Chapter Eight
On Tuesday Lily and Shelby went back to their regular post with Ski Patrol. Scott and the rest of the group were there, and everything at the resort was running normally. “I don’t have an update on Jackson Endicott,” Scott told them at the beginning of the patrol meeting.
“News reports said he’d been kidnapped,” Brian said. “His family received a ransom note or something.”
“I heard the family was contacted,” Scott said.
“I don’t know if there was a ransom request or not.
” He consulted the clipboard in his hand.
“Law enforcement is dealing with that. We need to focus on our work here. I need a dog and handler to talk about safety to the ski school kids at ten a.m. Lily, can you take that?”
“Sure.” She sat up a little straighter. “Shelby loves kids.”
“We’ve got a set of posters you can use for your presentation,” Scott said. “Just go through those and you should be good.”
He moved on to patrol assignments, then dismissed them. She waited until everyone else had left before she approached Scott. “You really haven’t heard anything about Jackson?” she asked.
He slotted the clipboard onto a shelf in the ski patrol office. “They’re more likely to tell you news than me. After all, you know the family.”
“I’ve thought about calling Denny and asking, but I hate to bother him.” She nibbled her thumbnail. “I’m so worried about Jackson.”
“We all are, but there’s nothing we can do.
Let’s just get on with our work.” He opened a file drawer and took out a large envelope.
“Here are the posters for the safety talk. You’ll be talking to the second- and third-grade kids.
I think there’s two classes. Meet them midway down Easy Street at ten o’clock. ”
At ten, she skied up to a group of ski school children waiting at the edge of the trees, midway down a beginner’s run.
Shelby, newly released from her kennel and sporting a new baby-blue SkyCrest bandanna, danced with excitement as they approached the children.
“Patroller Lily is here to talk to us about ski safety,” Kristen Waters, one of the instructors, introduced her.
“Hey, everybody,” Lily said. “This is avalanche dog Shelby. She’s going to help me with today’s presentation.”
“Can we pet her?” a little girl in a pink snowsuit and helmet asked.
“You can all pet her after the talk,” Lily said. “First, I want you all to listen carefully. At the end I’m going to ask some questions and if you answer a question correctly, I have prizes.” She held up the stickers and trading cards she had brought along to hand out to them.
The posters featured cartoons of the SkyCrest mascot, a baby-blue dinosaur named Shred, demonstrating lift etiquette, the importance of respecting other skiers and other tips for safe skiing.
Lily enlisted Shelby to demonstrate points such as taking turns, and looking up the slope before you merged on a new trail.
“What happens if you don’t stay still on the chairlift? ” Lily asked.
“You can fall off,” a little boy in a helmet with flames painted on the side said.
“That’s right.” Lily looked at Shelby. “Show them how you fall, Shelby.”
Shelby dramatically plopped onto her side in the snow, sending the children into fits of giggles.
“You get a prize for answering my question,” Lily said. The boy chose a sticker.
“I want a trading card!”
“I want a sticker.” Other children clamored for the prizes.
Lily asked more questions about the material they had just covered and handed out stickers and cards to all the children.
Every one of the children was so adorable, she thought.
Some of them weren’t much younger than Jackson.
“Do any of you know Jackson Endicott?” she asked as a little girl deliberated over her choice of prize.
“I heard about him on the news last night,” one boy, the tallest of the group said. “But I didn’t know him.”
“What happened to him?” a little girl asked.
“He disappeared,” the boy said.
“I’m sure they’re going to find him very soon,” Kristen said. She sent Lily a warning look.
“Hey everybody, you’ve been such a great group,” Lily said. “If you take your skis off, you can come pet Shelby.”
“Why do we have to take off our skis?” a girl asked.
“Ski edges are very sharp,” Lily said. “They can cut a dog’s paws and hurt them very badly. So never ski close to a dog.”
The kids raced to kick off their skis, then descended on the dog, who greeted them with a wagging tail. Lily moved over to Kristen. “Sorry I mentioned Jackson,” Lily said. “I didn’t mean to upset anyone.”
“It’s okay,” Kristen said. “What a terrible thing to happen. I’m afraid to let any of these kids out of my sight now.”
