"Black Diamond" -- Repost

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART ONE

A short story based on characters created by Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon.

DISCLAIMER: The characters described herein are the property of Columbia Pictures Television. This is a work of fan fiction and there is no intention to profit from the use of these characters.

TIMELINE: Season Seven. Jo and Blair are juniors at Langley. Natalie is out of school. Tootie is a senior at Eastland.

RATING: PG13. Adult themes and violence.

CREDITS: Thanks to Blair n' Jo Rock for the idea that set this in motion.

***********

BLACK DIAMOND
by Devon King

"Ohmigosh! Guys, look at that!" said Tootie Ramsey as she leaned back in the plush chair. Her dark eyes were wide at the wonder of the sunset over the mountains. It was all the senior could do not to point at the display beyond their window.

That would be immature, Tootie decided. It would also peg us as tourists. Being thought of as gawking out-of-towners was not part of their rest and relaxation plan. So instead of hopping up and down in her seat, she tapped her fingertips excitedly upon the tabletop.

Jo Polniaczek's dark head turned in the direction of her friend's gaze. For long moments she just watched the interplay of colors as the fading light danced through the shades of the spectrum.

A slow smile spread across her lips as she rested her chin in her hand. You're getting soft, Polniaczek, she thought to herself. Who would've thought that I'd ever find myself in a fancy-schmantzy ski lodge like this?

She remembered a night, many years ago, when a skinny kid with a ponytail and a king-sized chip on her shoulder thought she'd never fit in at Eastland Academy for Girls.

Oh, sure, she'd had it all figured out. Hitch up the highway. Get back to the city. Nevermind that Mrs. G was doing everything possible to be kind to her. So the other kids were reaching out to her -- big deal. Not interested.

She could still see the rich kid in her navy blazer. "I thought we were in this together," she had said.

A waiter strolled by and smiled at the girl who was lost in her thoughts. The brunette's eyes drifted around the table, secretly watching as her friends enjoyed the dazzling view.

Their personalities, interests and goals couldn't be more different from one another, Jo grinned.

I'm glad I stayed.

Natalie continued to stare at the sunset. Her mouth hung open for a moment. The redhead, who was always on the lookout for experiences that she could use in her writing, recognized that this was one of those important moments.

"Oh, that's ..." Nat gestured toward the western range. "Look, it's so..." she sputtered.

The blonde across from her slid her dessert plate to the center of the elegant dinner table and leaned forward with a grin. "Natalie? Are you okay?"

Nat's hands were still moving animatedly as she struggled to make her point. Finally, she let them fall to her lap. "I have no words," she said in defeat.

The other girls looked at one another.

"Call 'Ripley's Believe It or Not,'" whispered Tootie. Blair and Jo chuckled.

"I heard that, Ramsey," Natalie growled. Then, suddenly, the scowl dropped away from the writer's face.

She snapped her fingers. "I got it! Resplendent!" she announced proudly. Blair Warner nodded approvingly.

Her brown eyes drifted over nature's vivid display. The hues were deepening now, turning to blues and indigos. "Good word," she murmured.

"Ditto," said her roommate from the Bronx.

*************

Jo spread her trail map out on the picnic table. "Which ones?"

"These over here," replied Blair as she swung a foot over the bench seat and set her coffee cup on the wooden surface. She raked a finger down the full color illustration.

"Demon Bends and Velocity?" Jo asked. She squinted at the drawing of the mountain and its ski corridors. "I don't know, they don't look all that fierce," she hedged.

Blair tapped part of the map with a fingertip. "See this, this middle part of Demon Bends? Locals call it 'the vile mile,'" she confided. "The ski patrols have threatened to shut it down."

The brunette grinned wickedly and swatted her roommate playfully on the shoulder. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Talking about what?" inquired Tootie. She and Natalie had just arrived on the deck outside the lodge. Nat carried a bagel in her hand.

"Demon Bends and the Vile Mile," declared Jo. "I'm going to get my first black diamond this trip, I just know it!"

Natalie swallowed noisily. She looked at Blair. "This is the part where you tell me they don't all have names like that," she said nervously. The writer stepped up to the table and looked over the map.

"Where's all the trails called 'Walk in the Park' or 'Leisurely Stroll?'" she asked. Blair laughed.

"I think those are on another mountain," she chuckled. "But there are plenty of trails you should enjoy, Natalie. Just read the legend and look for the green dots..."

"Forget dots," interrupted Nat, "I want to see ears!"

Jo cocked her head. Maybe I didn't hear that quite right. "Ears?"

Natalie held up two fingers and bounced them forward. "Yup, ears. As in bunny slopes," she grinned.

Tootie groaned and covered her face with a mitten.

Blair sighed. "Think green, Natalie. You might like the tubing hills in the lowlands," she suggested.

"Don't worry, not everyone has a death wish like Speed Racer here," she angled a thumb toward Jo and smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Warner," countered the brunette. Jo leaned toward the late arrivals. "She's just afraid she can't keep up," she taunted.

Blair stood and glared at her roommate. "In your dreams, Polniaczek," she retorted.

Well, that didn't take long, thought the Eastland senior. Tootie shook her head. "Please tell me we aren't going anywhere with them," she said to the writer.

Natalie rotated on a heel, putting the loud difference of opinions behind her. "We most certainly are not. Come, my friend, let's find the bunny slopes before these two hot-heads melt the mountain," she quipped.

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART TWO
The girl held onto the safety bar and looked all around in delight. Tootie kicked her skis back and forth excitedly.

"Tootie! What are you doing!" yelped her best friend Natalie Green as the seat beneath them rocked on its cable. She cast a worried glance overhead as the chair rocked along the sturdy wire. The redhead folded a glove over her eyes.

"Natalie, would you relax?" chided the calmer of the two. She shook her head and the pompoms atop her toboggan bobbed in tempo. "We're perfectly safe up here."

Nat's head swiveled about to face her friend. "Well, excuse me! It ain't up here I'm worried about!" she said. "It's that first step to down THERE that makes me just a tad nervous!"

The duo was aboard one of the main lifts to the top of a trail in the Aspen Mountains Ski Area. Their morning had begun on the beginner slopes and after their confidence grew, they had decided to try something a little more difficult.

The Eastland senior giggled and gave their seat another rock.

"TOOTIE!" bellowed Natalie.

"Okay! Okay!" laughed the girl in the purple ski coat. She leaned over the side of the car and waved at the snow below. "Hey, look! All the people on the trails look like ants..."

Her pal grabbed her by the sleeve and hauled her back toward the center of the bench seat.

Natalie pointed up the mountain and gave the girl her most serious glare. "Do you see the top of the trail up there?"

Tootie nodded and Nat continued. "Unless you are prepared to spend the rest of the day by yourself, you will not say or do one more thing until we get there and our feet are on the ground. Is that clear?"

Tootie's mouth opened to respond and Natalie narrowed her eyes into a warning look.

Oh, yeah. No talking, Tootie though sadly. The senior pouted and nodded glumly.

Natalie's face brightened. "I'm glad we had this little talk," she quipped. Beside her, her friend's jaws worked in a snide, silent mimicry of the reporter's final comment.

********************

Jo Polniaczek shifted her weight onto the inside edge of her ski and dug into the crisp snow, executing a perfect stop. She stabbed her poles into the white powder and then lifted her goggles away from her face.

Her cheeks were reddened from the wind and the sun. She grinned up at the mountainside. That was intense! she thought to herself.

Her gaze sought out the movement on the slope. Closer and closer came the skier in the royal blue jacket. Jo nodded as her roommate traversed an icy patch that rattled her skis, the slick planes chattering as she bent further at the knee to hold the edge.

That's the way, Blair! she cheered to herself as the blonde performed a tight turn that blasted her into fresh powder and away from the rough area. Seconds later, Jo's roommate whizzed to a stop that dusted the brunette's feet with snow.

Pleased with her performance on the hill, the new arrival smiled in a jaunty fashion.

"What took you so long?" taunted the girl from the Bronx. She pushed up the sleeve of her anorak and looked at her watch. "If I had known I would have to wait, I could've gone in for some hot chocolate!"

Blair tilted her head down and gripped the edge of her Wayfarer sunglasses, nudging them so she could look out over the dark frames. A blonde brow arched skeptically at the comment.

