by Sharon Dunn
Ezra stood in the raging water, holding on to Bruce’s upper body.
“Hurry, I can’t hold him much longer. His arm is trapped underneath a log,” he shouted above the roar of the river. “Find something you can use to wedge it off of him.”
Clarissa turned in a half circle, searching for a strong branch. She ran a short distance toward one, but quickly dismissed it—too weak. Bruce’s cries of agony pelted her ears. She dragged a crooked branch from beneath some thick underbrush and rushed back to the river.
Freezing water swirled around her as she waded in beside Ezra.
“Hold his head out of the water. I’ll lift the log off,” he told her.
Clarissa handed Ezra the stick and nestled her hands underneath Bruce’s head, lifting it above the rushing water. He opened his eyes, but no light of recognition shone in them when he looked at her. His skin was so pale it appeared almost translucent. His lips were blue.
Ezra stepped through the river, bending at the waist and feeling for Bruce’s arm and the log that pinned him down. He jabbed the branch into the water, then strained against it, groaning. “Now! Get him out now!”
Clarissa wrapped her arms around Bruce’s chest and pulled backward, nearly falling into the water herself. Ezra braced her back with his arm and then gripped Bruce. They dragged the man toward safety before collapsing on the rocky shore. Bruce took in a sputtering breath and turned to one side.
Ezra gazed up the hillside. “All of us need to get warmed up quickly. Let’s get back to the campsite. The others must have gone there already.”
Clarissa reached out to help Bruce to his feet, but his knees buckled as soon as he stood. Ezra slipped in beside the injured man and rested Bruce’s rubbery arm on his shoulder.
It took only seconds for the cold air to hit her skin. Her teeth chattered as they made their way up the hill. Finally, the camp came into view.
“I’ll build a fire. You take care of his arm. Do you know how to dress a wound?”
Clarissa nodded. “From first aid classes.”
Ezra was already racing around the camp, pulling his pack out of the tent and slipping into a fresh flannel shirt.
Clarissa saw no sign of Jan or Ken or Leonard. Where could they be? The camp looked out of order. One of the tents was missing, maybe blown away by the storm. Another had collapsed.
Bruce groaned in pain, and Clarissa drew her attention back to him. He held his arm protectively against his chest. She poked her head inside one of the tents, which looked relatively dry. “Bruce, can you get in here to stay warm?”
While he crawled into it, Ezra pulled a tarp out of his tent. “Help me get this up so we can get out of the rain and build a fire,” he told Clarissa.
They worked quickly, grabbing sturdy sticks to prop up the tarp. He dashed in and out of the camp, piling up wood and kindling. “Some of this will be dry enough to burn.” He pulled items from his pack. “We need to find anything dry that will burn. Any kind of paper.”
After she helped Ezra find kindling, Clarissa grabbed a piece of cloth and some string from her pack. When she glanced up again at Ezra, he had a fledgling fire started.
“It’s kind of hard. Everything is so wet.”
She nodded in understanding, then called out toward the tent where she’d left their patient. “Bruce, we got a fire started, and a tarp set up so we’ll be out of the rain. Come on out, and I can put your arm in a sling.” At least she hoped she could. She’d done something like this only once, in a first aid class.
Bruce poked his head out of the tent, pressed his lips together and nodded. He crawled out, and Clarissa was pleased to note that he’d started to get a little color back into his face. “I’ve got a cut on my leg, too,” he said.
She touched his arm as gently as she could. His body jerked and he let out a groan. Her hands were trembling from cold as she draped the cord around his neck and tied it through a hole she’d punched in the cloth.
“Let me see the cut on your leg,” she said.
Bruce lifted his pant leg. Clarissa winced when she saw the gash. She located the first aid kit, put disinfectant on the cut and covered it with gauze and medical tape.
She helped Bruce to his feet and settled him in front of the fire.
“Stay close to the heat. Get dried out.” She patted his shoulder. He nodded.
She felt the weight of a blanket settling on her shoulders, and Ezra leaning close and whispering in her ear. “Now get yourself warmed up.”
She settled down beside Bruce while Ezra disappeared into the trees and returned with more wood. He tossed it beside the fire. “Once we get it going strong, we can throw some of that damper wood on.” He knelt and held his hands closer to the flames.
“Where is everybody?” Bruce’s voice was weak.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure what happened here.”
Clarissa detected the tension woven into Ezra’s words. His sideways glance toward her made her wonder if the reason for the others’ disappearance wasn’t the storm, but something more sinister. Something connected to her.
* * *
Ezra allowed the heat from the flames to surround him. His pants were soaked, and he was still shivering. There were a hundred things he needed to do, but he would be no good to anyone if hypothermia overtook him. His mind raced. He wasn’t sure about Leonard, but Jan and Ken should have been at the camp. So where were they?
He couldn’t focus on the disaster that was behind him. He needed to put his energy into pulling things back together. He needed to find the other members of the group. Clearly, Bruce couldn’t continue the journey. And they all might need to be going home. The first step was to get some help on the way with the satellite phone.
