“You aren’t to blame, either,” she told the girl.
Darya looked to her daughter. “Did they say anything at all about the shaman or the Tlingits?”
Natasha shook her head and began to cry. She rushed to her mother’s arms. “I’m so sorry, Mama. I didn’t watch over her like you told me to. I was playing with Kjerstin and the kittens. It’s all my fault.”
“No, Zee is right. Illiyana and Britta made the foolish choice to disobey. I wish you had kept a better eye on her, but you had no reason to think they would put themselves in danger.” She hugged the child close. “Illiyana knows it was wrong to run off like that.”
“I’m scared for them, Mama.”
Darya looked over her child to Zee. The worried mother’s expression was more than Zee could bear. “You know,” she began, “when I am afraid, I like to talk to God. He always makes me feel better.”
“Britta! Britta where are you?” Illiyana screamed.
Hearing her friend, Britta wanted to answer, but the wind had been knocked from her lungs. She gasped and fought to draw a breath, and just when she was certain that death was about to take her, Britta felt the tiniest bit of air enter.
“Britta!” Illiyana continued to call out.
When she could finally draw a deeper breath, Britta yelled. “I’m down here!” She wasn’t sure where that was exactly, but she knew she had fallen what seemed to be a long ways.
“Are you hurt?”
Assessing the pain in her body, Britta was fairly certain her leg was broken. “I can’t walk, it hurts too much.”
Illiyana’s voice grew louder. “Are you down there?”
Britta nodded but then realized Illiyana couldn’t see her. “You sound very close now. I went over the side. It was like the dirt just fell apart and the side caved in.”
“Can you climb back up?”
“No.” Britta tried her weight again on the left leg. A flash of pain moved up her leg and nearly caused her to cry out.
“Then we need help. I’ll have to go back to your house.”
“But how will you find it in the rain and dark? We couldn’t even see the trail.”
Illiyana said nothing for a few minutes. “I guess I could wait until it gets light, but what if you fall again?”
Britta sat down and snugged up against the rock and dirt. “I’m not going to move. I can’t see where I am and it would be too dangerous.”
“I can walk really slow on the trail. If I feel the ground get rough or the trees get in my way, I’ll know I’m getting off on the side. It’s a lot easier going down than up, so maybe it will only take a little time.”
“But I don’t want you to leave me alone,” Britta cried. “It’s so dark and cold.” She began to shiver again. Her teeth chattered wildly.
“You won’t be alone,” Illiyana declared. “Remember what your mama said about how God is always with us—that He has angels watching over us?”
She did remember. Her mother was always talking about how faithful God was and how He was with you no matter the circumstance in life. Was He really there with her right now? Were there angels beside her, as well?”
“You won’t be gone very long?”
Illiyana said nothing for a moment and Britta feared she’d already gone. “Illiyana?”
“I’m here. I was just praying.”
Britta hugged her arms close. “I’m gonna pray, too.”
“There isn’t any sign of them,” Dalton said, shaking his head.
“Well, at least the rain has let up. Maybe the skies will clear and we’ll get a little moonlight to help us.”
“This part of the forest is too thick. It won’t help that much.” Dalton put the lantern down. “I just don’t see how they could have gotten this far anyway. We’ve been searching almost three hours now. We’ve covered a lot more territory than a couple of little girls could have done in the dark. Maybe we missed a place where they headed into the trees. Maybe they decided to seek shelter.”
“Or maybe they went the other way,” Yuri said with a shrug. He shouldered his rifle. “They might have remembered hearing that the summer camp was left at the fork. Our sisters are very smart. They have a way of picking up information even when we don’t think they’re listening.”
“Well, they were foolish enough to head out here,” Dalton replied. Just then he heard something. It sounded like a muffled mew. “What was that?”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
Dalton picked up his lantern and held it high. He walked a few feet up the trail and strained to listen again. There was nothing. “I thought I heard …” He fell silent. “There, I heard it again.”
“I heard it, too,” Yuri confirmed. “Illiyana! Britta!”