"Style over speed, Jo," she grinned. "So you got here first. You made the fast run. I made the clean run."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, when you put it like that!" she scoffed. The brunette was getting ready to launch into an explanation from her old neighborhood that second place was really first loser when she noticed that Blair wasn't listening.

In fact, the girl looked right past Jo, gave her hair a toss and smiled.

That was classic Warner behavior and it could only mean one thing. Jo angled her head about. Sure enough, she grinned. Cute guys at three o'clock.

The green eyed beauty bent down and freed her boots from the bindings. She snuck another peek at the young men who had begun walking over toward them.

"Blair?" she whispered to her roommate who was now unbuckling her own skis. The blonde gathered her gear into one hand.

"Jo, listen to me. Concentrate on what I'm about to say. We cannot ski at night." The soft crunch of footsteps in the snow beside them announced the arrival of the guys.

The brunette's face brightened. "You've got a point there, Warner," she admitted.

Jo looked up to see a pair of smiling blue eyes in a ruggedly handsome face twinkling back at her. She stood up as the other fellow reached down gallantly for Blair's hand.

"That was a great run," said the voice behind the mirrored sunglasses as he helped Blair to her feet.

Blair deferred the praise. "Thanks, but it was nothing compared to hers," she clapped Jo on the shoulder. "I just can't seem to master the speed thing," she shrugged.

"Maybe I could help you with that? I'm Kurt, by the way," he said as he extended his hand again. "This strong silent type over here is my buddy, Aaron."

The blonde shook his hand. "Blair Warner, and this is my friend, Jo Polniaczek." Jo stuck out a glove.

"Hiya, Aaron. Nice to meet ya, Kurt," she smiled. The brunette looked down the slope toward the lodge.

"You know, guys, we were just heading in for something to drink, care to join us?" Since Blair baited the hook, the least I can do is reel them in, she decided.

Oh yeah, thought Jo. Ski vacations are the best.

************

"Chad! Where are you? You've really gone and done it now!" bellowed the sturdy fellow as he pounded through the warm office of public safety. When he turned the corner he discovered why the gangly teenager wasn't answering.

Chad Bartholomew Pinkus was busy conducting a drum solo on the stacks of salt and de-icer in the storeroom. He had his walkman turned up nearly full blast and rat-ta-tat-tatted on the packs with road flares clutched in his hands like drumsticks.

With his back to the doorway, Chad was completely oblivious to the shrieks of his supervisor. The boy doo-wopped his skinny shoulders in time to the beat of Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," punctuating the cymbal crashes with sturdy hits to a roll of safety fencing.

His boss, shook his head and watched the strange gyrating display before him for several seconds. Then, he spied the walkman dangling from the teenager's hip pocket. He winced as the kid began adding background vocals to a song he could barely hear.

"Wooaah, yeah! Half - way there-er!" Chad screeched.

The supervisor allowed the boy to reach a particularly loud part of the song, chuckling as the kid blurted out a nasal whine along to his own unique beat, and then he pulled the headphone wires out of the player's socket.

"Woh oh! Livin' ... uh, huh?" the teenager frowned and reached back to check the play button.

His boss cleared his throat. Chad's eyes widened and then he shut them tightly.

Busted! he thought to himself. The boy with the unruly mop of brown hair turned around slowly and wiggled his fingers in a tiny wave.

"Hey, Mr. Livingston! How's it going?" he grinned as he pulled the headphones off his head and let them dangle around his neck. "Some storm we had last night, huh?"

Livingston crossed his arms over his burly chest and stared at the kid. "It sure was, Chad." The public safety office at the resort was responsible for keeping roads, paths and walkways free of snow and ice for the tourists. They had plows out well before dawn cutting down to drivable surfaces so the wintry white mountain could be enjoyed by all who visited.

Chad bundled his "drumsticks" together and tucked them back in a box over the bags of de-icer. He smiled at the dark skinned man and got a growl in response.

"This morning, when you were driving the snow plow along the southern cabins, did you happen to notice a gray Mercedes parked outside the Mayor's house?"

The teenager puzzled back over his morning behind the wheel of the big industrial plow. "Yeah..." he answered carefully. He did remember it. "It looked like a sweet ride. Really sweet."

Livingston smiled and his eyes glittered dangerously as he raised up on the balls of his feet to get closer to his employee. "Then maybe you can explain to me why you buried the car under eight feet of snow!" he yelled.

The man's face was nearly purple with strain. "Of all the cars on the whole stinking mountain! The mayor's mother's Mercedes!" Livingston wiped at his chin and paced the small room.

"What were you thinking? What do you do when you approach a car with that damned plow?"

Chad squared his shoulders, but refused to look his boss in the eye. "Switch off the snow discharge until you pass," he answered sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck and prayed that the sermon wouldn't go on for too much longer.

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART THREE

I wonder how long Tootie's snowboard lesson will take?

Natalie stretched out and felt the soft cushion beneath her settle and compact with her weight. It crunched with a squeaky sort of sound as she wriggled her shoulders down and let gravity do the hard part.

Staring straight up, it felt as though she were looking through the sky. No clouds. No haze. Just blue on blue forever.

A snowflake sputtered across her field of vision. She blinked and tried to watch its path. It skittered out of sight as the wind twirled along beneath it.

She allowed her eyes to dip toward the earth just far enough to catch the verdant green tops of the fir trees. Just had to add another color in there for comparison, she chuckled.

Okay, enough of that. Back to the blue.

The reporter grinned. Do people know about this? she wondered. 'Cos the mountain is nothing in comparison to this sky. She poked her elbows down a bit farther and then did the same thing with her heels.

It's a little crusty, but I can adapt, she smiled. Ooh! Another snowflake!

This one fluttered so close that the girl's eyes nearly crossed as she watched it. Up and down, up and down until it perched on her cheek with a tiny sting of cold. The reporter took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Was the sky always this big? she wondered as she began to feel the cold seep through her ski clothes. Maybe I've just never been this close to it before, she mused. Colorado is way above sea level, you know.

Wait a minute? Where was I, she thought. Oh, yeah. Back to business.

The twenty year old snuggled into the powder again and then started making sweeping motions with her outstretched arms. Next, she added a back and forth swipe with her legs.

What reasonable, thinking person would rather be on a ski lift when they could be making snow angels? she wondered.

***********
The mountain resort sprawled over the western slope of the mountain. Everything you could possibly want for wintertime fun was on the property. There were three different night clubs in the massive lodge where the girls from Peekskill were staying.

Each club was tailored to a different crowd, different age group and style of music. The youngest and hippest of the three was called "The Glacier." It was positioned in a corner of the lodge and had two levels. Dark glass windows rimmed two walls of the place with cool blue neon outlining doorways that led to a double-tier deck on the outside.

If you were inside, it was a pretty standard club scene. A decent sized dance floor, a bar and lots of small tables and chairs. Upstairs, where a balcony extended over the lower dance floor, there was a tiny bar and a much smaller area to dance. However, when you passed through the doors onto the deck, you found yourself in a cozy spot under the Colorado stars.

The benches and tables rambled all along the wooden construction. People could congregate in large groups or find secluded spots to themselves. Brick outdoor fireplaces provided places to warm up while small, twinkling lanterns ran the length of the structure. The golden glow from the lanterns was a welcome contrast to the strobe lights and electronics of the inside of the club.

Blair leaned against the railing, her elbows resting on its surface to either side of her. She and the blonde haired fellow from the ski slope had stepped outside for some conversation and air. She tilted her head back and followed Kurt's finger as he pointed at the starry heavens.

"... and then, if you just line up those two stars, you'll always be able to find the North star," he finished. The young man let his gaze drift over to his date's upturned face. A breeze on the balcony was ruffling the girl's hair ever so slightly.

The amber light from the porch lamps revealed that she was smiling. He lowered his arm and tucked his hand in the pocket of his jeans. "You're being polite, aren't you?" he asked.

The blonde took her eyes off the inky sky for a moment. "No more than usual," she grinned and then she realized he was serious. "About what?"

Kurt spread his arms out to his sides. "This!" She looked at him blankly. He sighed, looked up overhead and waved his hands above them. "That! I've been droning on about constellations, for pity's sake," he mumbled.

"I have bored you to tears. No doubt, you're thinking of an excuse to get out of here, even as we speak," he declared as he turned around and leaned his forearms on the railing.

