Charlie watched his four friends board the chairlift, then he moved back out of the way of oncoming skiers. He discovered that pacing on skis is not an easy task. He had a rough idea of how long his earlier runs had taken, so he had an idea of how long he should wait before he started squinting into the blindingly white snow. That didn't stop him from staring up the slope mere seconds after they had boarded the chairlift. He nervously tapped the snow with his ski poles, moving into and out of the way of annoyed skiers.

Finally, after he looked at his watch for the hundredth time, he caught sight of two familiar figures. The blue dot was Don, and the gray dot was Colby, and they appeared to be running neck and neck down the slope. He didn't see anyone in front of them, and it looked like they were going full bore. Megan was right about their competitive spirit. Charlie found himself grinning as they approached.

In spite of his promise to be unbiased, he was thrilled when he saw the blue figure move ahead of the gray figure. "Go, Don!" he yelled, knowing perfectly well that Don couldn't hear him. Don opened a bigger lead as they got closer. "Yeah, Don!" He yelled, waving his poles in the air.

They were doing great. He held his breath as Don approached a little mogul about three hundred yards from the end. That mogul had given Charlie fits on both of his runs, and he had been going a lot slower. Don took the mogul perfectly, widening the gap between himself and Colby. A few seconds later, Colby hit the mogul just right. "Wow," Charlie said. "Go, Colby."

Don was close enough to recognize his brother, and lifted a pole in greeting. Charlie grinned broadly. "Go, Don! Come on! You got him!"

Moments later, Don shushed to a dramatic stop beside him, followed closely by Colby.

"Great job, both of you!" Charlie yelled as they took off their goggles. "Congratulations, Don!"

"See," Colby said, grinning. "I told you he was biased."

"Hey!" Charlie huffed. "Don clearly..."

"I'm just kidding, Charlie." He slapped Don on the back. "Congratulations, Boss. I don't suppose you want to go for best three out of five..."

"No way," Don said. "I'm getting too old for this crap. I do want to try a few things, though. You going up again?"

"Oh, yeah."

David arrived, closely followed by Megan. "Hey," Don called as they approached, "You guys going up again?"

"I think I'll go find Larry," Megan said, "You racing again?"

Colby laughed, "No. The old man wants to quit while he's ahead. He's planning on taking it slow this time. Charlie, you going to go up?"

"You bet. But I think I'll go find Amita after this next run."

David came up alongside Colby. "I'll race you this time."

"Oh, man, you are on. Let's go!"

Megan started toward the green trail, then stopped and turned around. "You guys want to get lunch in an hour or so?"

Don checked his watch. "How about we meet at the lodge in two hours."

"Sounds good! I"ll tell the others," Megan said.

When they reached the top of the trail, Don played starter for David and Colby. When they had taken off, he turned to Charlie. "I'm going to try a few things."

"What kind of things? Anything I can help with?"

Don chuckled. "No, it's more of a muscle memory thing than an analytical thing. I know what I want to do, but my body hasn't caught up with my brain yet."

Charlie laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I have that problem whenever I play golf with Dad."

"No comment," Don said, chuckling. "You want to go ahead of me?"

"Nah. I'm going to take it easy. You go ahead."

"Okay. See you at the end of the trail," Don said as he pushed himself off to his start.

Charlie waited as Don started, then started down the slope at a comfortable pace. He was watching the shadows cast by the nearby trees, letting his mind analyze them, working formulae in his head, when he caught movement to the right, out of the corner of his eye. He tried to stop, veering to the left, but Don was too close.

He slammed into his brother, sending both of them flying off the trail and into the woods. Charlie's left ski lifted off the ground as he veered, then slammed back to the ground at an awkward angle as he overcompensated. He could have sworn he heard the bones snap. He sure as hell felt his leg give way after the impact, plunging him into the snow. He curled up, reaching his arms up to protect his head as he slid to a stop against a tree.

He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. "Don? Don!" He couldn't see his brother without moving, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to move. Carefully, he assessed the damage to his body. His left leg was obviously broken. It was slightly bent between the knee and ankle, and his ski pants were soaked in blood. The rest of his body seemed to be bruised but not broken. So he braced his palms against the ground and pushed himself to a sitting position. "Don?" he called, looking around. He saw a motionless lump about ten feet away. "Don?"

Using his hands and his right leg, Charlie managed to drag himself painfully to Don's side. He bit his lip and touched Don's face. "Don?" He felt along Don's neck until he found his pulse. Charlie brushed the snow away from Don's head, and was stunned to see that the snow was red. He pushed himself a little further, trying to get a look at Don's head without moving him. Blood oozed from a gash on the left side of his head, matting the hair.

Charlie reached into his pocket for his cell phone. He flipped it open, and was stunned to see the screen was shattered. He tried dialing Amita's number, but nothing happened.