He called the other two men over and showed them the south side of the trees, the staple, and the remains of the object he found in the brook. They all walked back to the driveway area of the mansion and gave that a hard look too. Clear as day there were tracks from tires that appeared to skid somewhat at the bottom of the driveway. “Looks like he took off in a hurry,” Buck said. “Let’s measure the tire marks and the width and see if that will tell us anything.” Buck took photos just as he had taken photos of the trees and the mess left on the building foundation. The rookie saw the blood and pointed it out. “Good catch there, Steve. If this came from the perp, we might have DNA.” Buck told him. Buck pulled out his test kit and poured some liquid on a large swab. He dragged the swab over one of the blood drops on the concrete. It turned pink/purple immediately. “This is definitely blood. Let’s take more swabs and let the lab tell us if it’s human or not. Since the drops are round, they appear to have fallen straight down from something not more than four feet high. Could be a person. Maybe the idiot cut himself while he fixed up these crazy incendiary devices. Those things might have worked inside a building but certainly not out here on a tree.” Buck couldn’t imagine what he was thinking, but then again, he’s an arsonist. Buck shook his head. He thought about all the carnage the man caused, all the dead animals, all the destroyed habitat, all the homes he knew had burned to the ground, and he’d even heard unsubstantiated rumors there had been several deaths in this fire. ‘Idiot’ was not a strong enough word to describe a person who would cause all this. It made Buck mad and sad at the same time. He vowed to help catch whoever it was so he would pay for what he’d done here.
There was no other evidence to gather. “I think we’re done here,” he said when he was satisfied. “Let’s put the word out through the Public Information Officer that we are looking for any witness that saw a vehicle in this driveway or leaving it around the time of the fire.”
Once Buck got back to his office and the lab, he turned the evidence over for evaluation. He began making phone calls. He called every contractor of record that worked on the construction site. None of them had personnel at the job site that day. One of them had some interesting things to say about the owner though. They made the hackles on the back of Buck’s neck stand up. According to the contractor, he was the third General Contractor for that building and it was only in the framing stages. The first two were fired because they refused to do work against building codes without plan changes being approved by the county planning office.
The owner was difficult to work for and very demanding. He’d brought his wife to the building site once while the General Contractor was there. She wanted a bridge added over the brook and another deck built so she and her friends could sun themselves. Four cottonwood trees were in the way. The owner wanted them removed. The planning office refused to allow that. The cottonwood trees were over 200 years old and protected by law. Building a deck for some vain woman to enjoy was not a good reason to take them down. The owner was furious and threatened to fire everyone working on the job.
The following morning, the Public Information Officer called Buck. “We did get a couple of calls on that construction site. All of them saw a vehicle in the driveway before the fire broke out. They remarked it was a strange vehicle to be at a construction site and assumed it might have been the owner.”
“Why was that?” Buck asked. “What kind of vehicle was it?”
“All of the witnesses said they saw a new Chevrolet Corvette in the driveway. The reason it jumped out at them was the color. It was bright red and hard to miss. One of them even gave me the license plate number. Are you ready for this? He said it was a Colorado plate that read”: ‘R E D H O T’. If that was the arsonist, it appears he likes to advertise.”
Buck thanked him for the call and immediately called the Department of Motor Vehicles in Denver. He asked for information on a newer Chevy Corvette with the plate ‘R E D H O T’ and got a name and address in Denver.
Buck called the Fire Chief and gave him a full report on what he knew to date. He told Chief Odom he would be involving the Denver Police Department in the case and attempt to pick up the perp as soon as possible. Chief Odom told him he also had news that would affect the case. There were three deaths discovered as his people were doing their survey of the damage. Two older people died in their burned-out home. Apparently, the fire caught them off guard at the beginning and they couldn’t get out before their home was overrun. The other death was in a car. A woman was trying to escape and died when the fire overcame her in her car. There were murder charges to pile on the person who set the fire.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Once the big cat scare was behind them, the nine young people and Hilda found themselves cold and very hungry. They’d eaten everything they brought with them and there was not one thing edible in this rocky canyon. They did have water and the horses had some grass left around the edges of the pond to graze on. The horses were doing better than the humans.
