Read Online Phantoms in the Snow by Kathleen Benner Duble - Free Book Online Page B

you killed.”
    Then he turned his back on Noah and skied away, back toward the camp.
    “I’M NOT GOING TO WAR, ANYWAY!” Noah wanted to shout after him, but he knew those words just might land his uncle in hot water. And even though Noah wanted to thrash his uncle for sticking him with Daniel Stultz these past two days, he knew he needed James Shelley — at least until he worked out a way to leave this camp for good.
    Still, Noah felt relief. He was done with Daniel Stultz. The worst was over.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    T he mess hall was noisy that night, filled with boys who had sweated out another day of training in the mountains. The aroma of food and body odor mingled with the humidity of pants and boots drying after a day in knee-deep snow. Noah found a place next to his uncle and set his tray down.
    “So, you’ve learned to ski,” his uncle said, as he swiped a glob of gravy up with a piece of bread. “Somewhat, anyway.”
    “Daniel Stultz tell you that?” Noah asked, hating the “somewhat” he was sure Daniel had added.
    His uncle shook his head. “Didn’t have to. I was watching you at the end.”
    Noah felt himself redden.
    “Not bad, boy,” his uncle said, tossing the gravy-soaked bread into his mouth, “not bad at all for three days.” He chewed the food and swallowed. “Looks like you inherited some skiing skills somewhere along the line.”
    At least his
uncle
had complimented his abilities. “Do you think my mother would have been a good skier?” Noah asked, wondering if his mother would have ever tried the sport had she lived a little longer.
    His uncle was quiet for a moment. “I think your mother would have been good at anything she undertook, Noah.”
    Noah looked at James Shelley, but his uncle’s face remained bland.
    Roger tossed a tray of food down and slid onto the bench across from Noah and his uncle. “Okay. Let’s hear it.”
    “Hear what?” Noah asked.
    Wiley, Cam, and Bill came sidling up and sat down.
    “Come on, Shelley,” Roger said. “Let’s hear the story.”
    “What story?” James Shelley asked, looking at the boys with wide-eyed innocence, but Noah could see the beginnings of a smile on his lips.
    “The one Skeeter keeps telling everybody to ask you about,” Roger said impatiently. “Something funny, he says. Come on. Tell us all what happened.”
    And as he had the night Noah arrived, Roger began to chant, “Tell it! Tell it! Tell it!” Soon the whole mess hall had joined in, pleading to hear the funny thing that had happened on the mountain. Somebody poked Noah in the ribs, and Noah joined in with the crowd.
    James Shelley finally shook his head. “All right. All right. I’ll tell it.”
    A sigh could have been heard in the room then, as the entire camp leaned forward expectantly.
    “Well,” Noah’s uncle began, “I was out all day yesterday, experimenting with some new wool blankets Uncle Sam sent us that they think may hold up better under the unique conditions we find ourselves in when skiing at altitudes such as we do and with the temperatures dropping as we know they do at night around here and —”
    “Get on with it, Shelley,” Roger interrupted.
    James Shelley grinned. “Patience, boy, patience.”
    Someone sent a Ping-Pong ball soaring into the air, landing it on the table with a loud
thwap.
“Patience is for Germans!”
    “Okay,” Noah’s uncle laughed, holding his hands up in mock resignation. “Okay. I’ll get to the good part.
    “So, anyway,” James Shelley continued, leaning forward, as if to tell a secret, though his voice grew loud enough to carry clearly across the large room. “I’m up on Homestake Peak, skiing the ridge. It’s about ten below, and my hands and feet are numb, but I don’t care. It’s beautiful up there.”
    The boys nodded. Even Noah could imagine how it might look, high on the mountains that surrounded them, looking down upon the world in all its glory, the whitewashed camp buildings gleaming in all