He knocked her down in a rough tackle and rolled sideways, desperately attempting to propel them both to safety. The ground shook as the slide rolled past them, missing their bodies by scant inches. It slammed into their coach with a thunderous crash, hitting the conveyance broadside and knocking it flat. As the coach tumbled past them, Nicholas instinctively shielded Miss Alexander beneath him, covering her body with his own. He heard a sharp crack within the tumult of the avalanche—the coach being ripped in half, perhaps? A second later the sound of splintering wood and steel filled the air. Nicholas clenched his jaw, his muscles tensing as he felt a sharp, agonizing sting lash his back. For one heart-stopping moment he thought the entire coach was about to come crashing down upon them. But in the next second the conveyance was gone, careening over the cliff edge as it exploded against the rocky shore below. After a minute or two the deafening roar of the slide slowly faded to a dull rumble.
