The mountainous terrain made it impossible for the helicopter to land, so the winchman lowered the mountain rescue team down one by one at the head of a wooded valley. The pilot and his crew were going to search from the air, while the Kindrogan Mountain Rescue Team did the same on foot.
As Faith touched down, dangling in the strop, the snow was soft underfoot and she stumbled in the fresh powder.
“Shame I don’t have my snowboard,” Daniel joked as he gave her a hand to find her feet.
Once the team was on the ground, Hew called for attention. “The man we’re searching for is called Ralph Fuller, last seen with his dog on the footpath at the bottom of the valley. He can’t have walked more than a couple of miles before dark, so this is the highest he could have reached. We’ll split into three groups, one to follow this main footpath down the mountain, the other two to take the edges of the forest to check the gullies running off and any other places he might have fallen. Keep in contact by radio.”
The group of men gathered around Hew listened quietly. He was soft-spoken but exuded an aura of authority Faith hadn’t noticed before. These men obviously held him in high regard, and there was no question that they would follow his directions.
Hew allocated a medically trained person to each of the three groups—Daniel to the team taking the north of the forest, their medical technician to the footpath team, and Faith to the team that would strike out to the south where a number of rivers and gullies hidden beneath the snow might fool a walker and lead to disaster.
The other two groups checked their maps and set out, while Faith found herself with Hew and the young man, Donald, who had recited a poem during the Burns Night supper.
Hew pointed between the pine trees. “Since you know the valley so well, Don, you go in front and keep your eyes open, lad. Faith will go next, and I’ll bring up the rear.”
“How come you know the valley, then, Don?” Faith asked.
“My family has been tenant crofters on Mackenzie land for decades,” he said over his shoulder. “In the summer, I come up here to check on the sheep.”
After that they carried on in silence, the effort of walking through the snow taking all their concentration. About fifteen minutes later, they reached the southern fringe of the trees. This high, the forest was only a narrow strip.
“Follow in Don’s footsteps if you can,” Hew said to her.
Faith glanced back at Hew and received one of his half smiles and a nod of encouragement.
They made slow progress down the mountain, staying close to the tree line. Donald frequently stopped to prod the snow-covered ground in front of him with a pole to test the depth of the snow.
After thirty minutes, Hew started calling out the name of the lost man. Periodically, Faith heard the distant sound of the other groups doing the same.
“Good thing the army keeps me fit.” Even with the regular exercise regime of the military, she was feeling the strain of walking down the uneven snowy slope.
“Here’s the first gulley,” Donald said.
Faith halted, her gloved hand on the trunk of a tree as Donald and Hew edged out, prodding the snow until their poles sank deep.
“Ralph,” Hew shouted. “Ralph Fuller, can you hear me?”
“Do you know what his dog’s called?” Faith asked, thinking they should be calling for the dog as well.
Hew got on his radio and checked in with the police. When he’d finished, he turned to Faith. “Admiral, apparently. They now know it’s a German shepherd.”
This news heartened Faith. “Okay. That’s good. A German shepherd is fairly hardy with a thick coat. I’d give it good odds of surviving a night on the mountain. If it’s well trained, the dog might have stayed with his master if the man is hurt, so the dog could help us locate the casualty.” She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted the dog’s name.
Hew gave her a thoughtful nod. “Good point.” He started calling the dog’s name as well.
Despite their poling and shouting, there was no evidence of a man or a dog.
Hew sucked in a breath and blew it out in a steamy cloud. “I doubt he would have made it up this far, anyway. I suggest we don’t spend any more time searching here. Let’s continue down.”
They alternated between calling out “Ralph” and “Admiral” as they slipped and jumped down the snowy rocks. The radio crackled again and it was Daniel, checking how they were doing. Hew and Daniel exchanged a few words, and then Hew gestured forward. They continued, checking two places where rivers had cut away the rock to form dangerous drops disguised by the thick snow.
From time to time, the yellow bulk of the RAF search and rescue helicopter passed overhead, and the continuous drone of its engine came and went on the wind as it worked its search pattern.
After walking for two hours, Faith’s cheeks stung with the cold and her legs ached. Being classed as a noncombatant officer in the military, she didn’t take her fitness training quite as seriously as she probably should, and now she was regretting it.
Leaden gray clouds flowed inexorably overhead until the earlier wintry blue sky was a memory. The atmosphere felt heavy, ready to burst.
“Weather’s closing in again,” Hew said. “We’re nearly out of time.”
Faith had paused to pull off a glove and push some loose hair back inside her hat when the sound of a distant dog bark snapped her head up.
“Did you hear that?” She turned to Hew to find him staring around, his gaze sharp.
The three of them stood still, their ears straining.
“Call the dog,” Faith said to Hew. “Your voice will carry farther than mine.”
Hew took off his gloves, cupped his hands around his mouth, and bellowed Admiral’s name. They all listened as the unmistakable sound of barking came from below them.
After pulling on his gloves, Hew unclipped the walkie-talkie and contacted the RAF pilot. “There’s a dog barking down here. Might belong to our dog walker. Pick up our doctor and rendezvous with us. We might need him soon. You have my GPS coordinates, over?”
“Affirmative. On our way. Out.”
“Sound can be deceptive up here in the mountains, but I reckon that dog is no more than a hundred yards away.” Hew slid the radio into its pocket and straightened his pack. “Right, let’s get moving. Take it steady, though. Don’t risk hurting yourselves.”