Bruce lay down close to the fire and nodded off. The rain had turned into a drizzle.
Clarissa patted the sleeping man’s shoulder. “He’s been through a lot.”
“We all have. This was certainly not what was on the itinerary.”
She stared at the disaster that had been their camp, a sad and bewildered expression on her face. She drew the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
If it hadn’t been for Clarissa showing up when she did, he might not have been able to save Bruce. “Thanks for helping me back there.”
She stared at the fire. “It’s what anyone would have done.”
“Guess I’m glad you left that shelter after I told you not to.” That much was true...but it led to the question he wished he didn’t have to ask. “Where were you headed?”
She opened her mouth as though to say something, but then turned sideways, pulling the blanket tighter around her. She focused on the flames, touching the back of her neck delicately, and then looked out into the distance.
“You weren’t thinking about taking off on your own, were you?”
She stared down at her hands. “I’ve been so much trouble already.”
Ezra leaned toward her, taking her face in his hands. “I meant what I said. We decide as a group how to deal with your problem.”
She cupped her fingers over his, the warmth of her touch seeping through his skin. The furrow between her brows indicated he still hadn’t got through to her.
If kindness didn’t work, maybe he could scare her into not bolting. “You’ll die out there by yourself.” Or guilt her into staying. “I don’t want that on my conscience.” His hand pressed against her cheek and he brushed away a strand of wet hair. The look of disbelief remained on her face.
He moved back. “Look, we might not be staying out here, depending on what condition Jan and Ken and Leonard are in when I find them. First things first. I’ve got to get on that satellite phone and get some help for Bruce.”
Ezra stuck his head back in his tent. The phone wasn’t there.
Clarissa must hav
e picked up on his alarm when he poked his head back out. “Is something wrong?”
He looked all around the area. Rain pattered on his skin as he surveyed the campsite. The phone was not anywhere. He didn’t want to scare Clarissa, so he decided to keep the news to himself for now. In the meantime, he had to think in terms of getting everyone to a safe place, which was proving to be harder by the minute.
“I’m going to do a quick survey around here and down by the river to see if I can find the others, or at least figure out where they went.” And search some more for the satellite phone. He pulled a meal packet from his pack. “You should focus on eating something and getting food into Bruce.”
“How long will you be gone?” Clarissa’s voice was tinged with fear.
“Less than an hour.” He moved toward her. “I do need you to stay put this time.”
Ezra walked the perimeter of the camp in widening circles. The only sign he found of the others was a canteen that must have fallen from one of the packs. So they had headed uphill, maybe seeking better shelter. From his trained perspective the move was a foolish one. Once the storm was raging, the smart thing to do would be to hunker down in the camp, not hope to find something better when you didn’t know the lay of the land. But Ken and Jan hadn’t had that training. Was it possible that they had panicked and taken the satellite phone with them?
Ezra picked up the canteen and turned it over. He wondered, too, if something or someone had driven them out of the camp. They’d taken their packs, but left tents and sleeping bags behind, signs of a hurried retreat.
He walked down to the river to the last place he’d seen Leonard. He found no sign of the older man. When he returned to camp, Bruce was sitting up and shoveling a plateful of beans into his mouth. The color had returned to his skin and he seemed alert.
“I’ve got some hot food if you want.” Clarissa stirred the pot on the fire. “It’s just rehydrated beans with some kind of mystery meat in it.”
Ezra grabbed a tin plate. She filled it with several spoonfuls of beans.
“No sign of them?” she asked. He could tell she was trying not to sound worried.
“I think they may have headed uphill.” He glanced around, pushing down the growing anxiety. “Why, I don’t know.”
“Maybe they got scared when that storm came up.” She spooned out some food for herself. Her movements were quick and jerky. She was on edge, too. Maybe they were both thinking the same thing. That it wasn’t the storm that had driven Jan and Ken, and maybe even Leonard, out of the camp.
Ezra addressed his question to Bruce. “Did you see the others at all?”
Bruce rested his spoon on the edge of the plate. “I heard Leonard calling for me. We never caught up with each other.” He shook his head. “My big mistake was that I kept trying to catch fish even after the storm got so bad. That’s why I fell into the river.”
Bruce had beaten himself up enough over the accident. What he needed now was encouragement so he wouldn’t stay in that place of condemnation. “This storm wasn’t even a factor when I checked the seven-day forecast,” Ezra told him. “It’s not something we could plan for and certainly not something I adequately prepared you for.”
They ate, then packed up what they could carry, leaving several of the tents behind in case the others came back and needed them. At this point they were closer to the lodge than the trailhead and the van. Ezra had decided to lead them up the trail toward the lodge, searching for the others along the way. Once they reached the lodge, they could radio for a helicopter for Bruce. With any luck, Ezra wouldn’t also have to be asking for a search party for three people.
