The Challenge(28)

“You saved us!” Juliet said as he tried to stand up and winced.

“I read somewhere that if you try to make bear sounds, they attack but if you look taller and stay quiet, they take off. I’ve never tested the theory though.” Peter gave him a hand to get up from where he lay, and Justin grimaced in pain. “I think I sprained my ankle,” he said. He couldn’t walk when he stood up. “So much for walking down the mountain tomorrow.” He appeared to be in serious pain as they moved around, glancing between the trees as they did, to make sure the bear didn’t come back. They guessed that she would be looking for another lair to hide her cub, but they kept a close eye on the area around them. They were amazed that Justin’s ruse had worked, except that now he was incapacitated.

“Lie down,” Juliet suggested. He did, looking miserable. Peter brought a log over so Justin could rest and elevate his foot on it, but within minutes his foot had tripled in size and looked like a football. Juliet could see Justin was fighting back tears from the pain and the shock of scaring off the bear.

“Maybe it’s broken,” Peter whispered to her, when they walked away for a minute, before Juliet returned to give Justin a sip of their precious water.

“I hope not,” she said, worried. Things seemed to be deteriorating. They had been on the mountain for two days and no one had found them. They were beginning to think that no one would, despite Justin’s promises that they’d be home soon, to keep their spirits up.

“Matt, Pete, and I can carry Justin tomorrow. We’ll take turns,” Tim said gamely. All three boys were strong, although Justin was taller and heavier. They had been good sports so far.

They all calmed down after the bear incident, but Benjie clung to his brother and Juliet once it was dark, terrified that the bear would come back. Noel was quiet and getting weaker without food. Juliet had reserved all the juice she had for him. They still had some left, and she gave it to him. Justin was quiet but groaned whenever he moved. They were all resigned to going without food that night.

“I think we definitely win the challenge,” Peter said when they settled down for the night. “The bear wins it. Justin wins first prize.” He grinned and they all took turns again, watching for predators at night. But the bear didn’t return. She was protecting her cub somewhere, hopefully far away.



* * *



—

Chief Ranger Harvey Mack called the Pollocks at eight o’clock that night and asked them to round up the parents so he could explain the next day’s strategy. He was discouraged at the lack of results that day, but by no means felt defeated. He didn’t intend to lose the seven children.

Tom called Beth on her cellphone and told her he’d pick her up in a few minutes. She was dressed and waiting for him when he drove by her hotel, and she jumped into his truck.

“What did he say?” she asked nervously about Chief Mack. Tom noticed she had her fighting face on, which wasn’t a good sign.

“He’s just bringing us up-to-date on the plan for tomorrow. You wanted to meet him, so now you will.”

“I don’t understand what’s taking them so long. For God’s sake, there are seven of them on a mountain. How hard can it be to find them?” Tom didn’t like the sound of her tone, but he knew better than to lock horns with her, and he reminded himself that he wasn’t responsible for her behavior. She was no longer his wife, and he knew what a bitch she could be if she was angry. He had experienced it often enough in the last year.



* * *



—

They were the last to arrive at the Pollocks’. All the others were there. Tom introduced Beth to them, and they all told her how sorry they were that they were in this boat together. Beth was polite to them, but not warm, as though she blamed them for the situation, along with Tom. He could tell she was gunning for Chief Mack too, when he arrived. He looked calm, but Tom could see a muscle tighten in his jaw. He’d obviously had a hard day, and made it clear that he wasn’t happy with the results so far either.

“Neither are we,” Beth said harshly, and spoke for them all. The other parents looked startled when she spoke up. Harvey Mack looked exceptionally calm.

“This is where we are now,” the chief ranger said, ignoring her for a moment and pointing to a map. Tom was embarrassed by her outburst and was trying not to be. “We’re moving to a different area tomorrow. It would have made sense to find them where we’ve been looking all day. But on the chance that they’ve gone seriously off course and don’t know where they are, we’re going to try another sector tomorrow.”

“Are your pilots competent?” Beth asked loudly, and Tom winced, with an apologetic look at the chief ranger, who looked unimpressed.

“Extremely, Mrs. Marshall.” She was no longer using Tom’s name, and had reverted to her maiden name, Turner, but she didn’t correct him. “And they’ll be well accompanied tomorrow. The fires on the back side of the mountain are creeping up on us and coming around the sides of Granite Peak. The National Guard is sending us planes and rescue pilots for tomorrow. They’re arriving at midnight. We’ll have six recon planes in the air tomorrow, and a hundred people on the ground. It’s the largest rescue operation we’ve had in the area, ever. I want to get your kids home, or at least locate them, tomorrow if we can. We can drop them supplies, if we can’t get them out when we first spot them. And we’ll have a pump for Noel in those supplies,” he said pointedly to Marlene, and tears filled her eyes as she nodded gratefully. “We’ll parachute some men and paramedics in to wait with them if we can clear the trees, depending on where they are. We start at dawn tomorrow,” he told them. There were subdued nods and tears of gratitude among the parents. The tension was wearing on them all.