Free By Royal Command by Charlie Higson Page A

were on a rocky outcrop. Below was a wide, clear patch of open snow, but to get to it, they would have to climb about fifteen feet down a cliff face.
    That was out of the question. Miles could barely stand, let alone climb. There was only one thing for it: James would have to lower him down.
    James sat Miles upright and tried to explain what was happening. Miles looked about himself feverishly. Whether he understood or not, James had no idea, and he yelled and sobbed as James lifted him off the sledge and shuffled him towards the edge.
    ‘Keep still, or you’ll only make it worse,’ said James, dropping the sledge down. It landed soundlessly in a soft cushion of snow and James hoped that Miles’s landing would be equally soft.
    Miles eventually worked out what he needed to do and slid feet first over the lip on his belly. James let the rope out through his fingers, which had long since lost all feeling. Inch by inch, Miles scrambled down the rocks, holding his body clear with his good leg.
    James was never quite sure how he did it, but at last the rope went slack and he shone the torch down to see the other boy sitting safely in the snow.
    Now it was his turn.
    Climbing in ski boots with numb hands is not easy, and twice James thought he was going to fall. The god of the mountains must have been watching over them that night, though, because soon he was sitting next to Miles with nothing but clear virgin snow ahead of them, sloping gently down into the valley.
    However, as James stood up and took a pace towards the sledge, he felt the snow shift beneath his feet and he quickly threw himself towards the rocks and grabbed hold.
    ‘Be careful,’ he shouted to Miles. ‘The snow’s loose.’
    He tried to pull the boy to the rocks with the rope, but Miles panicked and crawled away from him, his bad leg dragging behind him like a tail.
    ‘Stay still,’ James yelled. ‘It could give way at any minute.’
    It was too late – the whole sheet of packed snow started to move, sliding down the slope like rushing water and taking Miles with it. A terrible thought struck James. They might have started an avalanche. There was no time to take in this information, though, as the weight of Miles’s body tore him loose. He was helpless. The snow moved faster and faster and then, with a sickening lurch, James went over another cliff edge and was falling in a cascade of snow.
    He had no idea how far they fell, and was not aware of landing. It was as if time and space had simply solidified around him into a freezing black mass. He thought at first that he had died. He could see nothing and feel nothing. His body seemed to be weightless. He wondered if this was what the afterlife was like – an eternity of nothingness. Then slowly his senses returned and he felt a great weight pressing in on him from all sides, as if he was gripped in a huge fist. He couldn’t move at all. It was then that he panicked and tried to shout for help, only to find that his mouth was blocked. He shook his head and struggled to spit and felt something cold and rough pressing against his face.
    It was snow. He had been buried alive by the stuff.
    A terrible fear gripped him now. He was beyond rescue, alone beneath this weight of crushing white death. He wondered why he didn’t feel colder. Either he was too numb or the snow was acting like a blanket and insulating him. He tried to calm his mounting terror and take stock of the situation. He could breathe, at least. Some air must have been trapped down here, but with the snow pressing against his chest it was hard work, and he knew that the more he tried to move, the more oxygen he would use up.
    Calm down, James. You’ve been in worse situations before and got out. You can do it again. Stay sane and think.
    His legs were bent, as was his back. One arm seemed to be flung out to one side, the other… The other was near his face. He wriggled the fingers in his gloved hand and felt them move against his nose.