High Country Rescue

by Michael Skinner

  John said, “Do we stay until relieved or come back two hours after daylight?”

  “Stay until I send for you. The rest of you, make sure your horses are taken care of and check your gear and be ready for whatever I need you to do.”

  With that said, Jason went back out on the porch.

  Rosa heard what was said in the other room, so she started thinking about what food she had to send with John and Frank. She took a slab of smoked bacon down from a hook in the pantry. She sliced several thick slices of bacon off the slab and place them in the skillet to cook. She went back to the pantry, there wasn’t any bread, just a stack of tortillas and tin of hard tack. She got the stack of tortillas and a jar of dried fruit, and returned to the kitchen. She finished the bacon and set it aside to cool. She placed three squares of butcher paper on the table. She placed twelve tortillas on one, three handfuls of dried fruit on one and the bacon on the other. Then she folded up the paper and placed the three bundles in an old flour sack and set in on the end of the counter.

  As the men finished lunch, they went out to the corral or the bunkhouse. As they passed Jason nothing was said. After all the men had left, Jason went inside, and after refilling his cup with whiskey, he went to the table and ate lunch. John and Bobby stopped by the kitchen and picked up their grub and headed out while Jason was eating lunch. The rest of the riders were checking their horses and their gear to be ready when needed. Jason finished lunch, refilled his cup and went back outside. Rosa began working on dinner for the evening.

  The afternoon slowly passed for Jason as he set on the porch.

  It was almost dark when Rosa came out past the end of the house and called to Bill, “Tell the men that dinner is ready.”

  Bill left the corral, and went into the bunkhouse. Soon all the men at the ranch crossed to the ranch house, again passing Jason without a word because they all knew that no word about the girl had come in. Inside they found the table set and a large pot of beef stew and two fresh loaves of bread.

  As the men were eating, Jason came back in.

  He walked to the end of the table and said, “It is just as important to find the girl tonight as it was this morning. The reward for the one who finds her still stands. Bill, if John and Bobby don’t bring the girl in tonight, then I want you to ride out at first light and bring them back here. The rest of you stay here at the ranch and be ready when I need you.”

  Jason sat down and ate, but no one had anything to say. As the men finished, they left, until at last Jason was alone again. He thought about sending a rider to his father, but he didn’t have anything new to say. He refilled his cup again and went outside.

  About an hour after dark Jimmy and Bob rode in.

  They came over to the porch and said, “No sign of the girl.”

  Jason said, “Okay, that’s all for the day. I will see you in the morning.”

  He finished his whiskey and was about to go back inside when he heard riders on the ranch road. He turned and waited to see who was coming. He was disappointed when Sam came into the light of the ranch house, but he was glad he wasn’t alone.

  Sam and the rider rode up to the porch, and Sam said, “Jason this is Ruiz, the tracker I told you about.”

  “Glad to meet you. Do you think you can find her?”

  Sam and Ruiz dismounted while Jason was talking.

  Ruiz said, “If she didn’t sprout wings and fly away I can find her trail if your men have not walked all over it.”

  “I sent my men out to get beyond where she could have gotten to, so that

  should not be a problem.”

  “Let’s talk about my pay.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I get twenty-five a day, including today and I want the first two days in advance.”

  “Okay, but you stay on the trail until we find her.”

  “That’s a deal, I will start at first light in the morning.”

  “Sam find a place in the bunkhouse for Ruiz.”

  Jason went back inside. He once again refilled his cup, but this time he went into the bedroom. He looked at the whiskey in his hand and at the bed. He drank the whiskey and laid down on the bed. He was soon asleep.

  chapter 9

  On the Trail

  Dan woke Alice with a touch to her shoulder and a quiet, “Good morning.”

  She awoke slowly and looked around and said, “I wasn’t sure at first if last night was just a dream.”

  He asked, “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I think so. I am not sure where we are.”

  “We are south of the ranch, just over the first ridge.”

  “Are we safe?”

  “Yes, we are for the moment. They should just now be finding you missing, and we are a good six hours away. They don’t know which way we went or even that you are not alone yet.”

  “When will they start after us?”

  “I am not sure, but let’s give them at least four hours to find our tracks and follow us. If that is the case, it will take them ten hours to get here, and we will be gone.”

  “Do you think they will find our trail that fast?”

  “No, I don’t. I was very careful about coming and going out. Unless one of the wranglers is a tracker or they get very lucky, it should be late today, if at all, that they find our trail. But there is no way for me to know when or if they pick up our trail, so we have to travel as if they are six to ten hours behind us. We can talk some more later, but now we need to get moving. Here is a shirt, pants, and jacket, change into these while I go down to the creek for some fresh water.”

  Alice took the clothes and said, “Thank you.”

