Something woke Heidi. She carefully extracted herself from the pile of kids snuggled up against her. She ran to the back of the cave to relieve herself. When she came back, she crawled out the entrance of the cave. It was morning. The sky was gray which meant it would be daylight soon. She was about to go back in the cave when she heard him. It was Robert calling her name.

She climbed out on the rocks to try to see him. She was crying so hard she couldn’t call out to him. She carefully descended the rocks until she was on hard ground. She took a deep breath and called his name. There was no answer. She tried again as loud as she could. She listened and then she heard them. The rescue team were yelling to each other.

“Heidi, where are you?” Robert called.

“Up on the rocks.” Finally, she could see them. “Up here.” She was waving her arms. They saw her.

“Stay there,” Robert yelled. “We’re coming up there.” She watched them climb up the mountain side. When he finally reached her, he threw his arms around her. “Heidi, I thought I’d lost you.” He held her so tight she could hardly breathe.

“Robert, I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you, ever.” She couldn’t stop crying. “I’ve never been happier to see anyone more in my life.”

“Shush, it’s alright. I would have come after you, no matter what. I love you.” He kissed her again.  “Where were you? We were calling you. We just covered this whole area. We were heading away from here to search somewhere else.  If you hadn’t appeared when you did, we would never have found you.

“That must have been what woke me, I was in a cave. I found the children.”

Tom rushed up to them. “You have the children? Where are they? Are they okay?”

“They’re asleep, at least they were. They may be awake now.” Heidi lead Robert up the rocks. “You have to crawl on your hands and knees.” Heidi got on her hands and knees and crawled into the cave. Robert and Tom followed.

When they got inside, Robert turned on a portable lantern. The three children were curled up together, sleeping.

“When did you find them?” Tom asked.

“We sort of found each other. I climbed in here and made a fire. I found them hiding in the back of the cave.” She looked at Tom. “They said their parents were dead.”

“Yes, they are. We found their bodies,” Tom whispered quietly.

“Miss Heidi?”

“I’m right here, Simon. Everything is alright.”

“Who are those men, are they going to kill us, too.” Simon asked in a scared, sleepy voice.

Heidi hurried to Simon and hugged him. “No Simon. These are nice men. They are here to take us home.” Robert went to Simon.

“My name is Robert.” He squatted down and held out his hand to shake Simon’s hand. “Are you the man in charge here?” He wanted to make Simon feel important so he wouldn’t be scared.

“Yes sir. I’ve been protecting my sister and little brother. I was protecting Miss Heidi, too.” He looked up at Heidi.

“You sure were. You protected me all night and kept me warm.” Simon gave her a big teary smile. “You were so brave.”

Elyse and Colin were starting to wake up. The rescue team brought in more blankets.

“Miss Heidi, I’m hungry.” Colin rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a trail mix granola bar and handed it to him.

“Thank you. Are you a friend of Miss Heidi?’

“Yes I am. My name is Tom. What’s your name?”

“I’m Colin. Simon is my twin brother, but he’s older.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Colin.” Tom chuckled. Randy came into the cave to inform the crew chief that a helicopter was on its way.

“How long before it’s here?”

“Two hours, maybe less, sir. Their coming out of Caldwell, Idaho”

“See if you can find somewhere for them to land. I don’t want to airlift the kids in the basket if we don’t have to.”

“We’ll look, sir. I’m sure we can find somewhere.” Randy went back out the entrance to the cave to look for a flat area where the helicopter could land safely.

“Robert, time to get these people out of here and checked out. Air rescue is on its way.” Robert knew by the sound of Tom’s voice, it was time to get back to work.

“Alright, Miss Heidi.” Robert gave her a wink. “Time to pack up and get out of here. Air Rescue is on its way.”

“Are you going with us, Miss Heidi?” Elyse asked.

“I don’t know, Elyse, I don’t think so.” Colin ran to Heidi and wrapped his arms around her leg. “I want to stay with Miss Heidi.” He started to cry. “Peas Miss Heidi, I want to stay with you. Don’t let them take us. Peas.”

Heidi didn’t know what to say. She looked at Tom. “These kids have been through a terrible trauma. Are you going to put them through more?”

“What would you suggest?”

“Let me stay with them, or they can stay with me. I don’t care which.”

“Let’s talk about this outside.” Tom obviously didn’t want to talk in front of the children. He glanced at the kids and back to her.

“Simon, I need you to take your brother and sister outside and say hello to Randy, he’s waiting for you outside. It’s alright Colin, I’ll be out there after I talk to these gentlemen.”

“Pomis!” Colin sniffled.

“Yes, Colin.  I promise.” She gave him a hug. “Go with your brother and sister.” She watched them go.

Heidi turned to the crew chief. “I want to know where they are going, and what’s going to happen to them.”

“We can discuss this later,” Tom told her.

“No! We can discuss it right now, I want to know.”

Robert gave Tom a sympathetic look and shook his head. “You better tell her something, or you are going to have a case of nasty panda on your hands. I can’t even bear to watch.” Robert started to leave.

“You stay put,” Tom told him. He turned back to Heidi. “A panda. Oh, that’s right, you’re a panda bear.” Tom started to laugh.

Heidi bared her panda teeth and snarled. Tom instantly stopped laughing.

“I thought pandas were sweet and cuddly.”

“Only when we want to be. The rest of the time, it’s a whole different story. Now, what about the children?” Heidi wasn’t going to lighten up until she knew exactly was going to happen.

“They will be placed in foster homes.”

