Blizzard by Saddleback Educational Publishing

Author:Saddleback Educational Publishing
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Saddleback Educational Publishing
Published: 2014-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Even though they were warm now, Rafael was worried. No one knew where they were. How could they be rescued?

“You know, Dad, there’s only one thing to do,” Franco said.

“I know,” Rafael replied. “I keep thinking about it. I can’t think of another way. You have to get help. You have to ski down to town. It’s about 20 miles. I hate to make you do it.”

“I can do it, Dad. Don’t worry,” said Franco.

He lifted weights. He ran every day. Franco was in great shape. And he was a good skier. Franco was sure he could ski 20 miles.

Franco had to leave right away. It got dark early. He put on his warm clothes, hat, and gloves. Lilia wrapped her scarf around him. Antonio gave him extra gloves.

“Come on,” Franco said. “You’re worse than Mom!”

Antonio gave Franco the last two peanut butter sandwiches and an apple.

Franco was finally ready. It was time for him to take off. Rafael gave Franco a hug. Franco could tell that he was worried.

He said good-bye to Antonio and Lilia. Then he turned toward the road. At least he hoped it was the road. It was hard to tell with all the white.

Antonio and Lilia watched him go. They were proud of their brother. Franco turned around. He gave them a thumbs-up.

“That must mean he found the road,” Lilia said.

They watched him ski away. He looked smaller as he skied off. Finally, he disappeared.

The wind blew in Franco’s face. Everything was white. It was hard to see the road. Franco made a lot of wrong turns. It was very tiring.

Franco saw a lot of animals. He saw eagles soaring in the sky. Then he saw a herd of elk. He also saw tracks in the snow. They were big. Franco guessed they were mountain lion tracks.

Franco remembered what his dad said about them. Mountain lions didn’t often attack people. But Franco was a little worried. Rafael didn’t say mountain lions never attacked people. He still didn’t want to see one.

Franco stopped for a sandwich. He was very tired. He’d been skiing for hours. The blowing snow hurt his face.

The mountain peaks rose high in the west. Franco knew what that meant. Soon they would block out the sun. It would quickly get dark. He knew he’d be in the mountains overnight.

It was around 20 degrees. It would be a lot colder at night. But he knew what he had to do.

First he needed to find a tree. There had to be a mound of snow piled next to the tree. Then he had to dig a tunnel in the snow. He would make an igloo. It was his only chance to live through the night. Or he would freeze to death.

Franco used his skis as shovels. He dug until he was very tired. He could hardly stand. At last he finished. The igloo was ready. He wiggled in. Then he filled in the opening with snow. He left a small hole for air. He knew he would be cold.

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