Todd and Charlie walked to the opening of the canyon and looked around. Trees were still burning outside the canyon opening. The smoke was thick and the ash even thicker. They saw no one and heard nothing but falling limbs and trees as they burned. It wasn’t safe to leave the canyon yet. They returned and told the others what they found.
Hilda did her best to keep their spirits up. “At least we have fresh water here. That will help us and the horses. We may be here for a while. I thought I heard airplanes overhead. Maybe we’ll get lucky and one of them will fly over this place and spot us. You guys are young and healthy. You won’t die if you miss a meal or two. We’re safe if we stick together and stay right here. You know, I think those horses will protect us. Look how they took off after that cat. He ran screaming out of here like his tail was on fire!” she laughed.
Under the circumstances, Hilda’s humor was catching. The kids all had a good laugh over the cat comment. The morning sun warmed the air so they no longer shivered from cold. There was nothing they could do about the empty feeling in their bellies. They watched the horses grazing on grass and were envious.
Suzie was quiet and didn’t have much to say. She walked about halfway to the entrance of the canyon and pulled herself up on a large boulder. She sat staring at the entrance as tears rolled down her cheeks. No one noticed her for a while. Heidi finally looked around and spotted her and walked over. Heidi noticed the tears, climbed up on the boulder next to her and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Suzie broke down completely and sobbed, “This is all my fault! If I hadn’t decided to take off, we’d be back at the ranch right now.”
Heidi put her arm around Suzie’s shoulder and hugged her. “Hey, don’t you take all this on you. Yeah, we were pretty stupid but you don’t control a forest fire. You didn’t start that.”
“I know, but maybe we’d be back at the ranch if I hadn’t insisted and taken off like that,” Suzie sobbed. “I don’t know if I can face the others. I know they’re going to blame me for this.”
“Nobody is blaming you,” Heidi said. “Come on back. We’re just going to hang out here until we can leave the canyon and ride back to the ranch.
“Give me a minute, will ya. I don’t want to go back looking like I was crying,” Suzie said.
“Just to change the subject, what did you think of the horses chasing that mountain lion this morning?” Heidi asked. “I’ve never heard of such a thing before. Gosh, that cat was huge and he sure was in a hurry to get out of here with ten horses on his tail, wasn’t he?”
Suzie perked up. “Yeah! I couldn’t believe my horse was in on that. Wow, that was something, wasn’t it?”
Heidi and Suzie chatted on for a few more minutes about how brave their horses were which was exactly what Heidi had intended. Once she was sure her best friend was calm, she hopped off the boulder and joined the others near the pool.
When Heidi came and sat down in the circle made by the others, Becky asked her under her bre
ath, “What’s going on with Suzie?”
Heidi sighed and shook her head. “You don’t know what it’s like for her. I don’t think anything she’s ever done is good enough for her mother. If she works her fanny off and gets a ‘B’ grade in school, her mother tells her if she’d worked just a little harder she’d get an ‘A’. I’ve heard it myself. I can’t imagine why her mom is so critical of her. I don’t know why she’s so mean to her. I’m pretty sure that’s why she acts out sometimes, like when she said dumb things in the barn about Maryann, and when she decided to take off yesterday. I think she’s just rebelling and doesn’t know how to do it right. She’s really kind-hearted, smart and talented. Maybe she just needs to grow up some more.”
“She came to me and apologized in private for that, you know,” Maryann said. “And look at the team we were at the Nationals. Everyone, including Suzie, helped each other out every single day of the competition. I think we need to get that team spirit back again right now if we are going to get out of this mess. None of us blame her for the fire. We don’t even know how that started. What we must do is stick together no matter whose dumb decision helped get us here.”