Dalton shouted their names, as well. The sound was coming from higher up the trail. “Britta!”
“Help me!” a voice cried back. It was barely audible, but it was clearly one of the girls.
Yuri and Dalton bounded up the trail, hardly paying attention to their footing. Several times they slipped and fell in the mud, but somehow both managed to avoid serious injury.
“Illiyana, it’s Yuri! Where are you?”
“I’m here,” she answered in a weak voice.
The men stopped and listened. “Keep talking to me, Illiyana,” Yuri insisted. “I’m coming for you, but I can’t see you. Can you see my light?” He held his lantern high and Dalton did likewise.
“I can see some light,” she answered. The excitement in her voice was clear.
“Is Britta with you?” Dalton questioned as he and Yuri continued toward the sound of the child’s voice.
“No.”
His heart sank. “Where is she, Illiyana?”
“She fell off the mountain.”
Dalton stopped short. “Where, Illiyana?”
The child’s voice was louder now. “I see your light. I see it!”
Just then Yuri spotted her. “There she is!” He rushed up the trail and knelt down before his sister. He handed Dalton the lantern as he drew near. Picking Illiyana up, Yuri cradled her in his arms. “Where is Britta? Can you show us the way?”
“I don’t know. We were up there,” Illiyana replied. “I’m so tired, Yuri.”
“She’s freezing,” he told Dalton. “She’s soaked to the bone. Get the blanket from my back.”
Dalton quickly did as he instructed. He put both lanterns on the ground, but all the while he worked to coax more information from the girl. “Illiyana, we have to find my sister. We need your help.”
“When she fell, I told her I’d get help. She hurt her leg.”
“How long ago was that, sweetheart?” Dalton asked, wrapping the blanket around her.
“Not long.”
Yuri secured the wool tight. “We should start a fire.”
“We need to let my father and Josh know we’ve found her.”
Dalton reached over his shoulder and grabbed his rifle from its scabbard. He took a few steps away and fired twice into the night air.
To his surprise, two more shots sounded. They weren’t that far away. Perhaps his father and Josh had found nothing and had turned back to join Yuri and Dalton on their search.
“I’ll get some wood. Sounds like they’ll be joining us shortly. If we have a big enough blaze going, we can get Illiyana warmed up and then maybe she can help us find Britta.”
Dalton didn’t like waiting to search for his sister, but he knew that if they weren’t careful, hypothermia would set in and Illiyana would die. Of course, Britta would be just as cold and wet, he told himself.
Searching under old fallen logs, Dalton found some fairly dry kindling. He tucked this inside his coat, then walked a little deeper into the woods to see what other fuel he might find. He was just emerging with an armload when he heard Yuri pleading with his sister.
“Wake up, Illiyana. Don’t go to sleep. It’s too cold to sleep here.” He was rocking her and patting her face to get her attention.
“I’ll have the fire started in just a minute,” Dalton said, dropping the wood on the soggy ground. He knelt, feeling the damp cold permeate the knees of his trousers. With trained skill, he managed to coax the fire to life.
Yuri squatted down with his sister as the logs caught and blazed up. “See, Illiyana, we will get you warm now.”
“Dalton! Yuri!” Dalton heard from somewhere down the trail.
Getting to his feet, he called, “We’re up here, Father. Keep coming up the trail.”
“Did you find them?”
“We have Illiyana, but she says Britta fell over the side. We aren’t sure where.” His father said nothing more, and Dalton cast a quick glance down at Yuri and purposefully remained silent about Britta injuring her leg. “I’ll go meet them. We’ll bring more wood.”
He headed down the trail, lantern in hand. It wasn’t long before he saw the ominous shadows of lamplight glowing and ripping through the branches of dark spruce. “I see your light.”
“And we see yours.”
In just a few more minutes, Kjell and Josh appeared on the trail just ahead of Dalton. His father was limping rather obviously.
“What happened?” Dalton asked, pointing to his father’s right leg.
