Stone Ranger
Page 11
“I did not,” Brianna gave Matthew a look that indicated she had been more culpable than not.
The foursome made their way to the ski lift line; it wasn’t too long, so nobody objected when they slid into line behind the other four.
“Who’s your new friend?” Emily asked.
“This is Bill; Jen picked him up on the slopes.”
“Apparently after knocking him down first,” Matthew laughed.
Everyone exchanged names, “What were you doing on the bunny slope?” Jason asked. “With those skis you’re definitely not a beginner.”
“I was practicing skiing backwards. I was just turning around when Jen introduced herself.”
“Skiing backwards, cool; maybe you can give me some hints,” Matthew said. “I still have trouble making a quick turn going backwards.”
“That’s what I was practicing, so I don’t think I’ve got many hints, except make sure your rear is clear before you turn around.”
“Where are you from?” Emily asked.
“He lives here in Vail,” Jennifer answered for him.
“Yeah, my dad runs the restaurant at the big lodge.”
“Must be nice being able to ski all the time.”
“I like it; it’s a little slow in the off-season, but I kind of like the solitude. Where are you guys staying?”
“We’re in the Mallory house,” Emily said.
“That’s sweet; you can ski right to the bottom of Vista Bahn Express from there.”
“Yes it does maximize your ski time,” Jason said. “See you at the top,” he said as the first four got into position for the lift chair.
Matthew, Brea, Jennifer and Bill lined themselves up for the next chair and hopped on as it scooped under them.
“What happened to Jeffrey?” Matthew whispered to Brianna.
“He’s not here, and Jen needs someone to ski with besides me,” Brianna whispered back.
Jennifer and Bill talked about what it was like to live in Vail the rest of the seven-minute ride to the top.
“Bill, what’s a smooth intermediate run down? I’m not ready to step it up yet,” Brianna asked.
“If you want to go one notch up, then I’d suggest taking Berries down to the easy trail then take that over to Columbine. It’s more challenging, but if you stay in the center it’s not too rough.”
“Jen, are you up for that?”
“Sounds just right,” Jennifer was making goo-goo eyes at Bill.
“Will you show us the way?”
“Sure, why not?”
“We’re going to do Berries all the way,” Jason said, as he and Alex headed off.
“We could do Berries to Lodgepole,” Emily suggested to Tyler. “We’ve already done the bottom half of Lodgepole.”
“Sounds good,” Tyler said, as he followed Emily.
Matthew followed Brianna, Jennifer and Bill, wondering if Bill had figured out that everyone already knew the way to Berries. Matthew and Brianna spent most of the run on the sides looking for more challenging places to ski, while Jennifer and Bill stayed in the main part of the run.
“Jen’s skiing is looking pretty good,” Matthew said to Brianna, as they pulled to a stop at the edge of the run.
“Yes, it is. She just needs to get her confidence up; she hasn’t skied since last year.”
“Well, it looks like Bill is giving her a few pointers, so she should be ready for the expert slopes by tomorrow.”
“I don’t think so, and don’t you tease her about staying on the intermediate slopes.”
“I won’t.”
“And speaking of skiing well, you look like you were born on those skis.”
“Yeah, it’s been almost a year, but everything came back right away.”
“What do you think about my skiing?”
“You look so good in that outfit, it’s hard to notice your skiing,” Matthew smiled, “but I don’t see any slide marks.”
“Silly,” Brianna gave Matthew a light push. “Let’s catch up.”
The two hurried off after Jennifer and Bill.
When the eight teenagers made it to the top of the lift again, Jason grabbed Matthew around the shoulders, “Matt, you ready to do a diamond run? I’m thinking we could take Cookshack down this time.”
“I don’t know. It depends on Brea.”
The four girls were huddled together, chatting. “That’s fine with us,” Brianna said. “We’re taking Mid-Vail Express, a short stop at Mid-Vail, and then we’ll see you guys at the bottom.”
