Chains of Ice by Christina Dodd Read Free Book Online Page B

photo in Genny’s backpack. “John Powell ?”
    Lubochka honked the horn, loud and blaring. Misha opened the door and in his heavy Russian accent, shouted, “Get in! We’ve got to get there before dark!”
    “We gotta go!” Avni was all too eager to abandon the subject.
    Genny caught her arm and held her in place. “Is his name John Powell?”
    Misha yelled again.
    Avni broke away. As she headed toward the van, she called back, “How did you know?”

Chapter 5

    “A nother flat tire? Why does this happen every year?” Lubochka slapped the side of the aged Volkswagen van.
    The bumper flapped.
    “Because the tires are so thin, you can see the air through them,” Thorsen said in his distinctively Danish voice.
    Misha knelt in the dirt, examined the rusty rim and ragged tire, and muttered Russian swear words.
    “I thought I gave money for four new tires?” Thorsen asked.
    Lubochka stood watching, her large hands planted on her hips. “I bought two. But we needed a new low-light Flip Video camera to set up at last year’s lynx trail.”
    “Of course, foolish of me to think the money would be spent as I directed.” Thorsen knelt in the dirt beside Misha.
    “I make the decisions,” Lubochka said stolidly.
    Reggie gave a shout of triumph as he located the tire iron under the driver’s seat.
    “Hey, how come the men have to do the work?” Brandon groused loudly.
    During the four-hour drive up into the mountains, Genny had come to realize he did everything loudly, and every sound exacerbated the pounding of her headache.
    “It’s not like you’re doing anything.” Avni cast Brandon a dark look as she helped Misha place the aged and feeble jack under the fender.
    Genny didn’t even think Lubochka knew she was standing behind her, gulping fresh air, until she said, “Genesis, sit down. You’re green.”
    Great. Lubochka had eyes in the back of her head.
    “Really, Miss Valente, go for a walk.” Reggie handed the iron to Thorsen. “We have enough hands. You’ll feel better with some fresh air.”
    Thorsen grunted as he loosened the lug nuts.
    “I can go with you.” Brandon looked her up and down. “In case you faint or something, I could give you mouth-to-mouth.”
    “No. Brandon, you stay here,” Lubochka commanded.
    “I’ll be fine.” Genny gave an embarrassed smile and fled up the narrow, winding mountain road.
    “She’ll get lost—wait and see,” she heard Brandon say.
    “Don’t go too far!” Lubochka shouted.
    Genny waved a hand and walked around the curve.
    They were three-quarters of the way to Rasputye. Twilight turned the light a grayish blue, and it would be dark when they got there. But as far as Genny was concerned, the flat had been a godsend.
    She had, disgracefully, been the one who got carsick on the trip. She hadn’t tossed her cookies, but the dust of the road and the smell of the exhaust combined with the bumpy ride had nauseated her. Brandon had mocked her, of course. Avni had patted her hand. The men had offered encouragement. Lubochka had tersely told her not to vomit on the equipment.
    Now Genny made her way to a fallen log a few feet into the woods, sank down, and wrapped her arms around her knees.
    All about her, tall trees lifted their branches to the sky. The forest was tall, deep, and dark—and somehow Genny thought it smelled old . . . so old. Something drifted down to the ground, and Genny half expected to see some of Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs. But it was a pine needle . . . no, two . . . no, three . . . shaken from the trees by the barest wisp of wind. Then the breeze died, and the silence was profound; the soil and trees swallowed every sound.
    And someone was watching her.
    The hair at the base of her skull lifted. She froze. Warily she looked around.
    She saw nothing. Nothing in any direction. This feeling was her imagination . . . It had to be her imagination . . . The stuff that Avni had told her had clearly been working on her mind.
    She did