Take a Deep Breath (Lake of the Pines)

by Shar Dimick

  The phone rang twice on the other end before an operator picked up.

  “911, where is the location of your emergency?” a calm voice asked.

  “Yes, this is Liv Reynolds. My eight-year old daughter, Sara, is missing. She was out in the front yard of our cottage playing with her dog. I went out to check on her 20 minutes later and she’s nowhere to be found. We’ve looked everywhere for her. It’s not like her at all. I don’t have any idea where she could have gone. She knows better than to play near the water and we didn’t see any evidence of her on the beach near our dock. We think she wandered into the woods with her puppy and got turned around.” Liv related what she knew to the operator without taking a breath.

  “Okay, ma’am. Slow down a little. We’re here to help you and we’ll send a team out looking for her right away. Let me get a few things down first. What was she wearing? What does she look like?”

  Liv wracked her brain trying to picture what Sara was wearing. “She is about four feet, two inches tall and weighs around 70 pounds. She has on a hot pink t-shirt no wait that was yesterday.” Liv pictured her daughter gathering the sticks. “This morning she had on a yellow and pink flowered tank top and purple shorts with purple flip flops. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail. It’s medium brown in color and her eyes are blue. ” As Liv continued her voice steadied. “She was with her puppy – a fluffy white mixed breed – part terrier.”

  “Got it,” the operator then followed up asking for the exact location where she’d last seen Sara along with where Liv could be contacted. “Now, I want you to stay near the cottage in case she comes back home.”

  “Okay, I will.” A few moments later, she hung up. Cam stood behind her and put his arms around her as she leaned back into him sobbing.

  “This is my fault. I should’ve been watching her better. Ron was always on me about that.”

  “Stop, we’re not going to play the blame game. It won’t help find Sara.”

  “I feel so helpless.”

  Hannah pulled into the driveway. She quickly got out of the car and made her way to where Cam and Liv were standing.

  “I was at the camp store, when I heard one of the rangers say he heard on the scanner that a little girl and her dog were missing. The description sounded a lot like Sara. Please tell me it’s not.” By the looks on their faces, she knew it must be true.

  “Oh Gram, she was outside gathering sticks in her wagon one minute, and the next she was gone. It’s like she vanished into thin air.”

  “They’ll find her. The search and rescue team here is the best. Come on inside and I’ll make us some lemonade.”

  Liv collapsed into the rocking chair. She felt as if someone had knocked all the wind out of her. How could everything be so perfect one moment and so completely horrific the next? She thought. She wondered how she would make it through the next few minutes, hours, days or however long it took to find Sara. What if they didn’t find her or worse what if the found her and she was… Stop! She needed to distract herself from negative thinking and jumping to conclusions. She should call Ron and let him know what was going on with Sara, but the thought of his wrath and loathing towards her was more than she could stomach at the moment. He was in D.C. on business anyway, she rationalized. He couldn’t do anything from there, but worry. Besides, she didn’t know his hotel information. She’d call him when she knew more. Once they found her. If they found her… Once again her mind circled back to the negative. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  Cam came up behind her and rubbed her back as he talked to his father on his cell phone. A moment later he hung up.

  “Dad, my Uncle Roger, and their friend Eric Brunswick are headed down to the ranger station to see what they can do to help in the search for Sara. He’s going to talk to a couple of our neighbors on the way and get their help too.”

  “Thanks Cam, I appreciate their help more than you can know. I wish I could be searching for her too.”

  “The operator is right though. You need to be here in case she finds her way home.”

  “I know. Waiting has never been my strong suit.”

  “I’m going to go join the search party. I’ll stay here with you though, if you’d rather not be alone right now.”

  Liv looked stricken. She didn’t want Cam to go, but on the other hand, the more people out looking for Sara the sooner they’d find her. “No, you go. I want you to. I’ll be okay here with Gram.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you with any news.” He kissed her cheek before heading out the door. She heard the engine of his pickup turn over and the gravel crunch as he backed out of the driveway. Hannah returned with a tray of glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. She poured one for Liv and handed her the glass. Liv took a small sip. Hannah’s lemonade was the perfect blend of sweet and tart.