Matthew gave Jason a questioning look, “Bathroom break?” Jason clapped his hands, “All right, it’s just us guys, are we all up for it?”
Tyler gave a hesitant, “I’m in.”
Jason raced ahead with the others following behind him. As they worked their way down the expert slope, Tyler was managing the trail reasonably well. Bill was clearly the best skier in the group, taking the moguls and quick turns in a nonchalant manner. When they hit the expert part of Berries, Jason tried a 360 off a mogul, caught his ski tip, and took a hard spill. He spun around several times before he came to a stop.
Tyler made only a modest effort to stifle his laugh, while Bill and Matthew hurried over to see if Jason was okay.
When they got to him, Jason was laughing, “Man that was a ten as far as wipe-outs go.”
“Are you okay?” Matthew asked. “Be careful as you get up, we want to make sure nothing is broken.”
“I’m fine,” Jason stretched out each of his limbs. “I’ll be a little sore tonight, but that’s all.”
Upon seeing that Jason wasn’t seriously hurt, Bill had worked his way up the slope to pick up Jason’s skis. After picking them up, he skied down to Jason and Matthew. By this time, Tyler had skied over, also.
“Hey, Jason,” Bill said, “in case you don’t know, after a 360, you’re supposed to land on both skis, not your face.”
“You know, I was telling Tyler something like that earlier today,” Jason laughed, getting his skis back on, “I guess it’s karma.”
“Well, you should see a doctor,” Bill said, as they continued down the slope.
“We’ll have Jen’s mom look at him in a while.” Seeing the puzzled look on Bill’s face, Matthew added, “She’s a doctor.”
“That’s smart bringing a doctor with you when you ski. Kind of like the complete ski package.”
“I’ll be sure to mention that to her; maybe she can start up a sideline, ‘Doctor will accompany you on your vacation’,” Jason said. “She is my baby sister’s doctor, but she’s really on vacation.”
“I was joking.”
“Couldn’t tell,” Tyler said, “your delivery is so dry.”
“Kind of a Colorado thing,” Bill smiled.
“Look, there are the girls,” Tyler pointed to the girls swooshing along on Coldfeet just below them.”
“They can’t hear you.”
Matthew had taken his two-way radio out and was already buzzing the girls. Emily slid to a stop and pulled out her radio to answer.
“Sure we’ll wait,” she replied as she put it away.
“Who was that?”
“Matt, they’re just above us.”
“Sure took them a long time to come down,” Alex said.
“Matt said that Jason took a hard spill, they’re easing their way down now. We should be able to see them; they’re on the right side of the run.”
“Is he all right?” Brianna and Alex asked at the same time.
“Matt said he looked fine.”
The three girls tracked the boys as they made a slow descent for the last 200 yards of Berry. When they got to Coldfeet, Alex and Brianna raced over to check on Jason.
“Are you all right?” Alex asked.
“I’m fine, I’ve taken worse spills before.”
“Well, you must have found some ice, because you’re missing some skin off your forehead,” Alex said. “I don’t think you should ski anymore today.”
“I�
�ll be fine; Jen’s mom can check me out tonight.”
“You can either call her and tell her you’re coming in or I will,” Brianna said, giving Jason a worried look. “I’m not kidding.”
“Okay,” Jason whined, “but there’s another hour of good skiing left.”
“Better to give up an hour to save the rest of your weekend,” Matthew suggested.
Jason called Jennifer’s mom on the radio, “Hi, Mary, where are you?”
“I’m at the lodge having a drink with your mother,” Mrs. Reeves replied.
“Which lodge?”
“The base lodge. Is everything okay?”
“I took a spill, doesn’t look like anything serious, but I guess I’m through for the day. Brea’s insisting that I get you to look at me.”
“Well she’s probably right; we’re in the lounge by the fireplace. We’ll wait for you here.”
“See you in about fifteen minutes.”
“I think you should take the lift down,” Brianna said.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Alex concurred.
“No way, I’ll stay on the easy run, but I’m not riding the lift down; you can call Mom for all I care,” Jason said, as he started off defiantly.
