Out of Bounds

As I have said, I couldn't write without the assistance of my friend and editor, Terry. He is unfailingly positive and encouraging, while still offering suggestions on how I can improve the story. Despite repeatedly reading my stories, I still miss things and am so thankful for his talent at catching them I appreciate it all, but his friendship the most!

*****

It was a glorious day to be up skiing. There had been a three-day snowstorm that dumped over two feet of snow but it ended late last night. In the morning, the storm had been replaced by crystal clear skies. Despite the temperature in the low teens, it was made up for by the almost perfect snow conditions.

It was only Rachel and her friends' second run of the day. They arrived last night and were staying in the lodge. It was a short five-minute walk from the lifts. Despite that, the three women hadn't gotten on the slopes until almost 10:00 AM. Rachel would have liked to be skiing as soon as the lifts opened but the other two liked a leisurely morning. Even then Rachel practically had to beg them to get them out of their room.

Looking up the slope, Rachel could see them at the top of the rise. Cheryl and Amanda were talking again. She tried to let her irritation go. She knew what they were like when they decided to go away for four days. Neither one of them was as serious about skiing as Rachel, but she didn't have that many friends who skied. And she couldn't afford the room without some others. Plus they were her closest friends.

It didn't help though when they stopped to gossip while skiing. "Come on," she thought. After all, there was the lift time when they could talk. This was ski time! She sighed with relief when she saw them start to head down the face.

When Cheryl and Amanda caught up with her, Rachel impatiently took off. They paused for a moment but this time they just gave Rachel a little room before continuing. They were all clearly good skiers but there was no mistaking that Rachel was the best. Her lithe form seemed to flow in and out of her turns with an aggressive speed. At the base of the next slope, she picked up speed and caught some air before dropping down onto another face. The other two followed expertly but with a little more caution.

When they got to the bottom of the run, Rachel started trying to find someone to pair up with. This particular lift was only a two person chair. To try to keep their stopping to talk at a minimum, Rachel either rode up with another single or on her own.

"Single!" Rachel called out and looked around. She saw someone raise their hand and she moved over there. She was surprised to see that it was one of the Ski Patrol. Usually they avoided the line and just skied to the front. It was one of the perks of being on the Patrol.

As Rachel stepped alongside her, the woman looked over and smiled at her. "Hey there," she said.

"Hi," Rachel said as she looked at the woman. The Ski Patrol varied in age with a surprising number a bit older. She was one of those. Her goggles were pushed up on her helmet so Rachel could see her striking sky blue eyes. They were all the more noticeable because the woman had jet black hair that hung out from under her helmet in pigtails. Rachel blushed a little as she looked at her face. The woman was quite good looking. The healthy tan of her face obviously came from being outdoors a lot. Her cheeks were reddened from the wind and the cold. The smile wrinkles around her eyes and mouth made Rachel instantly like her.

While Rachel was very slender with A cup breasts, the Patroller was the opposite. Rachel's almost boyish figure embarrassed her at times. She envied this woman's curves. She was by no means overweight but she had nice hips and a round ass that looked good even under her red Patrol jacket and pants. Above the narrowing of her waist, she filled out again into an impressive chest.

"What I wouldn't give to have a figure like that," Rachel thought. She blushed again.

As they waited for their turn, Rachel and the woman talked. Sometimes Rachel would hardly exchange a word with the other person, but the Patroller made Rachel feel at ease. Her name was Isabel.

Once they were on the lift, Isabel asked Rachel if she was skiing alone or with other friends. Looking back, Rachel could see her friends a couple of chairs behind them.

"I'm up with a couple of my girlfriends. They are back there behind us a few chairs," Rachel said and laughed. "They are always behind me."

Isabel laughed with her. "I know what you mean. I love to chat with my friends but when I am up here, I like to do what I came to do. Especially since the days when I am on patrol, I spend most of my time doing other things. I'm looking forward to having a free day tomorrow to ski!" She looked at Rachel. "So are you and your friends playing hooky from school?"

"No, we all graduated last year. We just took a few vacation days from work," Rachel told her. She felt Isabel's eyes still on her.

"From high school?" Isabel asked.