  “Did Cam leave?”

  “He went to join the search party.”

  “I’m sure they’ll find her soon.” Hannah took her granddaughter’s hands in her own. “Pray with me.”

  Liv nodded and bowed her head.

  “Lord, please help the rescue team find our sweet, little Sara and bring her home to us. Wherever she may be, please keep her safe and calm. We ask that you be with Liv and me as we wait for her return, knowing with you nothing is impossible. Amen.”

  “Amen.” Liv repeated. She rocked in the chair and closed her eyes a moment. She wished she could escape into sleep and wake up to find all of this had been a horrible nightmare. She sighed and got up from the chair.

  “I’m going to go take a walk around the cottage again.”

  “Okay, I’ll be here knitting if you need me.”

  Liv let herself out the front door and stood a moment on the porch. She wandered over to Sara’s wagon, looking for any clues as to where she might have gone. The red wagon was half-full of the stick’s she’d been gathering. Liv began to pick up a few more that were scattered around the yard. Pretty soon the wagon was overflowing with the sticks and branches. She pulled the load over to the wood pile behind the cottage and dumped it. Four loads later and except for the branches that were too heavy to move, the yard was clear of the storm debris. Liv rubbed the back of her neck. She was sweaty and dirty, but at least she’d kept herself from having an anxiety attack.

  She went back into the cottage. Her grandmother sat dosing in her knitting chair. Liv took a quick shower and returned to her favorite chair by the window. She sat and watched the lake, trying to make her mind go blank. It only takes minutes for a child to drown. Stop. She knows better than to go down to the lake alone. Stop. Someone must have taken her. The worst-case scenarios played over and over in her mind. The hours passed and still Sara hadn’t returned, nor had anyone called with news.

  “Come on Liv, let’s go sit on the back porch and get some fresh air.” Hannah joined her in front of the window. “I’ll go get us a plate of cookies and a deck of cards. We can play gin rummy while we wait for the good news.”

  “I really don’t feel like cards right now Gram.”

  “I know you don’t, but it’ll help keep your mind busy.”

  “Okay, I guess that’s a better plan than sitting here worrying myself into a panic.”

  “Good, I’ll meet you on the back porch.” Hannah disappeared into the other room to find the cards and pad of paper and pen to keep score, while Liv took a fresh pitcher of lemonade and their glasses with her to the picnic table on the porch. A few moments later Hannah appeared with a plate full of cookies and then dealt them each seven cards. Leave it to Gram, Liv thought. She always knows what to do. Lemonade, cookies and cards always makes everything better at least for a bit. Over the years Liv, her sisters and her grandmother had played thousands of hands of rummy, eating cookies and laughing away their problems.

  “Rummy!” Hannah laid her cards down. “That’s three in a row now, I think.”

  “Deal them again. I think I’ve gotten too rusty at this game.”

  Chapter Nine


  A crowd of search and rescue volunteers from the county stood in front of the ranger station waiting for directions from the team coordinator. Cam saw his dad and uncle standing at the back of the crowd and joined them.

  “Thanks for coming, Dad. I really appreciate it and so does Liv.”

  “I wouldn’t be anywhere else. We’ll find the little girl.” Max reassured his son.

  Cam nodded. “What’s going on? Have they started the search?” He gestured toward a tall, muscular man with a radio in his hand. He wore a bright yellow shirt with the words “Rescue” written in black across the front and a large backpack on his back. He had a serious expression on his face as he directed the people unloading equipment. He seemed to be the man in charge and it was obvious he knew what he was doing.

  “I’m not sure. We just got here a few minutes ago and they haven’t given us any direction yet. We need to get this show on the road though and bring that little girl home to her mother.”

  “I’m sure, they’re just trying to keep things organized so we don’t search one area three times and miss another area completely,” Roger put in.