Her heart thumping at the prospect of what they would find when they located the dog, Faith concentrated on where to put her feet and made sure not to let her mind run ahead and lose focus.
As the helicopter approached, the engine noise beat in her ears, the heavy air beneath the low clouds almost vibrating. Their team of three took cover under the trees from the snow whipped up by the downdraft.
Faith leaned against a tree trunk, Hew beside her, and covered her face with her arm, peering out to see Daniel lowered to the rocks, hanging onto his harness with one hand, the other holding a radio, looking like a daredevil in his trendy green-and-red jacket and trousers, his eyes hidden behind mirrored snow goggles.
“Who does he think he is? James Bond,” she joked with Hew.
In his utilitarian navy jacket and trousers, Hew simply grunted.
Once Daniel was down, they joined him and continued along the fringe of the trees. The dog barked frantically now, probably spooked by the helicopter.
A few minutes later, Faith caught sight of the large brown-and-black dog against the white snow. When it saw them, it ran down into a hollow in the snow, a sort of cave supported by tree roots hanging out from the rocks.
“Okay, tie a rope to that tree,” Hew said, pointing. “Daniel down first.”
“I should go first to deal with the dog.” Faith only had a med tech’s pack, but she could adapt the supplies it contained for animal use, if necessary. “The dog looks fine, but if it’s hurt it could be unpredictable.”
“All right. Faith first, but I’m going second, then.”
She glanced back at Hew, who loomed over her as she secured herself to the rope that dangled over the twenty-foot drop to the gulley below. It had been a while since she’d been climbing, but the army had trained her well, and she’d always been athletic and good at physical pursuits. She abseiled down, and the moment she unclipped herself from the rope, Hew started down so fast, she almost didn’t step out of the way in time.
She lifted off her pack and held it in front of her to act as a shield if the dog did turn nasty, not that a pack would stand much punishment from a dog the size and strength of a German shepherd. Hew did the same, and he was right there with her as they approached the hollow beneath the tree roots.
“Good boy, Admiral. We’re here to help your master. Good boy, now.” Her voice pitched low and soothing, she watched the dog for any warning that it was about to attack.
In fact, Admiral had lain down beside a man in the hollow. Continuing her soothing words, Faith laid a hand on the dog’s side and looked it over for injury as she worked her way inside the tight space so she could grab the dog’s collar. The animal appeared to be unhurt, as far as she could judge. A more detailed examination would have to wait until later. The human casualty must take precedence. She turned her head and nodded to Hew.
The man on the ground had bruising on his face. His eyes were closed and his breath labored. At least he was wearing decent protective clothing.
“Ralph,” Hew said, crouching at the casualty’s side. “We’re from the mountain rescue. We’ll have you safely out of here soon.”
The man groaned and squinted in the rapidly fading light. The dark clouds had brought premature dusk. “Fell. Chest hurts,” he whispered, then clenched his jaw, obviously in pain.
Faith noticed a dog leash tucked in the man’s belt, and she gently freed the length of cord and attached it to Admiral’s collar. Talking softly to him, she drew him back a short distance to give Daniel room to reach his patient. She crouched beside Admiral and watched as Daniel transformed before her eyes from a smiling charmer to a serious doctor.
“Hello, Ralph. My name is Daniel Fabian. I’m the doctor on the team. I’m going to examine you now before we move you. Are you with me, Ralph?”
The man groaned again, and his breath came in shallow pained gasps as he screwed up his face when Daniel touched his torso.
“Broken ribs,” Daniel said softly to Hew. “A broken leg as well, by the look of it.”
Hew’s radio crackled. “The weather’s closing in. We have a snowstorm approaching. About ten minutes before it hits. You need to evacuate the casualty immediately.”
“Roger. Lower the stretcher, out.”
“Don, stretcher coming down,” Hew shouted to the younger man who was waiting outside.
Daniel and Hew worked in concert, efficiently putting a neck brace on the casualty, then lifting him onto the stretcher and strapping him into the protective pod. Then Daniel shouldered his pack, slipped into the strop beside his patient, and the helicopter droned above, the pilot fighting the wind as the winch raised them towards the aircraft.
Faith had been so busy watching the medical work, she hadn’t noticed how the trees waved in the rising gale. Admiral started barking and jumping up after his master, a note of panic in his doggy voice.
“They won’t have time to pick us up,” Hew said. “We’ll have to hike down to the car park at the bottom of the valley and hope someone can get through to collect us.”
Even as he spoke, the first small flakes of snow hit, the tiny icy points biting into Faith’s cheeks. “They need to take Admiral. The poor dog has already been out in severe conditions all night.”
Hew got on the radio, and the winchman lowered a member of the crew. Faith helped put a harness on the dog, and the crewman hooked the dog on the strop and gave a thumbs-up. They were still dangling from the helicopter as it moved away from the danger zone by the trees.
Faith held her breath until the man and dog disappeared inside the aircraft. As soon as they did, the helicopter angled away down the valley, the lights flashing beneath it the only thing visible as the snow blew in.
“We can’t walk back in this. We need to take shelter,” Hew said. “Isn’t there a bothy near here, Don?”
“Ten minutes away,” the younger man said. “Let’s hope it’s stocked with whiskey to warm us up.”
Faith thought she’d rather have a heater, but whatever.
They climbed up the now icy rope back to the tree level with difficulty. Donald led them a few hundred yards to a timber-built cabin in a sheltered spot against the rocks. He pushed open the door and they all piled into the tiny, dark room, out of the wind and snow.
It was going to be an interesting night.