Chapter 25
The Rescue
“Mayday, this is Charlie three, can you read me?” asked the pilot.
“We read you, come on,” said a voice at the control tower.
“Tell Katherine we found them,” the pilot relayed.
Katherine was sitting with the controllers and yelped for joy when she heard the news. She said, “Please ask if they found all of them.”
“I’m just landing. I’ll have to get back to you, but it looks like there are five or six,” the pilot reported. “Hold on, I’m counting. There are five, no six.”
“There are six,” informed the controller.
Katherine checked her roster and counted the names under Cindi’s group. “She started with nine, but Maria left, so there should be eight campers and Cindi.”Ask the pilot if he can count nine?”
“Just a minute. I’ll give you a full report in a minute.”
When the helicopter finally landed, the campers, Cindi, and Jack ran to it like they were racers completing a marathon. Katherine got on the speaker, “Ask for Cindi!”
“Is there a counselor named Cindi?” asked the pilot.
Before maneuvering herself to the front of the group, Cindi forced the precious photograph into her pocket and answered, “Yes, I’m here.”
“Are all your campers with you?”
“Not everyone, but I know where everyone is…everyone that is except Maria. Do you know if she made it back alright?” asked Cindi.
Katherine responded, “Yes, Maria made it back and has been picked up by her mother.” Cindi almost cried when she heard the good news about Maria. She told everyone there and they let out a cheer, then they started to feel hurt that she had abandoned them with no warning.
“Be glad she’s okay,” said Eugene.
“We are, but it stinks that we never got to say goodbye,” said Luna.
They all nodded in agreement.
Katherine was flooded with happiness to learn that all of Cindi’s campers were safe and accounted for. She asked, “Are any of them seriously injured? Tell everyone that paramedics are on their way.”
Cindi looked towards Jack and handed him the speaker. He gave no thought to protecting his privacy, but rather was focused on the well-being of the campers. He quickly spoke, “This is Jack. I’m a doctor, although I haven’t practiced for a while. I treated everyone with the supplies I had, and they are stable, but there are three back at my cabin that need immediate hospitalization.”
“Maria told me about you, Jack. Thanks for your help. Where is your cabin?” asked Katherine.
“It’s just outside your camp. I’ll get in the helicopter and show the pilot the way. I know a place where he can land because my cabin is very secluded and hard to spot. It’s buried at the edge of the mountain pretty close to the Taos River,” responded Jack.
“Okay, thanks,” said Katherine.
First Luna, Cody, and Eugene got in the helicopter, then Jack while C.J. and Cindi waited because there wasn’t room enough for everyone. “We’ll be fine. Just go get Sarah Beth, Jorgina, and Jacob. They need to get to the hospital as soon as possible,” insisted Cindi.
“I know. We’ll drop these kids off at my cabin and load up the others, take them to the hospital, and then come back for the rest of you. Don’t move. Just stay put!” ordered Jack.
“I learned my lesson the hard way,” said C.J. worried that Cindi might be mad at her.
“I promise,” said Cindi bitter sweetly. In a matter of moments, she had plunged to the lowest point in her life, and then plummeted to her peak when the helicopter arrived. She put her arm around C.J. “It’s going to be alright C.J. If you don’t find your brother and family, you can stay with me. Heck, I’ll even adopt you if you want me to.”
C.J. smiled. She had come looking for a family and things hadn’t worked out the way she had hoped, but she trusted that Cindi was serious about her offer. She felt her nightmare of homelessness was coming to an end. Finally, she would have a place to live and someone to care about her. She wished she could find her brother though because she and Dale were inseparable. “What if I find Dale, what about him?” asked C.J. cautiously.
“If we find him, he’s welcome too, or you can stay with him if he is able to properly care for you,” said Cindi.
C.J. was glad they had been rescued and for the offer Cindi had made, but secretly she was longing to see her brother. She wondered where he was, and if he was looking for her. She and Cindi stood in silence as they watched everyone load into the helicopter. They knew the end was near and so they rested in the clearing.
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