Warnings for canonical character deaths in this chapter
Kat Cavanaugh: Wow, those two really were joined at the hip!
Scott: Yep. Still are to some degree.
Kat: And Alan? You and he have the biggest age gap.
Scott: We do.
Kat: Are the rumours true that he is your biological son?
Scott: Let me set the record straight…
Life was good for the family.
Scott, almost 17, was due to leave that summer for Yale and then the USAF. John was due to leave for Harvard at the same time before joining NASA. Virgil still had two years of schooling to go, but the prolific artist and musician was already determined to go to Denver and pursue an engineering degree so that he could join his father in the family business. And Gordon, eleven and already on his way to becoming a national sensation at butterfly, had his sights set firmly on Olympic gold.
Jeff's business was now a multi-million business and the family thrived. They now lived in a large farmhouse on several acres of land in Kansas, along with a ranch in Texas that was their mother's that they spent half of the summer vacations, the other half was spent with their grandparents.
And Scott adored his brothers. After all, he'd practically chosen two of them himself. The four of them might not be biologically brothers, but they may as well have been for the close bond that they had.
All the adults in Scott's life had at various times expressed concerns about how attached he was to his brothers, how he would do anything for them. To a certain degree Ruth and Grant felt that he acted like a third parent to them all, caring for them all deeply. It had been a frequent point of contention between them and their son, Jeff insisting that Scott was just a really good big brother.
Jeff and Lucy were sad to be losing their eldest two, but so proud that the boys, while pursuing their own dreams, were following in their father's footsteps. Lucy began to feel the loss of her children early, and as a family they had already been discussing adopting another child (or two) not long after John's fourteenth birthday.
With both boys due to leave just before John's fifteenth, they had decided that the last winter holiday they would have as a whole family would be special. Coming just before their eldest's seventeenth, it was to be a celebration for his birthday as well as having everyone there. Grant and Ruth were joining them and Val had promised she'd make at least a couple of days at the beginning.
They took a whole month out.
Adrenaline-junkie Scott was in his element. He already knew how to ski so now he added snowboarding to that. Being the quick athlete he was, by the end of that first week he was already doing tricks. Gordon was awestruck at some of the tricks, and Scott found himself promising to teach the eleven-year-old.
John wasn't the adrenaline junkie his eldest brother was. No, he was a speed demon. Where Scott was all about tricks and thrills, John just wanted the speed. He concentrated on speed, so he stuck with skis. The speeds that he flew made Lucy's heart race, but she knew John was also the safe one.
Virgil skied, but spent more of his time sketching than anything else. Gordon just followed his eldest brother around with stars in his eyes.
Jeff was in his element. More than the thrill junkie his eldest was, more of a speed demon than John, he thoroughly enjoyed himself, and Lucy did too, revelling in the joy of her boys.
Second day of the second week there was a small avalanche. It triggered all the alarms and thankfully no-one was injured. It had worried Lucy, but as Jeff pointed out, everything had worked as it should have.
While they were in the main shelter they made friends with a newlywed couple, Frank and Ada. Ada was heavily pregnant. They had been saving for years for this week-long honeymoon, and Lucy couldn't help but relate to them, especially since they also came from Kansas. They met up several times over the course of that week, and by the end the two families were firm friends.
It was the last day of that second week that changed everything.
Lucy and Ava were having lunch with Grant and Frank while Scott was asleep on the couch, having twisted his ankle trying out a particularly spectacular jump and failing. Jeff and Ruth had taken John, Virgil and Gordon out to give them time to talk and plan. Grant was about to offer the couple one of the old cottages on the farm along with a job for Frank, and they didn't need the boys underfoot for that.
It was just before lunch that Ada went into labour. Lucy called for an ambulance and then called Jeff, telling him to keep the boys out a little longer.
The ambulance never came. What came down was snow. And this time the avalanche warning failed.
The chalet, along with several others, was buried under a whole mountain. For hours. The snow had pushed the chalets down the mountain as well as burying them, and for some time Scott's concentration was fixed on keeping his mom and Ada alive. His Grandpa and Frank hadn't survived the initial tumbling of the chalet, and it didn't look good for both women. They had severe injuries and Scott had minimal first aid training.
Lucy knew she didn't have long, and neither did Ada, but Scott was only minorly injured. She talked her eldest through delivering Ada's baby. Scott wrapped him in his mother's cardigan and then handed him to his mother. Ada kissed the babe's forehead and handed him back to Scott, who tucked the newborn into his ski jacket.
'Do you have a name for him, Ada?'
'Alan. His name is Alan.'
'That's a good name.'
'Please, Scott. Look after him. Promise me.'
'I promise, Ada. I promise.'
'Scott…'
'I promise I'll look after all of them, Mom.'
Scott sat alone, huddled in a blanket, resolutely not looking at the four dead adults around him. And waited to be rescued.
Neither were conscious when help finally arrived.
