“What are these for?” the woman asked nervously. “The toboggan slide isn’t dangerous, is it?”
“No, certainly not,” answered Sara. “We haven’t had a spill this year. Hang tight on the curves. Give me plenty of brake when I call for it, Penny.”
She signaled for the push off. They started fast and gathered speed on the straightaway. Penny wondered how Sara could steer for her own eyes blurred as they shot down the icy trough. They never had traveled at such high speed before.
“Brakes!” shouted Sara.
Penny obeyed the order, and felt the sled slow down as the brake claw dug into the snow and ice. They raced on toward the first wide curve, and swung around it, high on the banked wall, too close to the outside edge for comfort.
“Brakes!” called Sara again.
Once more the iron claw dug in, sending up a spray of snow behind the racing sled. And then there came a strange, pinging sound.
For the briefest instant Penny did not comprehend its significance. Then, as the sled leaped ahead faster than ever and the geyser of snow vanished, she realized what had happened. The brakes were useless! A rod had snapped! They were roaring down the track with undiminished speed, and Horseshoe Curve, the most dangerous point on the run, lay directly ahead.
CHAPTER
15
IN THE TOOL HOUSE
Sara, her face white and tense, turned her head for a fraction of a second and then, crouching lower, kept her eyes glued on the track. She knew what had happened, and she knew, too, that they never could hope to make the Horseshoe Curve. Even a miracle of steering would not save them from going over the wall of ice at terrific speed.