Flashpoint, page 17
part #8 of Commitment Series
"So what are you not telling me?" Jen asked pointedly.
"Well, we don't know much yet. The four Charland members haven't been seen since yesterday morning. The only thing concrete that we do have is the kayak Billie rented. It was found by firefighters, but unfortunately neither Billie, nor her daughter, Tara was in it. That actually might be a good thing, considering how battered it was," Angela replied.
"Battered?" Jen asked.
"It has several dents and holes in it as though it had been smashed against rocks," Angela described.
Jen closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Look," she said wearily. "Skylar and I will be staying at the Old Faithful Inn. Please call me the instant you know anything...anything at all. Okay?" she asked.
"I will. I promise."
***
"Roger, tend to the brush over there," Michael Elliot instructed one of the twenty hotshots under his command. "The rest of you, gather the loose kindling lying around and pile it together in that clearing. We need to build a firebreak around this area before the wildfire reaches it. If we can burn the fuel under controlled conditions ahead of the fire getting here, there will be nothing for it to burn, and nowhere for it to go but out. Please work quickly, the wildfire isn't far behind us," he said and then pitched in to gather loose brush.
The team of hotshots worked fast and efficiently until the immediate area was cleared of flammable brush, logs and tree limbs. Then, as the team stood around the tall pile of loosely stacked wood, armed with axes, picks and shovels to stop any fire that might wander from the burning pile, Michael set fire to it. Within minutes the pile was ablaze, burning quickly. Within an hour, it had burned down to embers.
"John, Randy, Steve... take the containers and fill them in the river. We need to completely soak these embers before moving on," Michael instructed the men.
John, Randy and Steve each grabbed two empty five gallon jugs from the nearby stack of equipment and headed a few yards away to the river edge.
"Man! This is one of the worse wildfires I've ever had to fight," Randy exclaimed as he led the crew of men to the river.
John, the oldest member of the crew, chuckled. "That's because you were just a child during the last really big fire in 1988," he said. "That was by far the worst fire we've had in the park's history. This one is small in comparison."
"Yeah, well, this one is bad enough, John. I would sure hate to be trapped in it," Randy replied.
"I've been on a few rescue missions…some successful, and some not. It's a pretty gruesome way to die," Steve interjected.
"There's the river," John said. "Spread out along the water's edge and fill your buckets."
John walked toward a downed tree and put one of his two buckets down next to it. He filled the first bucket and then carried it up the bank to put it down. He braced himself on the tree when he lowered the full bucket to the ground. This movement caused him to lean partially over the tree. "Holy shit!" he exclaimed, and he immediately grabbed his radio.
"John to base. We need a med-evac. Repeat, we need a med-evac."
Randy ran to John's side. "What is it?" he asked.
John pointed to the other side of the tree and then turned his attention back to his radio.
Randy quickly climbed over the tree. There on the ground, tucked nearly under the tree, was the body of a young girl, still wearing her life jacket. She was lying half in the water, half on the bank. Randy reached her quickly and dropped to his knees beside her. He turned her over and felt for a pulse, but had trouble locating one. By this time, John had joined him.
"Randy, give me a hand pulling her out of the water. Steve, run back to the crew and tell the chief to send Ethan and tell him to bring the first aid kit. I called for a med-evac, but it will be a while before they get here."
Randy and John pulled the young girl from the water. As they dragged her up the bank, her legs emerged from the cold water, exposing a severe looking compound fracture in her right thigh. The bone was quite literally protruding from the skin and the lower part of her leg dangled; attached only by skin, muscles and tendons. The damaged limb dragged on the ground, leaving dark blood stains in its wake. Friction from being dragged forced the tennis shoe on the damaged foot to fall off.
"Oh, my God!" Randy lowered her shoulders quickly to the ground and ran into the trees to vomit.
