To distract the boy, Scott crouched in front of him. “Do you know who was working with DJ?” he asked.
“I don’t know. DJ complained about getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere with me while everyone else got to sit around in a cushy rental.”
“Why take you out into the wilderness anyway?” Lily asked as she dabbed antibiotic ointment onto the wound.
“DJ said nobody would ever look for me out here. They’d look for the kidnapper to get away in a car, not on skis. And even if they did figure out we were here, we’d be hard to find, with all the trees and snow. I guess he thought it was a pretty smart idea,until we were actually out here freezing and falling over logs and stuff.”
“We saw your tracks that first afternoon,” Scott said. “And we had a helicopter up looking right after that.”
“I heard the helicopter,” he said. “I wanted to find a way to signal to it, but DJ was watching me too closely.”
Lily stuck a bandage on his hand, then closed the lid of the first aid kit. “That should keep it from getting infected.”
“Thanks.” Jackson pulled on the gloves Scott had given him. There were much too big, but warm. “Where are we going now?”
“Pandora is closest,” Scott said.
“That old ghost town?” Jackson asked. “Is it near here?”
“Just on the other side of a ridge,” Scott said. “There are buildings there we can shelter in.”
“Won’t the kidnappers know that, too?” Jackson asked. “We could get there and find them waiting.”
“We could, but other people go there, too,” Scott said. “Even in winter, it’s a popular destination for cross-country skiers. And I’m pretty sure there are no fancy rentals there. Once we get there, we can call for help. We’ll have shelter where we can wait.”
“I hope we can get someone to meet us there,” Lily said. She took out the satellite phone again and switched it on. After a few seconds, a grin erased the weariness on her face. “We have a connection.” She punched in a number. “I’m calling your dad,” she told Jackson.
“Hello?” The man on the other end of the phone spoke so loudly and clearly Scott and Jackson could both hear him.
“Denny?” Lily asked.
“This is Mike. Lily, is that you? Are you okay?”
“Mike? Why are you answering Denny’s personal phone? Is he okay?”
“He’s tied up with something else right now, but he asked me to monitor his personal phone in case you or Jackson called. We’ve been worried sick.”
“Jackson is with me now. That’s why I’m calling.”
“Is Jackson all right? Where are you?”
“He’s fine. We’re both fine.”
“Thank God for that. Where are you?”
“We’re near Nickel Ridge,” she said. “We’re on our way to Pandora.”
“Pandora. That’s great. I’ll send someone right away.”
“Let the sheriff know what’s going on. And the resort? I’m sure people are wondering where I am. And Scott Linden. He’s with us.”
“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll take care of it. You get to Pandora and you’ll be safe. I’m so glad you called. Denny is going to be overjoyed. Now let me make some calls and get you taken care of.”
Lily took the phone from her ear. “He hung up before I could talk to Denny or ask him any questions,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Scott said. “He’ll send help. All we have to do is get to Pandora. We don’t have much farther to go.”
Lily looked up, at the low bank of clouds moving in. “It looks like we could get more snow,” she said.