The socialite stood up and propped her hands on her hips. Where did that come from? she wondered. She stared at his profile as she considered how she should respond.

She shook her head and moved to stand beside him at the railing, mimicking his stance. Blair nudged him with her shoulder.

"No offense, but don't quit your day job," she commented as they looked out over the dark canyon beyond.

"Huh?" the ski ranger grunted. He turned slightly and squinted at her.

"This mind reader thing? You aren't very good at it," she whispered. "Just so you'll know... you were wrong on all counts. I wasn't pretending to enjoy myself -- I was enjoying myself."

"I was getting a kick out of listening to a great guy tell me about things I've seldom had the chance to see," she said as she looked up once again. The darkness was peppered with pinpoints of light.

She took a deep breath. "All the universe is displayed," Blair gestured at the enormity of the sky. "I've read a hundred poems and sonnets that tried to capture the essence of these stars and none of them came close to the way you described them tonight."

Kurt shook his head. "Blair, I probably spend five minutes on the Big Dipper!" The socialite raised a hand in protest.

"True, but you also showed me Andromeda," she pointed toward the twinkling stars that illustrated the princess who was to be sacrificed to a sea monster but was saved by the hero Perseus.

She smiled at the night sky. "A romance illustrated in the stars and you think you're boring me?" she shook her head in disbelief. The tall young man in the red sweater turned and leaned one elbow against the rail.

They were an unlikely couple and if he were smart, he would play it cool, keep things casual. After all, what could a Manhattan debutante possibly see in a guy like me?

"Blair, I only have one sport coat and it's for church," he said. "My paramedic pay just barely covers my rent and ski equipment, my Bronco has 130,000 miles on it and I have the table manners of a lumberjack. Oh, and my mother says my cabin looks like a bear lives in it."

The girl turned to face him. Just inches away.

"Oh, yeah?" she seemed to think for a moment. "It takes a scorecard for me to keep track of my parent's marriages and divorces. I've got a new car but only because my father felt guilty about not remembering my birthday. I'm part owner in a store that sells hotdog telephones, among other things, and I room with Jo Polniaczek."

She paused and shrugged. "That's sort of like living with a bear," she chuckled. Her date laughed out loud at the comparison and took her hands in his own.

"When you put it like that, it seems we have a lot in common, Miss Warner," he grinned. "What do you think we should do now?"

The blonde raised her chin and stepped closer, pulling their entwined fingers behind her back. This put them in a modified hug with the ski patrolman's arms around her trim waist.

Blair's dark eyes twinkled. "I'm going to let you have one more shot at reading my mind," she suggested. She could feel his laugh rumble through his chest before he lowered his face to hers and brushed her mouth with his.

As the second kiss began, she slipped her arms around his neck. A moment later they parted and he pulled her into his arms for an embrace. Her cheek rested on his chest as he kissed the top of her head.

"You might be psychic after all," she remarked happily. They stood there as the first glittering snowflakes began to fall around them.

************

Aaron spun his date around and around. The two had just finished a marathon dance session of up tempo tunes and were laughing as the final thumps of the Romantics "That's What I Like About You" faded from the sound system.

When the college rock anthem began, he had grabbed her impulsively and set about leading her through a set of tango steps. Not that the song lent itself to such a dance -- it didn't. Not at all. It was just a lark and it gave him an excuse to hold her in his arms.

Imagine the ski patrolman's surprise when she laughed and executed the ladies part of the difficult dance flawlessly. In fact, she had smiled up at him as he led them striding across the floor.

Even in the subdued light he could see her green eyes sparkling with mischievous delight. He chuckled and shook his head. A woman who isn't afraid of a toolbox, owns a Kawasaki Samurai, likes baseball AND just happens to be smart and sexy too.

"Where have you been all my life," he laughed. Jo turned around as though she was getting her bearings. She chose a direction and pointed with both hands, one just in front of her chin, as if she were drawing the string to a bow.

"Ummmm, that way. About two thousand miles," she quipped. A second later she laughed. "I think!" Her date laughed along as they started to leave the floor.

"Anyway, what do I know about wilderness directions. That's your department, isn't it?" she asked.

He saluted and answered in a deep, serious voice. "That's right, ma'am. I can find you anywhere on this mountain."

Jo's eyebrows raised. "Oh, really? And how is that?"

"Highly classified methods, ma'am," he announced gravely. He cleared his throat.

"And, well, did I mention that I'm part St. Bernard?" he grinned in a slightly goofy fashion that she found charming.

Jo raised her eyes and looked at him skeptically. Since meeting on the slopes that afternoon, the twosome had hit it off remarkably well. She took a step toward him and put her hand on his broad chest.

"St. Bernard, huh?" she inquired as she gazed up into pale blue eyes that saw only her. The brunette raised up on her toes and kissed his cheek.

Emboldened, Aaron slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly on the lips. Jo returned the kiss and when it ended, she brushed her nose against his.

She sat her heels back on the ground. "Well, your nose is cold, so I guess you're telling the truth," she chuckled. Behind them the disc jockey announced that the next song would be by Foreigner.

The first few bars of "Waiting for a Girl Like You" had barely drifted from the speakers when the handsome young man took his date by the hand and led her back to the center of the dance floor.

With a smile, he pulled her into his arms as the song spun out words that he might have written for an evening such as this. Jo could feel his strong chin against her cheek. She closed her eyes and swayed amid the other couples there in the darkness.

**************
Thank goodness the entry hall light was on.

Blair sat down on the bench by the door and pulled off her heels. The door to the room she shared with Jo was slightly ajar. Someone has turned on a bedside lamp for them. Judging by the darkness of the rest of the suite, she guessed that Tootie and Natalie had turned in long ago.

She wondered if they had a good time at the ice rink. Tootie had been itching to get on skates since they had arrived. She leaned back and crossed her legs as her mind drifted over the past few hours.

Wow, she thought with a smile. She raked a hand through her shoulder length hair, tousling it the back of her head. I mean, this is silly, but... wow.

A scratch at the door caught her attention and her eyes widened. The door opened a crack and she could hear whispers. Blair shut her eyes and grimaced. She thought about making a break for it, but decided that she'd probably trip over something in the dark and wake up the whole crew.

Not the best idea. Come on, Jo. Make it a quick goodnight, she thought.

About the time she reopened her eyes, her roommate stepped through the doorway. "Hey, there!" she whispered.

Jo frowned and then noticed the high heels in her roommate's hand. She gestured at the bench. "Scoot over." The brunette dropped into place beside the blonde.

"When did you get in?" she asked softly.

Blair grinned. "I beat you by about five minutes," she admitted. Jo nodded approvingly.

A beat later, both young women spoke at the same time:

"So I suppose you and Kurt hit it off?"
"Looks as though Aaron did pretty well for himself?"

They blinked at their overlapping questions and then both laughed. Blair raised a finger to her lips and pointed toward the shared living areas.

Jo looked toward the younger girls' room. She yawned and stretched. This was a very, very good day. I think I kinda like this mountain living, she thought to herself.

"What are the chances that we can get to our room without starting an inquisition?" It wasn't that either girl had anything to hide -- but it was late and there would be plenty of questions tomorrow. Jo was more than sure of that.

Blair considered their options. "Depends. How quiet can you be?"

"Watch me, I'm a mouse," the brunette replied with a smirk.

"Right behind you, Mickey!" whispered Blair as they tip-toed into their room and quietly shut the door.

**********
The teenager shivered in the cab. He peered out the snow encrusted windshield of the snowcat at the narrow trail up the mountain. Man! It's tough to see the edges of the road, he thought.

He squinted at the roadway, grateful for the bright overhead lights on the heavy duty machine. It was half past four o'clock in the morning and the tractor lumbered along with a rattle and racket that threatened to loosen the fillings from Chad's teeth.

There was no light. None. Dawn was still hours away. The boy yawned and slurped a gulp of coffee from his thermos bottle. He shook his head and vowed to never, ever bury another car in snow.

The chore he undertook this morning was the most dreaded of all the safety crew work. He was to take the snowcat, really a truck with tracks under it like a snowmobile, up to the summit and then make sure all the entrances to the black diamond runs were clear.

This mountain was home to four world class runs. Last year, the fifth corridor, the one dubbed "Viper" was closed. Too many skiers were getting ground up on their way down the treacherous slope.