Rachel felt her face blush a beet red. With her slight size, she knew she didn't look her age. "No, from the University," she said. Rachel was glad that most of her face was covered by her goggles and a fleece mask to protect her from the wind. Despite that, Isabel noticed the skin that was showing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know how irritating it is to be thought younger than you are," Isabel said. After a short pause she added, "Well I know how it used to be irritating. Now when I am thought younger than I am, I thank the person." Although Isabel couldn't really see Rachel's eyes because of her goggles, she could tell by the way Rachel was looking at her that she didn't quite believe her. "Honey, when you get to be my age, it's a complement."

"Isabel, what do you mean your age? I would guess early forties, which isn't that old," Rachel said with complete honesty.

"Oh Rachel, that is so sweet of you to say. Thank you so much! When a lovely young woman thinks I am ten years younger than I am, it is wonderful! I just turned 51, Rachel," Isabel said smiling.

"No way," Rachel said.

"Yup! But old is a state of mind. I have friends who both look and act a lot older than me. I'm still having fun and enjoying life and don't plan on stopping!" Isabel's eyes twinkled as she spoke. It made Rachel like her all the more.

A moment later Rachel felt the lift jerk to a stop. There was a sickening lurch in her stomach as the lift bounced up and down and she felt almost like she was going to fall off. Without thinking she clutched at Isabel's arm. Isabel moved her arm quickly in front of Rachel. There was never really any danger but they happened to stop at the spot exactly in between towers which always felt the worst.

"You okay?" Isabel asked her.

"Yes. Just startled me," Rachel said. She knew her face was red again. Even though she just met Isabel, she already admired her and didn't like that she had acted like a scared little girl.

"I know what you mean. I'm just more used to it, but I feel my heart skip a beat every time," Isabel told her. She squeezed Rachel's arm and then let it go.

The lift was only stopped for a couple of minutes and then it started up again. There was just one more steep spot to go up before they reached the top. Both of them started to get ready. Rachel glanced over one more time to get a glimpse of Isabel's beautiful eyes before she covered them with her goggles. As the chair crested the top, Rachel felt her skis touch the ramp and she skied off.

"Have a great day," Isabel called over her shoulder to Rachel.

"You too!" Rachel replied. She watched Isabel ski away, admiring her body once again. As she skied down the terrain, her hips moved left and right. Rachel was still looking down the slope at her when her friends came off the lift.

"What shall we run now?" Amanda wanted to know. That broke Rachel's focus on the ever shrinking form of Isabel and started a mini argument as they each argued for a different run. Cheryl settled it by suggesting they run all of them as the next three runs. The two other women agreed and offered to do Cheryl's first.

"Let's do Rachel's last. It's the toughest run and we will be really warmed up by the time we do it," Cheryl told them. Rachel didn't really care that much, as long as they started to ski soon.

The next two runs were both fun, although not as challenging as Rachel really liked. But on the positive side, they were groomed and so she was able to get a little more speed going. Slowing down only where the resort had warning signs manned by people who could issue warnings for going too fast, Rachel set a quick pace for her friends to follow. On the steeper slopes, Rachel really got going. Her line was almost straight with just enough turns in them to bleed off a little speed. Rather than waiting for the others, she took three steep slopes right in a row. Her heart was beating fast as she stopped at the bottom by the lift and waited for them to rejoin her. There was a tiny burn in her thighs but she was used to pushing herself and it disappeared in a moment.

As they headed back up to the top of the mountain, the chair they were on was big enough for four. An older man came out of the singles line to join them as they were about to get on the chair. He was one of the quiet ones who simply acknowledged them with a nod. Rachel didn't mind. He was better than some of the young snowboarding guys. Cheryl and Amanda liked the flirting that would happen with those guys, but Rachel wasn't comfortable with it.

"Rachel, let Cheryl and me go first on this run. We promise to ski and not talk but you ski so aggressively it makes me a little nervous on a run like this. I want to set a little slower pace," Amanda told Rachel. Cheryl nodded.

"Okay that's fine. But don't be too conservative on this either. If you don't take the slot with some speed and quick turns, it can be as bad as too fast. It's easy to catch an edge there," Rachel warned them.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Amanda said.