None of the boys had much to say but they and Hilda agreed with Maryann. They had to stick together no matter what.
Several hours later the sound of a helicopter thump-thump-thumped overhead and echoed through the canyon. The kids stood in a circle holding hands waiting for it to appear over the wall of the canyon so they could see it. The human circle was their idea to make themselves seen by the pilot if he did fly over them. When the helicopter came in sight over the ridgeline, the kids jumped up and down and waved and screamed for the pilot to notice them. The pilot was almost over the canyon before he noticed something moving on the bottom that didn’t look right. The winds were blowing him around in the air and he passed over the opposite ridgeline before he was sure what he saw.
Word about the missing kids went out to everyone working the fire in any capacity the minute the Fire Chief confirmed the story. The ground crews hoped they didn’t find the kids overrun by fire and dead somewhere in the woods. The pilots of the planes dropping water or fire retardant or doing recon were looking for signs of them from the air.
The kids saw the helicopter fly over the other side of the canyon and sat down in disappointment. Maryann and Susie looked like they were about to cry. They continued hearing the thump-thump-thump of the machine and it began to get louder again. Everyone stood up and watched the sky, holding their breaths. The helicopter flew back over the top of the canyon wall so the pilot could get a better look. He saw the horses grazing and thought they were a herd of elk at first until he realized there were several white animals in the group. Elk didn’t come in that color! Then he saw the kids jumping up and down and knew he’d found the missing group. He dropped lower for a better look but had to climb again when he got caught in a downdraft. The air was treacherous and there was no room to land safely so he picked up his radio and called in a report. The pilot was on his way back to his base when he spotted the group in the canyon so after his second pass and the confirmation of what he saw, he continued back to base.
The group in the canyon began to get excited when the chopper made the second pass over the canyon. Maybe they’d been spotted. Maybe someone could help them. The chopper pilot had no way to communicate with them on the ground. When he had to pull up sharply and sped off the kids weren’t sure they’d been seen at all. Most of them were dejected. Hilda tried to cheer them up. “Give it some time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know,” she told them. “There’s a chance he saw us and will report it. Just wait. That’s all we can do anyway.”
The pilot debriefed with his boss. “We can’t get in that canyon safely with a chopper,” he told him. “The downdrafts are terrible and there’s not much room to maneuver. What we could do is notify the ground crews in the area. We have the GPS coordinates for the place. My recon showed it will be a while before we can get anyone in there to get them but we could drop supplies to them.”
The pilot’s boss notified Chief Odom and told him what the pilot suggested. Chief Odom ordered emergency supplies and had them delivered to the chopper pads. They were going to drop tents, sleeping bags, flashlights, meals ready to eat, a medical kit in case one was needed, and bottled water. Also included were 2 bales of hay for the horses. They packed a satellite phone in the kit so the kids could call and let them know if there were any medical emergencies they needed help with. That should hold the group for another day or two if necessary. Everyone at the ranch was jubilant over the news. All they had to do was wait it out.
Several hours after the helicopter left the area of the canyon for the second time, the kids and Hilda heard the thump-thump-thumping of choppers again, this time two of them. They were jubilant too. They’d been spotted! Someone knew where they were! They might get out of this yet.
One chopper at a time lowered a crate on a line into the center of the canyon. The kids stepped back. The first crate was released and thudded to the ground. The chopper lifted and flew off to the south as the second chopper lowered another crate and dropped it next to the first one. That chopper also lifted and flew away south leaving the canyon quiet once again.
