Red Gold

by Sandy Nadeau

  “You want to go get it for us? I’m a bit slow goin’ these days. Pot’s on the counter, cups in the cupboard up above it.”

  “Sure, I’ll get it. Take anything in it?”

  “Black.”

  Mandy went in with a smile on her face. The man is finally starting to open up. “Lord,” she whispered, “help me to reach him.”

  The small home was neat and tidy. Knick-knacks were sparse and the main furniture was from the 70’s with its olive green tweed upholstery. Old brown shag carpet covered the floor. The home had an old musty smell to it. She went through to the kitchen, found the coffee cups, looped her finger through the handles and grabbed the pot. She went back out to the porch and poured him a cup.

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” She sat back down and drank from the cup she poured for herself.

  “Gotta have coffee with cookies.”

  She smiled. “It’s required.” After a few more minutes, Mandy turned to him. “Maybe you’d like to come for dinner some time.”

  Another grunt.

  “Come on. Wouldn’t it be nice to get to know us more? Then we could talk things out. It’s just dinner.”

  “Might be nice. Don’t cook much for myself these days.”

  “How about tomorrow night? Six o’clock?”

  “Fine.”

  Mr. Shonee grabbed another cookie as they finished their coffee listening to a Steller’s jay squawk in a nearby tree.

  19

  Mandy rode back to the ranch with hope, and prayed this would be the start of a good friendship.

  The clip-clop of Maggie’s hooves lulled Mandy into a deeper state of peace.

  The Carters were down at the pond. They talked and laughed together.

  The horse whinnied, and the family turned to see her dismount. One of the teen wranglers came over and took care of Maggie. Mandy thanked him and brushed the dust from her jeans.

  Jenny ran up to Mandy and hugged her. “Hi, Mandy.”

  “Hi, yourself. Did you get some rest?”

  “Yeah, I took a good nap. My bed felt so good. Dad wanted us to leave, but I think I talked him out of it. I don’t want to leave. I’m just not going to go out alone again. Ever.”

  Mandy laughed. “That’s good. I don’t want to look for you anymore. We need something else to do.”

  They both laughed as Rick and Connie joined them.

  “Hey, Mandy.” Rick seemed hesitant. “We want to thank you…and apologize. I’m sorry I got so angry at you and Jon. I know it wasn’t your doing, but I was just so afraid of what may have happened to my little girl.” He hooked his arm around Jenny’s neck and pulled her in for a kiss on top of her head.

  “I’m not little, Dad.” She looked up at him and grinned.

  Mandy placed her hand on Rick’s arm. “Don’t give it another thought. We totally understand. I would have reacted the same way. Jenny tells me you’re going to stick around for the remainder of your week. What would you think of a ride up into the mountains with Jon and me tomorrow morning? We’d like to give you some better memories than what you’ve had the last few days.”

  “Can we Dad, can we? Let’s do it. That would be so much fun.”

  “Sure.” Rick looked at Connie and grinned. “Let’s do it. That’s a good idea.” After a few more minutes of small talk, they went back to their cabin.

  Mandy looked up to the blue sky. “All things do work out for the glory of God and His good purpose.”

  Jon met her as she crossed the lot and gave her a hug. They headed to the office.

  Apparently, all the excitement and adventures were appealing to some people. Mandy looked up from the registration book. “I hope there won’t be any lasting ill feelings towards our place. Hopefully, memories of what Kane and Mark did here will soon be forgotten. We need to pray hard that they catch those two before they cause any more trouble.”

  They settled into their routine paperwork. The radio played calming inspirational music that soothed their souls and helped their attitudes.

  ****

  The receiver on top of the file cabinet crackled.

  “We need help,” a panicked voice screamed. “Is anyone there? Help!”

  “This is base,” Jon spoke in a calm tone, praying they had the means to help. “What’s going on?”

  “We’ve had a mountain lion attack. My buddy’s hurt bad. We need help.”

  “Oh my gosh.” Mandy jumped to her feet.

  Sue picked up the phone and called 911.