After getting off the chair, they skied over to the top of the run. It took a while to get there and they were on the edge of the backcountry. Rachel watched as first Cheryl and then Amanda started down the slope. It started as a fairly wide space but gradually narrowed down into a tight and steep slot that went for about 30 feet before opening again. Cheryl had a great line and Rachel enjoyed watching her go down through the narrow section and then pull over to the side once she was through. She thought about starting down but decided to wait until Amanda was clear so she could really let go without having to worry about running into Amanda.

Rachel was starting to line up for her own run when she noticed how timid Amanda was taking the run. With the slow speed that she was going, it was going to be harder than it should be to get through the slot. "Oh shit," Rachel said as her worries came true. She could see that Amanda had caught her ski and was starting to twist. It was a bad place to fall as it was steep enough that most of the new snow didn't stay there and the snow that was there was compressed and hard from all the people who came down it. "Oh fuck!" Rachel said louder. Amanda wasn't going to be able to recover. She was falling at the steepest spot. Rachel could see her leg twisting before first one ski and then the other popped off. She fell forward and downward. She hit with a sickening force and then continued to slide down the hill out of control. Rachel was horrified to see her sliding close to the edges where there were some rocks exposed.

Without waiting any longer, Rachel launched herself down the slope. She pushed harder than she had ever gone on that run but she wanted to get to her friend as soon as possible. Even though she could tell she was on the edge of being out of control, her worry for Amanda didn't let her rein it in. Looking down slope, she could see that Amanda had stopped sliding. Cheryl was just standing there in shock. Suddenly Rachel realized that Amanda's skis were almost blocking her path. They each went a separate way and made it almost impossible to miss. Gritting her teeth, Rachel pointed her skis downhill and took on more speed as she went into the slot. She had never run it like this. She aimed for the narrow space between Amanda's skis and shot through them. As soon as she made it past, she took a couple of long turns to get the speed down as she headed to Amanda.

"Get her skis," Rachel shouted to Cheryl. That was the only route in and if they needed help, she didn't want them getting in the way.

When she got to Amanda, Rachel found her moaning as she tried to turn over. Her left arm was hanging loose and useless against her body and her right upper arm had a long rip in the sleeve showing a cut that was bleeding. The first thing that Rachel did was get out of her own skis.

"Fuck, my knee!" Amanda cried out as she moved. Before Rachel could get her skis off, Amanda had managed to get onto her back but was unable to get to her feet. Her knee was obviously hurt. "Shit, shit, shit," Amanda said. She was trying to be brave but the pain was bad enough that she was starting to cry a little from it.

There was no way they were skiing out of this, Rachel realized. She dropped her helmet and gloves onto the ground. Opening up her pocket, she hit the speed dial for the ski patrol office. At the same time, she was undoing her fanny pack where she had her emergency first aid kit.

"Hello Ski Patrol. What's the problem?" It was the emergency only line so the man answering was safe in assuming there was something wrong.

"Hi, my friend Amanda just fell at the slot on Danny's Drop. It looks like she hurt her shoulder and her knee pretty badly. And she is bleeding from a gash on her arm. We need some help."

"Okay, what's your name?" the man asked. When Rachel told him, he continued. "Okay Rachel, just stay calm. We will have someone there shortly and a toboggan in just a little bit. Is Amanda conscious?"

"Yeah, she is. It doesn't look like she hit her head because she is pretty aware of what is going on," Rachel said. She was kneeling beside Amanda and looking at the gash on her arm. It was bleeding steadily but not fast. She held the phone against her shoulder with her head as she reached with both hands to rip the sleeve open a little more. Getting out a gauze pad, she opened it and pressed it against the cut. Amanda gasped from the pain caused by the pressure.

"I'm sorry, but I want to stop that bleeding," Rachel said gently to Amanda. After a moment she responded to the guy on the phone. "Yeah, I have a few things. I've got a sterile gauze pan and I am putting pressure on the cut so that it will stop bleeding."

At that moment, Cheryl skied up. First she stuck Amanda's skis into the snow and then she took off her own. Her face was filled with fear. Cheryl and Amanda were friends all the way back to high school and had been roommates all the way through college.

"Oh, Amanda. Are you okay," Cheryl said frantically.

