The Secret of the Desert Stone by Frank Peretti Read Free Book Online Page A

blurred disk in front of the windshield.
    A blast of wind, snow, and ice hit them broadside from the right. The plane weather-vaned into it, the tail spinning wildly to the left.
    â€œOkay, we’re nose into the wind,” said Dr. Cooper, jamming the throttle wide open.
    The airplane lunged forward, the white swirls of snow and ice blowing past them like sheets in the wind. The old Cessna bucked, skidded, swerved, and tilted as the wind tossed it about, slapping against it this way, then that way. It gained speed, began to tiptoe, then skip along the surface. Dr. Cooper eased the control yoke back, and it took to the air.
    â€œAre we safe?” Dr. Henderson pleaded.
    An angry burst of wind came up under one wing and almost flipped the plane over. “Not yet,” said Dr. Cooper, trying to hold the plane steady.
    Below them, the sharp edge of the Stone appeared to rotate, tilt, rise, and fall as the airplane was tossed about like a leaf in the wind. The Cessna roared, climbed, struggled, clawed for altitude. Another blast of wind carried it sideways.
    â€œDad, what is it?” Jay asked. “What’s happening?”
    â€œHeat-generated updrafts,” he yelled over the roar of the engine. “Convergence, convection, wind shear, I don’t know—the Stone’s affecting the weather.”
    The plane lurched sideways, twisting, banking, creaking in every joint. A cloud of snow and ice boiled beneath them like an angry white ocean. Dr. Cooper turned the plane eastward, trying to climb above the storm. Below them, the east edge of the Stone came no closer. The wind was so strong they were standing still!
    Then the edge of the Stone began to retreat from them. The wind was blowing them backward!
    â€œOh, brother,” said Dr. Cooper.
    â€œWhat?” Dr. Henderson cried.
    â€œWe’re in for a ride. Hang on.”
    â€œCan’t you do something?”
    â€œIf I try to fight against this turbulence, the plane will break apart! We just have to ride it out!”
    He eased the throttle back to slow the airplane down, then turned it westward to fly with the wind and get clear of the Stone. The Stone was hidden now beneath an angry mantle of storm clouds, but they could see the clouds breaking over its western edge like water flowing over a waterfall.
    â€œWind shear,” said Dr. Cooper.
    â€œOh, no,” whined Dr. Henderson.
    Suddenly, the clouds seemed to suck them down, and they dropped into a nether world of pure white cotton on all sides with no up, no down, no sense of direction.
    The altimeter was spinning backward, and they could feel the pressure of the atmosphere building against their ears. Eleven thousand, said the altimeter. Ten thousand. Nine.
    They were helpless in a violent downdraft, tossed, twisted, thrown about in the clouds.
    Eight thousand. Seven. Six.
    And there was nothing they could do, except pray.

FIVE
    D r. Cooper had only one course of action available to him, and that was to fly the plane—just keep it under control, keep it flying. The plane was being knocked all over the sky. They braced themselves against the walls of the cabin, the seats, the floor, and each other, and still the plane plummeted earthward. As clouds whipped past the windshield and the plane quivered with every new gust of wind, Jacob Cooper kept an iron hand on the control yoke and the throttle, watching the airspeed and altimeter and making no sudden moves.
    They knew that the Stone had to be out there somewhere in all those boiling clouds, but just how close was it? A collision would be no contest.
    â€œDear Jesus,” Lila prayed out loud, “we’re in your hands.”
    Suddenly, light burst through the windows as they dropped out of the clouds into clear air.
    â€œ Yes! ” Jay shouted.
    They could see the ground, and it looked awfully close. But the altimeter was no longer winding down. The violent downdraft was contacting the ground and turning