Chapter 20
Fifteen minutes trudging through knee high snow drifts felt like a lifetime. Kendall’s legs ached from the exertion and, while the snow had stopped falling, the wind was still blowing the stinging ice crystals against her face. Add to that the snow blindness and she began to long for the tiny cabin.
She alternated between looking down where her feet were stepping to watching the back of Marc as he painfully made his way through the thick snow with his stick-crutch, knowing his ankle must be causing him agony.
Tilting her head down again, she soon bounced off his back. Looking up as she toppled backward, she discovered Marc had stopped in front of her. “Umph,” she groaned as his hands steadied her.
“How’re you holding up?” he asked.
“As well as you,” she retorted, a grimace on her face.
Grinning at her testiness, he said, “We’re almost there.”
Following his hand to where he was pointing, she could see the woods beginning to clear and, though she could no longer see the rocky terrain of the meadow now that it was covered in over a foot of snow, she knew they were close. Studying the open space, she said, “They can’t land, can they? Not with all the snow and ice.”
Marc observed the tense muscles in her jaw as her gaze remained on the vista in front of them. Hating to make things worse, he nodded. “I’m pretty sure they’ll have to send something down for us.” He hated the look of despair that crossed her face so he quickly assured, “We’ll be fine, Kendall. My crew is the best and I’ll be right with you.”
Nodding, she forced her frozen lips into a smile and said, “Alrighty then…let’s go get rescued!”
Laughing, Marc turned and began to slowly make his way to the edge of the meadow. Stopping at the treeline, they set their packs down as he scanned the area. “They’ll get a lock on our location and should be here soon.”
Within fifteen more minutes, they heard the sound of helicopter blades whirring as it approached.
*
“We’re close,” Logan called out to the Saints strapped into the back of his Lakota helicopter. Bart looked down, seeing nothing but the tops of the trees in the thick forests below, placing his faith in his former commander.
Jude, sitting in the co-pilot seat, kept his eye on the signal coming from Marc. “Just a few clicks away,” he said, excited for the mission to be accomplished successfully.
Logan looked at the terrain as they passed over the mountains and came upon a frozen lake. Just beyond the lake lay a snow-covered area that appeared flat, but he knew underneath the snow it would be rocky and unstable. “Looks like we’ll be lowering the hoist.”
“If Marc’s too injured, I’ll go down to secure him,” Bart volunteered.
“Looks like they might be okay,” Blaise called out. Using binoculars, his eyes were trained on the edge of the woods, where he ascertained that two figures were coming from the forest, the smaller one supporting the much taller person. “The snow is deep and cumbersome, but Marc’s managing with help from Dr. Rhodes.”
“Look likes she’s holding her own just fine,” Bart added, his gaze now on the figures slowly trudging out from the cover of the woods.
Jude radioed to Marc’s phone, “We’re sending down the hoist. Can you secure Dr. Rhodes?”
As Jude received the affirmative from Marc, Bart readied the hoist, standing by the controls to send it down.
*
Kendall longed for the step-hobble of the other day, when the snow had not yet drifted so high. She could tell Marc was having to put more pressure on his injured ankle, so she moved up and slid underneath his arm to offer her body as a crutch. He began to scowl, but acknowledged that the high drifts of snow, now that they were out of the woods, made movement almost impossible.
Looking up, he carefully watched as the helicopter came closer, its roar sounding out over the open space. He observed the side door open and his heart felt lighter as he recognized Bart leaning out with the hoist.
“Is he crazy?” Kendall exclaimed, as she shielded her eyes and noted someone from the helicopter hanging out the open door. The blades whirled above, swirling the surface snow all about them, making visibility difficult.
“Don’t worry, he’s strapped in,” Marc explained.
“Oh,” she replied, feeling slightly foolish, until she realized the helicopter was not coming lower. “We have to make it all the way up there? With just that rope?” Twisting her neck to look up at Marc’s calm face, she tried to draw strength from his lack of concern. Failing at that, she then tried to just force down the hysteria bubbling in her chest.