Despite her pain, Amanda couldn't stop a couple of chuckles from bursting out. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Other than my shoulder, my knee and the cut that Rachel is trying to stop me from bleeding out," she told her friend. After a second, she noticed how worried Cheryl was. "It's okay, Cheryl, really. Yeah I'm hurt but it's nothing permanent. I'll be okay."

It was cold enough that Rachel didn't want to expose any more of Amanda's arm then she had to. Handing her phone to Cheryl, she grabbed another gauze pad and folded it up before putting over the other one. After that she took out her tape and wrapped it tightly around Amanda's arm. Hopefully that would keep most of the bleeding stopped.

Despite the cold, Rachel took off her coat and put it down over Amanda. When Amanda protested that she would get cold, Rachel just looked at her. "It's only until the Patrol gets here and I'll be fine. I know you feel okay now, but I am a little worried about shock." She looked up the hill hoping to see someone coming down. As she watched, Rachel saw someone come over the crest at the top and start down the slope. From the red outfit, it looked like the first Patroller was almost there. Rachel sighed in relief. She had first aid training but there was only so much that she could do without supplies.

As the skier approached, Rachel realized it was Isabel. She got a little smile. Having someone she knew, even slightly, felt more reassuring.

When Isabel pulled up just below them, she pushed up her goggles. Looking at Rachel, she spoke. "Well I am sorry to see you again, at least like this. So who's your friend?"

"Well I'm glad to see you, Isabel. This is Amanda," Rachel said. "And that is Cheryl."

Swinging off her backpack, Isabel opened it up and got out a small thermal blanket. "First things first, put your coat back on Rachel. No need for you to freeze," she said as she got down on her knees. She quickly checked out Amanda's injuries. They were serious but she had seen much worse. Amanda didn't seem to have a concussion and Rachel had done a good job at stopping the bleeding. From her experience, Isabel guessed that Amanda had a separated shoulder. The knee was trickier. Since Amanda had been able to move around, Isabel thought it might just be a strain but it would take a trip to the hospital to tell. After finishing her examination, she wrapped Amanda in the blanket and spent the time waiting for the toboggan by getting Amanda's details.

Cheryl was next to Amanda, holding the hand of her good arm. She was weeping a little bit. Isabel smiled at her. "Your friend is going to be okay, Cheryl. She's banged up but it's all fixable. It's too cold to cry. You don't want frozen tears on your cheeks, believe me." Cheryl looked at her and nodded. Taking a deep breath, Cheryl managed to stop them.

Hearing a noise, Rachel looked up the hill. She could see two more patrollers starting down the slope. They had a toboggan between them and they were slowly making their way down. It was obviously a little tricky and Rachel was glad it wasn't her who was going to have to go down in it. They were clearly experts by the way they maneuvered it down through the slot. She felt a little better about the thought of her friend riding in it.

They were very efficient and it didn't take long for them to get Amanda into it and strapped in with her skis alongside. As they started down the hill, Isabel hung back. Rachel stayed with her while Cheryl followed right behind.

"I like to give them a little space, just in case something pops out," Isabel told Rachel. "Good job on taking care of her. You made the best of a bad situation especially that cut." Rachel blushed and said thanks.

As Rachel retrieved her helmet and gloves, Isabel looked at her. On the lift, Rachel had on her helmet, gloves and mask. It had been almost impossible to see her face. Now Isabel noticed how pretty Rachel was. Her blonde hair was hanging down to the midpoint of her back in a French braid. Rachel had high cheekbones and almond shaped eyes of green. Overall she had an elfin quality about her. She looked younger than Isabel guessed she really was, especially after talking on the lift. Before Rachel finished putting on her gear, Isabel looked away so that Rachel wouldn't notice her scrutiny.

They skied down together following the toboggan down. Isabel was impressed by how well Rachel skied. She picked challenging lines but handled them with ease. Even though it was an unpleasant time for Rachel and her friends, Isabel found that unexpectedly she enjoyed the run down the hill.

When the group got to the bottom, Isabel followed them as far as the Ski Patrol office. She handed the information she had recorded to one of the other patrollers and said her goodbyes. After telling Amanda that she hoped that the injuries weren't too severe, she gave a little wave to Rachel and Cheryl before turning around and heading back to the chair lift. Her place was up on the mountain in case someone else needed help.