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[ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] Dominic could barely breathe. "I thought we lost you, kid!" he panted again and again. "I thought we lost you!" "I'm right here, Cap," Dominic managed. "I'm fine." The pilot pulled back on the controls, and the chopper swung away from Lucifer's Claw. "Let's get out of here," he said, his face white. "We've already used up eight of our nine lives." CHAPTER NINETEEN Bryn Fiedler suffered a broken arm and ankle, four cracked ribs, and a severe concussion. She also had mild frostbite on her fingers and toes, but the doctors said she would make a full recovery. "Doctors in Alaska see a lot of frostbite," Cicero informed her. "So they know what they're talking about." Sammi, Perry, and Dominic visited her the next day in the hospital in Juneau. She was propped up in bed, her arm in a cast, bandages on her head, hands, and feet. She started when she saw them. "Oh, it's you guys. I thought you were my parents." "They're coming up from Chicago?" asked Sammi. She nodded. "Separate planes, separate rent-a-cars. I guess that's how things are going to be in my family from now on separate." She shifted in bed to face Dominic. "Cap told me how you saved my life." "Anybody would have done it," Dominic mumbled uncomfortably. "No," she said seriously. "If Cap had chosen your brother instead of you like everybody thought, I'd be dead right now. Do you honestly think Chris could have made it into that tiny chasm to get me out? He's almost as big as Cap." She regarded the slight boy, shamefaced "I'm sorry I didn't have more faith in you. You deserve to go to Everest." "I don't think anybody's going to E anymore," Sammi put in sadly. "Cap's on the phone with Tony Devlin right now. Word is they're going to scrap the expedition." All eyes turned to Perry. "What's everybody looking at me for? You think my uncle calls to ask how to Page 55 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html run Summit?" He added, "But my guess is they'll cancel." "You're relieved," Bryn accused. "You bet I am," Perry said feelingly. "If all this stuff could happen on Lucifer's Claw, how could we go up three times as high?" "It's my fault," Bryn mourned. "1 thought my sleepwalking would stop when we got out of boot camp. And now I'm lucky to be alive." She sighed. "I ruined it for everybody." Sammi put a hand on her shoulder. "I guess this means cliff jumping is back in the plan. Caleb will be happy." And then, a gruff but familiar voice: "Caleb is out of luck." Cap Cicero strode into the room. "I just got off the phone with Tony Devlin. SummitQuest is still on!" Perry was wide-eyed. "But what about yesterday?" "If you kids can get out of a jam like that, then you're ready for Everest," the team leader said positively. "Even you, Noonan. You held it together up there." Perry didn't know whether to be horrified or flattered, "But not me, right?" Dominic ventured sadly. "What are you talking about?" asked Bryn. "I disobeyed a direct order," Dominic explained, "and Cap washed me out." Cicero put an arm around his narrow shoulders. "Kid, after what I saw yesterday, I'm amazed I ever climbed anything without you. Yeah, you wouldn't listen, and I was mad. But we saved a team member because of it, and that trumps everything." His smile vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. "So no cheeseburgers when you get home you're in training! We leave for Nepal in three weeks." "I'll have a cheeseburger for you," Bryn volunteered wanly. "It's the least I can do." "One more thing," Cicero added. "Nobody talks to the press about what happened, got it? That comes straight from the Summit board. If a reporter asks why Bryn isn't going, just say she turned an ankle on the test climb." "I didn't turn it; I broke it," Bryn reminded him. "Along with every other bone in my body." "You broke it because you turned it," the expedition leader explained glibly. "Yeah," Perry winced at the mere memory, "at the bottom of a fifty-foot fall." "What about her replacement?" asked Sammi. "Who's going to be the fourth team member?" Dominic snapped to eager attention. "It's my brother, right? We're taking Chris?" Page 56 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Cicero shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not." EPILOGUE E-mail message To: BU@national-daily.com Subject: SummitQuest Good news! Summit made Cap put me back on the team. At least somebody knows a real climber when they see one. We leave for Nepal on March 15. Now I can continue to E-mail your newspaper more dirt about the SummitQuest bone-heads. Don't worry, Cap doesn't suspect a thing. He still thinks it's sour grapes from some loser who washed out. Tilt Crowley P.S. Remember, when I summit Everest, I'm doubling my usual fee. The next time you see me, I'll be a star! About this Title This eBook was created using ReaderWorks®Publisher 2.0, produced by OverDrive, Inc. For more information about ReaderWorks, please visit us on the Web atwww.overdrive.com/readerworks Page 57 [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ] |