High Country Rescue

by Michael Skinner

  “That was very brave of you, and you should be proud of yourself for the way you handled the situation and yourself. Let me get you some tea.”

  Dan rose and went to the fire where he poured some tea into two metal cups. He gave one to Alice and said, “This should warm you up a little.”

  Alice replied, “Thank you.”

  Dan went to the pack and removed some metal plates and spoons along with some hardtack. He divided the beans and meat between the two plates and added a piece of hardtack to each plate. He carried the plates to where Alice was seated and gave her one and sat beside her with the other.

  Alice said, “You are a little slow sitting down. Are you really alright?”

  “I am still sore, but I think everything is all right or at least seems to work okay.”

  “Are we in trouble because we lost a day?”

  “I think we are okay, but let’s eat first, the food is better warm than cold.”

  “Okay.”

  “Did you eat anything while I was out?”

  “I didn’t eat anything last night, but when I brought the food cache in from outside, I had a little hardtack and jerky a couple of times today, but I really didn’t feel like eating.”

  “I noticed when I was making the tea that we are down to less than a half of a canteen of water. We will just wipe out the plates with sand from the floor of the mine and wash them when we come to a creek, but it won’t be until late tomorrow afternoon because this valley has a dry creek.”

  As they continued to eat Alice asked, “How does the Colonel know my father? I am sure I never heard my father say anything about him.”

  “I do not know the whole story, but apparently, the Colonel’s father and your father’s father were friends. When your father became suspicious of your situation, he contacted the Colonel.”

  “How did you get involved?”

  “The Colonel sent me a letter and said he needed my help and to be ready to go into the high country, and here I am.”

  “And you just dropped everything and came?”

  “It’s hard to explain, I have known the Colonel for a number of years and on the one hand we are not quite friends, and on the other hand, we are more than friends. But when he asked for help, I knew I had to come.”

  “I am grateful that you came.”

  “And I am very glad I came.”

  They were through eating, so Dan rose and took Alice’s plate with a “Your welcome” to Alice’s “Thank you.”

  He carried the plates to the edge of the firelight at the rear of the mine. The metal plates were as clean as the spoons could get them, but still had some residue from the food left. He knelt down and used a handful of loose sand and rubbed it around the plate wiping it free of what was left of the food. He repeated this with the other plate and returned them to the pack.

  Dan walked back over to where Alice was sitting, sat beside her and said, “We have lost a day and this time of year that is about twelve hours of daylight. That is a lot, but with the night travel from the house and the shortcuts, we have used we are at least that far ahead of them. Since they haven’t caught up with us, they must have not started after us the day they found you missing but the next day. That would put them a day behind us.”

  “Can we be sure?”

  “No, but the worst-case situation would be if they started after us in the afternoon that they found you gone. That would put them a half day behind us. The best case would be if they did not find our trail. But I think they would find it sometime.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that we have to assume and plan that they are a half day behind us.”

  “Can they overtake us?”

  “I have some shortcuts and options and can assure you that I plan to stay ahead of them and that they will not take us.”

  “What do you mean they will not take us?”

  “To put it bluntly, if I have to kill them to stop them I will.”

  “I guess I thought it might come to that in the back of my mind, but I haven’t said it out loud.”

  “It will only come to that if they force it.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “There is not much we can do tonight. We need to get our gear as ready as possible tonight, so we can get a quick start in the morning. I want to check out a couple of things and then check out the rifle the best I can.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Get everything we have out except our bedrolls over to the pack, so I can get the pack ready.”

  “Okay”

  While Alice began to pick up, Dan took a burning branch and walked to the rear of the mine. He only went far enough to be able to see the dynamite with the light from the burning branch.

  As he returned the branch to the fire, Alice asked, “What were you looking at?”

  “When I came through here on the way in I left a length of rope and a quarter stick of dynamite at the back of the mine. I was just checking to see if it was still there and it is.”

  “What is the dynamite for?”

  “I was trying to find something here I could do to help us or slow them down. The only thing I could come up with was possibly using the dynamite to drop some rocks on the trail below.”

  “That sounds like that would slow them down.”

  “It will if enough of the rocks fall on the trail and not slide off the other side.”

  “So, it may not slow them down?”

  “It may not, but there is a chance it could.”

  “Will they hear the explosion?”

  “If they are on our trail, they will hear it, but then they are already on our trail.”

  “It sounds like it may help but will not hurt.”

  “That is the way I see it. I am going to check out the rifle.”

