Snowman Read Online Free PDF Page B

purity.
    Garson opened a large metal box and handed out flare guns to the instructors grouped around Barry. Barry pointed down the icy run.
    "I left her just before the intermediate slopes. She could have taken Mambo, Stump Alley, or even Rickshaw down to the lodge. Now fan out and try to keep at the same speed when you go down. If there's any sign of her, fire your flares."
    The instructors began the downhill run, spread out in a wing formation.
    "What do you think happened?" Ashby asked Cathy.
    "I don't even want to guess."
    "With all the new snow, it might be summer before we find her," Garson said.
    "If she's up here," Monte interjected optimistically.
    Ashby picked up Monte's binoculars admiringly: an expensive pair of Zeiss, 50 x 50 power with a 200mm zoom lens. He scanned the mountainside, then held on the summit.
    "Crazy," he muttered "Must be light refraction." He handed the glasses to Cathy. "Look up to the summit."
    Cathy adjusted the focus. She was startled by the series of large rainbow-colored triangular shapes which appeared to be embedded in the ice. She searched above the cliff line for a triangle which could be forming the design. Monte took the glasses from her and followed her direction, then went to the radio and instructed Chuck to drop down over the northwest base of the summit. They watched the copter circle and disappear from view over the blind side. A moment later Chuck's voice came over the radio.
    "Golden shit bricks . . . tracks, dozens of them. I'm going in for a closer look."
    "Can you photograph them?" Monte asked.
    "I'll try."
    They waited for more details but were unprepared for the panic-stricken report.
    "The tracks are smoking—they're on fire. My instruments are going bananas. Caught in turbulence. Leaving the—" His voice trailed off, breaking contact.
    The helicopter came back into view, listing wildly in the crosscurrent. It hovered overhead now, its rotors churning.
    "Chuck, what happened?" Monte asked over the radio.
    "I don't know. My instruments went crazy and my compass stopped working. There was some kind of magnetic interference. I'm going to do a sweep over the lower slopes."
    "Did you get any pictures of the tracks?"
    "I sure hope so, because I'm not going back up there."
    The instructors were skiing slowly, wedelning in large rhythmic turns just below the expert slope. They were growing tired, and Barry signaled to them to descend lower. He stopped at the edge of the tree-lined cross-country trail. The incline provided a better perspective on the mountain below.
    Out of the corner of his eye he saw a broken ski pole at the foot of a red fir. He skied over to it. There was a churning in his stomach. Beside the pole was a glove, stained a maroon-black. It had frozen. He nervously scanned the underbrush but made no move to investigate further. He felt warm and uncomfortable as his pulse rate increased. He peered up the tree in a posture reminiscent of a shy girl.
    On a branch he saw something, yellow.
    Bile gathered in his throat, and he moaned an indistinct "Shit." His muscles rebelled, refusing to obey him, and he struggled with the flare gun, eventually firing it. Then he sat down on a tree stump and closed his eyes.
    There was a frightened silence when the men gathered in the area Barry had signailed from. They looked up at the tree, unable to comprehend the bizarre sight that confronted them. A few of them grunted and coughed nervously.
    Garson unloaded a long aluminum pole from the top of the snowmobile that had been sent down to bring up the coroner. He brought the pole to the tree and shook the branches. Lodged in a nest of branches some fifteen feet above them was the yellow object, which he was able to shake loose. It thudded to the ground, and the group of men turned away. The parka sleeve was spattered with frozen flakes of blood. It was an arm.
    Cathy forced herself to look.
    The coroner circled the tree, then stepped out of the men's view. For a moment he