* * *
By early evening, fatigue set into Clarissa’s legs. Bruce seemed to be slowing down, as well. He favored the leg that had the cut on it. They’d hiked at a steady pace, stopping as little as possible. When he did call for a break, Ezra would leave the trail to search for Jan and the others. In all, he’d probably hiked twice as much as she and Bruce had. He left cloth markers ripped from Jan and Ken’s distinctive yellow tent on trees, so if the others were behind them, they would know Ezra had come this way.
Clarissa hooked her thumbs under the straps of her pack and quickened her pace to catch up with Ezra. “Should we be stopping to make camp soon?”
He paused and stared at the sky. “I’d like to press on for a long as we can.”
He hadn’t said much since breaking camp, and when he did, he kept his comments positive. She appreciated how he was trying to keep up morale, but the weight of the worry he carried was evident in his demeanor. His silence spoke volumes about how grave he thought the situation was.
Ezra had a sort of inner core of strength she had never encountered in a man before. His fortitude boosted her confidence that everything would turn out right and kept her own worry at bay.
They hiked until hours past dark. Finally, it was clear that Bruce, worn out from his accident and the pain of his injuries, could not continue.
“Most everything is still wet from the storm,” Ezra reminded them. “We’ll dry it out overnight, and you guys will have an impromptu lesson in building shelters from your surroundings.”
Once the shelter was up and the fire started, Ezra grabbed a flashlight from his pack.
“Are you going out searching some more?” Clarissa rose to her feet. He shouldn’t have to carry this load alone.
He seemed pensive. “Thought I’d give a quick look around and see if I can set some rabbit traps.”
“Two sets of eyes are better than one,” she said.
“I can handle cooking dinner.” Bruce pulled open his pack. “I can at least be useful in that way.”
The flames danced across Ezra’s face as he considered her proposition. “All right, come with me. Does your flashlight still work?”
She retrieved it and followed him into the thick forest. They walked side by side.
“How far are we from the lodge?”
“We got a late start today. I’d say a long day’s hike from here. We’ll leave at first light. Bruce is cooking up the last of the rations tonight. Empty stomachs will only slow us down. If we can catch something tonight, we won’t have to stop along the way.”
They stepped into a part of the forest with a lot of brush. He showed her how to build a twitch-up snare to catch rabbits and other small game.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said. “You pick a spot where you think the rabbits might be and build a trap.”
She smiled at him. “You just never stop being the teacher, do you?”
His voice became serious. “It’s not a lesson at this point, Clarissa. We’re in the midst of a real-life survival situation.”
She’d tried to lighten the mood, but he’d spoken the words that had flirted around the corners of her mind all day.
He rested a hand on her shoulder. “While you do that, I’m going to have a look around. See if there’s any sign that the others came this way. I won’t go far.”
Clarissa listened to Ezra’s footsteps fade as she worked in the waning light to tie the parachute cord and bend the branch that served as a trigger mechanism. Wind rushed through the trees, and she could hear the sound of her own breathing.
She clicked on the flashlight, placed it in her mouth and focused it on the knot she struggled to tie. When she looked up it was even darker. Silence fell like a heavy shroud around her.
Ezra should have been back by now. She rose to her feet, her heart fluttering in her chest. She stepped in the direction he’d gone and then paused, remembering her promise to wait where he’d left her. A gust of wind rushed over the grass as she watched the darkening trees.
Maybe it was some primitive instinct kicking in, but the forest at night held a foreboding feeling for Clarissa. A chill ran over her skin as she had the sense that she was being watched.
“Ezra?” She waited. The sound of her own breathing surrounded her, seemingly louder in the tense silence. She turned in a half circle, waiting for him to emerge through the trees.
She returned to check her snare, focusing her energy on something that would help get her mind off the fear. Ezra should be back any minute.
She checked the tension of her string. A cracking sound reached her ears, a branch breaking.
Clarissa shot to her feet, uttering Ezra’s name again. If he didn’t answer this time, she’d leave. She wasn’t going to wait around here any longer. He’d figure out that she’d headed back to camp.
She strode toward the tree line and entered the thick evergreens. Moments later she heard footsteps to one side. She saw a flash of Ezra’s plaid shirt before he stepped out onto the trail.
“Hey,” he said, then reached out for her. He must have seen the fear in her expression.
She pulled away from him. “What took you so long?”
“I kept looking, thinking I’d find some sign of them. I lost track of time.”
“You shouldn’t have left me alone out there.” She was defensive, but the quaver in her voice gave away how afraid she’d been.
He stepped closer to her. “I’m sorry. I know that the forest at night can be kind of scary for someone who doesn’t spend a lot of time in it.”
The warmth in his voice comforted her. “We should have met back at camp.” She crossed her arms over her chest, still maintaining a tone of offense, though she felt herself weakening.
“I won’t ever put you in a dangerous situation or give you something you can’t handle. You’re stronger than you know, Clarissa.” He patted her back and rested a hand on her shoulder.
She tilted her head to meet his gaze. Even as the heat of his touch soaked through to her bones, her heart retreated, running a hundred miles an hour. She reminded herself that men never meant what they said. Men broke their promises.