  “You’re probably right,” Cam agreed with his uncle. “Where’s Mr. Brunswick?” Cam looked for his father’s best friend.

  “Right here Cam, I grabbed a couple of trail maps for us,” Eric said handing one to Cam. “You’re all grown up now. Please, call me Eric.”

  Cam glanced over the map. “Thanks Eric. I appreciate you coming to help with the search.”

  “We all want to find Sara. She couldn’t have wandered too far. Your dad said she’s only been gone an hour tops, right?”

  “Yeah, and every minute she’s gone is one too many.” Cam was getting agitated standing around. He wanted to find her now. He knew Sara had to be scared. Thinking of her alone in the woods, possibly hurt was twisting his gut. He couldn’t imagine the little girl out in the woods overnight by herself.

  A few minutes later the SAR leader brought two-fingers to his mouth and whistled to get the attention of the volunteers. “Okay. I know everyone is anxious to start looking for Sara. The best chance we have at finding her quickly is to stay organized. My name is Luke and I’ll be leading this search operation. I’ll be dividing you up into teams. We’ll split up to cover the various trails in the park first, and then we’ll make wider and wider passes from there until we find her. We’re going to start in this area.” Luke pointed to the map of the park that showed visitors the various hiking, mountain biking and snow mobile trails. “We’ll concentrate on the 100 acres of woods surrounding her family’s cottage where she was last seen. I’ll assign one of our trained SAR team members to each group of volunteers. Each team will have a backpack of first aid equipment and other survival essentials. While our mission is to find Sara, we need to stay safe ourselves and look out for each other as well. Each person will also have a radio, so you’re in constant communication with the command center. We’ll be using channel two. Also, if anyone from Sara’s family is here, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  Luke began to divide people up, hand out equipment and assign them to various search areas. Cam made his way through the crowd to talk to Luke. “Luke?”

  He turned around. “Yes?”

  “I’m Cameron Preston, a good friend of Sara’s family. Her mother and grandmother are waiting at the cottage in case Sara comes home. Her father is out of town on business. They’re the only family around right now, so I guess I’m the family representative.” Cam then went on to introduce Max, Roger and Eric.

  “It’s great to meet you.” Luke shook each of their hands. “Sorry it isn’t under different circumstances.”

  “Me too.”

  “You guys will be with me. We’re going to cover the side of the Horse Shoe trail that shoots off the Big Loop trail. We’ll do a line search from the middle of the trail. We’ll be looking for any traces of her foot prints, clothes, shoes, dog leash, or any clue that could lead us to her. We’ll blow these whistles and call her name as we slowly move up the trail. We want her to hear us and call back. Hopefully once she realized she was lost, she stayed put.”

  “Okay.” Cam nodded understanding.

  “We want to find her in daylight.” Luke continued to talk as they made their way to his Jeep and climbed in. “Her chances drop once night falls. The search becomes harder, but not impossible.”

  “I understand. So, what are our chances at finding her in the daylight?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Sometimes we find the lost person in a couple hours, other times it takes days. If she doesn’t get scared and hide or keep wandering, we should find her sooner.” Luke didn’t want to scare them, but he also didn’t believe in giving false hopes. He pulled into the parking lot of the Horse Shoe picnic area. The trail started behind the main shelter house. He handed each of the men a whistle. “That being said, I intend to find her today.”

  The saturated ground and fallen limbs from the storm made the search more difficult. The mud made the trails slippery and parts were washed out. The five men spread out and walked in a line, searching the trees, bushes and ground for any sign of Sara. Luke’s trained search dog, a muscular German Shepherd named Pogo sniffed the ground in front of them. He disappeared into the brush and came out again back and forth, back and forth. They blew their whistles and called to Sara.

