CHAPTER 64
Jeff’s bravado saw him as far as fifty feet from the trees. The plane jumped and twisted as Shelley fought the damaged controls.
At the last instant, Jeff reached back for her day pack and pulled it onto his lap. Even through the nylon and the heavy shirt, he could feel the crystalline statue.
Sixty miles an hour.
He should have told her. And now there wasn’t—
They smashed into the ground.
Bounced back up.
Thumped down again. Another smaller bounce.
The next thud decayed into a sickening slide that Jeff deeply feared would never end and would be his final memory.
They headed straight for a pair of trees. The plane swerved and bucked, one moment he was facing one tree, another moment they’d slewed over and he faced the other.
He screamed, but barely a shout escaped
