Stranded at Romson's Lodge

by J. L. Callison

  CHAPTER 90

  Lizzie wailed in disappointment when the plane turned north and flew out of sight, but Jed was more taciturn. He recognized that the plane’s appearance and circling overhead meant they had been found, and help was coming. He didn’t think the ice was safe to land on yet. They were going somewhere to land but would be back in a few days. The sound of the engine didn’t totally die out though, and in a few minutes he heard it approaching, and once again it circled around the lodge. When the plane flew directly over them, he saw something silver with a long streamer behind it dropping from the passenger window. It came to rest buried in the snow down by the lake. Fortunately, the streamer was yellow and not white, or they never would have found it. Lizzie started floundering through the snow to get it, but Jed told her to wait.

  “I’ve got my snowshoes on, Lizzie. Let me get it.” He trotted until he reached the end of the streamer. Hand over hand, he pulled it in until the flashlight appeared. He knocked the loose snow off and looked at it curiously, trying to decipher why they would drop a flashlight.

  Lizzie had gotten there by then anyway. “Maybe there’s something in it.”

  Shaking his head at his slow thinking, Jed unscrewed the end to find the note. “It says ‘meadow two miles north’! They are going to land! Let’s get you some snowshoes. You’ll never make it without them.”

  CHAPTER 91

  Dan Hixon flew low and slow over the meadow once again looking carefully for any hidden obstructions but didn’t see any. He flew over again from the other direction, this time turning on his landing lights to see if there was anything to be seen in the gathering gloom. He and Sarah looked carefully and saw nothing that should be a problem.

  “Okay, everyone. Be sure your seat belts are snug.”

  Those behind the second row couldn’t hear him, so the word was passed back. Dan brought the plane in to land and flared just before touching down on the powdery surface. Snow billowed in their wake as he chopped power, and they felt the plane slowing quickly.

  The rock wasn’t very big, and the snow covered it completely. Six inches to one side or the other and they would have missed it. The right ski struck the top of the rock, and it was enough to cause the plane to lurch and turn abruptly to the right. The plane settled and didn’t tip as it slid to a stop just before the trees. Quickly, Dan killed the engine and shut off the fuel, just in case.

  “Everybody okay?” he shouted to those in the back.

  Everyone looked at the others, shaken by the experience, but no one was hurt.

  “Okay. Everyone stay where you are for the moment. James, Charles, want to hand me my coat, and grab yours? We have to be certain the plane is all right.”

  The men clambered from the plane, quickly closing the doors to retain the heat. It didn’t take long to see the damage. The tip of the ski was bent up and back, with a crack splitting it from the front halfway back. After a rapid but careful inspection, Dan determined there was no damage to the strut or anything else. The only loss was the ski.

  “Now I remember why I quit bush flying,” Dan mumbled. “It doesn’t take much to get you in trouble out here. It’s a good thing we had slowed so much.”

  “Nobody’s hurt. Things could be a lot worse. What do we do now?” asked Charles.

  “I’m going to get on the radio and see if I can raise anyone at Caribou or someone flying nearby,” Dan said. “You know, this is my fault. I should have waited for Jed to get out here and walk the area to be sure there wasn’t anything here, but I was afraid of losing the light. It’s going to get dark before long.”

  James put his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “Look, Dan, I would have done the same thing, except I probably would have just flown over once and put it down. I could have said to wait a bit, but I didn’t. Jed probably wouldn’t have seen the rock anyway. Don’t blame yourself. We aren’t in bad shape. There is plenty of room in the lodge, and we’ll get hold of someone. I’ll have them call Dave at Fisheries, and he’ll have another ski dropped to us.”

  “Okay, folks, we hit a hidden rock and bent a ski,” James said as he re-entered the plane. “Gather your gear together. We’re going to spend the night at the lodge, but it isn’t too far away, and we’ll be fine there. It will be cold, but we can make it a couple of miles. Unfortunately, we can’t taxi to the end of the meadow, but we’ll be fine. Jim, would you gather all the food we brought along? I don’t know how much food Jed has on hand. We may need to supplement what he has.”

