The Mystery at Mead's Mountain

tourist like us,” Jim said. “Did you get a load of his ski mask? It was green and red—really grotesque.”
    “Who would wear a ski mask on such a warm day?” Trixie asked idly.
    “Someone who doesn’t want to get sunburned,” retorted Brian. “If you would look in a mirror once in a while, Trixie, you’d see for yourself what a red-nosed reindeer you are. Just like the rest of you poor fairskinned blonds and redheads.” He and Di had tanned beautifully the previous day.
    “Well, at least we match the season,” Honey told him.
    “That skier shot our no-man’s-land theory all to pieces, didn’t he?” said Jim.
    “Why don’t we follow him and see where he’s going?” suggested Trixie.
    “Trixie, he obviously didn’t want to socialize,” Brian sighed. “Come on! Let’s have a race to the other side instead!”
    They all tore after him, yelling and laughing. Not far off in the distance, Trixie heard the roar of thunder. Who would have thought we could have a thunderstorm on such a beautiful day? she mused, struggling to overtake Brian. It seems too cold to rain.
    She looked over at Jim beside her and saw his face turn stark white. That’s when she knew it wasn’t thunder she heard.
    “Avalanche!” Jim screamed over the growing roar. “Get out of here!”
    Trixie skied harder than she ever had before. She couldn’t tell anymore if the booming she heard was the rumble of the avalanche or the pounding of her own heart.
    Just when she was sure she was going to faint, she felt the vibrations of the avalanche passing behind her. She was safe!
    Then she heard a new sound—one as terrifying as the avalanche roar itself. Whirling around to find the source of those shrill cries, Trixie saw her brother Mart rolling down the hill and then disappearing underneath what looked like tons of snow.

Clues and Conversations • 8

    MART! MART!” Trixie shrieked. “Oh, Mart’s been caught in the avalanche, everyone!” Without waiting for a response, she started skiing back across the snowfield, calling out Mart’s name all the time she was battling through mounds of snow.
    “Trixie, wait!” Jim called.
    Brian took off after Trixie. “What do you mean, wait?” he asked angrily. “That’s our brother!”
    Trixie, defeated by the uneven terrain, lost control of her skis and fell face first into the snow. She could feel her hot tears mixing with the icy snow.
    As Brian was helping her to her feet, Jim caught up with them. “Will you two listen to me?” he pleaded. “Mart is in a lot of trouble, but we’re all going to be in trouble if we ski around like chickens with our heads cut off. You both know that panic in a situation like this is very dangerous, so will you just simmer down for a minute?”
    Trixie couldn’t believe that Jim could be so callous. “Jim, I am going to find Mart,” she fumed, “even if you don’t seem to care what happened to him.”
    Honey and Di had joined them, and Honey took Trixie’s arm. “See the rest of that snow?” she asked, pointing to the cliff above them. “That could go any minute, Trixie. We’d all be caught. Who’d help Mart then?”
    Trixie sank back weakly. “You’re right, you guys. I’m not thinking straight.”
    “It’s just that it’s Mart under all that snow,” said Brian somberly. “What do we do now?”
    “Di, you keep an eye on the cliff for any movement at all,” Jim decided. “In case of trouble, everyone head for the woods.” As he was talking, Jim took a length of rope out of his knapsack and tied it around his waist. He instructed each of them to do the same. “If we get caught in another avalanche, pretend to swim in the snow. That will help you stay on the surface, but if you don’t, the rope will float up and you’ll be easier to find. It was stupid not to do this before we crossed this field. Heavy snowfall the other night, sun the last couple of days, the overhanging snow, and no trees—why didn’t we recognize this as a potential slide area?” In disgust, he pulled tight on the knot in his rope. “And I like to think of myself as a woodsman.”
    “No, it’s all my fault,” said Brian. “I suggested the race.”
    “Don’t be silly!” Honey cried. “It’s nobody’s fault. Let’s concentrate on saving Mart instead of blaming ourselves.”
    Jim turned to Trixie. “Where did you last see him?”
    “About ten yards from here. He came so close to outskiing the avalanche. He was right on the edge of