  Cam wiped the sweat from his eyes. They’d searched the area almost four hours and hadn’t seen any sign of her. His calves burned as did his lungs. He couldn’t stop though, wouldn’t stop until he found Sara. The sun was high in the sky overhead. Cam guessed it was close to two o’clock in the afternoon. He heard a stick break on his right and called for Sara. He waited a moment, but heard no reply. They pressed forward trying not to get discouraged. Luke was methodical. They slowly and tediously searched an area before moving on. Sara was a smart girl, Cam told himself. He remembered her saying how she liked to hike with her mom. She explained to him how in second grade she learned about the ‘hug a tree’ rule. If she ever got separated from her mother, she was supposed to hug a tree until someone came and found her. He hoped in her panic she hadn’t forgotten what she learned.

  An hour later they came to the cut off where the Horse Shoe trail turned toward the west and the Big Loop trail veered off toward the east. The five men stood in the cross-roads to discuss their options and strategy. A huge oak tree lay in the middle of the path. The storm had blown the giant over, roots and all. The exhausted men leaned against it, drinking water as Luke radioed back to the command center to see if there was any news from the other teams about Sara and let them know what direction they were taking.

  “No one’s found her yet,” Luke told them. “Another group is coming up on the west side of the Horse Shoe trail, so we’ll head off toward the Big Loop. I’ve a good feeling about it.”

  Cam screwed the lid back on his water. “Let’s go, then.” He stood ready to resume the search.

  Luke assessed the other men, who looked a little more worn out than Cam.

  “Are you guys ready? Or do you want to rest a few more minutes?”

  “I’m good,” Max replied. “I can keep going a little while longer.”

  “Me too,” agreed Roger.

  “Eric?”

  “I’m ready too.” Eric seemed out of breath.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you to over-do it out here.”

  “Well, maybe I should rest a little longer.” Eric felt a little light headed.

  Cam walked over to where Eric was standing. He didn’t like the older man’s color. Eric’s shirt was soaked with sweat. “Do you feel dizzy?”

  “Maybe a little.” Eric sat back down on the fallen tree trunk.

  “Nauseated?”

  “A little,” Eric answered honestly.

  Cam looked in his eyes and pulled the skin up on Eric’s forearm. “I’m worried you may be on the verge of heat exhaustion.”

  “I agree,” Luke said joining Cam. “Have you take
n a first aid course?”

  “You could say that. I’m an M.D.” Cam laughed.

  “Great. That could come in handy. I’m a trained paramedic, but having a doctor on the team is definitely an asset.”

  “I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret or anything. I didn’t even think to mention it.”

  “Well it’s always good to know what the strengths of the team are so we can take advantage of them if needed.”

  “Makes sense, I wish I had more training in tracking right now though.” Cam turned back to Eric. His color was starting to improve a little. “Eric, I think you should stay here in the shade and rest. Here’s another bottle of water. Keep drinking to help get yourself rehydrated.”

  “I’ll stay with Eric,” Roger said. “I’m not in as good of shape as I used to be. When Eric’s ready, we’ll take the path back down and wait for you in the parking lot by the Jeep.”

  “What about you Dad? It’s pretty hot. Do you want to go back with these guys?” Cam asked.

  “Hell, no, let’s go find Sara.” Cam knew his father was in no better shape than his friends, but tended to let pride get in the way of common sense. Over the years Max let his pride get him in trouble, when he should have just quit and let it go.

  “Are you sure Dad? Uncle Roger may need your help getting Eric back down to the Jeep.” Cam offered his father an out without wounding the man’s pride.

  “Well, maybe it would be better for me to help Eric and Roger. I should go where I can help out the most,” Max agreed, already sitting back down on the fallen tree.

  “Okay, that’s settled.”

  “Ready?” Luke questioned.

  “Let’s go.”

  Luke whistled for Pogo and the three of them headed off towards the Big Loop. Humidity hung thick in the air making it harder to breathe. Both Cam and Luke were drenched in sweat, but continued to push through the underbrush, calling for Sara and then pausing to listen for a reply. About a mile and a half down the path, Pogo put his nose to the ground and began to wag his tail wildly.