  Dan moved along the rock face and out from behind the trees and paused. He listened to the sounds of the forest and heard only the normal sounds. If a group of men was moving through the trees, the animals would fall silent. He went down to the creek and emptied the canteen and filled it with fresh water. He returned to the shelter. It had only taken a few minutes to fill the canteen, but Alice had already changed.

  He asked, “Does everything fit?”

  “The pants are a little large, but they will be alright.”

  “We’ll have a cold breakfast this morning, just jerky, hard tack and water.”

  “That will be fine.”

  He handed her some jerky and hard tack and set the canteen between them.

  After a couple of minutes, he asked, “Can you stand for a minute and let me size these moccasins.”

  “Sure”

  Dan folded the leather up around her foot and used his pencil to mark them. Then he let her sit back down and finish breakfast.

  He punched the holes and laced them loose and handed the moccasins to Alice and said, “Try these on while you are working on the jerky. Before you try to lace them, stand up and let me see if I need to make any changes.”

  Alice put on the moccasins and stood up.

  Dan felt the leather around her feet and said, “With your socks on these fit well enough that we can adjust them with the lacing and not have to rework them. I will lace them while you are standing.”

  “Thank you,” said Alice, and waited for him to finish lacing, then she sat down.

  They ate breakfast without talking. Hardtack and jerky does not allow much time to talk. This was the first time he had really looked at Alice closely. She looked older than he expected, but she had been through a lot. Her skin color was fair, her hair looked like it had been recently washed and her muscle tone appeared good.

  He finished first and started to get their gear together, he folded up the clothes she had been wearing and placed them along with her shoes in the bag her new clothes had come out of and lashed it to the back frame.

  As he was working Alice asked, “Can I carry anything?”

  He said, “You can carry the canteen.”

  Then she said, “I am ready when you are.

  Tying off the last item on the back frame, he said, “Step around me, and I will lead you o
ut through the trees.”

  After she had passed him on the ledge, he swung the pack frame up on his back and with the laces tied together, he put his boots with the socks inside around his neck, picked up the rifle and walking stick and started out. He moved slowly along the ledge so as not to have a tree limb catch on the backpack or flip back and hit Alice.

  Once they were outside the trees, Dan said, “Follow me down to the edge of the creek, but stop there and I will come back and get you.

  “Okay,” said Alice.

  Dan stopped at the edge of the water and rounded his pants legs up, then crossed the stream. Once on the other side, he dropped the pack frame and the rifle, then crossed back across the creek to get Alice.

  Reaching Alice, he said, “I want to keep your moccasins dry, so I will carry you across.”

  He turned, and she got on his back, and he crossed the creek.

  As he sat her down, he said, “We cross the creek again just ahead and then we will be on the trail.”

  She said, “I am ready.”

  Dan swung the pack up and picked up the rifle and walking stick, and headed toward the trail. It took only a few minutes to reach where the game trail crossed the creek. Again, He crossed the creek and dropped his gear and went back for Alice. After Dan got Alice across he stopped to put his socks and boots on.

  As he put his boots on, he said, “I stopped here to put my boots on instead of going up the trail away, since the pack was already on the ground and I am not too worried about leaving a track on the ground here because if they have trailed us to here, then they know which trail we are on. You lead, and I will follow.”

  “Okay, I am ready.”

  “This trail gets very steep in places, but the first part will be some moderate switchbacks. Watch your step and avoid sharp rocks, the leather for the bottom of your moccasins is thick, but it is soft enough that you could bruise your foot.”

  “I will be careful.”

  They moved steadily along the trail through the switchbacks and occasional ledge until they reached the ledge where the trail ran east about two hundred feet.

  At the end of the ledge where the trail started up into the next set of switchbacks, he said, “Alice let’s stop here for a break.”

  “I am alright, you don’t need to stop for me.”

  “We have a long way to go, but we don’t need to push.”

  “If they are following us they will not stop.”

  “That's true, but it is more important to keep on schedule. If we make our campsites on time and with the lead, I think we have, they will not catch us.”

  Dan dropped his pack and removed a couple of pieces of jerky from the pack and handed one to her and said, “Chew on this when we get back on the trail, it will give you fuel for the body.”

  “Thanks,” said Alice as she handed him the canteen she had been carrying.

  He drank some water and passed it back to Alice. “This next set of switchbacks is steeper than the ones we have just come up, they take us about a hundred feet up the face of the ridge to where our first shortcut is.”

  “A shortcut! What kind of a shortcut?”

  “This rock face is steep and broken by vertical and horizontal fractures. I found a couple of places where climbing ropes will allow us to avoid some long and timely switchbacks.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Okay, but promise me if you need to stop you will let me know.”

  “I will.”

  They continued up the trail from one switchback to the next. A few of the returns at the ends of the switchbacks were very steep, and he had to brace himself with the walking stick and balance the rifle in the other and she had to put one hand down on the ground.

  When the trail topped out on a ledge, Alice turned to follow the trail, and Dan said, “No we go this way.”

  “Is this the shortcut?”

