CHAPTER 4

Luck was on his side so far as he was able to get where he wanted to be without so much as slipping. He silently thanked God for that! But this was the easy part. Now he had to pull his best friend up to keep him from plummeting downhill. Meanwhile Kendall had been able to put his feet down on a snow covered branch nearby to at least gain a little more stability.

"Okay, Kendall. This is what we're going to do. I need you to grab a hold of my arm. You need to try to climb onto these branches so I can help you up here again. Okay? You get that?" Logan asked.

"Logie, but how …," Kendall started only to be cut off by his best friend.

"It's the only option we have, Kendall," Logan stated. He silently hoped and prayed Kendall wouldn't slip.

He extended his arm towards his friend. Kendall tried to put some of his weight on the branch and silently prayed it would hold him. It didn't take long before he was able to grab a hold of Logan's arm.

"Okay. I'll try to pull you up to my level. Okay?" Logan said. It took a lot of his strength to pull this off, but with the adrenaline still coursing through his veins he was able to pull his friend up little by little. Kendall would try to help him as best as he could by trying to climb on some of the snow covered branches of the tree.

So far everything was working out great! Logan was glad! He just hoped Kendall's injuries wouldn't be too bad.

All of a sudden a loud crack could be heard as the branch Kendall was standing on broke off and left him dangling all over again. The only thing keeping him from plummeting to his death was his best friend's death grip on his arm.

But holding onto Kendall's weight with only one arm was very hard for Logan. Kendall had a slender frame, but he was a lot taller than Logan was and the heavy snow gear he was wearing didn't help his case at all not to mention the fact that he was injured. Logan still had no idea how badly injured his friend was. He knew however if he failed to pull Kendall up, he would certainly not make it back alive. So he really had no choice! Logan closed his eyes and tried to block out the immense pain he was feeling in his shoulder. He couldn't give up! That was so not an option. His best friend had always been there for him and now he needed to be there for Kendall. At all costs!

"Logie …," Kendall's voice sounded so different. He was terrified to say the very least. "Logie. You can't hold me."

Kendall desperately tried not to cry. He was supposed to be the leader. The strong one. Always. No matter what. But he couldn't come up with a plan. And he realized that his best friend must be in an awful lot of pain right now trying to hold onto him.

"Yes I can and I will," Logan said through gritted teeth. The pain was almost unbearable, but he refused to give up.

"But your arm," Kendall said.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," Logan said. "I'm going to try to pull you up. Okay?"

He bit down on his lower lip and tried with all the strength left in his arm to pull his best friend up. The pain was excruciating, but he refused to admit it. He desperately tried to block out the pain and tried to focus on pulling Kendall up. And it worked!

Kendall felt how Logan slowly succeeded in pulling him up ever so slightly. Despite his own pain and fear, he wanted to try and help his friend. So he kept his eyes open and suddenly noticed another firm looking branch. He tried his best to maneuver his body so he could pull the branch a bit towards him without having to hurt his friend even more.

"What are you doing?" Logan barely managed to ask him without screaming in agony.

"Trying to help you. Loges, you're hurt," Kendall said. He finally succeeded in putting his feet down on the branch.

"Thanks. But I'm doing okay," Logan said.

"You've always been a lousy liar, Loges," Kendall stated relieved. "Now, get me up there already, will you."

Despite the pain that shot through his shoulder frequently, Logan managed to smile at his friend and pretend he was doing fine. He pulled Kendall up and Kendall himself tried to climb some more on the branches to help support his weight. He was worried about Logan's arm. Really worried! He knew his friend was in pain.

"It's working. See!" Logan said. "We're almost there."

They were only mere inches apart now. Kendall tried to put some more of his weight on some of the firm branches to help his friend. Finally, Logan was able to pull Kendall all the way up.

"Oh God," Kendall exclaimed. "That was so close! I've never been more scared in my entire life."

"Me neither," Logan replied.

Both of them were lying next to one another on the cold snow with their eyes shut. The adrenaline coursing through their veins slowly disappeared again and now the excruciating pains shot through Logan's shoulder area. He tried once again not to scream. The pain was unbearable and Logan was pretty sure he at least had a dislocated shoulder.

"Thanks," Kendall whispered with his eyes still closed. "Thanks, Logan. You saved my life. You're a true hero. If you didn't do what you just did, I would be lying down there somewhere. Oh God! I owe you. I owe you big time."

Logan wasn't able to say a single word. He was trying his hardest to block out the pain, but he couldn't.

"Logie? Logie? Logan?" Kendall frantically yelled. He looked at his best friend and immediately noticed his distressed face. "Logan, your arm? How is your arm?"

He crawled on his hands and knees as best as he could towards his distressed friend. It wasn't easy with his own injuries, but he was pretty sure Logan was hurt even more.

"Logie? Please, talk to me," he gently said.

"Pain." Was all Logan managed to utter.

Kendall now noticed the odd position his friend's shoulder was in. He knew his shoulder was badly injured and that his friend was in agony. He also knew they wouldn't be able to get help anymore as by now it was slowly getting dark.

"We need … to … call … for help," Logan managed somehow to say.

"I know. But they won't be able to get to us anymore today," Kendall said softly.

The look in Logan's dark eyes told him he already figured that out.

"We have to get back … on the main track," Logan managed to utter.

Pain was still obvious on his pale features and he was shivering by now. The temperature on the mountain was slowly dropping and Logan was only wearing a thin snowboard jacket.

"We can't move now, buddy," Kendall said. "It would be too dangerous."

Logan knew he was right.

"So what do we do now?" Kendall asked his best friend.

Being the smart one, Logan knew exactly what to do. He asked Kendall to pull his cell from his pocket. As he was always well prepared, Logan had downloaded an app onto his cell phone in case something would be going wrong. Once Kendall had activated the app, a signal would be send to the emergency team showing that they were not only in some sort of trouble but also their coordinates would be send directly to the team. Logan still wouldn't admit what was going on with his arm. He had lied that it was probably just broken. All they could do now was wait for help … And it would be a long and cold night. To keep them from freezing, Logan informed his best friend that they should cuddle real close in order to share their body heat. As darkness crept upon the mountain, the temperature became even icier than before. Both boys were very cold by now and cuddled even closer to keep themselves warm. The pain in Logan's shoulder area was almost unbearable and he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep due to this. He was exhausted though and so very hungry …

Meanwhile, their friends were worried sick at the cabin they were staying as their friends hadn't come home. They had contacted the emergency team to inform them they went missing, but it was too late for the team to start a search. They would send a chopper up early the next morning to start a search party for both boys. All they could do now was wait, hope and pray that Logan and Kendall would make it safely off the mountain. They couldn't help but think that worried little Logie was right after all …