  Jon pressed the button on the side. “Where are you? Who is this?”

  “This is Frank Wilson. Cabin number five. Ken brought us up here fishing the river. Sam made his way around a rock outcropping and got jumped by a lion. We had to beat it off with rocks and sticks. The lion is gone, but Sam is bleeding pretty bad.”

  “Ok, give me your location and we’ll get help to you.”

  “Uh…I’m not sure what to tell you and Ken is trying to stop Sam’s bleeding. We came quite a ways up the forest service roads. We are at a bend in the river. I’m looking at a sharp pointed mountain to the east. We’ve walked quite a ways from the Jeep.”

  Jon looked to the women and kept his thumb off the button of the mike, “They are too far from the Jeep to get us the GPS coordinates. At least he took the hand radio with him. Sue, pull up the topographic map. We have to try to pinpoint their location. Mandy get any available staff ready to head up. We have to find them. And tell them to take their rifles.”

  Jon turned back and keyed the mike, “Frank, listen, we’re coming up. Tell me how far you think you went. Try to get Ken to tell you how far. And how serious is your buddy?”

  “He’s bleeding from his neck, head and arms. He’s conscious, but fades in and out. Ken and Evan are applying pressure to the cuts, but he’s in a bad way. We came up about five miles and took a road off to the southeast. I think it showed a number 385 on one of those brown posts.... Yeah. Ken says that’s right. What? OK, Ken says four miles up 385.”

  “We’re on our way. Keep the pressure on his injuries. We’ve got medical on its way.” Jon threw the hand mike back in its cradle.

  “Sue, they’re going to have to get a chopper up there. Call it back in. I think I know exactly where they are.” Jon’s finger traced the roads on the topographical map they kept in the office. He followed one of the forest service roads to the creek where they were probably fishing. The blue line on the map showed a sharp bend. “Here.”

  Mandy took note and called the dispatcher asking for emergency medical personnel and a helicopter.

  Jon ran out the door.

  At the barn, Tommy, Nate, and Phil had the Jeep Wagoneer loaded with the large medical bag, rifles and water. They tore out and headed up the forest service road out of camp.

  Jon drove since he knew about where they were.

  Nate navigated to make sure they didn’t miss the turn-off for the forest service road marked 385.

  They hadn’t had any mountain lion issues in years and attacks were rare. However, the cats were opportunistic and one always had to be aware of that danger. If they were concentrating on the fishing, they probably didn’t pay much attention to what might be behind them, or above them. Frank said Sam had just made his way alone around a rock outcropping. His movements must have enticed the cat to think he was prey.

  Jon’s heart pounded, and he prayed they’d get there in time.

  Nate leaned over and checked the odometer. “Should be about a mile more on our right.”

  Jon hit a rock that sent the vehicle up, and then slammed it back down. “Sorry.” Nate pointed ahead. “The river should come into view soon, and then another two miles to the likely location.”

  Jon parked next to the other Jeep.

  Tommy yanked the large red medical bag out, and flung it over his shoulder. Phil grabbed the backpack that he had loaded with bottles of water. It also held ropes and other miscellaneous things that could help in an emergency. All four
grabbed a rifle. Jon took the walkie-talkie and they headed over to the river’s edge.

  Jon keyed the radio, calling Frank.

  Static came over it then the frantic voice of the fisherman. “Yeah, are you close? We gotta get him some help. We spotted the lion again. It keeps pacing about fifty feet from us. It’s gone again, but you better get here fast.”

  “We’re almost to you. Hang on! Do what you can to look large, like pulling your jacket up above your head. Don’t look the cat in the eye if it gets close, and whatever you do, don’t run away.” Jon looked over his shoulder. “Come on, guys. They’ve got more trouble.”

  Hollering could be heard above the sound of the rushing river.

  Jon looked ahead and saw the men. One was throwing rocks towards the hillside. They could see the animal low to the ground and dodging the pelting rocks. The men were screaming at the lion.

  Nate pulled the strap of his rifle around and grabbed the gun, leveling it in the direction of the cat. He fired off a shot well above the heads of the men, to scare the animal away.

