“I realize that now, but I needed to be sure. Maybe that’s why I don’t make the same mistake twice—because I’m cautious. It’s just that we’re very different.”
He nodded, as if to say “fair enough.”
“Nobody was more different than Penny and me, and I think that worked out pretty well.”
He was right about that. Penny was Ivy League educated, cultured, and pretty as a sunny day. She always wore a big smile and had a supportive word for you. And somehow, by just being with her, it made Coach a better man in Billy’s eyes. If Penny Blake could see something in him, then there must be a lot more to him than the gruff barks and threatening shouts. She was so alive, it was hard for Billy to believe she no longer was here. But it seems, even in death, her message was still getting through.
Coach cleaned his glasses once again—they must have really dirtied up in the last few minutes—and looked out the window. Dana and Carolyn were still playing happily in the snow, along with Nails.
But then someone else entered the picture, running toward Dana, and appeared to be in hysterics. Billy focused in on the person and realized that it was Lindsey. She and Dana had an intense moment, followed by an emotional embrace. Then both women toppled to the snowy ground, as if all the energy had been sapped from them.
Chapter 61
Carolyn dashed into the kitchen.
“It’s my dad! Lindsey said it’s on the TV.”
Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. Billy took Carolyn into the living room and clicked on the television. Coach was already rounding up the “wedding crew” and sending them away. He sensed the severity of what they were about to learn.
And it was bad.
Epic, life-changing bad.
A reporter on the scene told the story. With the heavy snow and wind gusts it was hard to make out everything he said, but Billy was able to gather enough to feel like he’d been stabbed by a thousand knives.
A plane carrying famed hockey coach John Dobbs along with Nashville Predators assistant coach, Chuck Whitcomb, and the pilot, had gone down in the area of Bear Mountain, just west of the Hudson River.
Billy thought he must have heard it wrong. But when the photos of the three men were displayed on the screen, he felt another stab wound … this one to the heart.
They were on their approach to Westchester County Airport, and it was believed that weather had played a role, but it was too early to tell. A search would be risky and dangerous in the conditions. Billy couldn’t focus on the specifics at the moment—his only thought was Carolyn, and getting her out of the room before she could hear another damaging word.
He slowly turned and looked down at her, but was unable to look her in the eye. He tried to talk, but there were no words for this.
“He crashed,” Carolyn said.
“I know,” was all he could say. He noticed Dana enter the room like a zombie, head down, and she dropped on the couch without a word.
“I need to get a Band Aid … but I can’t reach the cabinet,” Carolyn said.
Her words threw him off. “What? Band Aid … did you cut yourself?”
She shook her head. “When I crash on my bike, my dad gets me a Band Aid, and makes my feelings better.”
“Oh, Carolyn … it’s … it’s not the same.”
“Yes it is,” she grew stubborn.
“There’s nothing we can do.”
“We can go help him.”
“It’s too dangerous to drive in this storm … most of the roads are closed. And we would just get in the way of the search,” Billy rambled, unsure what to say.
Carolyn was anything but unsure. “He needs me to help him.”
Billy took a deep breath. “How about I’ll try to get there, and see if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Then what are we waiting for,” she said, and put her winter hat back on to indicate she was ready.
Billy looked at her, a fierce determination in her eyes, and then to Dana, who was curled in a ball on the couch, completely numb. Her vacant stare was chilling.
“Just me—you stay here with Aunt Dana.”
“I’m going with.”
“It’s too dangerous for you. Your dad wouldn’t want me to bring you.”
“I don’t care—I’m going!”
“Carolyn stop!” he might have raised his voice, he wasn’t even sure. Everything was a fog at this point.
“You’re a big no help,” she said and ran out of the room. “I’ll go on my own.”
He started to go after her, but felt a tug at his arm. He looked back to see Coach, his expression grim. “Let her be,” he said.
Billy tried once more and the grip tightened. The old man was like a vice.
When Billy surrendered, he pulled him to the side. “Cool as a cucumber … that’s what they used to say about you. We’d be up against it, and I’d be losing my mind on the sideline, but nothing could ever rattle Billy Harper.”
“No offense, Coach, but that was a game … this is life or death.”
“Those attributes served you pretty well when those Anesthesia bastards were chasing you and the girl. It’s why you’re here today … so it wasn’t just a game … it was training.”
“What exactly am I leading? Some wild, desperate search, as if I’m even qualified to do that?”
His eyes traveled back into time. “In all my years of coaching, I never had a leader like you, before or since. Do you know why?”
“I really don’t have time for this right now, Coach.”
“Because it wasn’t about you trying to be some damn one-man hero. You rose everyone else up, the entire team took on your confidence. That’s why.”
“And that’s what I’m supposed to do here? There’s nothing to lead.”
“There sure as hell is. But you won’t be doing it … your leadership days are over.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Whatever it took to save that girl when you were on the run, sapped every last ounce you had. You used it all up. So now it’s time to lean on the new leader.”
“New leader?”