“Homes? You mean they’ll be split up.” Heidi was starting to fume.

“Well, yes. We don’t have anyone that is equipped to handle three shifter kids. The twins might be able to stay together, but not with the sister.” Tom was beginning to realize this argument wasn’t going to end well.

“They just lost their parents and now you want them to lose each other? What if they stay with me until a home can be found. A home that can take all three of them?” She looked at Robert. “Do you think it would be okay with Charles. I’ll care for them. I’ll do everything and make sure they don’t bother Jackie.”

“I don’t know. I’d have to talk to him,” he told her. “Tom, could it be done if Charlie agrees. Could they stay with us until a real home is found?” Robert wasn’t sure taking on three kids was a good idea, but he was ready to do just about anything to make Heidi happy.

“It’s highly irregular, but if Charles agrees, I imagine it could be arranged. Luckily, fostering rules for shifter kids aren’t as strict as human kids. Right now, they need to be checked out by the medic when he arrives. He’ll determine if they need to be hospitalized or not and we’ll go from there.”

“Thank you,” Heidi smiled, “now, if I can have a few minutes alone with Robert, I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Tom gave her a nod and left them alone. Heidi waited until he was gone, then turned to Robert.

“I’m sorry. I love you so much. I thought my heart would stop when I thought I might never see you again.” She stood there, staring at her feet, waiting for him to say something.

“Heidi,” he whispered and put his arms around her. “I love you. I wasn’t going to let you go. That’s why I came looking for you.” They held each other. “I think we need to go and check on some kids. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a great idea. Do you think Charles will let us bring the kids home?”

“When he hears what I have to say, I think he will.” She gave him a questioning look. “I’ll tell you after I talk to Charlie. I think you’ll like what I have in mind.” He kissed her forehead. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Airborne Rescue finally arrived. Robert was pleasantly surprised when he saw Dr. Shannon Stevens get off the helicopter.

“Shannon, how are you?” He called to her.

“Robert, what a surprise to see you here.” She gave him a smile. “I understand I have some patients.”

“Right this way.” He took Dr. Stevens to meet Heidi and the kids.

“Dr. Stevens is here to check the kids.” He introduced her. “Dr. Stevens, this is my fiancé, Heidi Chow, and these children are Simon, Colin and Elyse. Heidi found them yesterday afternoon and they spent the night in a cave. The children were on their own for four days before Heidi found them.”

“Well, you sound like you’ve had quit an adventure,” she said to the kids. She looked at Heidi. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Chow. Was Robert with you yesterday when you found the children?”

“No, I was alone. I found them by accident.”

“You were alone?” Dr. Stevens continued to check the kids while she talked to Heidi. “I’ll need to check you out as well. What were you doing out here?”

“I was looking for the children. Robert went to look for the parents.”

“But you said you found them by accident.”

“Yes, I did. I found a cave for shelter for the night and they were there.”

“Oh. And where are the parents?” She looked a Robert. He shook his head and glanced at the kids.

“Our parents are dead,” Elyse spoke up. “Hunters killed them. My dad told us to run and hide when we heard shooting.”

“I’m so sorry. Shot by hunters? I don’t understand. Were they murdered?” Colin started to cry and ran to Heidi.

“I don’t like that lady, Miss Heidi. I don’t want to go with her. I want to stay with you.”

“It’s alright, Colin. You’re not going anywhere with that lady.”

“I think Search and Rescue will have something to say about that.” Dr. Stevens looked to Robert for his support.

“The children are going home with Heidi and Robert.” Gary Morris, Shannon’s boss had walked up and heard the previous exchange. “They will be their foster parents until a permanent home can be found.”

Elyse immediately ran to Robert and hugged him. “Really, we get to go home with you and Heidi?”

“Yes. You are going home with us.” Robert hugged her back. He looked at Simon. “But, we’d better ask Simon, he’s the man in charge. What do you say, Simon? Would you like to go home with Heidi and me?”

“Yes sir.” He didn’t say anything else.

 “Dr. Stevens, could I speak to you for a moment?” Gary wasn’t happy. Dr. Stevens and her boss walked off some distance so they wouldn’t be heard.

“Shannon, what is the matter with you. You know better than to talk in front of victims, especially children. You have totally disrespected protocol, and what’s with the attitude?”

“The children said their parents were killed by hunters. What is this about?”

“That will all be explained to you later. It still doesn’t excuse your unprofessional behavior.” 

“I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I apologize, and I’ll apologize to Robert McCormick and his girlfriend.” She was embarrassed.

“McCormick? The same McCormick that took you to lunch a while back?”

Shannon nodded. “I’m sorry. I’ve been bothered by something else lately. It has nothing to do with Robert, really.”

“All right, but when we get back, you and I are going to have a talk.”

“Yes sir. I need to finish my exam.” Dr. Stevens returned to finish checking the kids. She apologized to Robert and Heidi for her behavior.

“The children are fine. Nothing more than a little dirt and grime. Nothing a good bath and a hot meal can’t fix.”

“Thank you, Shannon.” Robert shook her hand. Dr. Stevens packed up her equipment and headed for the helicopter.

Robert walked over to talk to Gary Morris. “Captain Morris, is she alright?”

“Hello McCormick, I didn’t recognize you at first. She’ll be alright. I’ll find out what the problem is. Can I ask you to keep this between us?”

“Yeah, sure. Hope she feels better.”

“Stanton gave us all the info we need for our report. Good luck with those kids.” They shook hands and the crew boarded the helicopter. They were in the air and gone in no time at all.