“No, it’s not,” Sandy disagreed. “No more than a track man letting another runner set the pace.”
“No worry,” Charley assured them. “We win anyway.”
“What a man you are, Charley.” Jerry regarded the big Indian with admiration. “We could use you in the fullback spot on the Valley View football team.” He grinned at Sandy. “I bet he could walk down the field with both teams on his back.”
Charley squinted up at the sky abruptly. The ceiling seemed even lower and grayer than before. “It snow soon. We better go.”
Sandy looked up too. “How can you tell?”
“I know,” Charley said somberly. “Bad storm on the way.”
“Oh, great!” Jerry said. “What happens if we get caught out in this deep freeze in a blizzard?”
“There are check points every twenty-five miles,” Sandy recalled what the professor had told him. “We must be pretty close to one now, Charley. Think we should stop and get a weather report?”
Charley nodded toward the east. “Two, three miles over that way. On main trail. We go there, we lose race. We stop at next post, at halfway mark. Three hours away maybe.”
“I guess that’s the only thing to do,” Sandy agreed. “Well, let’s get moving.”