Page 76 of A Winter in Wonderland
Boof. Something under the snow hit the sled, hard, and I, distracted by keeping an eye on both Davi, Lucas, and the dogs, wasn’t holding on tight enough.
With an embarrassing yelp I tumbled off the side of the sled, face-planting the snow, one arm protecting my head, the other crushed under me at an odd angle.
I heard Davi shout ‘Whoa!’ in a panicked voice.
Lifting my head, I saw the huskies pull to a stop and Davi scrambling to get up. ‘I’m OK, sorry, guys, that was completely my fault.’
Lucas reached me while Davi hesitated beside the sled, one hand on it. ‘Should I come over or stay to make sure they don’t run away?’ he called out.
‘You stay, I’m fine,’ I said.
The two dogs at the front, Whisky and Bourbon, pulled themselves around, nudging me with their noses and licking at my face, and then Whisky started howling his head off as if calling for help. Or maybe he was just going off on one of his monologues again.
Lucas pulled his gloves off. ‘I am a first aider back home, let me take a look at you. Did you hit your head?’
‘No, just my pride. I think there was a rock under thepath, buried under the snow right at the edge so we happened to miss it before now. I guess enough snow had shifted that we felt it that time.’
‘But you aren’t hurt?’
‘Well … ’ I didn’t know what to admit here, because part of me felt like I should just put on a brave face because these were paying guests and I had to show them a good time no matter what, but part of me was like,has my arm actually been broken or am I just dying?
Before I could answer, Lucas asked, ‘Is it your head?’
‘No, no, just my arm, it’s nothing.’
‘Can I decide that, please?’
As best he could, considering we both had a lot of padding on, he assessed my arm’s mobility while I winced and the dogs got restless. ‘It hurts, right?’
‘Yeah,’ I admitted.
‘OK, I think it’s just a sprain, but I know they can be painful. It’s not broken, but it would be best if you didn’t use this arm for a little while.’
‘But I have to, for work,’ I protested.
‘Maybe it would be worth a doctor taking a look at it, to make sure.’
I nodded and got to my feet, giving Whisky and Bourbon a thank you head stroke as I passed. ‘I’m so sorry, you two,’ I said to my guests. ‘I hope this hasn’t taken anything away from your trip?’
‘Not at all,’ cried Davi. ‘We’re just glad you got up.’
‘I know, right, otherwise the huskies might have eaten me.’ Seeing their faces, I quickly added, ‘Just kidding, theydon’t do that. Um, where were we? Lucas, how did you find driving the sled?’
‘Amazing, hard work but incredible.’
‘That’s great. Davi, you want a go now?’
‘Actually, I’m pretty happy as a passenger, if that’s all right?’ he asked.
I nodded, trying to inconspicuously twitch my fingers and not let the pain register on my face. ‘Of course that’s all right. We’re doing a loop and we’ve gone a little past halfway, so there’s about another twenty minutes to go. Are you both warm enough?’
‘Yes,’ they both chorused, their eyelashes partially frozen.
I began to walk to the back of the sled, wondering exactly how not-recommended driving a husky sled with one arm was.
‘Where are you going?’ called Davi.
‘Oh, I was going to drive again. Unless you want to carry on for a little bit, Lucas?’ I sounded super nonchalant …
