength to hold her ankles steady, but there was no firm base underneath her. Her pulse pounded in her ears. She lurched to the side then felt a strong arm around her. She screeched and reached for anything stable.
What she found was a strong set of shoulders. Thaddeus had scooped her right off the snow and was carrying her in his arms, her skis and poles left behind. Jana had missed injury, if not a fatality, by a fraction of a second. She couldn’t believe she was being carried to safety.
Thaddeus skied to the lodge with Jana in his arms, then lowered her to a bench. “Jesus…are you okay?”
“I wouldn’t have been, if you hadn’t scooped me up.” Jana put her head between her knees to stop hyperventilating.
“I haven’t seen anything like that,” Thaddeus said. “It looked like your boots came loose from your skis.”
“That’s what happened.” Jana was calmer, so she sat up. “I don’t understand. My boots are Norwegian welted boots, top quality. How could the soles come loose?”
Thaddeus flagged security, and the ski patrol went back up the trail to retrieve the skis. He sat beside Jana. “Can I get you anything?”
“I just need to sit a bit longer. I’m kind of wobbly.” Jana was in shock. “Do you realize what could have happened if you hadn’t been with me?”
“I have an idea.”
“I might have hit a tree. At high speed, that could have been fatal. Or I might have broken something.” Jana lifted her hands and looked at her body. “But I’m not injured at all.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.”
Jana stared at Thaddeus. “How did you do that? I’ve skied all my life and I haven’t seen a skier pick up another person mid-run down a steep mountain.”
“Military training,” Thaddeus said without a blink. “On missions, I’ve been known to carry a six-pound rifle, a two-pound pistol, five pounds of water, plus a radio with headset, helmet, ammo. Well…you get the idea.”
“That doesn’t seem possible.”
“And that was pretty much stuff worn on the body. I’d also have grenades, a knife, light source, and some other pack add-ons.”
“You were a walking artillery.”
Thaddeus nodded. “You could say so.” He rolled a shoulder. “So, carrying your body weight, a hundred and thirty or so pounds, wasn’t much of an effort.”
“What about scooping me up while flying down that mountain?”
“I could use a bit more practice at that,” Thaddeus said. “That’s the first time I’ve tried it.”
Jana would have commented more, but the ski patrol returned and plopped her skis on the ground. “You are one lucky lady,” one said. “You could have been killed up there.”
Jana looked carefully at her boots then the skis. She could see what he meant. “The stitching of the boot has been loosened. Three rows of stitching don’t break apart like that.” She looked at Thaddeus. “The stitching was partially cut before I put those skis on. It had to be—which means someone intended for my boots to separate from the soles.”
“You think it was sabotage?”
Thaddeus looked at the patrol officer who’d spoken. “It could be. We’ll have those skis and boots inspected.”
Jana was glad he’d fielded the comment. She wasn’t in the mood for a police interview. The patrol went on, and one guy headed for the lodge. It was likely that he’d make a report.