At last, the big machine pulled into a clearing at the crest of the mountain. He idled it up toward the maintenance shed that lay just inside what had been the staging area for Viper.

The snow had drifted about the entrance to the trail and obscured the chain that hung across the passage to the downhill. Fumbling with his thermos, Chad's eyes left the mountain top for an instant.

He never felt the snap of the chain as the vehicle ripped it loose and pounded it into the snow. Reaching his destination, the youth dropped the machine into low gear and shut it off. Flashlight in hand, he swung out of the cab and dropped to the snowy ground.

As he opened the doors on the maintenance building, he could still hear his boss's orders ringing in his head.

"That summit had better look good enough for the Olympics, do you understand me? Clear the paths to the courtesy station and make damn sure that the lift assembly isn't frozen up," were the words barked by Livingston at the teenager.

Chad rolled his eyes at the recollection. I should'a told him to chill and switch to decaf, he thought as he fired up the small plow. The machine rumbled beneath him and he fastened up the hood of his parka. He eased the plow out of the building and over the slippery terrain.

The small headlights just enabled him to see what was immediately in front of him. This ain't gonna get it, he grumbled.

It was bad enough that his eyelashes were freezing from the frost from his breath, but there was no way he was going to bump around blind at the top of the world. He put the snowplow in idle and hopped off.

Bailing back into the snowcat, he fired up the big machine and swung it around. The tracks the vehicle ran on kept it from being very agile and he had to rock it back and forth to complete the turn in the tight area beside the drop off for Viper.

Slowly, he herded the machine into place and then switched on the overhead flood lights. Chad banged a fist against the steering wheel as the beams illuminated the whole of the mountain top.

Yes! Now, let's get busy, he decided as he loped through the snow toward the plow.

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART FOUR
Jo brushed her hair back, gathered it into a ponytail and caught it with an elastic band. She lifted her dark tresses with one hand and considered the look. Her roommate ducked under her upraised elbow, jockeying for enough room to reach her makeup bag.

"'Scuse me!" chirped Blair as she rummaged through the cosmetics. Jo frowned at her reflection. She raised her other hand and fluffed her bangs.
The socialite grinned as she finally found her moisturizer. "Aha!"

Clutching it, she maneuvered out of Jo's way. The brunette let her arms drop to her sides and exhaled in frustration as the debutante left the bathroom. A moment later, Blair reappeared in the doorway.

She didn't enter the bath again, rather she held onto the door facing and sort of leaned into the mirrored room. She looked at her roommate's reflection in the glass and smiled.

Jo's eyes switched their focus to the blonde. She cocked her head slightly and issued a warning look to the girl she knew was about to offer advice. Even as she did it, she knew it wouldn't work. She leaned forward onto the marble counter.

Might as well get it over with. "All right, what?" Jo grumbled.

"Wear it down," Blair suggested amiably. The blonde tried to keep her expression neutral. I don't believe it! she thought to herself. Our resident cool customer is nervous. Ain't love grand?

Jo's green eyes narrowed and focused on her roommate's reflection. "Why?"

"Why not?" Blair countered with a carefree shrug before she flashed a grin and left Jo all alone in the roomy bath. The girl from the Bronx nodded slowly in disbelief.

What just happened here? she thought. Blair just offered up sincere advice without a single jab or smart remark. Either the altitude is getting to her or she's in love.

Jo reconsidered her style and tugged her dark hair free of the fastener. As she raked a brush through her heavy tresses, she could hear her friend adjusting the volume of the television in the other room.

The soft sound of "Walkin' on Sunshine" wafted through the doorway. Jo shook her head. It was a quarter to seven in the morning and Blair had tuned in MTV?

That settles it. We can rule out the altitude, she decided.

Jo laughed and switched off the bathroom lights, her head bobbing along with the tune's infectious beat. When she entered the bedroom, she found her roommate happily humming along to the song so she quick stepped over and lent her own voice to the chorus.

If it hadn't been for the early hour, they would've cranked the volume up loud enough for complaints from the foot of the mountain. Instead, they had a quiet but completely exuberant jam session as they gathered their belongings.

The song faded as the station switched into its next block of music and Blair switched off the set. "Since when did we become morning people?" she asked breathlessly.

Her roommate looked out the window at the majestic mountains that surrounded the resort. "Since yesterday. No -- since last night," Jo admitted with a grin.

Blair nodded. She understood completely. "Ready to meet the press?"

The brunette winced. "Do we have to?"

The socialite folded her arms. "I think Natalie and Tootie will notice if we avoid them for the rest of the trip," she replied sensibly.

Jo smiled in a devilish manner. "Wanna risk it?" she grinned. Her roommate laughed out loud at the suggestion.

Blair moved over to the door that separated their bedroom from the shared living areas of the suite. Chances are the other roommates wouldn't stop pestering until every last detail of the older girl's evenings were drug out and discussed by the group.

She grabbed the doorknob and paused. "It is awfully tempting..." she said. The debutante drummed her fingertips on the brass knob.

"Yes, it certainly is," agreed Jo. She dreaded the forthcoming twenty questions.

"We can't," she sighed as she opened the doorway. Jo fell into step behind her.

"Yeah, I know. Guess we'll just have to lose them on the slopes," she muttered.

Blair's face brightened. "Now, that can be arranged," she quipped with a backward glance.

**************
First one leg moved awkwardly, then the other followed in a herky-jerky fashion. Tootie straightened up and snarled, grimacing as she rubbed her lower back.

Their evening at the resort's ice rink had been one to remember. The reporter bounded across the room and opened the blinds to show the spectacular view from their windows.

Behind her, she could hear her roommate groaning with each step. Natalie released the crank that maneuvered the blinds, turned her head and muffled her mouth with her hand.

She had enjoyed the skating, really, she had. The redhead's eyes crept back to Tootie and watched her move like an eighty-year-old woman. Nat shook her head.

Ice skates, roller skates. Who knew there would be such a difference between them? Tootie had finally made it to the bathroom and was brushing her teeth.

She's either quit whining or I can't hear her through the toothpaste, decided Natalie. Either way, it's an improvement.

The reporter remembered their evening mixing and mingling on the outdoor rink. It was really a beautiful place. Skates, music, food and drinks all under the twinkling stars. She sighed and closed her eyes for an instant, trying to commit even the smallest of the details to memory.

She looked at the bedside clock. It's nearly time to head to breakfast. Anyway, that was the plan the last time they saw Blair and Jo. The girl shivered as she recalled Jo's plans to tackle some of the tougher slopes today.

So you suppose she'll every figure out that fast isn't the only speed there is? she wondered. She mentally admonished herself for the thought with a shake of her head. What am I thinking? We are talking about Jo here, after all!

She looked at the snow that had accumulated over night. It drifted up against the outside of the windowpanes and molded itself into the contour of the ledge.

The mountains beyond the panes of glass looked dark against the morning light. To the writer, they had taken on a decidedly sinister appearance. And Jo wants to go to the top of the worst of them and slide off on two tiny slivers of wood.

Natalie scowled and picked up her jacket. There's a fine line between fearless and suicidal she decided.

A howl from the center of the room caught her attention. "How you feeling, Tootie?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Just fine. Thanks," muttered the senior as she shuffled toward the connecting door that led to the living room.

"You don't look fine," was the reporter's frank appraisal. "Actually, you're creeping around like my Grandmother with a sunburn," she giggled. Natalie paused and considered that for a moment.

She indicated a circular path with her hands. "Mmmm, no, strike that. Grandma would've lapped you twice by now!"

Tootie glared at her friend.

"It just so happens that it takes a few more muscles to snowboard and ice skate than it does to make snow angels," she commented haughtily. Natalie nodded sympathetically.

"True. Lucky for you I'm saving all my strength to dial 9-1-1," she grinned.

Before Tootie could respond, the doorway before the petite girl opened suddenly.

"Rise and shine, campers!" smiled Jo Polniaczek. The brunette's tactic for her nosy, but well intentioned, friends was to mount a strong offense. Tootie blinked at the college student who swung the door back and forth.

"Well? Are you two coming, or not?" asked Jo. A blonde head appeared in the opening.

"Morning, all!" Blair announced brightly. She clapped her hands, looking every bit like a perky cruise director. "Let's see some hustle, shall we?"