He felt the fear rolling off her in waves and squeezed her shoulder. “Kendall girl, you can do this. It’s a steel cable and won’t break. I promise I’ve got you and I can vouch that those men up there will care for you just as they would their own women.”
Nodding, she sucked in her lips, the sting of ice against her face forcing her to accept that they needed to get out of the elements, even if that meant hanging by a steel cable harness from a helicopter. “I got this,” she announced, as firmly as possible, trying to ignore her quaking legs.
Grinning, he kissed her forehead as he tucked her into his arms again. “Good girl.” With a wave, he indicated to Bart that they were ready. The hoist began lowering with the harnesses and clamps.
*
“Fuck! We’ve got company!” Logan shouted, his eyes on the horizon.
“What have you got?” Bart asked, twisting his head around to see what Logan was talking about.
“Another bird coming in low, circling close to where we’re going.”
“We’ve jammed Marc’s signal,” Jude protested. “No fucking way anyone can tell where he is!”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Logan cursed. “Then someone’s just waited until the storm passed and they’re out scouting. And we’re going to beacon them right in. Get armed.”
Blaise and Bart, already armed, readied themselves, both cursing. The helicopter banked hard to the right as Logan began evasive maneuvers.
“Hang on boys, might be a shootout at the OK corral!” Logan called out, his face grim.
*
Seeing the helicopter swerve away, Marc’s gaze scanned the sky searching for the reason, landing on the other helicopter moving in. “Get down!” he yelled, pulling Kendall down with him, face first into the snow.
“Umph!” she groaned as she lay buried in the snow, Marc’s heavy body covering hers.
He raised his head just in time to hear rapid gunfire in the distance and watched as the two birds flew around each other, both aggressive and evasive, the sound of discharging weapons reverberating. Aware of Kendall’s body underneath his, he warred between wanting to move off her and keeping her protected. Shifting slightly to the side, he said in her ear, “Hang on, sweet girl, I promise we’ll get up out of the snow.”
Twisting her head, she grunted, “What’s happening?”
“Looks like someone else was waiting for the storm to end so they could find us.”
Eyes widening, she gasped. “Who is it? Who’s after me? I’m no one!”
Sparing a glance toward the sky again, seeing Bart firing out of his side, he looked back down at her frightened face. “I don’t know…but we’re gonna find out!”
The sounds in the air changed and Marc watched as the other helicopter flew away and Bart’s bird moved back over them. Leaping to his feet, ignoring the pain, he bent over and pulled Kendall to a standing position. “Come on, Kendall girl, let’s go. They’ve chased the others away for now, so we’ve got to get moving.”
Seeing their rescue hovering over them again with the hoist lowering, Marc looked down at her and explained, “We’ll go up together to save time.”
Heart pounding, she fought to breathe. “Will it hold both of us?”
“No worries,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the hoist waving in the wind. “You don’t weigh anything. It’s strong enough to easily get us up.”
Reaching out to grasp the harnesses, he turned to her and began to fasten her in. She tried to help, but their hands were numb with cold and both fumbled with the clasps. Finally getting her in, he stepped into his harness, but staggered as his ankle gave out under his weight.
Kendall instinctively grabbed him, throwing her body under his arm to keep him from falling. Steadying him, she worked the clasps on his harness. He double-checked them before looking up, now seeing Blaise’s face alongside Bart’s. Giving them a thumbs-up, he threw his arms around Kendall, holding her close as their feet left the ground.
With a squeak, Kendall grabbed onto Marc’s shoulders as they began to twirl around as they were lifted slowly. Glancing up, she saw the blades whirling on the helicopter, petrified they would somehow come in contact with them. Darting her gaze down, nausea swept over her as she watched the ground spin around.
“Keep your eyes on me. Just me. I’ll be your safe place,” Marc ordered, seeing the terror on her face. “Good girl,” he said, at her quick acquiescence.
He looked up again and smiled, seeing the Saints’ faces coming closer.
Suddenly, the helicopter swerved to the right again, taking the dangling couple on a ride over the forest, their feet barely missing the treetops.
“Shit!” he cursed and Kendall’s eyelids jumped open as she screamed, their bodies flying through the air.