“A couple of mountain goats up high, but nothing else so far.”
Roni scanned the mountain for a few more minutes and then dropped her hands into her lap. The lenses in her binoculars enhanced the brightness of the sun and bothered her still-sensitive eyes. She closed them for a much-needed break.
“You should wear your sunglasses when you’re looking through those, you know,” Selena said without ceasing her back-and-forth scan.
“I can see better without them.”
“Uh-huh. Until you go blind again.”
“That’s not going to happen.” Roni tilted her hat forward over her eyes and reclined onto her elbows. She figured she’d take just a few more minutes to rest her eyes.
Selena was quiet next to her and slowly she became more conscious of the sounds of the surrounding habitat. To her left, a covey of spruce grouse clucked as they fed among the rocks, and a ways off, a series of short hollow notes signaled the presence of a Boreal owl.
She pulled a deep breath through her nose and let it out slowly. Suddenly she opened her eyes wide. “Selena! Do you smell that?”
Selena lowered her binoculars and looked at her. “I don’t smell anything. What is it?”
“I think I smell jet fuel.” She jumped to her feet and faced the mountain. “I do. But I only get little wafts here and there.” Her heart rate shot up with anticipation. They had to be close to the downed aircraft.
Selena yanked her GPS off her belt and powered it up. “We have a decent signal. I’m going to send a message to Fenn. Maybe an airborne search party can do a flyby if they’re within range.”
“We need to leave the horses here.” Roni trotted down to retrieve the heavy and bulky medical bag. As an afterthought, she grabbed the coil of climbing rope and slung it over her shoulder.
“Don’t you think it would be faster to ride?” Selena made her way to her horse.
“Not if I can’t smell the fuel. It’s still too faint, and the horse sweat is too strong.” She grinned at her. “Ready?” She couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. This is what she lived for: the search and then the ultimate prize, the discovery.
“Why do you think Puller didn’t alert you?” Selena put a couple bags of sterile saline in her saddlebag and hoisted it over her shoulder.
“He probably can’t smell anything over the fuel.” Roni started up the mountain, using her nose as a guide. She stopped a couple times and closed her eyes. She turned in different directions, trying to get a bearing on where the fuel smell was strongest. “Come on. This way.”
The climb became steeper and more arduous, and the fumes became more intense. Several times they slipped on loose rock and lost several feet of what they’d already climbed. Huge slabs of granite and boulders replaced the trees.
Roni grabbed Selena’s hand and pulled her up next to her. They both bent over, supporting themselves on their knees and struggled to breathe.
“We . . . have . . . to be . . . close. Puller . . . find . . . go find.” Roni offered Selena a reassuring smile even though her legs felt like rubber and her lungs ached with the exertion.
While they worked on catching their breath in the thin mountain air, Puller scrambled up past them and disappeared. He was gone for several minutes before Roni heard a faint distant bark.
She looked at Selena and smiled. “He’s on to it. Let’s go.”
They took several more gulps of air and hurried to follow the dachshund. With each step, the danger of losing their footing and tumbling end over end down the mountain increased a hundredfold. A fall would ultimately be fatal. Roni concentrated on finding the best spot to place her next step and labored to put one foot in front of the other. She was so intent that she looked back in surprise when Selena yelled her name. She couldn’t speak. She could only throw a questioning look her way.
Selena pointed to the right. At first Roni didn’t see anything. Puller jumped out from behind a massive rock ledge, and she realized she was looking at the debris field. Pieces of the aircraft lay strewn about everywhere. How could anybody have survived this?
“Jesus,” she muttered as Selena moved past her.
Together they walked toward the ridge and rounded the slab. The tail of the plane lay stuck between two boulders farther uphill, brutally disconnected from the main fuselage. The right wing draped over the gaping cabin area while the left wing of the aircraft was nowhere in sight. She scanned the area for signs of life before following Selena.
“Oh shit.” Selena stopped about ten feet from the wreckage.