  Alice turned to her bedroll and began to get it ready for the night. Dan went to the front of the mine and looked at the bear. It appeared to be a four or five-year-old male black bear. The shot from the rifle, which he had been holding about waist high, had caught the bear right above the nose and traveled through his brain and blown out the back of his skull. Dan had been very lucky, had the bullet missed or not been fatal Alice, and he would be dead. He turned and went to the rifle that Alice had leaned against the wall of the mine. He picked it up and walked back toward the fire. Everything appeared all right, but he had no way to check the sights. He dropped the lever opening the action and ejecting the fired cartridge. He looked through the barrel toward the fire. Other than some powder residue the barrel was free of any obstacles. He went over to where the pack was and leaned the rifle against the wall. He started getting the pack ready. He returned the pans, cups and tea pan to the pack. Then he added the food from the cache to the food sacks on the pack frame and retied them.

  Dan went over to Alice and said, “That’s about all we can do tonight. Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?”

  “Yes, I am really tired, but I will be ready in the morning.”

  “Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  Dan went to his bedroll on the other side of the fire and settled in. He thought about the lost day and the ones behind them. The lost day was gone, now he must make up as much time as possible.

  Morning came quickly, and he noticed when he rose, he was stiff again. It was early and too dark to see anything. There was not even a glow from the embers of last night’s fire. He lit a match and moved over to the fire. He took some small kindling and stirred the embers and blew on them. Some of them glowed, and he blew a little harder. Finally, the kindling caught, and the fire was started anew. They were not going to cook, but he knew they needed the light and the heat. He added all the wood that Alice had brought in yesterday, and soon the fire was burning bright.

  The light of the fire had awakened Alice, and she said, “Good morning.”

  “Good morning. I thought we could use some heat.”

  “It feels good. What’s next?”
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br />   “We will get the bedrolls loaded and everything ready to go then eat some hardtack and jerky before we get started on the trail.”

  “When will you use the dynamite?”

  “The last thing we do before we leave. I do not want to be in here when the dynamite explodes.”

  “Will the explosion be that bad?”

  “No, but you never know if the sound or vibration from the explosion might cause rocks to fall from this ceiling.”

  Dan tied the bedrolls to the pack frame, and he placed it and his rifle outside the mine near the entrance. He then carried the hardtack, jerky and a canteen over to Alice by the fire.

  He said, “Here is your breakfast, sorry it couldn’t be more.”

  “It’s fine.”

  By the time they finished, it was just starting to get light. He told Alice to take the canteen and wait at the front of the mine near the pack. Then he went toward the back of the mine, picked up the dynamite and the rope and crawled to the opening in the back of the mine. He extended his head and shoulders out of the opening as far as he could and looked below. There wasn’t much light yet, but he checked the trail below, then checked what little of the switchbacks to his right he could see. He saw no movement, so he eased back into the mine. He made sure the rope was still attached to the stick in the mine then lit the fuse. He lowered it as quickly as he could to the ledge below. He moved as fast as the space would allow and headed to the front of the mine. It hurt his shoulder when he put the pack on, but he got it on.

  Picking up his rifle he turned to Alice and said, “It’s time to go!”

  They had only gone a few feet down the trail when the dynamite exploded.

  chapter 13

  The Pursuit

  Ruiz was awake, and up, it was early, but the moon was up, and there was enough light to see the trail. He was unsure of the time, but he thought it should be about 3:00. He went over to the fire. He stirred the coals and added some small kindling. He didn’t add too much wood to the fire because he only wanted it for light. Once the fire was going, he started getting everyone up. They all complained, even Jason but they got up.

  Ruiz said, “It is early, but we have enough moonlight to follow this trail. Unless this trail splits, we should make up some time. Here are some hardtack and jerky for each of you. We need to start as soon as we can.”

  Jason added, “Let’s get moving.”

  As they ate, they got bedrolls and gear together. Ruiz had his gear together quickly and set on a rock to finish his breakfast. He rose and washed down the last of his jerky with some water from his canteen.

  Then he said, “There is a good chance that we will find water in the next valley, but we may not, so go easy on your water.”

  Ruiz went over to Jason and said, “We need to go as hard as we can today, I am used to this rough country, so you let me know if I am pushing too hard.”

  “I will, but you push as hard as you can.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  They went up the switchbacks above their camp, which were as steep as Ruiz had thought they would be, and turned out onto a ledge and continued along the ledge. A little later they came to where the trail left the ledge. The trail turned uphill in another series of steep and slow switchbacks. After about thirty minutes they reached the place where the trail turned onto another ledge. This ledge they followed to the east, back the direction that they had come. The ledge continued east and around a curve on the side of the north face of the ridge.

  As Ruiz started around the curve, he stopped.

  Jason said, “What’s wrong?”

  “There is a coil of rope on the trail.”

  “What do you mean there is a coil of rope on the trail?”

  “Come and look at it.”

  “What does it mean?”

  “It means this has just gotten more difficult.”

  “How?”

  “It is obvious the man helping Alice has used this rope which he must have placed here earlier, to help Alice and him climb up this split in the rock face to avoid the trail and switchbacks we have just come through.”

  “Why”

  “He saved time by doing this. I would guess that he has saved maybe forty-five minutes to an hour at this spot.”