“Have you seen anyone hanging around the children?” Lily asked. “Watching them or anything?” Though the note Denton Endicott had received seemed to indicate that Jackson was the deliberate target, maybe the kidnapper had looked for him first among the other kids at the resort.
Kristen shook her head. “I haven’t seen anyone. And we do watch for things like that. Anyone hanging around the kids who we don’t know for sure is a parent gets reported to security.”
“How often do you have to report someone?” Lily asked.
“Not often, but even once is too much.”
Lily was packing up the posters and preparing to call the kids off Shelby when a familiar figure in a black helmet skied up. Scott nodded to her. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
“I was just finished.”
“Is everybody ready for lunch?” Kristen called.
“Yes!” The children scrambled to line up.
“Shelby, come!” Lily called.
The dog loped over to her side, while the ski school students returned to their skis. “Did you need me for something?” she asked Scott.
“What were you and Kristen talking about?” Scott asked.
She frowned. Why did he care about that? “I asked her if she had seen anyone suspicious hanging around the kids,” she said. “I thought maybe whoever took Jackson might have looked for him with other children.”
“It’s not your job to investigate this,” he said.
“I happen to think it’s every person’s job to look out for kids,” she said. “A little boy’s life is at stake, and I’ll do anything I can to help.”
She braced herself for an angry reaction, but he appeared unfazed. He watched the ski school class head down the hill, an undulating line following their instructor. “You’re really good with the kids,” he said. “I bet you were a good nanny.”
Was he complimenting her, or insinuating she should leave patrol and go back to taking care of children? She wished he wasn’t so hard to read. “I try to do my best at every job,” she said. “Whether that’s changing diapers or training an avalanche search dog.”
He was still watching the retreating children. “I’ve been thinking a lot about Jackson.”
“I have, too,” she said. “I looked at a map again last night, and I don’t think the kidnapper would try to go directly over the ridge to Pandora.”
He turned to look at her, though she couldn’t see his eyes clearly through the amber goggles he wore. “Why do you say that?”
“Going over the ridge is the shortest route, but it’s also really risky and really hard. It would be a lot easier to go around the mountain.”
“A lot farther, too.”
“Yes, but safer.”
“Maybe you should talk to the sheriff about your idea.”
“I tried calling and leaving a message last night. The deputy who took my call was pretty dismissive.”
“I’ve been thinking about going over to Pandora myself and looking around,” he said.
“Could you even get there?” she asked. “I mean, don’t you think the place is crawling with law enforcement?”
“I don’t know. But it’s worth checking out, I think.”
“When would you go?”
“It’s my regular day off tomorrow,” he said. “If I get an early start I can get there and back in no time. If you drive up Matlock Road there’s a trail at the end that goes right into the wilderness area.”
“Can you make it up there on a motorcycle this time of year?”
“Probably. From there it’s probably only a couple hours’ hike to Pandora.”
“You shouldn’t go by yourself,” she said.
“I’d have Hunter with me.”
“Is Hunter Lassie now? Does he know how to go for help?”
The corners of his mouth twitched, almost as if he was holding back laughter. “I thought maybe you’d like to go with me.”
“I’m on the schedule for tomorrow.”
“Anders wants next Sunday off. You could switch with him.”
Her heart jumped. “Then yes, I’ll go with you.”
“You sure? You don’t want to think about it?”
“I told you, I want to help Jackson.”
“Good.” He paused, then added, “Let’s take your car.
That way we’ll for sure get to the trailhead.
I’ll be at your place tomorrow morning at six.
” Without waiting for more, he planted a pole and skied away.
She watched him go, struck once more by how much he stood out among the crowds of skiers—tall and graceful, but skiing with purpose.
A man on a mission, even if the mission was to get to the bottom of the mountain.
His suggestion to look for Jackson on their own had surprised her.
One more bit of proof that he didn’t always play strictly by the rules.
DARKNESS STILL PAINTED the world in shades of gray as Scott stood beside his motorcycle waiting for Lily to emerge from her apartment.
She had texted she would be out in five minutes.
He stamped his feet and watched his breath fog the air.
The thermometer at his apartment had registered minus nine degrees Fahrenheit when he left.
A sharp bark from Hunter alerted him to Lily and Shelby’s approach. Shelby shot toward them and tackled Hunter. The two dogs rolled on the snowy pavement then leaped up, tails waving.