Read Online 02 Avalanche Pass by John Flanagan - Free Book Online Page B

the week when he was left in total charge of the kitchen.
    “And another thing—” he began, then both men froze as the bells rang through the tiled kitchen, reflecting and echoing off the hard surfaces of tile and stainless steel. They both looked at each other.
    “A test?” said George uncertainly. Then, as the sound repeated, they both dropped what they were doing and headed for the door. The can of tomatoes teetered for a moment on the edge of the kitchen bench. Then it toppled and fell. Red tomato juice leaked from the half-slit rim, spreading in an ever-widening pool across the floor.
    H enry Bolkowski was deep in the bowels of the massive building, inspecting the oil-fired boiler that provided heat for the heating system, when he heard the alarm bells. Henry was sixty-three years old and he’d heard those bells once before. He was one of those people who actually remembered the event Maria Velasquez feared. He’d heard the crash and rumble of the avalanche, felt the entire building, massive as it was, tremble as the thousands of tons of snow and rock slammed into it.
    He limped quickly for the service elevator. If it was happening again, he didn’t want to be down here.
    And so it went all over the hotel. Staff going about their routine duties stopped in mid-task, hesitated, refusing to believe the evidence of their ears the first time. Then, having their fears confirmed, they headed for hallways, staircases and elevators to make their way to the reception lobby.

NINE
    CANYON LODGE
    WASATCH COUNTY

    T here were already between twenty and thirty people assembled in the lobby when Markus and Kormann emerged from the office.
    An urgent buzz of conversation filled the large room as more and more staff members streamed in. Unlike Henry Bolkowski, the majority had never heard the alarm bells rung in earnest. Now, as they gathered, they wondered to each other what the problem might be. A young room-service waiter, standing close to the reception desk, caught sight of Markus as he emerged from the office with Kormann close beside him. The younger man noticed the adhesive bandage on Markus’s eye and the dark bruise on his cheek and wondered if they had anything to do with the current emergency. The manager definitely looked a little rattled, he thought.
    “Say, Mr. Markus,” he called. “What’s going on?”
    Instantly, another half-dozen employees echoed his question. A chorus of voices rose and the gathering crowd began to press closer around the reception desk. Markus looked uncertainly at Kormann. The other man stepped forward and held up both hands for silence. Gradually, most of the questioning voices dropped away as people pressed in closer to hear what he was going to say.
    “Please, people, please be patient until everybody’s here.”
    “But what’s going on?” called a voice from the middle of the crowd. Kormann smiled reassuringly in the direction the voice had come from.
    “There’s no danger. Let me repeat: there is no danger. We will explain what’s happening when all staff are present.”
    The muttering began again. The crowd was nervous and unconvinced. The young waiter turned to the people around him.
    “Who is this guy, anyway? How come someone from Snowdrift Transport is giving the orders around here?”
    His neighbors nodded agreement. The young waiter stepped closer, encouraged by their support.
    “Mr. Markus, you’re the manager. What’s going on?”
    Kormann turned to face Markus, putting his back to the crowd. He leaned forward, speaking quietly but forcefully so that only the manager could make out what he was saying. He made sure that the reassuring smile remained on his face as he spoke.
    “Now you calm them down. Just repeat what I said: they’ll find out what’s going on soon enough.” His hand gripped Markus’s forearm like a vice as he continued. “And if you don’t settle them down, we’re going to have a little more bloodshed here. But this time we won’t stop