Murder On Ice by Carolyn Keene

brake.
    It did not respond.
    Was the road slippery? Or was it something worse? With a burning sensation in her throat, Nancy pumped the brake pedal again, negotiating a sharp curve as she did so. The pedal offeredno resistance, and the Jeep didn’t slow down even a fraction.
    The brakes were gone!
    Nancy yanked at the gearshift, trying to put the Jeep into a lower gear, but she couldn’t manage to do it.
    Ned poked her sharply. “Slow down!” he yelled.
    â€œI’m trying to!” Nancy shouted back. The Jeep kept gaining speed. “I can’t stop this thing!”
    They careened around another curve, and suddenly the road dropped off sharply into a deep gully on the right side. On the left rose a cliff face, a wall of rock.
    â€œKeep left! ” Ned yelled, gesturing wildly. “Stay by the rock wall.”
    â€œI can’t!” Nancy screamed. “We’ll be killed if there’s a car coming toward us!”
    They roared around another bend, and the road disappeared into an impossibly tight hairpin turn. In front of them, the gully yawned, a bottomless empty space . . . and they were headed right for it!
    â€œJump!” Ned screamed. He tried to pull himself to his feet as the Jeep hurtled toward the gully beyond the curve.
    In that instant, the one thought that leaped into Nancy’s mind was of Ned’s leg. It wasn’t completely healed—he’d never make the jump. No way would she abandon him. She had to make that hairpin turn. Nancy gripped the steering wheel tightly and stuck to the road like glue.
    Miraculously, she negotiated the turn. Thenshe scrutinized the road ahead for any possibility of escaping their situation. All at once, Nancy saw her chance!
    The road, for a very short stretch, opened out a bit, climbing uphill. There were trees on either side. And a fallen trunk lay against the cliff face.
    Nancy could do one thing, and one thing only. She could try to slow the Jeep and get it under control on that short uphill stretch, then use the tree trunk to stop it completely—before it slammed into the rock wall beyond.
    Deliberately, Nancy yanked the wheel left and sent the Jeep heading straight toward the granite cliff.

Chapter

Eleven
    T HE JEEP CATAPULTED toward the granite face of the cliff. As it shot ahead, Nancy yanked at the steering wheel with both hands. But her arms weren’t quite strong enough.
    Then Ned’s hands closed over Nancy’s with such strength that they crushed her fingers. Together, in unspoken agreement, they forced the Jeep to do her bidding, but they came so close to the cliff that the side of the vehicle scraped against the granite with an ear-piercing shriek.
    The Jeep sped up the hill, slowing almost imperceptibly. Then it screeched up onto the fallen tree trunk, recoiled, tipped over, and came to rest on its left side at the edge of the road.
    Nancy became aware of Ned’s voice almost sobbing out her name. She was trapped inside the overturned vehicle, but Ned had somehowpulled himself loose. He was kneeling over her, brushing back her hair.
    Nancy struggled to get her hand free. She locked it tightly with his. For several seconds they stayed like that, motionless, Nancy inside the Jeep, Ned outside. Then Ned spoke hoarsely. “If you hadn’t tried that, we both would have been killed—”
    â€œLet’s not think about it. Please.” Nancy shut her eyes.
    Ned’s fingers tightened on hers, but he spoke with deliberate calm. “We can’t stay here. It’s a bad curve. If a car comes around it fast, we could be in trouble again. How badly are you hurt?”
    Nancy fought back an insane impulse to giggle. “It seems to me I’ve been through this before, after the rope tow broke,” she murmured. She flexed her arms and legs, one at a time. “I’m all right. I’ll probably be a mass of bruises tomorrow, but I landed on snow and nothing’s