  “Yes, follow me.”

  He moved east along the ledge to where it ended at the edge of the vertical fracture. He removed his pack frame and lashed his walking stick and rifle to it.

  He put his pack back on and checked his watch and turned to Alice and said, “I will go first then you follow.”

  “Lead on.”

  Dan turned and dropped to the ground and eased himself over the edge onto the ledge below. He moved over a little and turned to help Alice. As she came over the ledge above, he took her by the waist and lowered her to the small ledge beside him.

  He asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes”

  He moved along the narrow ledge until he came to where he had secured the rope.

  Taking the rope, he said, “You go in front of me, and I will help if you need it.”

  Without a word, she moved carefully around him and grabbed the rope.

  “Just follow the rope up, keep your hands on the rope and look for places to step as you go. Tell me if you think you are in trouble.”

  “Don’t worry, I will.”

  She moved up the rope, and he was right behind her. They moved up the broken rock face slower than he had hoped, but they were moving.

  As they approached the smooth area of the rock face, Alice paused and asked, “What do I do now?”

  “Can you see the railroad spikes in the smooth rock face above you?”

  “Yes, I can now that you have pointed them out to me.”

  “Just keep your hands on the rope and use them as steps for your feet. There is only enough room on each spike for one foot, just go up one foot over the other.”

  “I will try.”

  Dan could not go up right behind her, so he decided to wait where he was and brace himself in case she fell.

  But she didn’t fall, and when she moved off the last railroad spike and on to a firm footing on the rock face, he called, “Wait there, I will catch up to you, and we can continue up.”

  When he reached her, he asked, “Do you need to rest a minute?”

  “No, I am alright.”

  “The next section is steep, but just continue as you have been doing.”

  “Okay”

  As Alice started up Dan stayed close to give her a little help from time to time.

  He said, “The last thirty feet will be easier.”

  “Good, I need some easier.”

  They covered the remaining thirty feet to the ledge below the trail without difficulty. Dan had her stop on the ledge, and he joined her. Then he picked her up and lifted her the three feet to the trail above. She sat on the edge of the trail while he climbed up, then he turned and started hauling up the rope. Once he had the rope coiled and secured, he checked his watch.

  She asked, “How much time did we really save?”

  “A little more than an hour.”

  “What had you planned on saving?”

  “I had hoped for an hour and ten or fifteen minutes.”

  “I am sorry I was so slow.”

  “Don’t worry about it, we gained an hour on them if they are there.”

  Rising to her feet, she asked, “Don’t you think they will come?”

  “Yes, I think they will look for us, but there is a chance they may or may not know where to look, but we will keep traveling as if they were behind us.”

  “I can’t go back.”

  “You won’t! Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes”

  They started into a series of switchbacks that took them east and up to a ledge about thirty feet above where they started. Once on the ledge, they traveled west until they came to the vertical fracture again.

  He asked, “You ready to climb again?

  “Anything that will gain us time,” she said.

  “This one should be easier.”

  “Good, let’s go.”

  They followed the trail on into the vertical fracture,

  When Alice saw the rope, she said, “Is this where we start?”

  “Yes, just as before.”

  She started up with Dan right behind her. They moved very quic
kly and were up on the trail above in less than fifteen minutes.

  Alice said, “That was too short, how much time could that have saved us?”

  “We saved about fifty-five minutes.”

  “Good, I feel better. What’s next?”

  “No more shortcuts today, just the trail up and down and up again for the rest of the day,” he said as he dropped his pack and removed his walking stick and rifle and put the pack back on.

  Alice said, “I am ready.”

  They moved along the ledge until the trail started up in a set of switchbacks to the next ledge, where they travel back in the direction they had come back through the vertical fracture to the next set of switchbacks.

  They soon reached the top of the ridge, and he said, “Do you want to stop for lunch now?”

  “That would be good.”

  Dan dropped his pack and removed the hard tack and jerky from the leather pack.

  He asked, “Are you okay, do your feet hurt or anything else at all?”

  “I am really alright, just a little tired, but eating will help that.”

  “This was the roughest section that we will have.”

  “Good, I am not sure I could do too many days like this.”

  “I understand.”

  Alice looked at Dan and waited until he looked at her and said, “I am sorry if I was short or sounded ungrateful, because I really am very grateful for all you have done for me, but I am scared about my father and scared they might catch me.”

  He reached over and touched her shoulder and said, “I understand this has all been so fast, but your father should be at the Colonel John’s ranch, and Judge Parker is on his way there too. I cannot imagine how difficult the last two years have been for you, but I can assure you that there is nothing I won’t do to keep you from going back there.”

  Alice tried not to cry, but she could not stop it.

  As she cried, he put his arm around her and held her and said, “Go ahead and cry, it’s alright.”

  Slowly the crying eased, and he took his arm away and said, “Do you feel better?”

  “Yes, I do, I am sorry, I feel like such a mess.”