Family Sins(63)

He scooted sideways until he reached the car. Seconds later rocks began rolling down at his feet, and he looked up to see Jesse less than ten feet away with an intent expression on his face, waiting for orders.

Bowie was stunned that his brother had made it in one piece. He didn’t know whether to be glad Jesse had followed him or worried that he was going to have two people to get back up the mountain instead of one.

“Grab a tree,” Bowie said, and Jesse did. “Just stay there a minute and let me see if I can get to her.”

“Staying here,” Jesse said.

Bowie gave him a thumbs-up and began inching his way from the back end of the car to the driver’s-side door. His first sight of her was heart-stopping. She was slumped over the steering wheel, unconscious, and bleeding from the nose and from a cut he could see above her forehead. There was no way to tell what kind of internal injuries or broken bones she might have, and he was just praying for a pulse when he leaned in and felt her carotid artery. To his everlasting relief, it was strong.

“She’s alive!” he yelled.

Jesse raised his arms in jubilation.

“Alive! Alive!” he yelled, and waved at Aidan, who was staring down at them in disbelief.

Bowie tried to open the door, but it was jammed. He thought about circling the car to the open door and getting inside, but he was afraid his added weight would cause the car to start sliding again. And he hesitated to move her for fear he would make bad things worse. All he could think to do was pray the rescue units would get there soon and make those decisions for him.

“Talia, can you hear me?” he asked, and put a hand on the back of her neck. “Talia, baby, it’s me, Bowie. Can you move? Can you feel your arms?”

She moaned, and the sound was such a relief he almost cried.

“Baby, I need for you to wake up and talk to me,” he said.

She moaned again, then moved one hand toward the steering wheel.

Seeing that much motion was a relief of sorts. At least now he knew her neck wasn’t broken or she wouldn’t have been able to move her arm. She could, however, have a spinal fracture, and a wrong move there could cause permanent damage.

He was debating with himself about what to do when the car slid a few feet forward, followed by a sudden explosion. Bowie fell backward, and Jesse jumped a good foot in the air and then hit the ground looking for cover.

Within moments Bowie saw that when the car slid forward it had rammed into a broken-off sapling, which had pierced the tire like a knife. He got to his feet shouting, “Jesse, it’s okay! It’s not a gunshot. The tire blew out. It’s just a flat tire.”

Jesse rolled over and sat up. There was a frantic expression in his eyes.

“You’re okay,” Bowie said. “It was just a tire going flat.”

But Talia’s situation was no longer okay. The blowout had caused the car to shift position. Bowie could see it beginning to move, and waiting to get her out from the other side was no longer an option.

He made a split-second decision. It was this or risk losing her for good.

He grabbed his pocket knife, slashed the seat belt holding her in place, then leaned in the window and slid his hands beneath her shoulders.

The moment he shifted her weight the car moved some more.

Please, God, no.

He planted the heel of his boot on the slope to keep from going with the car and began to pull.

All of a sudden there was a loud thud. The car vibrated, rocked once, and then the slide suddenly stalled.

Bowie looked up to see Jesse spread-eagled on the trunk of the car, putting all his weight on the back end to steady it.

“Hurry, Bowie!” Jesse yelled.

Bowie took him at his word and pulled her free. He fell backward with her in his arms just as the car began to slide again.

“Jump, Jesse!” Bowie yelled.

Jesse pushed himself backward as the car slid out from under him. He grabbed on to a tree as the car continued to slide before catching in more trees farther down.

Jesse crawled over to where Bowie was lying with Talia in his arms and threw his arms around his brother’s neck.

“You’re okay, Bowie. You’re okay,” Jesse said, then looked at Talia and gently patted her on the arm.

Bowie held on to Talia with one arm and grabbed his brother with the other.

“Jesse Youngblood, you are one awesome dude,” he said softly, hugging him tight.

“I have sharp eyes,” Jesse said.

Bowie started crying and hugged him again.

“You sure as hell do, little brother. You helped me save Talia’s life.”

Aidan was shouting at them from above, but Bowie couldn’t hear what he was saying. Moments later he heard a siren in the distance. And then another, and another.

Bowie looked at Jesse. “Help is coming,” he said. “Do you hear the sirens?”

Jesse nodded, then looked down at the knees of his jeans, and frowned at the dirt and tears.

“Mama’s gonna be mad I tore my jeans,” he muttered.

“No, she won’t. Not this time,” Bowie said. “I promise you, she won’t be mad.”

*

Leigh was pacing the floor. She had a bad feeling about what might have happened to Talia, and when she began to hear sirens, she ran outside.

The sirens were close, which wasn’t good, considering the short time her boys had been gone. She grabbed her cell phone from the hip pocket and was about to make a call when it rang in her hand. She jumped, saw it was from Aidan and was officially scared. She didn’t bother with hello.