"Get your sorry ass back here!" John yelled. He looked back to the girl and realized she was bleeding profusely from the wound. He took his belt off and dropped to his knees beside her. Acting quickly, he wrapped the belt around her thigh above the fracture and cinched it tight in a make-shift tourniquet, but not until a large pool of blood covered the ground on both sides of her leg. By this time, Randy returned to assist him. "Get her life jacket off her. We need to see if there are other injuries," John instructed.
Randy struggled with the zipper and finally cut the jacket off with his jack knife and threw it aside.
"Poor kid. Look at her. It's obvious that she endured a pretty rough ride down the river. She's all banged up."
"I wonder if she was in that kayak we found earlier," Randy said.
"That's possible. I saw you check her pulse. Is she alive?" John asked.
"I couldn't find one, but then, she's actively bleeding, so she must be!" Randy replied before his attention was diverted to a loud rustling noise approaching them. "Ethan! Over here!" he called to the one paramedic they had on their crew.
Ethan emerged from the dense brush at the side of the river, followed by the entire hotshot crew. Michael Elliot was the last one to arrive on the scene.
"All right, guys. Back to work. Three of you grab the pails and go soak the fire. The rest of you help spread out the embers until they are all cold. Got it?" Michael commanded.
The crew did as ordered as Michael approached John and Ethan who were still tending to the girl. "What do we have here?" he asked.
"I spotted her as we were going after water," John explained.
Michael took one look at the girl and tried hard to control his emotions. The girl reminded him of his daughter who looked to be about her age. "Damn!" he whispered under his breath.
Ethan checked her vitals and then pulled bandages and cold packs from his medic bag to pack around her leg wound. "That was quick thinking with your belt, John," Ethan said.
I didn't see any blood in the water, but when we pulled her out, it started to bleed," John explained. "The only thing I could think of to use as a tourniquet was my belt."
"Really cold water or ice can be used to stem the flow of blood in an injury. It would make sense the bleeding would start again after she was out of the water. I just hope she wasn't in the water long enough for hypothermia to set in," Ethan explained.
Ethan checked for a pulse on her carotid artery. "Her pulse is faint, but steady. He did a quick check of her other leg and both arms, but found no further external evidence of fractures. He then lifted her shirt to just above her navel. "Holy, shit. This young lady is in serious trouble," he added.
Michael looked over at Ethan's shoulder and saw the dark purple bruising on her mid-section.
Ethan looked up at him. "Internal injuries. She also appears to have a head injury. We need to get her out of here and to a hospital as soon as possible."
***
"Ma, I am going to look for help. I can't take all this waiting." Seth paced pack and forth. Cat had been writhing in pain for the past hour and he just couldn't sit and wait anymore for someone to find them.
"No, Seth. What if something happens to you?" Cat asked.
Seth stopped. "If I don't go, something will happen to you. You'll die here!" he exclaimed angrily.
"Don't be ridiculous," Cat replied. "I'm not injured enough to die."
"Well then it's killing me! Do you understand? I can't stand to sit here and watch you in so much pain. I won't sit and do nothing any longer. I am going whether you like it or not!" he shouted.
"Seth! Seth! Come back here this minute! Seth!" Cat screamed as she watched her son walk away.
***
"Tara! Tara!" Billie called hoarsely. She continued to make her way along the river bank. Her throat was raw from calling Tara's name so many times.
At one point during her search, she saw a helicopter fly overhead. She assumed it was a search mission, and she waved her arms frantically to get their attention, but to no avail. It flew by without any indication they had seen her, so she had no choice but to resume her search.
Billie's head ached from the blow she had taken against the rock while caught in the rapids. Several times she had to stop and sit to regain her orientation and balance, and to prevent herself from losing consciousness as she walked. It was during one such break that she spotted something orange on the opposite bank. "Tara?" she whispered.
Billie's eyes were as wide as saucers and she trained her vision on the orange spot across the river. She leaned heavily on her walking stick and limped to the edge of the water where she carefully took several steps into the depths. Tears blurred her vision and hope filled her heart that she had found her daughter.