Two people, a man and a woman, lay in the front of the plane. From where they stood, Roni couldn’t make out if they were alive or dead. Nevertheless, they couldn’t get to them. The front of the plane balanced precariously over a rock outcrop. Any slight movement could cause a rock slide and send everything down the mountain at an insane speed.
“Stay here.” Roni tossed her hat to the ground. She yanked the coil of rope off her shoulder, took a deep breath, and struggled up the hill. She chose a boulder that was wedged between two others and looped an end of the rope around it. Then, skidding on her heels, she played the rope out as she worked her way down to where Selena stood.
“Roni, you can’t do that. It’s too dangerous.” Selena put a hand on Roni’s arm and squeezed tightly. “Let’s call air rescue and wait for assistance.” She yanked her GPS off her belt and sent a message.
“There’s no time! The wind’s picking up, and it’s the only way to get those people out.” She tied a length of rope around her waist, using a slipknot in case she needed to free herself quickly. “If you see the plane start to slide, grab as much slack as you can and yank me out, okay? I’d rather not do a free fall inside.” Roni shrugged out of her vest and dropped it to the ground. “Puller, stay here.”
Selena took a deep resigned breath, squared her shoulders, and braced her feet. “Please be careful.”
“You bet.” Roni picked her way toward the plane, each step cautious and calculated. As she held the coil in her left hand, she let slack out with her right. The clatter of small rocks and pebbles rolling downhill toward her was loud in her ears. She flinched with dread every time one hit the plane.
A sudden groan from inside the plane increased her anxiety. Six feet . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two. She peered through a giant slash in the skin and met terror-filled blue eyes.
“Please help me. My leg is stuck,” the young girl said.
“Don’t move. I’ll help you as quickly as possible, but I first have make sure the plane stays in one place.” Roni hoped her voice sounded reassuring. “Try not to move, okay?”
The girl nodded slowly, and Roni smiled at her. “I’ll be right back.”
She searched the wreckage, looking for one sturdy item to tie the rope onto. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, making her hyper-alert. If the plane shifted even an inch, she’d be hanging on for dear life. If she secured the plane too far forward it would spin around and empty everything and everybody out, effectively pitching them down the mountain. The back of the cabin was empty of debris. Loose seats, bags, and other stuff had piled against the cabin wall in front. The other walls were bare. Her eyes lit upon the heavy base of a plush seat that didn’t jar loose from the impact. She inched her way closer and scrutinized the stability of the passenger chair. The bolts seemed to be tight and the integrity of the plate holding it to the floor appeared good. Would it be enough? She didn’t have much time to weigh the options. She had to chance it.
She glanced back at Selena and indicated her intentions with her chin. Selena took a tighter hold onto the rope and leaned backward, ready to take her full weight if needed.
Twisted jagged metal protruded like dragon claws from where the tail should have been. A mere touch would cut deeply and draw blood in an instant. She painstakingly placed one foot inside the plane. The targeted seat was four feet away. It looked more like forty. Sweat broke out on her brow and streamed down her face. She steadied her
breathing and ignored the loud pounding of her heart. She slowly pulled her other foot inside. One more step would put her close enough.
Roni cocked her head and listened. Did I just feel the plane move? She deliberately slid her right foot even with the seat and bent over to fasten the rope around the base. The floor bent underneath her weight. Or did it shift? Movement inside, before she could secure the fuselage, would mean certain death for her and any current survivors within the aircraft. She blinked the sweat out of her eyes and tied another knot around the seat. She carefully spun to the one next to it. Thinking that lashing some rope around that one might make it a bit more stable, She confidently looped it as close to the floor as possible.
Suddenly the fuselage pitched forward. Thrown off balance, she dropped to her knees. The sickening grind of metal against rock drained the blood from her face. The plane was moving. She turned and gripped the rope tightly. She closed her eyes as the cabin tipped. Her heart broke at the panicked whimper from farther within.
“Hold on tight, sweetie!” she yelled over the shriek of noise.
