Seeming satisfied, King wagged his tail and licked Adam's hand. Adam stroked his head.
“You can go without me. The sled's out back,” Alex said.
“You think I'm ready?”
“Sure. You're good, a natural. And King is used to you. You can handle him.”
Luke ruffled the dog's thick fur. “OK, King. I guess it's just you and me today.” The dog leaned against Luke's leg, pushing his one hundred plus pounds against the young man. Suddenly he bounded past Luke and into the snow.
With King in the harness, Luke and Adam set off. At first the only sound was the swoosh of runners and jangle of the harness as they cut across the snow. “We've got a piece of open ground where we practice,” Luke called to Adam, who struggled to keep up.
Adam's legs ached, and he fought for breath. The cold hurt his lungs. King seemed to be picking up the pace. “Hey, could you slow down?” he called.
Pulling the sled to a stop, Luke laughed. “Can't take it, huh?”
Adam caught up to him. Resting his hands on his legs, he bent at the waist and gulped in oxygen. “Keeping up with a sled in deep snow isn't running; it's torture. I'd like to see you do it.”
“I told you to ride,” Luke said with a grin.
“I should have listened to you.”
“Why don't you take a turn?”
“I don't know how.”
“Just stand on the runners. If you want him to go, say mush; gee means right and haw means left. King knows what to do.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
“OK.” Taking the traces, Adam stepped onto the sled. “All right, let's go,” he said, jingling the harness. “Mush.” King needed no coaxing. He lunged ahead, and Adam nearly toppled off backward. He grabbed hold of the sled and hung on. In spite of his hood, wind whistled past his ears. His cheeks burned with the cold, and he wished he'd remembered to pull his scarf over his face.
The snow slid past him, faster and faster. He headed down an embankment.
“Slow him down!” Luke shouted. “You're going too fast!”
Adam pulled on the lines and called, “Whoa.” He didn't know what to say to stop the dog. King kept pulling hard, and the sled continued to pick up speed.
“Slow down!” Luke yelled.
“I'm trying!” Adam pulled hard. King didn't seem to notice. The sled whipped over a mound, nearly tipping over. King skirted a tree, and the sled pulled hard to the right and leaned into the snow. Adam felt a tearing, searing pain in his right knee. His foot wedged between the sled and the runners, dropping him onto his back. His body banged against the snow as it followed the sled down a hill. Suddenly his foot came free, and the sled sailed away without him, King still pulling strong.
Adam didn't move for several minutes. He gulped down air and held his throbbing knee between gloved hands.
Lunging toward him, Luke called, “Adam? Adam, you all right?” He kneeled beside his friend.
Speaking through gritted teeth, Adam said, “My knee, it's bad. I don't know what I did, but I can't move it.” He sucked air between his teeth when he tried to move.
Luke carefully ran his hand down Adam's leg, then gently manipulated the knee.
“Ahh!” Adam yelled. “Stop! Don't touch it!”
“Can you stand?”
“I don't know. I'll try.”
Luke bent down, and Adam threw his left arm over the young man's shoulder. Luke started to rise.
“No! No! Stop! Let me down!” Adam gripped his leg and settled back against the snow. “You'll have to get the sled or go for help. There's no way I can walk out of here.”
Luke searched for King and the sled. They were gone. “It's a long way home without a sled.” He turned and looked in the direction King had gone. “Alex will kill me if anything happens to his dog.”
“Go get the dog. I'll wait. Maybe you can haul me back on the sled.”
“It's real cold out here, Adam. I hate to leave you.”
Adam gazed around. “What choice do we have? Get the dog.”
“I'd feel better if I could make a fire. I didn't bring anything. Did you?”
“No. I hadn't counted on anything like this.” Knowing it was hard for Luke to leave him, but realizing he had no other choice, Adam gentled his voice. “This is my fault, not yours. You need to get the dog before he goes too far.”
“All right. I'll be back as soon as I can.” Luke headed out, following the trail left by King and the sled.