“You used to have this look in your eyes, a certainty, as if failure wasn’t an option. The more stacked the odds, the more certain you were. And it never failed. I hadn’t seen that look in a long time, but I just saw it.”
Billy was confused. “I thought you just said my leadership days were over.”
“I saw it in Carolyn’s eyes. Follow her.”
Billy shook his head. “Follow her where? She’s a kid.”
“It’s a sad day when Billy Harper is looking for reasons to quit, instead of finding the will to fight.”
“You know as well as I do how this story is going to turn out. All she’ll be leading us to is her dead father. Another parent gone. Then what?”
“Then you god damn bring him home! Man down …”
“Team up,” Billy softly repeated Coach’s mantra.
“I’m glad we’re clear, Harper,” he barked, and then turned to Dana who remained in a catatonic state. “I’ll watch after her.”
He never looked back—it wasn’t up for debate.
Billy found Carolyn on her bike, Nails running beside her.
He caught up. “Put the bike away and come with me.”
“I’m going,” she said, refusing to look at him.
“You can get there a lot faster in the car … come on, your dad needs us.”
“I tried to tell you that.”
“I know—sometimes I’m not a very good listener.”
“Did you bring Band Aids?”
He held up a box. “Now go put your bike away and get in the Cherokee. I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”
“Where are you going?”
“There’s one more thing I need to do before we go.”
Lindsey was sitting at the base of the silo, covered in snow, her knees pulled to her chest, and tears running down her cheeks. She looked up at Billy and held up a phone. “T
ypical Chuck—never has his phone on,” she said.
He just nodded, letting her talk, “I wasn’t expecting a miracle that he’d answer … but I thought maybe the phone could help to track him.”
She put her hands to her face, and in a muffled voice, “He’s all alone up there.”
And that was the best-case scenario, Billy thought, one that might require the aforementioned miracle.
She released her hands and looked to him. “It’s all my fault, you know. If it wasn’t for me, he wouldn’t have been on that plane.”
Billy shook his head. “Don’t do that—he had to come back for the wedding. It’s nobody’s fault.”
“He tried to find a reason not to take the job, to stay, but I pushed him. Said we couldn’t be together that way, because he’d eventually resent me for not following his dreams.”
“He was meant to do that job … just like he was meant to be on that plane.”
“He was meant to raise Carolyn!” she shouted out, and returned to her thousand-yard stare.
Billy reached down his hand to her, and she took it. “Carolyn and I are going up there to see what we can do. Come with us.”
She shook her head. “The roads are dangerous. Chuck would never forgive us if we put her in danger.”
“I’m pretty sure we don’t have a choice in the matter,” he said, and lifted her to her feet.
Chapter 62
The wipers couldn’t match the speed of the snow pelting against the windshield.
Billy’s hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly he felt he might break it, while Lindsey provided directions—she had been to these parts numerous times to hike the mountain trails, and ironically, came here with Chuck last spring.
As they slipped and slid along the Palisades Parkway across the border into New York—the radio said the governor had just ordered the roads closed—Nails grew agitated in the back, as if he was trying to warn them of what a bad idea this was. When they reached the northern terminus at the Bear Mountain Circle, they turned south on US Route 9W for the longest four miles of their lives. At the base of the downhill section, as the road reached the river level, they arrived at—skidded into—a gravel parking area. This is where a large “circus” tent had been set up, housing the command center for the search.
They were met by security, who instructed them—and not in a nice way—to turn around and skedaddle. They believed they were media, but when they explained that they were the family of one of the victims, they were allowed in.
Under the tent was a mixture of local police, rescue workers, and the feds—FBI and NTSB. Billy was concerned by the amount of people gathered under the tent—shouldn’t they be on the mountain looking for Chuck and the others?
Billy and Lindsey were taken to meet with a Sheriff Weiss, a portly man with an excessive white mustache, dressed in a heavy parka and a fur hat that would have been all the rage in Moscow. The fact that he chose to talk to them outside of Carolyn’s earshot was not unexpected, but wasn’t a good sign either.
He tried to soften the news as much as possible, but Billy could tell that wasn’t his style—he seemed like more of a direct, straight-shooter type. And was there really a soft way to tell them that the search had been called off for the day?
“I just can’t put my men in harm’s way,” Weiss said. It was an understandable response—visibility was near zero—but they weren’t in a logical place at the moment, and it felt like a tire-iron to their heads.
When Billy lightly protested, Weiss added the death knell, “If I felt there might be a chance of saving your friend I’d risk it, but the odds of there being any survivors is highly unlikely.”
Billy felt a burning in his throat, and Lindsey grabbed onto his arm, keeping her from collapsing to the ground. But then things got worse—standing before them was Carolyn. Billy hoped she didn’t grasp what Sheriff Weiss had told them, but she knew exactly what he meant.
“My dad isn’t dead,” she said. She looked determined, as usual, but this time she also looked mad—she was sick and tired of people being taken from her and wasn’t going to take it anymore. Billy wished it was that simple.
The sheriff looked to one of his deputies. His tone changed from measured-sensitivity to irritated, “Who let the kid in here?”