The plane slid for what seemed like miles. It reached the end of the rope and jerked to a halt. She heard Selena screaming her name, and she crawled hand over hand on her knees until she emerged from the wreck. Over the deafening pounding of her heart, Puller barked anxiously but quieted when he saw her.
She had barely stood up on weak legs when Selena flew into her arms and hugged her tight. “Oh my God, Roni.”
“I’m fine. Come on, there’s a girl trapped in there.”
Selena let loose of her and wiped her face with her hands. Roni noted the haze of worry surrounding her eyes and squeezed her arm. “The hard part’s over. Let’s get those people out of there.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Selena replied, voice thick with emotion.
It didn’t take long to ascertain the condition of the passengers. The pilot had died instantly when the front of the plane crumpled and drove the propeller through the window of the cockpit. The male passenger was also dead, probably from internal injuries. Of the two survivors, the adult woman was the more serious. The resemblance between her and the trapped girl was remarkable. Roni assumed the woman, who remained unconscious, but stable, was the girl’s mother.
They carried the woman outside and laid her on the uneven ground. While Selena checked her vitals, Roni started an IV which she hung from a tree limb and then promptly returned to the girl.
“Sorry we took so long. We had to take care of your mom,” Roni said quietly. They’d purposely kept their voices low while checking for survivors, to avoid frightening the girl.
“Is she okay?”
Roni smiled reassuringly at the blonde, cherub-faced girl. After examining her as best she could, she was relieved to see she’d sustained only minor cuts in addition to her leg. “My friend Selena is helping her as we speak. My name’s Roni by the way. What’s yours?”
“Dana Abbott.”
“What’s your mom’s name?”
“Susan Abbott, but I call her mommy.”
Roni smiled. “Okay, Dana, let’s just see if we can get you out of there.” She cleared debris away from Dana so she could get to her. She looked around and found a seat cushion for the girl to lay her head on. “Before I can get your leg free, I need to give you some fluids so you don’t go into shock, okay?”
“Okay. Will it hurt?”
“Has anybody ever pinched you?” Dana nodded. “That’s what it’ll feel like, but the pain won’t last as long.”
“Okay.”
Roni dragged her medical bag in beside her. “How old are you?” She inserted the tubing into the Lactated Ringer’s solution and attached a needle to the end of it.
“Six and a half.”
“You’re pretty brave, Dana.” Roni hung the bag on a piece of jagged metal above her and ran fluid into the IV set. “Okay, can you straighten your arm out for me?” Dana lay back on the cushion and extended her left arm. After Roni wiped the inside of Dana’s elbow with an alcohol swab, she put a tourniquet on her biceps. “I’ll take that off as soon as I get the needle in.”
Dana watched Roni like a hawk, and her eyes didn’t waver at all as Roni tapped her arm to find a vein. “You don’t have to watch if you don’t want to.”
“It’s okay. I’ve had these before.” As if to put truth to those words, Roni looked closer and saw the telltale pock scars that IVs left behind. She checked for a medical bracelet but found none.
“Wow, I guess you have.” As gently as Roni could, she inserted the needle into a vein, removed the tourniquet, and opened the drip wide. After she wrapped tape followed by vet wrap around Dana’s arm, she sat back to assess the girl. “I’m going to listen to your chest and then see if you have any tenderness in your belly. If everything looks good, we’ll see about getting your leg unstuck.”
“I don’t hurt anywhere else. Just my leg.”
“That’s a good sign.” Roni couldn’t believe how lucid and stoic this little girl was. She liked her immediately. But she wondered why Dana hadn’t asked about the rest of the passengers. Maybe she already knew. “You’re a real pro at this IV stuff. Maybe I should have let you do it yourself.”
“I had a bad heart when I was born. But my doctor fixed the hole and made me better.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Selena joined them just as Roni pulled the stethoscope from her ears. “Dana, this is my friend Selena.”
“Hi, Dana, how’re you doing?”
“I’m better now. Roni’s taking care of me.”
Selena shared a knowing look with Roni. “You’re lucky. Roni’s very good at what she does, and I know for a fact that she’s really nice.”