  Charles said, “Knowing him, I’m sure he has plenty laid aside for the winter. That lad is resourceful and not afraid to work. I don’t know of anyone I’d rather have my Elizabeth stranded with if I had to choose. We’ll probably eat better than at home.”

  Mary, who had been silent nearly the entire trip, hugged Charles. “Thanks, Charles. That was sweet.”

  “Sweet, nothing! I’ve always hoped Jed and Elizabeth would notice each other, but they never seemed to.”

  After repeated tries, Dan Hixon was unable to reach anyone at Caribou Approach. “We’re down too low to get them, boss. Most bush pilots monitor the emergency channel. I’ll try it next.”

  After several attempts on the emergency channel, Dan was able to raise another pilot, although faintly. It took repeated transmissions before he was able to communicate, and the other pilot told him to stand by; he was flying their direction and would call back in a few minutes.

  Charles helped the ladies step down from the plane and steadied them in the snow until they got their bearings. Sitting in somewhat cramped conditions and then trying to stand on the slippery surface was difficult at first. The ice under the snow made it treacherous. Sue gave Charles a one-armed hug and whispered in his ear, “Honey, you are getting your daughter back. I’m so excited!”

  Charles hugged her back. “Me, too! I want to thank you. I don’t know if I would have made it had you not been there for me. You will love her, and I know she will love you.”

  CHAPTER 92

  Jed broke the trail for Lizzie going through the woods toward the meadow. Tommy trotted along beside her. Lizzie kept trying to hurry Jed, but he told her to be patient. “If you hurry too fast, you will sweat, and then the sweat can freeze against your skin. Maybe not so much in this weather, but still it will chill you when you need the heat.”

  It took them a little over forty-five minutes to make the trek after Lizzie got snowshoes. At last, they emerged from the tree line and saw the plane at the far end of the meadow. Lizzie let out a squeal of joy and broke into a stumbling run on her snowshoes for the plane. Tommy stayed right at her side.

  Charles saw a bearded man break out of the trees and then saw Lizzie behind him. He tried running toward her but slipped and fell on the ice before getting very far. He jumped up, unhurt, and hurried with more caution. James and Mary saw Charles start running and followed closely behind him, with James steadying Mary. It was a tearful yet joyful reunion in the middle of the meadow when they reached each other. Charles hugged Elizabeth tightly as they made their way back to the plane. She had to reassure Tommy it was okay. He kept trying to get between them and growled at Charles more than once. Sue and Jimmy walked out to meet them.

  “Elizabeth, I want you to meet some very special people. This is Sue Jenson and her son, Jim. Sue is a nurse who cared for me when I was in the hospital.”

  “Oh, no, Daddy! Are you okay?”

  “Oh, I’m fine now. Just stress. But Sue has been taking care of me ever since. I hope you like her because she means a lot to me, and I’ve asked her to marry me. I know it is kind of quick to spring it on you, but . . .” he paused as Lizzie jumped over to Sue and embraced her, squealing with joy.

  “I’m so happy! I’ve been wanting him to find someone to care for! You are the answer to my prayers.”

  Sue hugged her back, happy to be accepted so readily.

  “And I get a brother, too!” Jimmy was not quite as enthusiastic about the hug he received but was gracious enough to endure i
t. He still wasn’t quite to the point of caring for hugs from girls.

  Jed wrapped his arms around James and Mary at the same time and squeezed. He was so happy to finally be found.

  Finally, James broke away from the embrace and wiped his eyes. “What happened, son? Wait, before you tell me about it.” He waved Sarah over and said, “This is Detective Summers. She has been looking for you all this time. She needs to hear this, too.”