“I’ll go with him,” Alex said, hurrying after him.
“I’ll go with them, too,” Matthew said, “in case he needs any help. I’ll buzz you if anything happens, but I think the rest of you should go ahead and get some more skiing in. I’ll take Giant Steps back up.”
“I’m going, too,” Brianna said. “Bill, will you ski with Jen while I’m gone?”
“Sure.”
As Matthew and Brianna skied off, Matthew asked, “Are you going because you’re worried about Jason, or to make sure Bill and Jen spend some time together?”
“Both, ‘Carpe Diem’ as they say.”
“I’ll have to keep my eye on you. You’re really sneaky.”
“I don’t care why you keep your eye on me as long as you keep it only on me,” Brianna laughed.
It didn’t take long to reach the lodge, but Alex was admonishing Jason to slow down the whole way.
“You guys are free to go now,” Jason said as he stopped and removed his skis. “No reason for my bonehead move to kill the rest of the day for you.”
“Good thing you’ve got a bonehead,” Brianna said, “that’s a big knot you’ve got developing on it. You must have really hit hard.”
“I’ll be fine, now go. Alex will nurse me back to health.”
“Go on. I’ll make sure he follows the doctor’s orders.”
“All right, I think we’ve got time for a couple more runs before they close the mountain,” Brianna said. “See you guys in a bit.”
“Bye.”
“I need to use the facilities before we head back,” Matthew said.
“Typical boy; if you’d gone when we girls went, then maybe Jason wouldn’t have wiped out.”
“It would have just delayed the inevitable. He was trying to show off for Tyler or Bill, I’m not sure which one.”
“Probably both. Since you’re going, I’ll go too; I’ll meet you here.”
While he was in the bathroom, Matthew tuned in on Jason to see how things were. He saw Mrs. Reeves shining a small flashlight in his eye.
“I thinks it’s just a bump on the head; it doesn’t look like you have a concussion, but to be sure, I want you to sit down and rest, but don’t go to sleep until after 10:00 tonight.”
“I like those kinds of doctor’s orders. What about having a beautiful woman massage my tired muscles?”
“Although I hate to encourage him, it wouldn’t hurt,” Mrs. Reeves shook her head with a smile.
“I think I can take care of that,” Alex said.
“Now, he’s supposed to rest, so none of that,” Mrs. Reeves said.
“I don’t care if he’s supposed to rest or not,” Mrs. Winthrop said. “There will be none of that.”
“Mom!”
“Don’t worry, Cara, Jason just likes to dream.”
“That’d better be all he does.”
Matthew closed his portal as he finished washing his hands.
“Jason can be such a clown,” Brianna said, as they were riding the lift up.
“He just likes to have fun, and he wants everyone else to have fun, too.”
“Well, he’d better not get himself killed.”
“Or what, you’re gonna kill him?”
“Exactly.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“How’s Jason?” Brianna asked Alex, as the five friends entered the house at the end of the day.
“He’s fine,” Alex said; “he’s in the shower now. Mary said that it looks like he only got a bump on the head.”
“That’s good; so can he ski tomorrow?”
“She said he probably could; she’ll take another look at him in the morning.”
“Good,” Brianna gave a sigh of relief.
“What happened with Bill?”
“Jen got his number,” Brianna teased.
“Yes, and we signed up for an advance ski lesson he’s teaching tomorrow morning,” Jennifer gushed.
Hanna and Sonja came down the stairs, “Hi, we got to go skiing twice,” Hanna said.
“Twice,” Brianna said mocking excitement for the little girls. “Did you ski good?”
“Yes we did, we even got to ski on a trail,” Sonja answered.
“That’s great. Where are Mom and Dad?”
“They went out looking at potential summer cabins,” Alex said. “Yvette and I have been watching the munchkins.”
“I was a munchkin for Halloween,” Hanna said.
“I was a witch, just like Sissy,” Sonja added.
