Drake Sisters 02 - The Twilight Before Christmas

few feet from him. “Are you hurt?”
    “I don’t think so. I don’t know what happened though. One minute I was fal ing off the fence and rol ing, and the next Danny shoved me. I woke up a few minutes ago and when I tried to move, I dislodged several rocks. I didn’t know where anyone was, so I thought I’d better just wait until help came.”
    Matt remained lying flat, searching careful y for Danny. The wind drove down through the canyon and shifted abruptly, coming back off the river. He caught sight of his brother a few yards away. Danny was lying facedown on the cliff over the water’s edge, partial y buried under debris. He wasn’t moving.
    The pulse pounded in Matt’s temples. He forced himself to go to the boy and examine him first. “You’l be fine. Just stay down until we can get help to you.
    I’m checking on Danny.”
    He took a deep breath and cal ed toward the top. “Donna? Is Jonas here yet?”

    “He’s on his way along with the rescue squad,” She yel ed back.
    “I’m working my way down to Danny. Everyone else is alive. Jackson looks the worst. Could be a concussion. The entire mountainside is unstable.
    Tel them to be careful moving around up there until I can get Danny out of the avalanche zone.”
    Matt patted the teenage boy and proceeded to make painful y slow progress through the rocks. The smal est trickle of pebbles could bring down a tremendous storm of boulders on his brother. He inched his way through the rubble until he reached Danny’s side.
    Danny was precariously balanced at the edge of the bank. It was actual y the rocks that saved his life, holding him pinned in the dirt. Matt was very gentle as he examined his brother. He couldn’t find a single broken bone, but there were several lacerations, particularly on Danny’s hands. His face was pushed hard into the dirt. He careful y turned Danny’s head, scooping dirt from his mouth. Danny coughed, and the rocks slid. Some dislodged and one fel to the river below. “Don’t move, Danny, don’t even cough if you can help it,” Matt instructed.
    “Tel us what you need, Matt,” Jonas shouted down to him.
    “I’ve got to move Danny. When I do, everything above him is going to slide. You’l have to get Pete out of there and Jackson. When you move them, Jonas, don’t disturb the rocks. If I take Danny now, there’s a chance we’l lose those two. I’l shield my brother, just work fast.”
    Matt knew Jonas wouldn’t bother to argue with him. There was no way Matt would leave his younger brother hanging out over the edge of the fast-moving river with an avalanche of boulders poised to slide. The Drake sisters had managed a miracle removing the fog, but there was stil dangerous work to be done.
    “Don’t forget about me,” Tommy cal ed.
    “We’l get you,” Jonas promised.
    “You’re going to be just fine, Danny boy,” Matt said, brushing more dirt from the lacerated face.
    “Get out of here, Matt,” Danny barely mouthed the words. “Breathing moves the rocks. If they’re working up above, the boulders wil smash us both.”
    “Have a little faith, bro, that’s Jonas up there. Are you hurt?”
    “What does it look like?”
    Matt heard the ominous rumble above him. “Incoming,” Jonas yel ed from above them. Matt shifted so his upper body protected Danny’s head. He put his arms over his own head and tried to shrink as rocks bounced down, knocking a few more loose. The rocks rained down and splashed into the river below. One glanced off his calf and rol ed away, dislodging more rocks before it hit the water.
    “Dammit, be careful.” Matt could hear Jonas snarling at the rescue team. “If you can’t move them without setting off a landslide, get the hel back up here and let someone else do that! You al right down there, Matt?”
    “We’re fine. Just be careful,” he cal ed back.
    “You weigh more than the rocks do,” Danny complained.
    “You deserve it, scaring the hel out of me like this. Anything broken?”
    “Naw. I’m a Granite. We’re tough.”
    Matt rubbed his brother’s head in a rough, affectionate gesture. He glanced up. “They’ve got Jackson and the boys out, and they’re on the way to us. When we move you, Danny, the entire side of the bank is going to come down. I won’t be able to be very gentle, but I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
    “Just get me the hel out of here.”
    It was not an easy task. The rescuers inched their way down and worked out a