Now it was Natalie's turn to be puzzled. She crossed to stand by her roommate and looked from Jo to Blair and back again. "You realize of course, that the only thing missing from this picture is the theme to the Twilight Zone," she declared.

The college students put on their most innocent looks.

Tootie settled her hands on her hips and managed to keep from groaning as she did so. "Yeah. The only morning person in our house is Mrs. Garrett and she ain't here," she stated suspiciously.

Natalie nudged her friend. The redhead's smile was growing larger and larger, her eyes narrowing down to crescents perched upon her cheeks.

"Ooooh! They met men!" she exclaimed.

Jo and Blair passed a look between them. Though they weren't ready to admit defeat the meaning of the exchange was plain to both of them.

We are so busted.

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART FIVE
Chad Pinkus turned the snow plow around for the final pass. The sun was peeking up over the summits to the East and he needed to start the long trip back down the mountain. The lifts would start running at seven.

In a short while, the more daring and experienced skiers would be testing themselves on the black diamond runs. He shivered as he considered the difficulty level of the mountain's courses. His boss, Livingston, had mentioned once that some of these runs made Olympic skiers cry.

Chad shook his head. The twists, turns and sheer drops put the whole mountain out of the teenagers league. As much as he adored his snowboard, he decided he liked breathing better.

Of course, he could always dream. Wouldn't it be rad to be the first to snowboard this bad mamma jamma? he thought to himself. The snowplow groaned as it ground up the coarse ice and ejected it in a heavy spray to the right rear of the machine.

Chad leaned into the turn and herded the plow back into the equipment shed. He adjusted the discharge after he cleared the icy patch. The machine now dispensed a thick, heavy cloud of solid snow. It stacked up to the edge of the walking areas.

It plastered the saplings and the brush that grew near the trail entrances.

Oh, yeah, thought the snowboarder. Whoever makes it down this baby on a board will be famous. Fame equals money and chicks! He smiled as he imagined the welcome he would receive at the lodge. The smile got bigger as he thought of how much he would enjoy quitting his job at public safety.

First come the endorsement deals, then maybe a television movie, he grinned. He skirted the perimeter of the closed trail because of the big snowcat, its floodlights still on, in his way.

He zeroed in on the equipment enclosure and soon was mere feet from the door. His attention was pulled by the sound of a fir tree being battered by the discharge from the plow. Chad quickly switched off the apparatus.

Whew! he thought. Lucky old Mr. Livingston wasn't here to see that! He eased the plow into the shed and sealed up the small building. Surveying his handiwork, he couldn't help but be pleased.

The summit looked beautiful. He plodded through the snow toward the snowcat and stumbled. Luckily, he caught himself by grabbing a bit of exposed timber that stuck up from a snowdrift.

Chad yawned, his mouth working behind the thick, insulated collar of his parka. Coffee, he decided. I need coffee.

As he fired up the snowcat's engine, a tiny bird lit upon the timber that had just kept the teenager from falling. The machine lumbered away as the black capped chickadee hopped around the post and explored the changes.

The bright-eyed bird could only tell that one of its favorite perches had been buried in snow. It had no way of knowing that beneath the drifted snow was the warning marker and sign that designated the deadliest trail off limits.

***********

"How ya doin' up there, Tootie?" the voice was cheery in a slightly forced fashion.

The brunette was impatient. That's all there was to it. She thought about sprinting past her friend and then discarded the idea as too rude. Jo stepped back and forth, from one foot to the other, vainly trying to expel some of her pent up frustration.

The action was noted by her roommate who trailed along behind the slow moving group. Blair leaned on the heavy wooden banister and watched Jo's antics with amusement.

At one point, the girl from the Bronx waved both arms in an imaginary pushing motion. In front of her, Tootie straightened her leg and put yet another step behind her.

Blair chuckled as she heard what could only be described as a thinly disguised growl slip out of her roommate. She patted her friend on the back in sympathy and urged her to take another step up the staircase.

Ahead of them, Natalie was serving as a crutch to the stiff and slow moving girl from D.C. The two of them, standing side by side, made a pretty effective blockade of the staircase.

Jo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly and quietly as she looked past them. Her green eyes tracked up the flights of stairs that led to the restaurant with the observation deck.

She thumped absently at the railing with a fist. This was supposed to be a shortcut, she thought dejectedly. The stairs off the lobby of the resort were huge -- you could drive a truck up them.

But this little staircase led straight to the restaurant and Jo had decided that it would be quicker to use it. That was ... what? Six minutes and twelve steps ago?

Good thinking, Polniaczek.

She had hoped to being among the first skiers down the tougher courses today. Jo looked at her watch and then gave Blair a desperate look.

The blonde leaned toward her with a smile. "Relax, Jo. The mountain isn't going anywhere," she whispered. Jo nodded glumly and pointed toward their friends.

"True. But then, neither is Tootie!" she grumbled.

***********

"... so I thought I would be terrible at it. Just awful, 'cos of my weak ankles," Natalie paused and spread some strawberry jam on her biscuit. The writer was describing her ice skating adventure, gesturing with her knife as she spoke.

"Did you know that the boots have these supports in them? Well, okay, not the figure skating ones, but the ones for us beginners? Once I got 'em on and laced up tight -- I was ready to roll!" She popped a bit of bread into her mouth as the rest of her group laughed.

"So then, I take it you had a good time?" Blair asked with a grin. Tootie groaned and sipped her coffee.

"Heck, yeah!" Natalie blurted. "You go so fast! And you can meet so many interesting people as you zoom around the ice," she commented with a wink.

Tootie leaned her elbows on the table. "What she means is she managed to run into or fall in front of every single good looking guy there!" Natalie exhaled and threw up her hands at her friend's appraisal.

"Can I help it if every man on this mountain has good manners?" she asked innocently. Blair nodded in agreement.

Jo grinned. Natalie as the damsel in distress. Who would've thought? She speared the last bite of her omelet with her fork.

"The thing I don't understand is why you had such a tough time, Tootie," she asked carefully. "Seeing as you used to spend so much time on skates ..."

"She only took them off to sleep," interrupted Blair. The college student smiled as she remembered the pig-tailed little girl on rollerskates dashing all around the dormitory at Eastland.

The blonde placed her chin in her hand as though she were in deep thought. "At least, I think she did," she kidded.

Tootie's eyes widened at the joke and she shook a finger at her laughing friends. "Very funny, you guys," she stated indignantly.

"No, I didn't sleep in my skates. Mrs. Garrett wouldn't let me," she chuckled. "She designated my bunk 'a wheel-free zone!'" Recognizing Jo's question deserved an answer, Tootie went on to describe how much similarity there was between the two types of skating.

"I'm good to go as long as I'm in motion," she explained. Natalie nodded in agreement. "I can cross my ankles, turn, skate backward -- you name it."

Jo looked puzzled. "Then what's the problem?"

The senior's face scrunched up. "Stopping. See, on roller skates you just drag your toe stop to slow down."

Jo and Blair nodded.

"That's just instinct for me. That's what I do to stop," said Tootie. Blair winced as she understood the difficulty. No wonder the girl was so banged up and sore.

"Jo, ice skates don't have toe stops. They have toe picks," said Tootie. "Little teeth on the front of the blade that dig into the ice. Drop one of those picks into the ice and your foot stops instantly."

She rubbed an aching knee and rolled her dark eyes. "The trouble is that the rest of you keeps going forward," she admitted. "There isn't a square inch of that rink that I haven't seen up close and personal!"

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART SIX

Tootie stood up gingerly. Better, she thought. I'm beginning to feel more like myself. The rest of her crew were busy scooting their chairs back into place around the sturdy table.

"Okay, last chance for some shopping!" she announced in her typical sunny manner. "Natalie and I are going to check out the cool local boutiques. Are you sure you two don't want to come along?"

Blair looked up expectantly. "You just used two of my favorite words," she quipped as she ticked a finger back and forth. "Shopping and boutiques."

Jo pushed her chair back with a little more force than was necessary. It rattled the ice in their water goblets. Blair smiled.

Gotcha! she thought. Jo, you are so predictable. "Thanks, but not today," she grinned. The blonde lifted her sunglasses from the table and perched them on top of her head.

"Jo and I have appointments with some black diamonds," she stated matter-of-factly with an exaggerated nod to her roommate.