  Charles, Sue, and Jimmy also huddled around to listen as Jed told the story. “When we got back to the school, I got the message to take Lizzie home. Pete was waiting for us just outside of the school driveway, pretending to be broken down. When I drove him to the airport, he pulled a gun on Lizzie and me and made us get in the plane, and he brought us here. He said he was going to someplace in the Caribbean, that he needed money for gambling debts, and that you wouldn’t loan it to him.”

  Both James and Detective Summers nodded their heads.

  “He told me there were enough supplies for the fishing trip to take care of us until you sent him the ransom, and then he would tell you where to find us. He said he didn’t want to hurt us, but he was afraid for his life. Pete broke the short-wave radio, so I couldn’t call out for help. He started to take off in the plane, but he hit a goose right after lifting off, dragged a wingtip, and crashed. I couldn’t get out there before the plane sank, though I did salvage one of the floats. We’ve been getting along okay, but we sure are glad to see you!”

  Detective Summers put out her hand and said, “I think you did very well. You can be proud of yourself, young man. One question for you, though. What did he do for fuel? I know a Beaver doesn’t have the range to get here.”

  “Pete had several drums of gasoline on board. He landed on a small lake partway here and pumped the gas into the tanks from the barrels. He had enough to get him partway down the coast to the Caribbean, too. He said he would be far enough away that you would never be able to figure out where he went.”

  Detective Summers nodded. “Just what Dan guessed. I’m so relieved to be able to pull your case out of the cold case files and put it in the closed case files.”

  Dan Hixon walked over from the airplane. “I finally got hold of Dave at Fisheries through a relay from another pilot. I used your name, and he is going to have a civilian bush pilot fly another ski up here tomorrow. I just have to mark the rock we hit so he can avoid it. I’ll also walk the meadow first to be sure there aren’t any other obstacles. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would have had Jed walk it for me and flown in tomorrow. Would have been a lot smarter all around; we could have been badly hurt.”

  “I don’t think we would have let you wait,” James said. “We really wanted to get in here. Like I said, Jed probably wouldn’t have seen that rock anyway. You don’t have need to blame yourself.”

  “Okay, boss. If you say so, but next time I’ll be smarter.”

  CHAPTER 93

  Supper was over, and everyone was seated on couches around the fireplace getting reacquainted, or acquainted as the case might be, except for Jim. He lay with Tommy on the bearskin rug on the floor. He kept stroking the fur and luxuriating in its softness. He also admired the buckskins both Jed and Lizzie were wearing. He asked Jed where he had gotten them, and his respect for Jed went way up when Jed told him he had made them, as well as the moccasins he wore. Jim asked if he would make him a set as well, but Charles said, “No, if you want some, you have to make them yourself.” He winked. “Perhaps you can make them after you get your own deer next fall.”

  Jim’s grin threatened to split his face. Before everyone went to bed, Jed asked Charles to step outside for just a minute; he needed to speak with him privately.

  Charles had a knowing look in his eye as he stood, and they walked out the door together. A number of thoughts flashed through Charles’s mind. He thought of Collette and how sorry he was she could not be here for what he knew was coming. The torment of Elizabeth’s disappearance and all that had transpired in the last nine months of wondering and searching was on his mind. He thought of Sue and how Sue had come into his life as a result of his panic attack, bringing with her a new son for him to love and raise. Charles knew he would lose his daughter again, but this loss was one he was more than happy to accept.

  “Sir, I would like your permission to marry your daughter. I understand how it looks, with us up here alone. But I assure you we have behaved properly, and I have treated her with honor and respect.” Jed took a deep breath. “I love Lizzie, and I will always care for her.”

  Charles reached out with one arm and gathered Jed to him in a gentle hug. “I know, son. I can see how you’ve cared for Elizabeth, and I know from her actions that you have respected her.” Tears pooled in Charles’s eyes, and he paused for a deep breath. “I want you to know I appreciate the way you respected and cared for her, and if her mother was here, I know she would as well. Although I hate to lose Elizabeth again, I’ll agree on one condition.”

  Charles paused, and Jed looked at him, perplexed.

  “It must be a double wedding.”