LAILAH #2
Micah tossed his cloth napkin at her, frowning before taking his dishes to the sink.
“It’s refreshing to see someone give Micah a taste of his own medicine. Most of the time, people are too scared of him or too in love with him,” I said, nudging Charlotte with my elbow.
Micah whirled and pointed a finger at me with a stern look on his face. “Don’t get any wild ideas, woman.”
Charlotte and I burst out laughing, causing him to storm out of the room.
Growing up in Wisconsin, it always snowed enough at least once that we could go sledding.
To me, that meant going to a park that had a sledding hill and walking up and sledding down fifty times or so until your legs gave out.
Sledding in Austria was on a whole other level.
It took us an hour to drive to the mountain that we were going to be sledding down. That’s right, a mountain.
“Okay, explain this to me one more time,” I said, shifting to face Brayden better as he drove. “We take a bus up to the top of this mountain, rent a traditional wooden sled, then proceed to sled back down.”
“You got it,” Brayden said, nodding his head and grinning at me.
“It’s the coolest thing about living here. You can get up to fifty kilometers on the straight-aways,” David added. “This year, I’m old enough to have my own sled.”
I quickly googled what that speed was in miles per hour and found it was thankfully only about thirty. Incredibly fast for sledding, but I was picturing Olympic luge sledding where they got up to eighty miles per hour.
“How do you even steer a sled?” I asked, feeling more panic set in.
Charlotte, who was sitting next to me, took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “They’ll teach you how to do that. Lots of foreigners come to do this, so they will tell you everything you need to know. Although it is very simple—you just use your feet like rudders.”
“Do they have helmets?” Everyone in the car laughed at me like it was the silliest question I could have asked.
Now I was grateful that I had still packed my un-fashionable winter jacket, because I was perfectly comfortable in the biting cold. I borrowed a hat and gloves from Charlotte, so I was set for this adventure. Brayden and I sat next to each other on the bus, Hope in my lap.
“I want to ride with Lailah.” She pouted for the hundredth time.
“No, Hope, let her get one ride down before we saddle her with a passenger. You’ll ride with me, and then we will see what Lailah thinks for the second run,” Brayden answered, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“Wait, you're going to make me go down by myself?!” I was shocked. I had assumed Brayden and I would be sharing a sled.
“I’ll share one with you, Lailah, for this first run,” Charlotte piped up, turning to look back at us.
I sighed, letting my shoulders sag in relief. Cami was always pushing me into things like this, but she’d learned early on I needed a little hand-holding at first. “Thank you.”
The bus dropped us off at a building that was half sled rental and half cafe serving hot drinks, wine, and beer.
Brayden and Micah went to get our sleds while Charlotte and I hung back with David and Hope.
The track that we would be sledding down was wide enough for a car to drive easily and wound its way down the mountain.
“How long is the track?” I questioned.
“Hmm, seven kilometers, so four and a half miles, give or take,” Charlotte answered, following my gaze. “It starts out fairly gentle, then gets a little more exciting towards the end. The forest is the tricky part—more turns to avoid the trees.”
“That is so not helping,” I muttered.
We wandered over to a beginner’s class that was going on so I could watch them explain the basics.
Just as they finished up, the guys returned with the sleds and ski goggles.
We shuffled into line with the others, letting groups go together, then waited for a gap to build before letting the next group go.
“I’ll sit behind you, but I want you to be in the first seat so you can figure out the steering. I’ll back you up if you need it,” Charlotte said, getting settled on the sled as we all lined up in a staggered formation.
The starting attendants gave us a shove, setting the sled in motion. Brayden and David were in front of us, with Micah and Kayley behind us. I was grateful for the goggles, because the wind blowing past us as we gained speed would have been awful without them.
“Okay, our first turn is coming up; hover your right foot over the snow, and then dig your heel in as we get closer,” Charlotte yelled in my ear.
I followed her instruction and put my heel down—too hard—and almost spun us out of control, but she corrected us.
Easing up on the pressure, I figured out the balance and eased us into the next curve.
As we accelerated and I became more confident, the excitement finally reached me.
We flew across the packed snow, weaving in and out of people who were going slower than us.
Laughter started to bubble up, and I let out a whoop as we drifted perfectly around the turn, hardly slowing at all.
Micah and David were racing, tossing snow at each other like their own version of Mario Kart.
Kayley was laying down on her stomach, trying to keep up with them and avoiding being hit by snow.
One more curve, and we were in the forest area.
The trees were dense, and if you wiped out, trying to avoid hitting one would be a miracle.
For some reason as we zoomed past, I felt this lurking unease that there was something out in the woods and it wasn’t anything good.
I wanted to get Brayden or Micah’s attention, but they were too distracted.
A loud crack sounded through the quiet forest, and a huge tree started to fall.
I looked back to see that Brayden and Hope just made it past before it blocked the sled path.
I dug my heels in, trying to slow us down so he could catch up to us and I could make sure he was okay.
Then I noticed movement in the forest and knew what that gut feeling had been.
“Demons,” I screamed before grabbing Charlotte and bailing from the sled as one came hurtling towards us.