"You said it!" the brunette agreed, glad that Blair wasn't trying to back out of their plans.

Tootie shrugged. "Suit yourselves," she said.

The Eastland reached over and began grabbing ski jackets. The girls had stacked their heavier outwear onto the fifth and unused seat. The budding actress tossed each to its respective owner.

"Jo, Nat, Blair ... ?" her fingers fumbled across something solid in a pocket of the royal blue jacket. The brunette and redhead slipped into their jackets as Tootie inspected the socialite's more closely.

Blair's brown eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Something wrong?" she asked as she watched the girl frisk her coat.

"Girl, what have you got in here, anyway?" Tootie ran her hands over the outside of the slick material. There! she found it. A little square ... something.

"Oh, that!" exclaimed the socialite as she tugged her garment away from the senior's exploring hands. She looked up to see that everyone's attention was tuned to her.

"It's my emergency kit," she said meekly. The ever inquisitive Natalie stepped closer and folder her arms.

"Your what?" she inquired pointedly. She lifted a corner of the coat as Blair slipped it on. "Now, what may I ask, does Blair Warner deem necessary for emergencies?"

"A spare mirror!" blurted Jo who was rewarded with loud laughs from the other girls.

Nat waved her hands to quiet them down. "Not to mention her back-up lip gloss!" she howled.

"Can't be seen without it!" offered a giggling Tootie.

Blair leveled a steely glare at all three of her friends. Jo made an attempt to get serious.

"Blair, just tell me one thing. Are we right?" she asked, her green eyes sparkling. She just loved to see the debutante squirm. Blair hesitated, uncertainty evident in her expression.

"Are we?" Jo prodded.

"All right! Yes!" the blonde hissed as she raised her arms in surrender. The girls from Peekskill erupted in laughter once again.

Blair shook her head. "You caught me," she chuckled. She leaned toward her friends and whispered behind her hand as though imparting a secret. "This whole ski thing is a cover-up. I'm really just here to give make-overs to the locals!"

********
Jo let the momentum from the lift scoot her onto the summit. She glided gently toward the courtesy station and then jabbed her ski poles into the snow.

Her goggles hung loose around her neck and she just couldn't keep herself from grinning. Seconds later, Blair slid into place beside her.

The blonde let out a long slow whistle. "No wonder you couldn't wait to get up here," she commented as she took a moment to take in their surroundings.

Jo nodded and looked up at the blue sky above them. She gestured with an upturned thumb. "The only people higher are on 747s!" she smiled.

"Tell me about it," agreed her friend. Blair rubbed her nose. "Can you feel the difference in the air?"

"Oh, yeah. Definitely," said the brunette. "It ain't Mount Everest, but it'll have to do!" she kidded with a wink.

"Glad you approve," Blair smirked. Jo pointed in the direction of a large marker and they started making their way over toward it. The large carved sign listed the stats of each run and directional arrows to the top of the various courses.

Blair stabbed her poles into the powder and watched her roommate scan the board. She shivered and moved her feet back and forth. From the looks of things, the runs were enormous and some had been used for Olympic pre-trials.

The blonde chewed on her lower lip. "Do I even have to ask?"

The young woman from the Bronx flashed her a confident smile. "According to this..." she said as she donned her goggles and angled her head to the right.

"... the Viper is that way!"

"Oh, goody," remarked the socialite half-heartedly as she followed her friend toward the eastern side of the mountain.

The young women passed through the drop off area for the lift. Even with their delayed start, they were still among the first on the slopes. The chairs rotated empty above them and started back down the mountain.

It really looked like a winter wonderland. The runways had been plowed and it made light skiing over to the top of the secluded Viper run. The post that marked the course looked a bit more bedraggled than the rest.

In fact, it seemed to Jo, that marker hadn't been tended to in quite some time. A bolt was wrenched off halfway up the timber. Still, the area all around the sign, as well as the utility building nearby, had neatly dressed snow.

In fact, there were tidy freshly plowed drifts to either side of the trail's entrance. From where they stood, the mountain just seemed to end some thirty feet beyond them.

Blair sliced to the left and made a quick stop. "It's awfully steep, don't you think?" she asked as she zipped up the front of her jacket.

"Toughest one up here," Jo replied. She readjusted her goggles. Her adrenaline was running high. Just looking at the mountains ahead made her almost dizzy.

"Think we should've worn hats?"

The brunette thought that over. "Probably." She bent down and dug at the snow with her poles, propelling herself toward the top of the course.

"Yeah," sighed Blair. Jo had crossed most of the distance to the run. The debutante took a deep breath and pushed off toward the ever dropping slope.



[This message has been edited by Devon King (edited 04-09-2001).]

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART SEVEN

The skier laughed and taunted his buddy again. "Just admit it, Prichard. I beat your skinny Swiss butt!"

"Only because you cheated!" protested the second skier. "Who ever heard of Brazilian rules for downhills anyway!"

"Well, you fell for it," chuckled the fellow in the toboggan. His friend nodded sullenly.

"I'm through listening to you," he remarked as he skied along the perimeter of the summit. "Oh, for crying out loud, would you look at that?"

"What are you belly aching about now?"

His friend pointed toward the run known as the Viper. "Look. The trail warnings are gone," he said as he slid to a stop beside a small chunk of wood that emerged from the top of a drift.

The blonde skier pushed his glove through the drift and swept away some snow. The top of the sign was now visible.

"Unbelievable," muttered his pal as the two loosened their bindings and thrust their skis into the snow. They dug at the post with their hands until it was free of the snow.

The taller of the two noted that the heavy chain that barred the top of the run was missing as well. He made a mental note to notify the ski and safety patrols when they got back down the mountain.

The young men stood up and surveyed their progress. The brightly painted sign now stood out against the white like a beacon. There was no mistaking the fact the trail was off limits.

"That was really close," said the blonde skier as he dusted the snow off his gloves. He and his friend made frequent trips to this summit. They had been here when the final accident occurred that caused the authorities to close the run.

His buddy nodded though his mouth was set in a thin line. "Some idiot's idea of a joke could've gotten someone else killed!"

***********

Blair carved a neat swath as she cut back to her right, purposefully coming up short to curb her downhill speed.

The run was equal parts deep powder and frozen surface. The upper section had been relatively challenging, but the further down the mountain they got the less sure she was that they should even be there.

Someone should've been through here before us, she thought. There should be some sign of civilization. A trail marker. Something.

She passed over a widespread icy area and gritted her teeth, concentrating on her inclination and her center of balance. Oh, just peachy. These were the conditions that will scoot your skis right out from under you, she thought grimly.

The sleek rails chattered against the rock-hard frozen crystals as the blonde skier rocketed down the hillside. Ahead, she saw ridges of snow, just little bumps, really and lowered her stance.

Sure enough, just beyond the ridges was ... nothing. The fluffed up snow indicated hidden ledges and drop offs. Her skis made a slithery sound as she lifted off. Blair worked her poles to hang onto her balance and line up her landing.

As soon as her skis touched down, she executed a series of quick turns to avoid the next of the ledges. Back and forth, she shifted from side to side until she had slowed down enough to stop.

Standing sideways on the hillside, she surveyed the area around them. For all intents and purposes -- it looked like completely uncharted territory. Wild and unruly brush and forest lay beyond the snowfield.

The socialite's chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. I'm all for a little adventure, but this is ridiculous! she decided. The brown eyes behind the dark glasses scanned the area ahead for her roommate.

A flash of yellow indicated Jo's location as she made rapid progress down the mountainside. Blair frowned.

The terrain was only getting worse and, truth be told, she was having doubts about their ability to make it to the bottom of the run.

If I'm working this hard, what about Jo? she wondered. The Bronx native had only been skiing for ... what? Six years? She had no doubts as to her friend's stamina or natural athletic ability -- that wasn't the point.

The point was that it was now obvious to Blair that this trail wasn't being used for some reason and here they were flush in the middle of it. What troubled her even more was the realization that they had come so far down the mountain that the only way out was to finish the run.

One way or another, it was the only way out.

**************
The brunette felt completely exhilarated. The incline of this trail is nearly vertical in some spots, she noted as she jabbed at the surface with a pole to maintain her balance. She sliced through a clear area, relishing the bounce of the hillside as its irregular terrain kept presenting her with challenges.

The glass in her goggles cut down on glare, tinting everything she saw slightly gray. It was sort of like watching a black and white movie in fast forward.

