Read Out of Time for Free Online Page B

Snake Gully and do jumps with his friends but he swallowed his impatience. Most of the time he skied at Ellie’s speed, only occasionally bursting into long rhapsodies of genuinely fast movement, then pulling up after a few minutes to wait for her.
    Late in the morning he took her down a run that he had found for himself a couple of seasons back, an alternative route down Duke’s Drop. It involved a long zigzag through trees, ducking a few times to get under low branches, then a tricky bit through rocks and bushes, ending with a real slalom course through small trees and a jump right next to the bottom of the chairlift. The first couple of times down it Ellie was nervous but she quickly gained confidence and was soon keeping up quite successfully.
    At about noon he noticed that she was getting wheezy. ‘This had better be the last run,’ he said ‘then we can go back and have lunch.’
    â€˜OK, I’m hungry,’ she said, pushing off. ‘I’ll go first this time.’
    â€˜OK,’ James said, watching her lean gracefully into the long turn that took her off the main run and into the trees. ‘She’s getting quite good,’ he thought, before starting after her. He flicked in and out of the trees casually, then began concentrating on planting his pole as he made each turn. Coming through the small scrubby trees before the jump he had almost caught Ellie, but he was hardly aware of her until he heard a loud crack and the crunch of timber breaking. Looking up he saw that she had failed to duck for the last branch. It had caught her across the top of her head, but she was going too fast to stop. She sailed over the jump out of control, with blood scattering from her scalp. James felt his stomach lurch and his body lurched with it as he lost balance for a moment, then he planted his poles and pushed forwards, over the jump.
    While he was in the air he took in the scene below, like a snapshot. Ellie lay in a heap of snow and skis and limbs, but she was struggling to get up, despite the blood that was richly marking the snow. People from the chairlift queue were already starting up the slope towards her. James landed and did a tight and fast turn to stop beside her. As he did so he realised with a mixture of fear and relief that his parents were among the half a dozen people coming up the slope. He braced himself for the storm: it came at once.
    â€˜What on earth do you think you’re doing, bringing her down there?’ James’ father hissed at him. ‘What have you done?’ he asked Ellie, kneeling beside her. Butshe was crying too much to answer. Blood was soaking through her hair and running down the back of her head, staining her pink suit.
    â€˜Hit my head on a branch,’ she said at last, between sobs.
    â€˜Oh, for God’s sake,’ said James’ mother, looking angrily at him. A woman standing with them took her gloves off and began parting Ellie’s hair, feeling for the wound. Her hands seemed so experienced that James thought she might be a doctor.
    â€˜Not too bad,’ she said after a minute. ‘Head wounds always bleed a lot. Might need a couple of stitches, that’s all.’ Ellie gave a fresh little splutter of sobs. James noticed, with new guilt, that she was wheezing worse than ever. ‘See if you can get a skivvy or a towel,’ the woman directed, standing up. ‘Fill it with snow and hold it on her head while you get her to the Medical Centre. I think you can get there on your own two legs, can’t you?’ she said, addressing Ellie. ‘I don’t think you need the ski patrol.’
    â€˜Have you got your Ventolin?’ James’ mother asked.
    â€˜Yes,’ Ellie sniffled, groping in her pocket for it.
    â€˜I’ve got a little bag here that might make an icepack,’ a man said, producing a cloth satchel from inside his parka. He clumsily emptied it of its contents, which ranged