“Did my folks go with them?” Emily asked.
“No, just the Winthrops and Mary. I think your parents and John were still skiing, so they should be right behind you.”
The distinctive sound of ski boots on the porch confirmed Alex’s thought. Mr. Reeves and Emily’s parents were setting their skis in the rack and taking off their ski boots.
“Hi, kids,” Mrs. Stevenson said, giving Emily a hug and a kiss as she came into the house. “Did everyone have a good day?”
“Yes, we did,” Emily replied.
The missing Expeditions pulled into the driveway and the Winthrops and Mrs. Reeves got out and came into the cabin.
“Do we have everyone here?” Mrs. Winthrop asked, looking at her watch.
“All present and accounted for,” Brianna gave a mock salute.
“You forgot the Ma’am,” Jason said, as he came out of the bathroom fresh from the shower.
“How are you feeling?” Mrs. Winthrop asked.
“I’m fine; the bump hurts and I’m a little sore is all.”
“Well, that’s good,” Mr. Winthrop said, “son you need to be more careful.”
“I will, Dad.”
“All right, what’s for dinner?”
“We’re going to the local grill,” Mr. Stevenson said. “Now everyone should get ready.”
“Wait a minute,” Mrs. Winthrop said, “we’ve got assignments to hand out first.”
“Yes, we’ve got breakfast, morning shift with the girls, afternoon shifts and dinner duty. John and Mary are doing Thanksgiving dinner,” Mrs. Stevenson said.
“Who’s doing breakfast tomorrow?”
Jason’s hand shot up right away.
“Okay, girls in the morning?”
Emily volunteered.
“It takes two to watch the girls,” Mrs. Winthrop said. “And you only have to watch them for about two hours; by then they’ll be tired and you can bring them back here to Yvette, Brea?”
“No,” Brianna howled, “I’m signed up for a lesson tomorrow.”
“Since when do you need a lesson?”
“It’s about a guy,” Matthew volunteered.
“I’ll watch them with Emily,” Tyler said.
“No couples. We want your minds on the girls.�
��
“Since Brea’s tied up, I guess I’m free to baby sit,” Matthew said.
“We’re not babies,” came the immediate response from Hanna and Sonja who had been quietly watching cartoons on the TV till then.
“Sorry, I meant chaperone.”
The two girls looked puzzled, not knowing what chaperone meant, but they must have decided that it was better than baby sitter and therefore okay, and went back to watching their cartoons.
“I’ll do breakfast day after tomorrow,” Alex volunteered.
“No way, I actually want to eat breakfast,” Mr. Winthrop said. “Last trip when you did breakfast you were still asleep.”
“Okay, then Jason and I’ll chaperone the girls Saturday morning.”
“Uh uh, remember the couples rule,” Mrs. Stevenson said.
“Brea, that goes for you and Jen,” Mrs. Winthrop added.
Soon they had the chore table filled out. “Now anyone late or missing their chore...”
“You’d better have a doctor’s note,” Mrs. Reeves added.
task
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Breakfast
Jason
Tyler
Matthew
Tyler
Girls A.M.
Matthew
Emily
Brianna &
Jason
Alex
Emily
Brianna &
Mrs. Winthrop
Girls P.M.
Winthrops
Jennifer & Mr. Winthrop
Reeves
Stevensons
Dinner
Reeves & Jennifer
Stevensons
Winthrops
Fly home
◆ ◆ ◆
The next morning everyone cleared out of the house by 8:30 except Matthew and Emily who had to wait to take the girls to their 10:00 lesson. Emily was playing with the two-way radio.
“They’re pretty cool aren’t they?” Matthew said.
“Yes, they do make keeping things coordinated much easier. It makes it a lot less stressful for our parents,” Emily answered. “It’s too bad they’re so hard to handle with your gloves on.”
“Yeah, wait till tomorrow when it gets really cold and you’re wearing mittens.”
“Right, it’d be nice to be able to just talk back and forth, like when you listen in with your spy thing.”