Roni flashed a smile at Selena and then leaned over Dana. “Her leg is wedged between the seat and the wall of the plane. You must have slid around some, huh?”
“Yeah, it was pretty scary. Mommy and me were sitting in the back.”
“Dana said her mom’s name is Susan,” Roni told Selena.
Dana raised her eyes to Selena. “Is Mommy going to be okay?”
“I think she’s going to be just fine. She’s sleeping right now. Let’s get you out of here so you’re the first thing she sees when she wakes up.”
Roni touched Selena’s arm. “Think you can find a piece of sheared tree to use for leverage against this seat? I have a hatchet here.” She rooted in her bag and handed the tool over. Selena ducked out of the plane and returned quickly with a suitable hunk of wood.
They put it to use and pried the fuselage away from the trapped leg. Roni unhooked the IV and laid it on Dana’s chest. She slipped her hands under Dana’s arms and pulled while Selena supported the leg. In a few minutes they had the girl safely outside, set her near her mother, and hung her IV on the same limb.
Roni looked over to where Puller still sat on her vest. “Come!”
The dog shot toward her with a look of pure joy and bounced against her leg. His antics elicited a giggle from Dana.
“Careful now.” Roni squatted next to Dana, and Puller moved to sit by her side. “This is Dana, Puller. I need you to keep her company.” She grasped the girl’s hand and offered it to him to smell. He licked Dana’s fingers and snuggled into her armpit like they’d been friends forever.
“Good boy.” Roni looked at the bright smile on Dana’s face and instantly warmed. “Puller is our hero today. He’s the one that led us here to find you.”
Dana giggled again as Puller licked her nose. “He’s funny.”
“Yeah, he’s quite the comedian, all right.”
The sun suddenly disappeared as Selena finished applying Dana’s splint. “I don’t think it’s broken, but we’d better be safe than sorry, right?”
“Right.” Dana looked up and pointed. “Mommy’s eyes are open!”
Selena left Dana’s side to check the woman’s vitals again and adjust the flow of her fluids. “Hi, Susan. You’re going to be fine. Help is on the way. There�
�s someone here who wants to see you.”
She stepped out of the way as the two greeted each other and held hands.
She turned her gaze upward. “Roni, I don’t like the looks of this sky.”
“Me neither.” After discreetly covering the remains of the deceased men, Roni pawed through her medical bag and took out a green flare. Conscious of the volatile fumes of jet fuel, she walked a ways farther from the crash site and set it off, hoping the chopper pilot they were expecting could see from wherever he was.
Belatedly, she thought it would be a good idea to check the weather conditions to the west of the mountain. She carefully made her way over loose rocks that rolled and bounced downhill as she stepped. A thick cloud hid the mountain peak, and it appeared a fog was quickly descending toward the crash site. Until the weather cleared, there’d be no chopper heading their way. The flare was a waste of time. With a heavy sigh, she returned to break the news to Selena.
As she crept alongside a gigantic boulder, Selena was already walking toward her. Noting the look on her face and the GPS in her hand, she guessed Selena had received a message confirming her fears.
“I can tell from the look on your face, the weather isn’t much better on the other side.” Selena waved the GPS and sat down on a rock. “Air Rescue can’t make it until tomorrow morning after this crap clears out.”
Roni took a deep breath and blew it out between pursed lips. “How’s Susan? You think she’s stable enough to make it through the night?”
Selena stole a glance back at the two survivors lying side by side. Both were asleep and resting comfortably. “I’ve got plenty of morphine to last the night. If we can keep their hydration levels up, I think they’ll be fine. Dana can probably eat and drink, so we can slow her drip and have enough bags left to push more into her mother.”
“How about you take care of that, and I’ll set up camp.” Roni placed her hand on Selena’s thigh and squeezed before getting up. “Good work, Doc.” She extended her hand to help Selena up.
Selena chuckled as she accepted the help and smacked Roni on the butt as they moved back toward the plane.
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