Several feet into the water, she suddenly lost her footing and fell victim once more to the undertow. Luckily, she was crossing at a particularly shallow part of the river and was able to regain her footing by firmly planting the end of her walking stick into the muddy river bottom and using it as an anchor against the current.
"Tara, baby. Mom's coming," she called out and she once more moved forward toward the opposite bank.
After what seemed like an eternity, Billie successfully reached the opposite shore, however the effort sapped what little strength she had. Confusion overwhelmed her and the dizziness returned. She stumbled toward a large rock, sat down and lowered her head into her hands. For several long moments, she fought the urge to give up; to just allow herself to fall into the realm of unconsciousness.
Oh, God! Oh, God! she chanted to herself. She fought hard to stay alert. I can't lose it now. Tara needs me.
"Tara!" she said out loud. She suddenly remembered why she crossed the river. Billie pushed the confusion and dizziness aside and quickly scanned the area for the orange object she had spotted from the other shore. Within seconds, she located it. It was a mere twenty feet away. Worried that she wouldn't be able to walk without falling down, Billie lowered herself to the ground and crawled to the life jacket. She picked it up and recognized it as similar to the one Tara was wearing.
She examined the jacket closely. Is this Tara's jacket? Why is it torn? Why is there blood on it? Where is Tara?
The questions running through her head only served to overwhelm and confuse her more. The lawyer in Billie took over and she consciously looked at a wider view of the area for clues, and hopefully, for answers. Her eyes slowly scanned the area between the water's edge and where she sat. A bigger picture began to emerge. The river appeared much deeper here than where she crossed it. Billie could visibly see drag marks leading from the edge of the river onto the river bank. Reddish-brown streaks could be seen on the trail. The same reddish-brown stains covered a much larger area close to where she found the life jacket.
Is that blood? Is Tara hurt? She looked around once more. "What's that?" she asked out loud when she spotted a new object. She crawled over to it. Recognition dawned as she drew near. It was a tennis shoe. Tara's tennis shoe…and it was covered in blood.
"No!" Billie screamed and grabbed her head to ward off the intense pain that invaded her skull. "Tara!" she repeated over and over and she rocked herself back and forth.
"Grr." A sudden sound from nearby drew Billie's attention. Her eyes were wild with fright as her mind registered the meaning of the sound. There before her, a mere ten yards away, was a black bear. Billie knew she was as good as dead if she panicked. She slowly reached behind her until she located her walking stick, then with dexterity she didn't know she possessed in the condition she was in, she quickly jumped to her feet and launched herself into the river where the current took over and carried her downstream and literally out of the jaws of danger.
***
Jen paced back and forth across the floor of her suite and nervously chewed her fingernails. Skylar quietly watched cartoons on the couch nearby. She was filled with intense worry as she waited for word about her best friends, who had yet to surface from the wildfires. It was now close to noon, and still no word.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
"Billie? Cat?" Jen said anxiously into the receiver.
Jen listened intently to the voice on the other end. Disappointment clouded her features when she realized the caller was not who she had hoped. "Yes?" she said. "Oh, my God! Yes. Yes, I'll be right there. Wait! I need someone to stay with Skylar," Jen added. "Okay. Good. I'll wait until you get here. All right. Bye."
Jen hung up the phone and turned her attention to the child on the couch who looked up at her with hope in her eyes. Jen approached Skylar and knelt before her. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind Skylar's ear.
"Did they find Mom or Mama?" Skylar asked hopefully.
"No sweetie. Not yet, but they will. I promise." Jen knew her promise would be fulfilled, and hoped that when there were found, it was alive and not dead.
"Who was that on the phone?" Skylar asked.
"That was the Ranger station. They need me to go there and give them a better description of your moms and your brother and sister. Angela is on her way over here to spend some time with you while I'm gone. Okay?" Jen explained.
"I wanna go too!" Skylar whined.
"No, sweetie, I'm afraid you can't. It's pretty crazy out there because of the wildfires, and we think it's a better idea for you to stay here with Angela."
