The Angel's Command

weight.

Now the pursuing Razan could be heard coming into the main cavern. Ligran Razan was

shouting, 'Get to the entrance! Don't let anyone leave this place alive!'

With a loud whump! the door fell flat on the ground. Arnela looked at the slope down the

mountainside. It was covered with ice and snow, dotted with shale and scrub grass. 'Well,

friends, this'll either kill us all or get us away free. Jump aboard, a sleigh ride is our only

hope!'

Ned peered back into the Razan stronghold—the robbers were dashing through the main

cavern like a huge pack of wolves.

An arrow zipped by him. Ben seized his friend's collar. 'Onto the door, Ned, quick!'

Karay was already seated on the grey-cloth-covered door and was hugging the bear, which

crouched beside her. Arnela, Ben and Dominic, bent double, pushed the heavy door. It inched

forward as they bent their backs, grunting with exertion. Slowly, the entire door began

moving on its own as it came onto the slope. Arnela thrust Ben and Dominic on, and with a

bound she, too, landed on the door.

Then they were off—just as Ligran emerged from the cave with a crowd of henchmen. One of

the men unslung a musket. Ligran grabbed it from him savagely. 'Idiot, d'you want to kill us

all? Use yours bows, fire arrows!'

The big door was still moving rather sluggishly when Dominic felt an arrow whip by, close to

his cheek. 'Archers! Get down!' The four fell flat, and the bear lay down behind Karay,

protecting her. It roared with rage as an arrow clipped it through the thick fur of its shoulder.

Arrows rained downward, thudding into the wooden door.

Just as Arnela felt the sledging door begin to pick up speed, a shaft pinned her cloak to the

timbers. She sat up and unslung her rifle gritting her teeth together. 'Right, let's finish this.

Out with those pistols. Fire when I give the order, and let's hope we can outrun what follows!'

Scrabbling around to face the Razan contingent uphill, Ben, Karay and Dominic drew their

pistols.

Arnela shouted, 'No need to aim. Just fire. Now!'

Four shots sounded out simultaneously. The sound was deafening—it sent echoes rebounding

for miles in the high, clear mountain atmosphere. It was like the end of the world! The gunfire

was preceded by an immense rumble which shook the very slopes. There was a noise like a

great kraaaaawwwkkk! An entire section of the mountain peak fell away. Ligran Razan and

the henchmen standing outside the cave vanished in a heavy white curtain, as did the entire

mouth of the Razan stronghold, everyone inside it entombed in countless thousands of tons of

ice, rock and snow.

Whipping wind and snow particles stung Ben's face as he lay flat, clinging to his faithful dog.

The huge sledge was skimming down the mountainside faster than any arrow from a bow.

Ben's and Ned's thoughts were blended in one almighty yell that would not issue from their

mouths. 'Yeeeeeeeooooooowwwwww!'

Dominic's fingernails felt as if they were cracking as he clung to the door like a leech. The

bear had both front paws flat across Karay, its claws clamped into the wood as it held itself

and the girl down. Ben had Ned's collar between his teeth, and the dog lay with him, both

trapped beneath Arnela's back. They hit a bank, plowing through it like lightning; then,

covered in snow, the massive toboggan crested a small ice-clad outcrop and left the ground,

sailing out into midair like a bird. The only sound was the wind. All of them, with their eyes

tightly shut, knew they were no longer on solid ground. Whirling snowflakes and shrieking

wind engulfed them for what seemed an age.

Then came a sickening bump that ripped the breath from their lungs. A bang! They were still

rushing onward, though now touching the earth. A crash! Always moving down, hurtling

forward. A ripping sound! A thud! A loud swoosh! A grating noise, followed by a final

earsplitting... bang! Then there was blackness and enveloping silence.

27

IT WAS NIGHT. BEN knew this as his eyes opened—he was facing a star-strewn sky and a

half-moon of pure beaten silver. But his legs would not move. Panic overcame him. He sat up

rigid and knocked the back of his head on a tree. Ben saw more stars then. When they

dispersed, he sat up again, gingerly, and discovered that a heap of frozen snow had buried his

legs from toes to thighs. Slowly, laboriously, he forced his numbed hands to dig himself free.

His entire body was one great ache, and his hair was frozen stiff. Instantly another panicked

thought flashed through his mind. Ned, where was Ned?

A reply came back promptly to Ben. 'I think I've joined the angels, mate. Try not to grieve too

much.'

Ben pulled his legs free. 'Ned, where are you?' 'Right above your head, you great frosted

lump. Look up!' There was the faithful hound, draped over a fir branch three feet above his

master's head. He wagged his tail carefully. 'I'm coming down, get ready to catch me. One,

two ...'

The black Labrador landed in Ben's outstretched arms, knocking them both flat in the snow.

They lay for a moment, exhausted.

'Maaaaah!' A bleat rang out, followed by Arnela's voice. 'Ajax the Less, stop nibbling my

sleeves, they're ragged enough as it is. Be still!'

Ben and Ned struggled upright as the big goatherd woman came scrunching through the deep-

packed snow with a young goat tucked under one arm. She waved to Ben and Ned. 'Good

evening! Have ye seen the other two and that old bear?'

Ben shook his head. 'Not so far. We haven't even checked to see if we're in one piece yet,

have we, Ned?'

The dog shook his head no. Arnela chuckled. 'You've got the cleverest dog in the world there,

Ben, he's worth all my goats put together. Well, here we are, still alive, no thanks to my

foolishness. Just look at this mountain—it'll never be the same again. It's a good job the

avalanche fell mainly to the left and we shot off to the right. I must've been mad, flying you

all down the mountain and telling you to fire all the pistols like that. 'Twas sheer insanity!'

Ben ran to his big friend and hugged her. 'You saved our lives, Arnela. Trouble like we were

in calls for desperate measures. I dread to think what those Razan might've done to us if we'd

been recaptured.'

Arnela ruffled Ben's hair, loosening the ice from it. The little goat, Ajax the Less, maaaaahed

piteously as the goatherd spoke to him like a spoiled child. 'Huh, don't think I'm going to

carry you around, stroking ye all night. Go on, off home, young rip, tell your mamma I won't

be long.'

She turned to Ben and Ned. 'You two go with him, the cave's just below this ridge. I had to

dig my way into it. The stream and pool have gone, vanished somewhere, but my goats all

survived by staying inside. Nothing's the same since we brought the mountain peak down. I'll

search for the others, don't worry. Well, go on, you pair! Do something useful, light a fire, put

some water on to boil, search about and find something to cook—that's if those goats haven't

eaten everything. Ooh, that Pantyro, I'm going to have a word or two with him when I get

time!'

Ben stood shivering in the cold, reluctant to desert Arnela. 'Are you sure you'll be alright?'

She lifted him bodily until they were face-to-face. 'Why shouldn't I be? Nobody knows this