The kids attacked the crates and found the food right away. They were ready to sit right down and eat until Hilda cautioned them. “Let’s see what they gave us before we eat. If we need to get something set up we should do that first. We are going to lose the light soon.” The kids began tugging items out of the crates and lining them up in rows. Once they had everything out of the crates, they took fresh hay to the horses and began setting up the tents. It would be dark again within a couple of hours. At least tonight they would have shelter and warmth for the night and flashlights so they could see in the darkness. Todd, Brody, and Charlie took the satellite phone and looked at the instructions that came with it. They were a little afraid of it since it came with stickers on the phone and on the box that read, “Property of the U.S. Government.” Brody was a near genius with electronic stuff. He studied the instructions as fast as he could. Charlie held the phone while Brody read the instructions out loud and told them what to do. Todd took Brody’s instructions for the other equipment including the portable antennae. Charlie found the buttons referred to and pointed them out to Todd.
The only phone number they could reach with that satellite phone was the Fire Chief in charge. They followed instructions carefully and tried out the phone. Todd dialed the number given in the instructions. The call went directly to the Command and Control Center vehicle where Chief Odom was coordinating the firefighting efforts. The Chief picked up the phone.
“Chief Odom here,” he said. “Who is this?”
Todd, a little shaken to reach the actual Fire Chief hesitated a second and said, “Um, Chief, Sir, this is Todd O’Neal. I’m with a group of friends who were riding horseback when the fire came up behind us.”
“Young man, I’m certainly glad to hear from you!” the Chief answered. “Are you all together and are you all okay?”
“Yes, Sir, we are fine and thank you for the tents and stuff, especially the food. We were getting hungry,” he said. “Can you let my dad know we’re okay?”
“I’ll call him the minute we get off the phone,” the Chief told him. “Do you need anything else?”
“Sir, just one more thing,” Todd said. “Can you tell my dad that Hilda Jorgensen is with us too? When the fire came up behind us we stopped by her ranch and got her. She’s older and doesn’t drive. My mom takes her shopping and to the doctors and stuff. The fire was about to overrun her place so we just put her up on a horse and took her with us. Do you know if her ranch was saved?”
“I’m sorry, Todd,” Chief Odom told him. “We haven’t done the survey of property damage yet. We are concentrating on setting fire lines and surrounding the fire. Our crews have been working to protect property as best they can but we have not had time to see what has been lost yet.”
“I don’t want to keep you, Sir,” Todd told him. “I know you are very busy with stuff right now but will you also tell my Dad and Mom that I love them? The other kids here want their parents to know that too. We’ll be fine. Nobody’s been hurt. The horses are great. Hilda is in good shape too. And tell the helicopter pilots we appreciate them dropping supplies to us. Thank you.”
The call disconnected. The boys carefully turned it off so the batteries wouldn’t run down and put it back in the box with the instructions. It was a tool they might need again.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Another long, dark night faced those in the isolated canyon. They were almost out of hay for the horses but they still had enough food for themselves for dinner and breakfast in the morning. The tents and sleeping bags kept them warm and comfortable. Brody and Todd tried out the satellite phone one time late in the afternoon to let Chief Odom know they were all doing fine. Todd told him about his concern for Hilda because she’d not had her medications since the fire broke out. He was worried about her. The Chief talked to Sharon O’Neal about it. Todd had mentioned in his first call that Sharon took Hilda to her doctor appointments. The Chief suggested Sharon call Hilda’s doctor and get medications ordered for her through him. He already knew Hilda Jorgenson’s home was gone. For the moment he kept that news to himself.
The relatives of the trapped kids continued their support efforts, including Charles and Celeste Carnegie, Maryann’s grandparents, who worked like Trojans despite their ages. The group at the ranch caught two and three-hour cat-naps when they fell from exhaustion and got up and kept on moving. It was better than worrying themselves crazy over their missing kids and horses. They knew the media was aware Prince Ali and Becky were trapped by the fire. By that time Walter and Caroline Howard were just one of the group of parents. The parents fussed a bit about the press attention this situation was getting. Every parent at Cold Water Creek Ranch wanted their youngster safe and they wanted privacy when they were reunited. Now they were afraid it would be a media-circus that involved all of the young people, not just Becky and Ali. News people found the official photographer for the Arabian Youth National Championship Show and got copies of photos taken during the event. Pictures of all of the kids were in the news now.
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