Skylar frowned and threw herself back on the couch. She folded her arms across her chest in protest.
A knock on the door drew Jen's attention away from the pouting child.
"That will be Angela," Jen said. She kissed Skylar on the head. "I'll be back soon, honey. Okay?"
Jen's stomach was in her throat on her way to the Ranger station. A Jeep was waiting to take her to the park infirmary. Ten minutes later, she stood in a brightly lit room and looked down at Tara's battered body lying on the table as Ethan worked to stabilize her.
She covered her mouth with her hand and fought the tears that coursed down her cheeks. She walked to the edge of the table and touched Tara's face. "Tara, sweetie. It's Aunt Jen."
Tara's eyelids fluttered, but did not open.
Jen looked at the paramedic. "Will she be okay?"
"I wish I could say yes, but I just don't know. She has some serious injuries. By the way, my name is Ethan." He shook her hand.
"Was she alone when you found her?" Jen asked.
"Yes, she was."
Jen's attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of a two-way radio behind her.
"Med-evac 1 to base. ETA two minutes."
Rick Ellis took Jen's arm. "The med-evac helicopter is nearly here. She'll be air lifted to West Park Hospital in Cody. Will you be able to go with her?"
"I…I can't. Her sister, Skylar, needs me to be with her," Jen said.
Rick nodded. "Well, that may be for the best. I'm sure visitors will be limited anyway."
Just then, the doors to the infirmary swung open and two EMTs rushed in, pushing a stretcher in front of them.
"She's right here, fellas," Ethan said. He stepped aside and allowed them to transfer Tara to the stretcher, directly on the backboard she's been carried out of the forest on. Soon, they were gone.
Ethan approached Jen and squeezed her arm. He reached into his pocket for a small notepad. "Write your cell phone number here. I'll pass it along to the hospital in the event her conditions changes."
Jen wrote her phone number down and handed it back to Ethan. "Thank you."
"She'll need your prayers," Ethan said. "She's one sick young lady."
Jen just nodded and watched him leave the room.
CHAPTER 17
"Help! Help! Can anyone hear me?" Seth yelled loudly and then walked a few more yards. "Help!" he repeated.
Seth had been walking for about an hour, tying pieces of his T-shirt to burned-out trees along the way to assist him in finding his way back to Cat. After using torn pieces of his shirt for an air mask, to treat his and Cat's wounds and for trail markers, he was down to one small piece of cloth. He tied the last piece to a small sapling and continued his trek. He took mental notes to memorize the contours of the land and the direction of the sun as he moved along. At periodic intervals along the way, he stacked rocks or pieces of burned-out logs into small piles in the hope he could find them again to lead a rescue effort back to Cat.
Before long, Seth was tired and totally disoriented. He looked at his watch and noticed it was nearly noon. He knew the sun would be at its hottest within a couple of hours, and he realized the sun and the heat would only lead to dehydration for both him and Cat. Driven by a new sense of urgency, Seth continued to hike through the burned-out forest, looking for any signs of help.
***
Billie allowed the river's currents to carry her downstream and deposit her in a shallow lagoon. With no resistance from the water, she was able to easily make it to shore, where she dragged herself onto a rock and reevaluated her situation.
Numb from her injuries and emotional trauma, she sat, disoriented and confused. Several scenarios ran through her head relative to Tara's disappearance. Her first thought was that Tara had drowned. That thought alone tore at her heart, but that scenario didn't make sense to her because of the life jacket. It looked like it was either cut or torn from her body. It was still zipped, so she didn't appear to have lost it during her trip down the river. The next possibility was that she had floated ashore and walked into the forest. With the amount of blood on the ground where Billie found the life jacket, she seriously doubted that Tara was capable of hiking out of the woods. Her biggest hope was that someone had found her, but then, she didn't see any footprints among all that blood on the beach. Her final thought was that Tara had fallen victim to the bear Billie encountered at the place she had found the life jacket.
