"DeBaptiste, Mike - Rick Raider 01 - Danger on the Gold Trail" - читать интересную книгу автора (DeBaptiste Mike)

RICK RAIDER #1
DANGER ON THE GOLD TRAIL

(c) 1980, 1999 Mike DeBaptiste, all rights reserved.


Chapter One: THE PROSPECTORТS STORY

Rick Raider sat on his snowmobile and looked warily up at the threatening winter sky.
"Yo, weТd better head back home," he urged his friends who were with him up in the snowy hills. "Looks like a bad storm is blowing in."
"Does it ever," agreed Sally Anderson, a pretty blonde who was sitting snugly behind Rick. "Look at the dark clouds. I bet weТre in for a blizzard."
"ThatТs all right by me," chimed in Charlie Connors with a laugh. He was sitting on his own snowmobile, stopped right next to RickТs. "The more snow the better! I hope the old Lake Erie snow machine really kicks up now that we have these Snowcats."
Charlie was referring to the lake-effect snow caused by cold Canadian air blowing over the warmer waters of Lake Erie that often buried the north coast of Ohio. It was late afternoon and the three friends had stopped in a clearing in the wooded hills behind the rural road they lived on. The boys had just gotten the snowmobiles the week before and had driven them far out into the hills today on a long excursion.
Sally pulled her hood up against the biting wind. "TheyТre awesome, arenТt they?" she said, patting the side of RickТs machine affectionately. "It used to take forever to hike way up here on snowshoes. Now we can get here in just a few minutes."
Rick turned the ignition key and the engine of his snowmobile roared to life. "They sure are sweet, all right, and weТd better open them up all the way now. I donТt want to get stuck out here in a storm."
Charlie grinned as he fired up his machine. "No chance, Raider. WeТll fly back home on these babies!"
Rick shifted into gear and his snowmobile leaped ahead. Charlie followed right behind and the two vehicles sped across the clearing and into the woods. Following the same trail they had taken out, the boys flew down the hillside taking the hairpin curves expertly. Sally clung to Rick and looked ahead excitedly as they twisted and turned through the trees.
"Talk about fun," she shouted. "This is really the max!"
"Yo! Ditto on that," Charlie yelled from behind. "Like a roller coaster in the snow!"
RickТs eyes were intent on the winding trail ahead. "Watch it, buster. WeТre coming to another incline."
Another hill rose up ahead of them and the two snowmobiles attacked the grade almost effortlessly, engines whining. The trees whizzed by and the snow, having now begun to fall, stung the ridersТ faces like thousands of tiny little pellets. Upon reaching the crest of the hill, they plummeted down the other side, the Snowcats dipping dangerously as they whizzed around curves and bends.
"Yahoo!" Charlie cried. "Here we come, Riders of the Purple Snows!"
"Oh, come on, Connors!" Sally turned to shout at him. "The snow isnТt purple. It was sage - purple sage! And they rode horses, not snowmobiles!"
"Sage, snow, purple, shmurple! This is just too cool for words!" Charlie was having the time of his life. He laughed tauntingly as he pulled up close to the rear of RickТs machine.
Just then, as the grade leveled off, the figure of a man loomed in the trail directly ahead. Rick blinked, taken completely by surprise. The man, startled, turned to look at them, and Rick saw a terrified expression on a rugged bearded face. He downshifted with a slam, trying like crazy to slow down his machine.
"Whoa, man! Watch out!" Charlie shouted. But it was too late. His snowmobile banged right into the rear of RickТs.
Sally gasped as Rick swerved to the side, Charlie right on top of them, and they all saw the man up ahead leap into the air. The next moment they were whizzing off-trail through the forest, crashing through the underbrush. Branches whipped at them, slapping at their faces, as Rick and Charlie wildly careened their snowmobiles in and out of the trees. Sally gaped ahead, open-mouthed, terrified that they might crash into one.
When they finally came to a stop, Charlie was right on their tail, having bumped into them a consecutive number of times. With a dazed look on his face, he shook his head. "Jeez! Talk about a close call!"
Sally glared at him. "You couldТve caused a wreck! Do you have to drive right on top of us?"
Charlie tried to hide his guilt with a laugh. "Hey, I like to be close to my friends."
"Close?" Rick had surveyed the damage and fortunately there were only a few scratches on both the machines. "You may as well leave your Snowcat at home and ride with us!"
"All right, dude, next time I will!"
Sally burst out laughing. "Yah, right. We wonТt get very far with you on board too."
Charlie was just about to fling out another retort when Rick silenced him. "Knock it off. WeТd better check on that man we almost hit. I hope heТs okay."
"He really took a flying leap," Charlie said as he switched off his engine. "Last I saw of him he was soaring through the air like Superman."
They jumped off the snowmobiles and began to trudge through the deep snow and underbrush back out to the trail. When they got there, no one was in sight.
"Look here." Rick pointed to the ground. "This is where he landed after he took that leap."
The snow was disturbed and packed down where the man had fallen at the side of the trail. Snowshoe tracks led off into the woods.
Charlie looked around, frowning. "I wonder why he took off? If he wasnТt hurt, youТd think heТd at least stick around to see if weТre okay."
Rick peered into the woods in the direction of the tracks, but there was no sign of the man in the heavily falling snow. He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "Maybe heТs in a hurry to get home because of the storm. Probably somebody who lives in the neighborhood."
"WeТd better get going too," Sally advised. "ItТs snowing like crazy now."
Rick nodded. "I guess heТs okay. WouldnТt have taken off like that if he was hurt."
As they turned to go, a bright object in the snow caught RickТs eye. He stooped down to pick it up.
"What is it?" Sally asked, peering over his shoulder.
Rick turned the object over in his hand. It was a small buckle with about a half inch of leather attached to it. The leather was frayed at the end where it had torn away from the rest of the strap. Rick was just about to answer SallyТs question when his brow furrowed and a shocked look swept his face.
"Hey, whatТs wrong?" Charlie asked. "What is that thing?"
Rick pushed himself up and shoved the buckle into his jacket pocket. "Just a buckle from somebodyТs snowshoe bindings," he said hurriedly. "Probably tore off when that man fell."
Sally eyed him curiously. "Are you sure, Rick? You looked so startled."
Rick started back toward the snowmobiles. "ItТs no biggie. WeТll look at it later. LetТs go home and get out of this storm!"
The heavy snow was being whipped into swirling gusts by the wind as the three friends hurried back through the woods. They were soon back on the trail again, traveling at a much slower pace now as they made their way down from the hills. By the time they arrived in RickТs backyard, the blizzard had hit in all its fury. The winds shot the snow horizontally through the air, and the trio were covered with it as they pulled up behind the Raider home.