Maybe over the side of the icefield yonder. We'd best go an' take a look!'
Ben breathed a silent sigh of relief as they watched the two robbers hobbling off over the
wide, lumpy icefield, which sloped away to their left. Karay whispered. 'Thank goodness our
trail was mixed up with the tracks of the others.'
The two robbers were about a third of the way into the icefield when Ben turned to Karay.
'Do you feel rested enough to carry on now?'
The girl began making her way forward indignantly, muttering to herself, 'Of course I am! It
wasn't just me who needed a rest, you two were panting worse than Ned!'
To prove her point she dashed out of cover, accidentally stepping on an ice-covered bit of
rock. Her feet left the ground, and she thudded backward. An involuntary cry came from her
as she fell flat on her back. 'Yeek!'
The sound echoed sharply out into the surrounding peaks.
Out on the icefield, Cutpurse and Abrit halted abruptly. Cutpurse waved his staff triumphantly.
'They're the ones Ligran wants—come on, let's get 'em!'
Abrit shouldered his companion to one side. 'Out o' my way, ye fool, I'll stop 'em!' Pulling a
musket from his belt he fired a shot across the cliffside at the girl lying on the ground. The
report echoed like thunder.
Ben blinked as the musket ball pinged off the rock behind him. The two robbers were
scrambling across the icefield toward them, shouting at them to halt. Then the noise started: a
dull muffled sound from above, building up into one massive rumble, growing louder by the
second.
Dominic dived out and dragged Karay by her feet back under the shelter of the rock. Then he
pulled Ben as deep into the shadow as possible. Ned galloped to his master's side.
Dominic's voice was almost lost in the unearthly roar. 'Avalanche! Avalanche!'
Powdered snow, hard snow, sheets and columns of ice mixed with rocks, scree, shale and
boulders came thundering down as a huge wedge of the mountain, disturbed by the gunshot,
toppled down onto the icefield.
Cutpurse and Abrit died where they stood and were swept away by nature's irresistible force.
Ben, Ned, Karay and Dominic, bundled together in the rock's shadow, hugged one another
tightly. A monstrous single wall of ice scrunched by, halting with an immense grating crack
between the overhanging rock top and the path they had intended to follow. Everything went
black, dark as an underground dungeon. Their eardrums reverberated with the thudding, solid
waterfall of snow that pounded outside against rock and ice.
This was followed by a silence so complete that it made a ringing sound inside their heads. As
rapidly as it had started, the avalanche was over.
Ben's voice sounded muffled as he spoke the words that came to him from Ned. 'Is anyone
hurt, are we all here?'
Their arms were still around one another as Karay and Dominic replied out of the stygian
darkness.
'I bruised my shoulder when I slipped, but I'm still alive.'
'More than we can say for those Razan villains, I suppose.'
Ben shuddered at the thought of the two men's fate. 'Nothing can have lived out there. 'Twas
like the end of the world. Ned feels nice and warm, though.'
The black Labrador licked Ben's hand. 'That's the sweat of pure panic. I think they call it the
heat of the moment.'
The boy hugged his dog closer. 'All we can do now is wait for daylight. Maybe the sun will
reflect through all this, and we'll be able to judge our position.'
Surprisingly, it was not as cold as they had expected. Their breath and body heat combined to
keep the temperature above freezing in the dungeon of snow and ice.
Throughout the remainder of the night, the four friends slept fitfully. Ben was half in and half
out of sleep when the dog's thoughts cut in on him. 'Phew, it's getting a bit muggy in here, but
I can see your face now, mate. Can you see me?'
Ben open his eyes to a blurred grey gloom. 'Aye, I can see you, mate, though it's getting a bit
difficult to breathe. It must be near dawn outside.'
Dominic opened his eyes. 'Any food? I'm famished!'
Karay's voice came from over Ned's shoulder. 'Me too!'
Ned, with the limited room allowed to him, dug in the snow, which was almost knee high.
Ben heard his thoughts. 'I've found Dominic's facemaker satchel, anything in here?'
Dominic pulled the satchel free of the snow. 'Thank you, Ned. Let's see what's left in here.'
They watched as he loosed the straps and rummaged about. 'A hard piece of cheese, stale
heel of a loaf . . . Aha, what's this? Wine, nearly a flask of it. I'd forgotten about that!'
Karay sat up as best as she could. 'I'm glad you did! Now share it out, quick, before I die of
hunger!'
Dominic smiled. 'Oh, what's your hurry, you'll live. Now eat slowly and don't talk for a while,
or we may use up all the air in here. Proper daylight can't be too far off.'
Nibbling and sipping, they bided their time. Gradually the greyness was replaced with a
golden glow that began permeating their snowy prison. Ned wagged his tail. 'Looks like a
nice sunny day!'
Ben pushed the offending tail away. 'It might if I could see properly. Keep your tail still,
mate!'
He felt around until he unearthed Arnela's ice axe. Ben poked it forward and tapped gently.
'Feels like a solid block of ice trapping us in here. What d'you think, Dom?'
The facemaker took the axe from Ben, reversing it until he was holding the metal head. He
probed over his shoulder with the butt of the shaft, pushing at a space above him. Loose snow
showered down on them.
Karay encouraged him. 'That's the way, give it a good hard shove!'
Dominic shook his head, murmuring as he probed. 'Gently does it, don't want to bring the
whole lot down on us.' He pushed further with the haft until it slid forward easily, then
withdrew it.
A golden circle of light shone down, centering between Ned's ears. The air began freshening
immediately. Ben laughed. 'Well done, sir. You've saved our lives!'
They took turns. Working carefully, each one widened the hole, waggling the ice axe and
pulling down chunks of ice and frozen snow. As water droplets came down, Ned held out his
tongue and caught a few.
Karay knotted the rope about her waist and stood in a crouch. 'I'm the slimmest and lightest,
so I'll go first. You men, take one of my feet each and give me a good boost.'
Ben and Dominic cupped their hands, making stirrups for her feet, then lifted. Her head rose
into the hole above. She called back to them. 'Right, one, two, three. Hup!' Their heads
banged the ice wall as they jerked her upwards.
Karay fell out and forward at the same time, enlarging the hole; then she disappeared. A
moment later, her head appeared in the hole. 'Ned can come next! Pass him up. Here, boy,
give me your paws, good dog, come on!'
The Labrador rose into the sunlight, dispensing cheery thoughts. 'Hey, hup! This is good
fun!'
Ben did not exactly return the sentiment. 'Huh, it should be, you're sitting on my head, you
great broad-beamed hound!'
Soon all four were standing out in the fresh, sunlit mountain morning air. Dominic swelled out
his chest and thumped it cheerfully with both fists. 'Well friends, onward and upwards, eh?'