  Jason asked, “Are we falling behind?’

  “No, we have been on the trail this morning longer than that, but it means we have not gained as much time as I had hoped.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “We keep going. It’s not daylight yet, and I doubt that they are moving yet, so every minute we travel is a minute that we gain on them.”

  “Then let’s get moving.”

  Ruiz continued east to where the trail left the ledge and started another set of switchbacks. The switchbacks were not difficult, and they made good time. The trail ran out on another ledge and headed west. The ledge and trail travel back through the vertical cut and on to the west. The trail left the ledge and continued up through a series of difficult switchbacks onto another ledge.

  As they began to head west on the ledge, Jason said, “Let’s rest a minute.”

  Ruiz said, “Okay.”

  Even Ruiz was glad to have a chance to catch his breath.

  He turned to Jason and said, “Let me know when you are ready.”

  “I am ready now.”

  “Good, we will stop at the top of this ridge to rest and eat.”

  They continued west on the ledge back toward the vertical cut. When they got there, they found another coil of rope.

  Jason said, “Not again. Ruiz, what do you think?”

  “There is not as much rope coiled here, so I think it did not save them as much time as the last one.”

  “We cannot catch them if they keep gaining time.”

  “I have not traveled in this area before, but I have spent my life in these mountains, and places, where they can do something like this, are rare. If we make the top of this ridge by sunup then they will not have gained on us, we will have gained on them.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “With the girl, they cannot travel as fast as us, and they are not traveling now.”

  “Then lead on.”

  Ruiz continued east along the ledge and up the switchbacks and more switchbacks. The pace was a fast as Ruiz thought he could push it and soon they reached the top of the ridge, and it was starting to get light.

  Ruiz said, “Everyone take a rest,”

  Jason said, “That was hard, I hope it was worth it.”

  “It will be downhill for a while.”

  As Ruiz opened his pack to get some jerky, there was a loud boom.

  Jason said, “What was that?”

  Jay said, “Where did that come from?”

  Ruiz said, “Look over there near the top of that ridge!”

  Jason said, “What is it?”

  Ruiz answered, “It was an explosion.”

  Jason asked, “A what?”

  “Are there any working mines back here?”

  “None I have heard of.”

  “Then it must be the people we are chasing.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “I do not know, but we are getting closer.”

  “Let’s go!”

  “No, wait, let’s finish eating and then hit the trail.”

  “Why we are so close?”

  “We are still at least a half a day behind. If we don’t take time to eat, we will not have the strength to go up these ridges ahead. We only need ten or fifteen minutes before we can move on.”

  “Alright.”

  About fifteen minutes later, Ruiz said, “Everyone ready?”

  Jason said, “We are.”

  After a little more than two and a half hours, they reached the creek at the bottom of the valley.

  Ruiz said, “Rinse and fill your canteens, then we move on.”

  Everyone filled their canteens and Ruiz started up the trail. The trail went up in some easy switchbacks and the
n headed east along a ledge. Soon they came to a pile of rocks across the ledge.

  Ruiz said, “This is what the explosion was about. They are trying to slow us down.”

  Jason asked, “Can we go around?”

  Ruiz, after looking at the rockslide said, “No, we cannot go around we will have to go over it.”

  “How?”

  “It will not be easy, but if we climb over the rocks on the uphill side by the rock face, we should be able to get across. We will have to go across one at a time and be careful not to start the rocks moving because you might go over the ledge with them.”

  Jason said, “Ruiz do you want to go first?”

  “I will go.”

  Ruiz approached the rock fall and moved over to the rock face and started up. It was as difficult as he thought it would be. Some of the rocks were big enough that they were hard to get up on and some so far apart that you would have to go down and back up. At the highest point, he thought he was only about ten feet above the ledge that the rock pile was resting on, and the pile was only as wide as the ledge below. A fall would carry him over the edge of the ledge and down the rock face. It took Ruiz about thirty minutes to cross the fifty-foot-long rock fall.

  Ruiz stopped and turned back and yelled, “I am across!”

  Jason turned to Jay and said, “Jay you are next then Frank.”

  It took Jay almost forty minutes to get across and Frank thirty-five.

  Climbing down Frank said, “He is not paying us enough.”

  Jay said, “You thought he was paying you enough to kill the man we are after.”

  Frank replied, “Yeah, but not enough to kill myself.”

  They were ignoring Ruiz but when they heard Jason approaching the conversation ended quickly.

  As Jason came down off the rock pile, Ruiz asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I am fine. Let’s get started.”

  Ruiz turned and lead the way up the trail. They traveled up switchbacks and across the rock face above to the top of the ridge.

  As they topped the ridge, Ruiz signaled a stop and said, “We know they were here this morning. They may still be in this valley or over the next ridge so let’s keep the noise down till we know where they are. Ya’ll take a break, and I want to scout the trail out below a little bit.”