Another jump rushed toward her and she turned to slow down a bit and line up her approach. She sailed off the rise effortlessly and bent her knees to absorb the impact of the landing.

She grunted under her breath as she teetered uncertainly when she touched down. She'd landed with one foot slightly ahead of the other. Realizing her error, she quickly corrected her stance.

As thrilling as the run was, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't right. She tried to look the area around the trail over and determine just what was bugging her. The trouble was that this downhill was turning into work and that meant it took all her attention just to stay on her skis.

She pumped hard with her right leg and angled herself back across the face of the mountain. Another turn and she scouted ahead for the best way to proceed.

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all, she thought as she passed over a crest on the hill and determined that there were miles of territory ahead.

The dark green of the treeline to her left looked large and forbidding. The terrain over her right shoulder was split through every so often with great expanses of rock.

The fissures arose out of the snow and littered the landscape like scars. Silent and immobile they made dangerous skiing even more treacherous. The craggy chunks were as large as cars and Jo steered well clear of them. To hit one at the speeds she was traveling was suicide.

She thought about her roommate somewhere behind her. A thin worry began gnawing at her conscience.

Now cut that out! she admonished herself. Blair's an excellent skier. She'll be fine. She can handle it.

Where is everybody, she wondered? She was cutting the first pass through the snow -- something she had never done before.

Heck, all the other trails had tons of tracks to follow, she thought. She dipped her shoulder and leaned hard back to the right, extending her left leg to steady the turn.

Halfway through, her right ski slammed into a thin shard of rock, just barely covered by snow. The collision jarred her off balance. That was all that was needed to slide her skis out from under her to the left.

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART EIGHT
Her knee hit first, then her hip and finally her shoulder as she tumbled out of control.

Jo struck out with a hand to try and stop her momentum. Instead, she rolled abruptly over onto her opposite shoulder and her elbow crashed into the frozen ground.

Gritting her teeth, she fought to get onto her back and keep her feet in front of her. One ski had splintered off, leaving a ragged and dangerous piece that was still attached to her boot.

The frozen crust dipped and pitched beneath her sliding form, battering her incessantly. The incline was perilously steep and other than a few jagged rocks and tiny scrub brush, there was nothing to grab and nothing to stop her fall.

She tumbled again, this time landing hard on her side and hip. Stunned by the impact, she twisted around just in time to see what looked like the edge of the world.

Again and again, she worked her fingers at the surface trying to latch on to something. Jo watched in horror as the ledge approached. Grunting, she punched at the surface desperate to get a handhold.

The earth fell away and she was airborne.

The brunette held her breath. This is gonna hurt.

She crashed into the snow again some fifteen feet from the outcropping. a snowdrift beneath the rock ledge broke some of the fall and actually helped slow down her descent as she tumbled toward the treeline.

Needles scratched her face as she maneuvered herself back into a feet forward slide. The ground dropped away again and then thudded back with a violent vengeance.

The jarring force knocked the wind out of the skier and left her disoriented. Which way is up? she wondered as she rolled onto her shoulder. Ice slashed at the back of her jacket and pants.

Ride it out, that's it. I can just ride it out. Jo winced as something jagged raked her shoulder.

Below her, a ridge of dark gray stone rose out of the snow like teeth. The boulders, and the gully they had formed, lay directly in her path. She caught a glimpse of them and shuddered.

Weird things popped into the brunette's mind as she thrashed about and forced her bruised body to roll away from the rocky crevasse. Mom will never understand, she thought. She could see her father shaking his head.

A slab of boulder appeared sooner than she expected and she swung her feet toward the mass, taking the brunt of the force with her knees. The twisting motion swung her full around and away from the stones.

The slope dipped away again and the college student recognized the feeling of weightlessness just before the world went dark.

************
Blair's expression was serious as she navigated through her roommate's tracks. Fatigue was beginning to creep into her muscles. Several times she had to remind herself to unclench the death grip she had on her ski poles when strain began building in her forearms.

She thought about the first few times her Grandfather had taken her skiing as a child. A small smile played across her lips remembering how stiff and ungainly she felt on the strange planks under her boots.

His advice to the nervous child replayed in her mind now.

"Blair, relax. Just relax and react."

The blonde's knees took the landing in stride and she crossed back toward the next drop off. She exhaled sharply as she recovered from the impact.

It isn't like I'm racing for a medal or anything, she thought. All I've got to do is get down one little, bitty mountain. How hard can that be?

The sunlight bounced of the surface before her, gleaming with choppy ice crystals. She purposely ignored the sheer drops to either side of Jo's path.

Blair's brown eyes narrowed as she swept the terrain ahead. That jacket of Jo's was visible for a country mile. She had been running about two hundred yards ahead.

The debutante frowned. Okay, Polniaczek. Where'd you go?

[BlairandJo]

Thanks for reposting this. its great post more soon.

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What would make you shut-up in your sleep.
-Blair

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

How do you say you'er going to be sweeping up your teeth in french?
-Jo
<><><><><><><><><><><><>

Jinny:Are there any cops or Jinny haters here!

[80skid]

I am going to be veeery careful with my replying (I hit the wrong button on the original post of this and that's why it's repost ) so if this works, i'll be really glad

Great job, Devon King! Keep it up!

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*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~**~*~*~*
"Every day has a little something. Find it!" - Anonymous

*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART NINE

The senior held her hand aloft, wiggling her fingers to let the light play across the ring. She smiled at the pearl that was surrounded by the gently colored leaves. The Black Hills gold was tinted in soft shades of green and rose.

The hint of color surrounding the gem helped to set off its brilliance. "Oh, yeah," she whispered to herself more so than the shopkeeper. It really is beautiful and it isn't too expensive, thought Tootie.

She waggled her hand at her friend who was busy perusing the display case full of charms. "What do you think, Nat?"

The writer looked up and hooked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. "I think Blair's rubbed off on you," she grinned. Tootie smirked at the comment as Natalie's face took on a serious expression.

"First jewelry, then comes a dye job," she shook her head as though she pictured the progression taking place. "When will the madness end?" Natalie giggled.

Tootie rolled her dark eyes heavenward. "What? Are you saying you don't think I could make it as a blonde?" she asked solemnly.

Natalie chuckled nervously. Uh, oh. She tried to go back to looking at the charms. That little silver snowflake is awfully cute...

"Natalie?" Tootie prodded impatiently.

"Oh, what?!" blurted the writer. Her friend gave her a serious glare, one brow arching slightly in a questioning manner.

The redhead rubbed her forehead. "Fine! It's a terrific ring! Buy it and enjoy! So what if you live on corn flakes for the rest of the trip!" she grunted. Tootie's sour expression took on an even angrier note.

When am I gonna learn? thought Natalie. She raised her hands animatedly as she spoke. "Tootie, I'm sorry. It's just... there are times when I think we've got one too many blondes in our foursome now, you know?" she stammered.

The Eastland senior nodded slowly. She seemed to consider her friend's words for a moment. "But the ring? You don't think it's too much?" she asked slyly.

"Heck, no!" agreed Nat as she moved closer to inspect the bauble. The tiny tag dangled beneath the gold band. Her eyes widened as she spied the price. "In fact, you might consider buying two of 'em!" she offered brightly.

Tootie smiled and turned her hand over again, admiring the contrast of the metal to her skin. "You think?" The girl smiled. She turned to the shopkeeper who was trying hard not to laugh at the antics of the young women.

"I'll take it," she grinned.

*********
The narrow furrows dipped and pitched their way through the snow. Again and again, the blonde fought against the pull of the mountain. The incline lent itself to a rapid descent and lured skiers into committing themselves to a fast and furious battle to the bottom.

Blair wasn't interested in going fast. She intended to follow her roommate's path carefully and see where she had gone.

I suppose its hoping for too much that she might have found a cabin and Jeep? she thought wryly. She adjusted her skis and worked to control her pace, dodging another ledge of rock.

This is insane! though the socialite. There are back country runs that don't have drops like these. Jo's path veered back sharp to the right and Blair pumped hard with her left leg to keep her roommate's tracks in view.

Her skis slid across the granular ice crystals, crunching as though there were pebbles beneath the surface. The ride was rough and it took all her skill to stay on her feet.

