Read Online The Journey Home by Brandon Wallace - Free Book Online

them. The house was too far away to make out many details, but a plume of smoke rose from the chimney into the sky. Jake’s spirits rose with it.
    â€œGood spot,” he told Taylor. “If we can get down there, we might even find a road—or a ride—to Thermopolis.”
    â€œWhat are we waiting for?” Taylor said, hoisting his backpack.
    Jake began leading the way down the opposite side of the ridge. It was steep and soon took a toll on Jake’s legs.
    It’s almost as hard going down as it was coming up the other side.
    â€œI wish we could just sled down to that cabin,” Jake said.
    He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Taylor grinning, holding out his snowboard. “Uh, hello? Jake?”
    Jake laughed. The snowboard was proving to be their most useful possession. “You wanna go first, so I can watch you fall on your butt?”
    â€œHey! I’m a pro!” Taylor protested.
    Jake helped Taylor get his boots into the snowboard’s bindings. The fit was far from perfect, but they managed to tighten the clips, and at last Taylor stood up on the board, ready to give it a try.
    â€œHere goes,” Taylor finally said. “Meet you at the bottom.”
    With Jake’s help Taylor pushed off on the board—and did a face-plant into the snow.
    Jake cracked up, and Cody ran over to lick Taylor’s face. Even Taylor was laughing as he dug himself out of the drift.
    â€œTry again,” Jake said, helping him up.
    Taylor did, a couple of dozen times. He crashed every way possible. He fell on his face. He flipped over onto his back. He did a three-sixty spin before flopping onto his side. Finally, however, he managed to turn before falling. The next time, he did three turns and went about a hundred feet down the slope.
    â€œAbout time!” Jake hollered as he and Cody bounded down the slope after him.
    The land fell away in a series of steep steps, and at the bottom of the first gradient, Taylor waited for Jake and Cody to catch up with him.
    â€œYour turn, Jake,” Taylor said.
    â€œUh, I don’t know, Taylor,” Jake said.
    â€œYou’ll be fine. It’s a blast!” Taylor replied as he pulled his boots out of the straps.
    But as Jake was about to try, he felt his legs go to jelly.
    â€œWhoa, what was that?” he said, staring wildly at Taylor.
    â€œYou felt it too?” Taylor asked. “I thought my legs were just shaky from the ride.”
    Suddenly the whole landscape began to shift. A deep, low rumble spread through the mountain. It shook the snow-covered ground and seemed to come right up out of the earth and through Jake’s legs. And that was when Jake finally saw it—a hundred-foot-wide shelf of snow breaking free right above where they were standing!
    Jake yelled, “Taylor, run! It’s an avalanche!”

9 Jake and Taylor grabbed their packs and tore down the mountainside. Jake looked behind him frantically and saw a long wave of snow billowing up and coming thundering down toward them.
    â€œMove!” he screamed.
    â€œI’m trying!” Taylor shouted, tumbling through the snow, with Cody fast on his heels.
    Jake fled, pure terror powering his limbs, as the mountain seemed to collapse from under him. He snatched up Cody and sprinted, but the knee-high snow slowed him down like thick mud.
    It was no use. The avalanche was bearing down on them. In moments they’d be engulfed.
    â€œTaylor, if you go under, make a space for—”
    But before Jake even had a chance to finish, the colossal mass of snow smashed into them from behind. Jake staggered, stumbled to his knees, and fell hard. From under his arm Cody let out a frightened yip of pain. Jake gasped for air and flailed with his free hand like a drowning swimmer, but he found nothing. Cody slipped out of his arms and bounded away as the snow heaped up on Jake, burying him alive.

    The wave passed, and the earth was