Free Fabulous Five 030 - Sibling Rivalry by Betsy Haynes

thinking about some of that fried chicken the lodge makes. And mashed
potatoes and gravy and hot rolls. Yum."
    "Mmm," Beth agreed. "You're making my mouth
water!"
    "And sweet corn, and hot chocolate," he continued,
grinning.
    Beth covered her ears with her hands. "Stop. I'm not
going to listen to you."
    "And it would be nice if I could have an aspirin,"
Todd added, his face sobering.
    "I wish I had some to give to you," replied Beth,
her heart aching for her little brother. She stared at him thoughtfully.
    "Maybe I could at least get us out of the wind."
Especially if we have to spend the night on the mountain, she thought. Of
course their parents would report them missing when they didn't show up later.
And the ski patrol would search for them. But the mountain was huge, and the
ski trails wound in and out of deep woods. It might be morning before anyone
came near to the area they were in.
    She started searching around. "There. That's a good
place!" she said, pointing to a small cleared area that was protected by a
cluster of trees.
    At the clearing Beth dropped down on her hands and knees and
began scooping out the snow in the center.
    "What are you doing?" Todd called.
    "You'll see," Beth called back.
    When she had dug a hole in the snow big enough for her and
Todd to lie in, she sat down in it. The ground was frozen hard.
    She looked around. There were lots of leaves caught in the
brush nearby. She began gathering bunches in her arms and tossing them into the
hole.
    Before long she had lined the bottom and sides of the burrow
with leaves. Todd and she could lie in it and pull the rest of the leaves over
themselves. It would be better than being out in the open. And they would be
able to hear any members of the ski patrol who came close and see their
searchlights.
    Beth stood up and looked around. Was there anything else she
could do to protect them from the night wind? There was one more thing.
    She started gathering broken limbs from the pine trees and
poking them into the ground all around the nest she had made. This would serve
as a fence to block the wind. Next she yanked small clumps of brush out of the
ground and packed them all around the makeshift fence. After that she threw the
snow she had scooped out of the hole onto the brush.
    "What are you doing?" Todd asked.
    "Making a windbreak," she panted as she got back
to her feet. "I read about it once in a novel about a pioneer family going
west in a wagon train. Their wagon broke down in a snowstorm in the mountains.
I always thought it sounded like a neat thing to do to keep warm in the snow,
but I never dreamed I'd get a chance to try it."
    When she was satisfied with what she had done, she went back
to Todd. "Now," she said, "we've got to move you. I'm going to
drag you on my coat. Push with your good foot, but be careful of the one that's
hurt."
    "Okay," Todd said.
    Beth grabbed the shoulders of the ski jacket Todd was lying
on. "Ready?"
    "Ready," he answered.
    Beth tugged with all her might, and Todd pushed as best he
could with his one foot. Gradually, working together, they eased him along the
path and into the burrow.
    Once Todd was settled on the leaves, Beth took her jacket
and put it back on. "It's really getting cold," she said, shivering.
    Todd silently agreed. A few minutes later he told her,
"I don't think anyone is going to find us tonight."
    "Sure someone will," Beth responded firmly.
"It's only a matter of time."
    But inside she was not at all sure. She hoped that Brittany and
her friends would realize what had happened and send someone to look for her
right away. Still Beth couldn't help remembering that it would be pitch black
in half an hour. And by then they would be nearly impossible to locate.

CHAPTER 10
    The forest shadows disappeared as the sun sank behind the
mountain, turning the daylight gray. Beth huddled closer to Todd, trying to
warm him and stay warm herself.
    She couldn't believe she and her brother had gotten
themselves into this