  The lion’s feet jerked. It looked in the direction of the approaching men, let out a blood-curdling scream, and made another attempt at heading for the men by the water’s edge.

  Nate fired off another shot, which missed its mark, but did cause the cat to run off towards the trees. Nate was ready to fire again when the cat disappeared.

  Jon made it to the injured man first.

  Tommy lowered the heavy red medical bag onto the ground and began to unzip it.

  Nate headed in the direction that the lion went to make sure it was gone. He fired one more shot into a tree near where the cat fled, just to ensure it kept going.

  “How’s he doing, Ken?” Jon knelt down to check the injuries.

  Frank sat on the other side by his friend’s knee.

  “Tough shape. Glad you got here or we might have all been in tough shape.” Ken kept his hands covering the bleeding gashes.

  Jon took the offered pads from Tommy and used those to apply pressure to the worst of the wounds on Sam’s head. Tommy checked the cuts on his arms that were thankfully superficial. Evan had a good hold on the worst one to lessen the bleeding. The deep scratches on Sam’s neck were bleeding badly so more compresses were placed on those.

  Nate took up the radio that lay next to Jon and called down to base. He checked his hand-held GPS unit and gave the coordinates.

  Sue’s voice crackled back over the radio. “Alpine Rescue is headed up.”

  It took a long ten minutes before the first volunteers of the rescue team arrived with a litter to get the injured man to an area where the helicopter could pick him up.

  “Keep the pressure on the wounds so he doesn’t bleed out on us.” Jon said, watching Alpine Rescue personnel as they came through the grasses.

  The team loaded the injured man into a basket stretcher. Once strapped in, they carried their charge to their vehicle, and then rushed him to the meadow where the helicopter could land safely.

  Jon knew they would take him to the trauma center in Denver.

  Two forest rangers arrived on the scene and took notes of what had happened. The rangers, armed with high powered rifles, headed off into the forest to search for the big cat.

  Jon and the guys helped get the distraught fishermen and gear up to the vehicles. Leaning on the hood of the Jeep, he drew them a crude map to show how to get to the hospital. “We’ll get all your gear back to your cabin. It’s going to be a long drive to the hospital, so be careful. Your cell phones will find a signal once you are back on the main road. Will you call us when you find out how he is?”

  “Yeah, we will. Thanks for your help. We’ve got to head down there, now.”

  Ken stepped up to them. “I’ll go with you. No sense trying to find the hospital on your own and you’re in no condition to drive after all this.” He got in the driver’s seat without waiting for agreement from the men.

  “Go. Stay in touch.” Jon slapped the fender wall of the vehicle.

  The three men drove off in the Jeep kicking up rock and dust as they went.

  The helicopter rose above the tree tops.

  “Wow,” Phil said. “Anyone remember the last time we heard a cougar attack around here?”

  “I sure don’t. There’s got to be something wrong with that cat to attack like that,” Tommy said.

  Jon scanned the edge of the forest for any sign of the animal or the rangers. “Well, let’s get back to camp. I’ve had enough excitement the last couple of days.”

  Jon radioed down to base to let them know they were on the way back.

  “Jon,” Sue’s voice returned on the radio. “I was just going to call. We’ve got a problem here.”

  “What now?” Jon asked in exasperation.

  “They spotted Kane and Mark in town. They were gassing up a truck when one of the deputies spotted them. They took off, but Jon, Kane had a gun and shot at the deputy. No one was hit, but the two could be headed back in this direction.”

  “Get everyone into lock down. Anyone outside, get to the cafeteria!”

  “Already did, but Jon, Mandy and Jenny went for a ride on the horses and she doesn’t have a radio.”

  “What?” Jon spun the four-door Jeep around so fast that the guys had to brace themselves to avoid slamming their heads into the side windows.

  20

  “Enjoying the ride?” Mandy turned back to Jenny.

  They had left the ranch on horseback and headed west.

  Barney ran alongside.

  “It’ll be quiet over this way now.”