“I caught my foot in an old root,” he replied in disgust. “I twisted my knee. Where’s Illiyana?”
“She’s with Yuri. She’s soaked and freezing. We got a fire going, but we need more wood. She doesn’t know where Britta is, except that she is somewhere up the trail farther.”
Father nodded. The men quickly grabbed what free branches they could find. Some were wetter than others, but with careful choices, they worked to uncover some pieces that were fairly dry.
They came back to the fire to find Illiyana barely awake in Yuri’s arms. “I don’t think she’s getting any warmer,” Yuri told them.
“She’s still shivering horribly.”
“You should get her out of the wet clothes and rewrap her in a dry blanket,” Father declared.
“I’m going on up to look for Britta,” Dalton told his father.
“Why don’t we get Illiyana changed, and then Josh can take her back down to the house.” Kjell looked to his friend. “Would you do that?”
“Of course.” Joshua looked to Yuri. “If that’s okay with you. If you’d rather take her, I can stay and help.”
“No, I want to help find Britta,” Yuri said, meeting Dalton’s gaze. “She’s like a sister to me, as well.”
With the decision made, the men quickly went to work. Kjell built up the fire while Yuri got Illiyana changed. Yuri took off his coat and then pulled the shirt over his head. “I’ll dress her in this.”
Once she was cared for, Josh lifted her into his arms. “I’ll get her back as quickly as I can, but it won’t be easy without light. I doubt I can balance the lantern and her at the same time.”
Dalton could see that his father wasn’t doing at all well. He was in pain and needed to get out of the damp cold. Reaching out, Dalton touched Kjell’s arm. “You go with him. I’ll find Britta. I promise you that. You know the way better than anyone.”
“I can’t just leave,” his father protested. “She’s my child.”
“I know,” Dalton replied, “and my sister. Look, Yuri and I are better able to scale down the side if need be. Go ahead with Josh and see Illiyana safe.” He made no reference to his father’s physical condition. He didn’t need to.
Father considered the situation for a moment and finally nodded. “I’ll be back as quick as I can.”
“Hopefully we’ll make it back down before you even start back.”
Dalton knew it had been a hard decision to accept. His father wasn’t as strong as he used to be. Working with him on the house had proven that. Dalton didn’t like to think of Father aging. The man had done heavy labor all of his life, however, and it had taken its toll. He didn’t want him risking his life to rescue Britta. If something serious happened to harm his father, they would all be much the worse for it.
When Illiyana was safely on her way back to the house, Dalton and Yuri quickly made their way up the trail. They called out periodically for Britta, but heard no response. Yuri knew time was of the essence. They had to find her soon. If she was injured, she might well be bleeding. Dalton appeared further frustrated when the path split in two different directions.
“Which way did they go?”
Yuri searched the ground with his friend. “There are signs of footprints going both directions. Maybe they got confused here and tried both ways.”
“We’ve got no choice. You go to the left and I’ll go right. It can’t be that far,” Dalton declared.
“All right.” Yuri did as Dalton had instructed. He knew this was agonizing to his friend. Only moments ago, when Illiyana had been missing, Yuri felt as though he might go out of his mind. He had such a helpless feeling knowing that the girls were out there somewhere, in danger.
“Britta!” Yuri called out as he moved along the trail. Holding the lantern up, he could see where the path came closer to the edge of a sheer drop. He looked for signs of a disturbance, but saw nothing.
Moving ahead, he continued to scan the sides. “Britta, it’s Yuri! Are you here?”
“Yuri?”
The voice was muffled. He stopped. “Britta, where are you?”
“I fell, Yuri. I’m down here.”
He looked along the edge of the path and moved closer to the side of the mountain. “Keep talking to me, Britta. I can follow your voice.”
“I hurt my leg,” she told him. “I think it’s broken.”
Yuri pinpointed the sound and followed it. He held the lantern toward the side and could see where the ground had been freshly torn away. Getting on his stomach, he edged closer, not knowing how stable the earth might be.