There! She thought as she saw her friend's tracks ahead, noticing where they broke into the powder again. Cutting sharply, she honed her speed down again and entered the snow higher on the mountain than had Jo.

The blonde worked quickly, back and forth, back and forth carving her own path beside the previous run. She kept the deep cuts from Jo's skis just off her left shoulder.

She scanned the area ahead, still wondering why she'd lost sight of her roommate. It's not like she was going that fast, she decided as she grunted and turned away from another drop off.

The tracks beside her rolled along, keeping pace with the cautious skier who followed them.

And then, they stopped.

*********
Dark lashes fluttered against the skier's cheeks. Then, her eyes opened hesitantly accompanied by a sharp hiss of a breath.

Bad idea, she thought as a savage pain ripped through her side. Okay, deep breathing is overrated anyway.

Think, Jo. What do you do now? Inventory. She moved slightly, flexing her limbs and was relieved to find most things in working order.

Some parts hurt worse than others, but after a tumble like that, she decided feeling anything at all had to be a good thing. Jo dug an elbow into the snow and attempted to push herself into a sitting position.

As her ribcage flexed, the girl groaned in agony and was forced to let her shoulders drop back to the ground. Tears slid from behind her tightly shut eyelids at the impact.

Her hands balled into fists as she took shallow breaths and waited for the pain to subside.

[Devon King]

BLACK DIAMOND
PART TEN

That just isn't possible.

Blair's eyes narrowed and she began working herself to a standstill. Finally, she stood sideways on the mountain. The snowfield beyond her looked untouched.

She can't ... disappear.

Breathing hard, she raised her sunglasses and squinted into the distance. The glare was unmerciful and she quickly repositioned her shades. The socialite's heart thundered in her chest.

She looked back up the mountain and gauged the distance to where Jo's trail had vanished. There was another couple of hundred feet or so until the run became laced with rock.

Not just rock, she noted sadly. Big, silent, unmoving boulders that just lay in wait for skiers. Blair took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves.

The debutante began a slow and steady descent. A depression in the snow caught her attention and she eased over to investigate. Beneath her, something dark lay on the surface of the barren white.

An abrupt stop later, the blonde reached down and lifted her roommate's goggles from the snow. Bought especially for the trip, the professional eyewear was Jo's pride and joy.

Blair turned the mask over in her hands. The rubber rim was scarred and the lens was horribly scratched. A knot of dread began twisting in the socialite's stomach.

A quick glance back up the trail and her mind was made up. She hung the gear around her neck and cupped her hands to her mouth. Avalanches be damned.

"Jo!" she shouted. "Jo, can you hear me!" The only sounds that greeted her was the gentle play of the wind through the fir trees.

Blair started down the mountain again. She followed the most logical path, hoping that gravity would've taken care of the rest. Here and there, she thought she could find a disturbance in the snow.

Again and again, she stopped and called out to her friend. The debutante gnawed anxiously at her bottom lip.

Jo, please, answer. Please?

White, gray, green. White, gray, green. The socialite's dark serious gaze swept the hillside. The bright snow, the steely ash of the ravines and the deep forest seemed a blur to the girl.

White, green, yellow. Yellow?

Blair carved out a sloppy stop and slid to her own knees in the process. I take back every rotten thing I every thought about that stupid day-glo jacket of yours, she thought happily.

"Jo Polniaczek! Can you hear me?"

**********
The temperature had taken the edge off the throb in her knee. In fact, the cold had begun to seep through her clothes. It was lulling her to sleep. She forced her eyes open and blinked.

Above her stood the towering tops of evergreens. I must have rolled to the treeline, she thought dazedly. She could smell the pine. She turned her head and saw the endless blue Colorado sky above.

Jo had stopped trying to sit up. The last attempt had sapped her strength so drastically that she was fighting to stay conscious. Just getting her battered body into a more comfortable position had been a major ordeal for the young woman.

Cracked my head, busted some ribs and mangled my knee. All in all, I have had better days, she thought dispiritedly. She blinked slower and slower as a calm settled into her system.

Huh? Green eyes snapped open. Did someone just call my name?

Blair.

Jo wheezed out a response, but her battered ribs wouldn't let her draw in an adequate breath to yell. She had stopped shivering.

Blair, I'm sorry. It's not your fault.

*********
Her fingers fumbled with the bindings and she cursed. The clamps opened on the second attempt and she thrust the skis aside into the brush as she scrambled on her knees toward her friend.

"Jo!" Blair crawled closer, terrified by what she might find. Why doesn't she answer me? The blonde reached the still form and paused. She pulled off her sunglasses to get a better look.

"Jo?" She tugged off a glove and put her hand against her friend's cold cheek. The brunette's brows furrowed at her touch and Blair gasped in relief.

Thank you, God. Thank you, she smiled as her vision blurred for an instant. She swiped her gloved hand over her eyes and watched as her friend's eyes opened hesitantly.

"Blair?" she whispered.

The socialite swallowed hard. That voice was small and fragile -- it didn't sound like Jo at all. Blair's smile faultered as she considered how badly her friend might be hurt. As frightened as she was, she kept her emotions in check.

"The one and only," the blonde responded confidently. She pushed a lock of dark hair away from her roommate's face. The girl's cheekbone was scratched and raw.

A small smile crept across the injured skier's face. "Am I ever glad... to see you," she said softly.

Blair nodded. "Same here. I thought I'd lost you there for a while," she admitted. Her dark eyes swept over her friend. "Anything broken?"

Jo raised her left knee, her teeth clenched as she completed the motion and set her heel in the snow. "Not that I can tell, but everything is ... dented up real, real good," she groaned.

Blair nodded in quiet sympathy as she crawled around to better face her friend. "Tell me about it," she stated calmly as she tried to think of a good way to ask her next question.

The socialite felt sick at her stomach. There was no best way to ask your best friend if she had broken her spine. She reached down, slid a hand under Jo's calf and gave the muscle there a firm grab.

"Hey, cut that out!" Jo rewarded her by smacking weakly at her shoulder. The action, was typical Jo and Blair released the breath she had been holding.

"Sorry! Did that hurt? I just... well, I was afraid... " she stammered as she stripped off her jacket.

The brunette's temper subsided as she guessed what her roommate had be investigating. "Pretty sneaky, Warner," she sighed.

Blair leaned back on her heels. "I learned from the best," she grinned. She let her gaze drift over the mountain and then stared into the forest. Jo's eyes had closed again.

"Jo?" she grabbed one of her friends hands and shook it. The girl's eyes opened slowly as if from a deep sleep. "What's the story? Did you hit your head?"

"Yeah, a couple of times," she reached up only to lose her breath and let her arm fall over her chest. "The last one ... put me out ... cold," she wheezed.

Blair's hand drifted along her friend's side, not touching but putting the pieces together in her mind. "Your side hurt a lot?"

Jo nodded and focused on her friend's voice. This was bad. Definitely bad, thought the brunette. She turned her head to the side when hot tears began stinging her eyes.

She felt the socialite squeeze her hand. "What else? Don't hold back," asked Blair firmly.

The girl from the Bronx took a shuddering breath and gritted her teeth. "My knee. I messed up my knee," she admitted angrily. "I don't think I can walk."

Blair draped her parka over her friend and stood up. "Then I'd better get busy," she announced. Jo scowled at her as the blonde gathered her skis and spiked them in the snow near her fallen friend.

"Didn't you hear me?" Jo asked.

"I heard you," the blonde answered. She was surveying the forest with her hands on her hips. Her turtleneck would keep her warm enough during the daylight and right now, her friend needed the extra warmth.

Blair turned and centered her determined gaze on her friend.

"And Jo, before you suggest something really idiotic like my leaving you on this godforsaken mountain to get help -- let me give you a little advice. Don't even try it, 'cos I'm not listening."



[This message has been edited by Devon King (edited 04-16-2001).]

[FOL-FAN]

AWESOMW!!!! As always! Keep posting!

[lesliem14]

This is so good. Please post more soon!!!

[KerriBerri687]

wooooh! im likin this. do more soon!

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<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Luv yaz!
~Kerri~
Pal2125@aol.com

Jinny- Intimate? No. I mean, i sleep with him. But i sleep with all the guys in the divison. It's sorta how i break em' in."
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B- If I don't spend money soon i'm gonna pull my hair out!
J- good we'll finally get to see what color the roots are.