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Bean skated by, followed by Lacey, who was windmilling her arms as she tried to find her balance. “Did I just miss a random act of parenting?”
“Yeah, want us to reenact it?”
“Please.”
He snorted out a laugh. Zack was already darting across the lake after tagging Bean “it.” No reenactments would be happening. “Sorry. Keep an eye out for more parenting, it could occur at any moment.”
Bean chose that particular moment for his traditional face-first sprawl onto the ice. Billy winced as his son slid on his belly several feet, then stopped. “Be right back.”
He pumped across the ice to his son, and kneeled next to him. “You all right, kiddo?”
Bean stuck a hand in the air with his thumb turned sideways. Billy wasn’t sure which direction he meant to point it. “I need a verbal response, please.”
“Good,” Bean croaked.
Billy realized he’d gotten the wind knocked out of him. Gently, he helped him onto his knees, then rubbed his back. Bean swiped ice crystals off his reddened face. “I tripped on something.”
“What, air?” Zack swooped to a stop next to them, spraying more ice crystals at them.
“Zack, be kind,” said Billy sharply. It was the kind of thing no one had said to him and his brothers growing up. But he didn’t want to repeat history. He wanted to make his own.
“Air can make you trip,” said Zack, ready to argue his point to the death. Someday he was going to dominate a debate team, Billy had no doubt.
“I tripped on that.” Bean pointed behind him. Billy looked over his shoulder and saw Lacey skating toward them. Then he zeroed in on what Bean was pointing at, and his heart nearly stopped. A long crack had formed in the ice, right in the middle of the lake, where it was deepest and it took the longest to freeze.
“Stop there—” he called to Lacey, but it was too late.
With a sound like a ricochet, the ice cracked open. Lacey tried to stop her forward movement by turning just before she reached the split in the ice. But she couldn’t quite manage it, and as the centrifugal force claimed her, she lost her footing. She landed on one hip, slid across the ice toward the crack, then crashed through the edge of the crack. Or at least part of her did—she managed to keep her upper half out of the water. She tossed her cell phone across the ice, as if trying to save it before anything else.
“Go back to the shore, boys,” Billy ordered his kids. “The less weight the better.”
“You’re heavier than we are,” said Zack. “We’ll help her. Me and Bean.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Billy got to his feet, and immediately felt the effects of the crack. The ice no longer felt solid under him. “Shit.”
“Language, Dad.”
Was that really the most important thing right now? “Lacey, the pond is quite shallow. You can stand up and try to haul yourself out.”
“Okay,” she called, her teeth chattering. She gave it a shot, but couldn’t quite get her legs out of the water.
Ignoring Billy’s orders, Zack darted across the ice toward her. Billy realized it might be her best hope. He was much lighter than Billy. If he got into trouble, Billy would go after him, no matter how much ice he broke in the process.
Bean started to follow, but Billy kept a firm grip on his shoulder. “You just took a fall. Stay here.”
To Zack, he called, “Light on your feet. Take it nice and easy. When you get to her, go onto your stomach and spread your weight around. Remember, it’s shallow so no one’s drowning today.”
Billy was proud to see that Zack followed his directions to the letter. Gingerly, he stretched out on the ice next to Lacey and held out his hands.
“Forehand hold,” called Billy. “Lacey, grab onto Zack’s forearm. Zack, grab hers. It’s more secure that way. Lacey, you have leverage now, is that enough to pull you out?”
“I think so,” she gasped as she fumbled one skate-bearing leg onto the ice. The skate didn’t make it easy, so heavy and clunky. But taking it off would take too much time, and then her feet might freeze.
“Nice and controlled,” he told Lacey. “Forceful movements are not your friend.”
“I think Zack is my best friend right now.” She managed a laugh through her chattering teeth. Good sign. Their arms were entwined now. Billy cursed his weight, his adultness, the fact that he had to let his son handle this situation while all he could do was watch and yell instructions.
But it worked. Slowly but surely, Lacey was able to use the pivot point provided by Zack to swing her body onto the ice and then quickly roll away from the edge.