Carolyn wasn’t done. “The ground would be hurt by my dad, not the other way around.”
He looked at her for a moment, unsure what she meant, then returned his attention to the deputy. “Get her out of here now!”
Billy could have argued with him, but what would it accomplish? He had men to worry about—men with wives and children—and all Billy had to go on was a clairvoyant six-year-old.
“That’s alright, we’re going,” Billy said.
But something in the Sheriff’s words sparked Lindsey back to life—brought out a competitive fire. Chuck might have been dead—it was the likely outcome—but don’t count him out until the final whistle. He wouldn’t have given up on them, no matter the odds.
Billy also thought of Coach’s words. Carolyn’s outburst is what had initiated Lindsey’s spark. She was bringing out the best in all of those around her, just like he said. And it was in the form of needed fight.
They headed back to the Cherokee, which was now almost completely covered in snow. Before leaving New Canaan, Billy had filled a backpack with food—peanut butter crackers and any chips and cookies he could find—and another with bottles of water. Carolyn’s painlessness and lack of temperature sensation would be an asset on their journey, but her anhidrosis could be her Kryptonite. Hydration would be key.
They also brought a medical kit and blankets, in case survivors were found. If they were alive, they likely wouldn’t be in good shape. Optimistic, sure, but without that, why even make the trip?
Carolyn took the lead, with Nails serving as her co-pilot. But Lindsey knew the area and directed them to a snow-covered path. As they began their march, trudging through the snow, with the late-afternoon sky darkening, Billy started having second thoughts.
As if sensing his doubt, Carolyn turned back to him and their eyes met. And at that moment he noticed the look, the one that Coach had told him about. The leader.
Chapter 63
Just beyond the road sign for 9W and 202, three blue markings were nailed to a tree. It signaled the pathway for the Trimp Mountain trail—near Bear Mountain, which was reported as the crash site. Lindsey appeared to have a plan, so Billy didn’t question it.
The markings sent them down a level footpath. Billy tripped over tangled vines hidden in the snow, but he stayed upright. The trail bore to the left and they began climbing slippery stone-steps.
Despite the disheartening circumstances, Carolyn was still drawn to adventure. She ran ahead—in spite of Billy’s hopeless pleas for her not to do so—unaffected by the plummeting temperatures. Her partner in painlessness, Nails, was at her side, running over the wintry terrain without caution. But Nails wasn’t known for his endurance, so Billy wasn’t sure how long he would be able to keep up, or how that might disrupt their search.
They reached a stone, arched tunnel. Lindsey explained that it was a remnant from the Dunderberg Spiral Railway, dating back to 1890. The plan was for rail cars to be pulled up the mountain on a cable by a stationary steam engine. The project never finished, having run out of money and hadn’t been revived in the century that followed. But today it would serve as a guide—the lack of visibility could very easily knock them off the path and they’d be lost in the wilderness until spring.
The trail turned right, ascending steeply over switchbacks and stepping-stones. Billy shielded his face from the frigid mix of sleet, rain, and snow that was now coming at him sideways, as if being sprayed by a hose. He was also struggling with the sharp inclines. He might have looked the part of a former athlete on the outside, but he was more in “writer’s shape” these days.
Lindsey, the skier, hiker, and overall outdoor enthusiast, was having no such problems. Th
ey continued to follow the Trimp Trail, heading southwest, parallel to the Hudson River, which they could now see through the trees.
They came to a blockage in their path, the result of fallen trees, and detoured along a dangerous curved embankment. Billy and Lindsey both warned Carolyn to “be careful” and “take it slow,” but it fell on deaf ears.
The snow started to slightly taper off, which helped, but the late afternoon grew darker. The well-prepared Lindsey removed a Mag-Lite flashlight from her knapsack to counteract the darkness.
They reentered the trail, helped by spotting the portal of another unfinished tunnel—this one was to be for the train cars going down the mountain, by way of gravity, not steam engine. Part of Billy wished a train would come along and take them off this blasted mountain—with Chuck aboard—but there was no turning around now.
They veered left, crossing over a frozen stream, and entered a level travel-path, which Billy was thankful for. He was sucking wind at this point—cold arctic wind—and the last thing he needed was another hill.
Lindsey cautioned them about a sharp turn ahead, which reversed their direction, and they were now headed northeast, and uphill once more. Ugh!
They kept climbing, Billy dragging in the rear, until they reached a panoramic view that looked south along the Hudson. Lindsey mentioned that on a clear summer day you could see the New York City skyline from here.
This was a good stopping point, and for the first time Lindsey laid out her thoughts. She pointed to the highest peak of the mountain. “The TV report said the plane had issued a mayday call, and that they were having mechanical problems, perhaps connected to the weather. The reason doesn’t really matter, but what does, is that the pilot knew they were going down.”
She pointed to the frozen river far below them. “I think he thought their only chance was to pull off a sequel to the Miracle on the Hudson.”
The Carolyn Chronicles, Volume 1 Page 30