  Connie had been hesitant to let her daughter go, but Jenny pleaded so hard, she relented.

  The horses clip-clopped down the path in rhythm with each other at a gentle pace, calming nerves that had been on edge for too long.

  “I hope everything is OK with that fisherman Jon went to help.”

  “The guys go out on several rescues every year.” Mandy spoke over her shoulder. “It’s not usually this serious. A fish hook in an arm or someone twists an ankle. Sometimes the rangers will call. We haven’t had a call on a lion in a long time. Not a real likely thing to have happen, so don’t worry about it. We’re going the opposite way, anyway.”

  “As long as I’m with you and Barney, I know I’ll be fine.”

  “I wanted to ride down this way and just peek over at Mr. Shonee’s property. I hope he’s all right. I feel so bad for him with what his son has done.”

  “I can’t believe you’d care after all the trouble he gives you.”

  “Sometimes, Jenny, you just have to look beyond a person’s actions and try to love them through God’s eyes instead of your own. It’s not always easy, but it’s important to try.”

  “I prayed a lot in that cave.”

  “Did you?” Mandy turned quickly in the saddle, leather creaking.

  “Yeah, I was so scared. I kept praying He would help me. It’s weird how it made me feel better.”

  “That’s the Holy Spirit holding on to you.”

  “The what?”

  “Jesus promised us a Helper. The Holy Spirit’s presence can get us through a lot of tough times. You just have to ask.”

  “I sure asked. I couldn’t stop thinking they’d leave me there and no one would ever find me again. But Barney stayed with me.”

  “I know he’s a great dog, but I’m still surprised he did that. He really likes you. I think God made sure you had a physical presence to know you were protected.”

  “It sure helped. I started thinking about what you and Jon said about Jesus being my friend and that He was with me always. Then there sat Barney keeping watch. It made me think that Jesus could be there, too. I felt a little better, then. Hey, there’s Mr. Shonee in his yard.”

  He had his cane raised in the air, and he appeared to be yelling at someone or something.

  “Let’s tie the horses over behind that rocky area. Something doesn’t feel right.”

  They got off thei
r horses and tied them to the bushes by a large, boulder-strewn area. Mandy peeked around the rocks towards the man’s property.

  Jenny joined her.

  “Barney, get over here,” Mandy demanded in a soft voice.

  The dog obeyed, content to sit near her legs.

  “There are some men walking from that shed in the back of his yard.”

  Jenny gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. “Mandy, that looks like Kane and Mark.”

  “Oh my. That is Mark, for sure. We’ve got to get the police. What are they doing there?”

  The men were carrying boxes from the shed to the back porch area. Kane marched over to his father after he slammed the box down, and started to yell. Then he pushed the old man down into a chair.

  Mandy’s back went stiff, tension gripped her shoulders. “I should have brought my radio. Jenny, you get back to the ranch and have Sue call the sheriff. I’m staying here. I want to make sure Mr. Shonee isn’t hurt.”

  “Mandy, no, come with me.” Jenny’s eyes were wide, fear etched deeply in her brow.

  “Jenny,” she grabbed the girl’s arms and looked into her eyes. “You need to go get help. Barney, you go with Jenny. Go, honey. God will be with you.”

  The dog whined.

  “Go, Jenny.”

  ****

  The racing Jeep kicked up dirt as he pulled up to the building.

  Sue came out of the office. “The police scanner said they have cars out searching for the men.”

  “Have Mandy and Jenny come back?”

  “No, they haven’t.”

  “Where did they go?”

  “She said they were going to ride west, away from where the cat had been seen.”

  Jon ran towards the corral. The Jeep wouldn’t make it far on the trail Mandy and Jenny had taken, so he had to take a horse. He mounted up and started towards the western trail.

  Jenny came riding down the trail, the horse in a fast trot. “Jon,” her voice rose, despite her being breathless. “Kane…Kane…and Mark are over at Mr. Shonee’s. Mandy stayed to watch what they’re doing.”

  “Go with Sue to call 911. Hurry.” Then he kicked the horse’s flanks and took off in a cloud of dust.