The Challenge(29)

“And what if you don’t find them?” Beth said in a sharp voice, and Tom wanted to strangle her to shut her up. They were doing everything they could with the National Guard and a hundred men on the ground and six planes in the air. They couldn’t do more.

“If they’re on that mountain, we’ll find them, if I have to go up there myself every day until we do,” Harvey answered her. He had spent twelve hours on horseback that day on the mountain with his team, directing all aspects of the rescue mission. He fixed Beth with a look that surprised her. It wasn’t anger, it was pity, and she suddenly realized that she had met her match. He wasn’t cowed by her. He felt sorry for her. “I realize that you’re frightened, Mrs. Marshall. We all are. So am I. I don’t want to lose a single one of your children. This is taking too long, but it’s hard terrain to negotiate. I’m going to ask you to trust me. I am going to do everything in my power to bring those kids home. Do whatever you can to stay calm. You don’t need anger to convince me. I have the kids’ best interests at heart, and I want to see Juliet in your arms this time tomorrow.” He had totally disarmed her, and she was crying when he finished. He walked over to speak to her after he spoke to the other parents. She had melted like so much ice cream and could no longer conceal her terror.

Harvey gently touched her arm when he spoke to her. “I’m sorry if I was hard on you. I know how frightening this is. We know it too. I’m not going to let you down, or the kids. They’re coming home,” he promised, and she believed him.

“Thank you,” she said in a shaken voice. “I’m sorry if I was rude.”

“Anger is just a cover for fear,” he said kindly.

“I’m so afraid she’ll die up there, or is already dead,” she said in a whisper, and he gave her a hug. He was like a mountain himself, and it was comforting being in his arms.

“I don’t think she is,” he said. “If they were, I think we’d already have found them. I think they’re a bunch of bright kids who got themselves in a mess, and they’re trying to figure it out the way we are, so they’re moving around, which makes them harder to locate. I’m just guessing, but I think they’re a moving target. If they just sit still for a minute, we’ll find them. They’ll wear out before we do, and they’ll slow down. I’m counting on that tomorrow. The mountain will be swarming with troops too. We need to outsmart them and outrun them to catch them. They’re younger than we are so they can keep moving, but we outnumber them, and we’re smarter.” He smiled at her, and she smiled back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Marshall. Try to get some rest.” Tom marveled at the way he handled her. It was exactly what Beth had needed to calm down. A strong man to take charge. Tom knew that he hadn’t been strong enough for her. Maybe that was what had gone wrong. The chief ranger saw right through her and didn’t let her attack him. Beth was as docile as a lamb when he left.

They were all encouraged by what he had said. Tom couldn’t sleep when he got home, thinking about the operation that would begin at dawn to save his daughter. It was like a war, perfectly planned with precision, and a hundred rescuers to find seven children and bring them home.



* * *



—

June Taylor was thinking about it too when she made herself a cup of warm milk and her phone rang. She didn’t even recognize his voice at first. It was Ted, her ex-husband, calling from somewhere in the Middle East.

“I’ve just gotten back to my apartment. I’ve been away. You left me about ten messages. What’s up?” He sounded annoyed. He had never completely forgiven her for divorcing him, nor she for abandoning them and rejecting their son all his life because he was deaf. It wasn’t Tim’s fault. He was such a great boy. He didn’t deserve a father like the one he had, who thought postcards from foreign places and child support were all he needed to contribute to his son’s life.

She told him what had happened. He sounded shocked.

“How long has he been up there? Do you think they’re still alive?” They’d been on the mountain for two days in warm weather, which was a plus, but they were probably without food or water, and might be injured, which wasn’t good.

“I hope so,” she said with tears in her eyes again. What Harvey Mack had said that night had made her cry too. They were all worn out from the strain and lack of sleep. “If they aren’t, you missed your son’s whole life, Ted, just because he has a hearing impairment from a fever I had when I was pregnant. You’ve punished him for it all his life.” She had wanted to say it to him for fourteen years and finally had. It was long overdue. He didn’t respond at first, and when he did, she could hear that he was crying too.

“I’m sorry, June. I hope to God he’s okay up there.”

“So do I,” she said, sounding choked.

They talked for a few minutes and she promised to keep him posted. She told him about the rescue plans for the next day, with the National Guard. He said he was too far away and couldn’t come home, which didn’t surprise her. But it was the most civil conversation she’d had with him in ten years. She just hoped that Tim didn’t have to die for his father to wake up. He deserved a real father, and not a handful of postcards every year.

She sat at the window that night. The moon was bright and she thought about her son, and prayed he was still alive.