“Britta, can you see my light?” He held the lantern over the side and peered down. There, about eight feet below him on a small ledge of rock and mud, Britta was huddled in pain.
“I see you. Don’t move,” Yuri commanded. He reached for his rope. “I’m going to make a loop in this rope, Britta. When I throw it down to you, you need to pull it over your head and under your arms. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you, Yuri.”
He tied one end of the rope off around the base of a spruce on the opposite side of the path. That way if the ground gave way as he worked to pull Britta up, they would still be secured to something stable.
“Here it comes now, Britta.” He positioned the lantern so he could see. It was difficult, but he managed to drop the rope straight down to the child. “Now put it around you. While you do that, I’m going to fire my rifle off to let Dalton know I found you.”
Britta maneuvered the rope over her head and under her arms. Yuri quickly took up the rifle and fired two shots. No doubt, Dalton would be there in no time at all.
“I’m ready,” Britta called, her voice weak and trembling.
“Now, I know one of your legs is hurt, but you need to stand. When I pull on the rope, you need to try to walk up the side of the mountain. Otherwise, you’ll get all cut up as I pull you to the top. Do you understand?”
She struggled to her feet. “I’ll try, but it really hurts.”
“I know, sweetheart. Look, the pain will only last for a few minutes. As I pull, you can even kind of bounce yourself up on your good leg. Now, get ready. Here we go.”
He pulled against the rope and found it surprisingly easy to raise her. She couldn’t have weighed more than fifty pounds. He heard her cry out, but she didn’t ask him to stop, and Yuri knew she was nearly to the top.
When he saw her head appear, he held the rope fast and moved his hand down. “Grab hold of me.”
She did as he told her, and Yuri pulled her the rest of the way up. Rolling to the side on the water-soaked ground, he pulled Britta atop him. “There. You’re safe.”
Britta wrapped her arms around his neck and began to cry. “I love you, Yuri. You saved me.”
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“Yuri! Britta!” Dalton called.
“We’re here,” Yuri said, struggling to sit up with Britta in his arms. He got to his feet just as Dalton came into the light.
“Britta!” He rushed to take her in his arms.
“Yuri saved me,” she told him. “He pulled me up the mountain.”
Dalton threw Yuri a look of gratitude. “I know. He’s a pretty special guy, isn’t he?”
Britta nodded and closed her eyes. “I’m going to marry him someday.”
“It’s not broken,” Zee said after examining Britta’s leg. “It’s just a bad twist in the ankle. You are very lucky, Miss Britta. You, too, Kjell. That knee is swollen, but I think if you stay off of it, you’ll heal quickly.”
“I don’t guess I have much of a choice.” He glanced up to see Lydia watching him. “Do I?”
“You don’t. You’ll be a very good patient,” she replied, “even if I have to tie you down.”
“Yuri saved me,” Britta said, ignoring her mother’s comment. She smiled at her hero. “He was so brave.”
“Indeed, he was,” Lydia replied. “Thank you so much for what you did.”
“I was glad to help.” He looked over to where his mother and father sat with Illiyana. “It certainly made for an exciting evening.”
“Having the girls back safe and sound is the best news possible,” Darya declared.
“Well, if everyone is hungry,” Zee announced, “I believe we have dinner ready.”
“I’m starving,” Britta said. “Next time I go on a hike, I’m taking food with me.”
“There will be no next time, young lady,” her father asserted.
“Do you understand? You are never again to go off by yourself like that.”
Britta bowed her head and nodded. “I understand. We just didn’t want Illiyana to go away.”
Darya hugged Illiyana close. “You both could have died. I’m sorry that we must leave, but you will always be good friends. Distance won’t change that, unless you let it.”
Chapter 29
Apr il 1890
While his mother and wife put the finishing touches on the surprise birthday party for Joshua, Dalton went to town to work out his business arrangement with Yuri and his father. Mr. Belikov was listening to his son with such tenderness and compassion that Dalton found himself humbled. Had the man been more loving and less judgmental when Yuri was younger, perhaps things wouldn’t have gotten this bad for Yuri.
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