High Country Rescue

by Michael Skinner

  After about what seemed like the longest twenty minutes in his life, the door opened, and Alice walked in. She had her back to him as she pushed the door closed. He quickly took one step forward and wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, and his right hand closed over her mouth. She struggled hard and kicked him in the leg with the heel of her shoe.

  He said quietly, “Alice, don’t struggle and don’t scream, your father sent me to help you.”

  She quit struggling, but he kept his hand over her mouth. She wanted to turn to face him, so he let her turn, but quickly placed his left hand behind her neck so he could keep pressure over her mouth if he needed to.

  He continued, “I am Dan O’Neil, a friend of John Simms, who is helping your father.”

  She looked at him for a few seconds, and then fainted. Dan caught her when she went limp, and carried her to the bed. He was surprised by how light she was. He had anticipated about every reaction possible, except this one. He laid her on the bed and went to the oil lamp on the dresser. He turned the adjustment knob which raised the wick of the lamp higher. With the light from the lamp brighter, he turned to look at the room. There wasn’t any water in the room, and he couldn’t go into the kitchen to get any. He went to the window and reached down to his pack pushed his hat aside and got his canteen. He poured a little water on the corner of the quilt at the end of the bed and wiped her face with it. He kept his left hand over her mouth in case she should cry out when she awoke. After a few minutes that seemed like forever, she started to come around. As she looked at him, he placed his hand over her mouth, and placed a finger to his lips to signal to be quiet.

  He asked, “Are you alright?” and moved his hand off her mouth, but held it close in case he needed to silence her.

  “Yes, I am okay.”

  “Do you understand who I am and why I am here?”

  “Yes, I am sorry, but I had given up hope of help so long ago, I couldn’t believe someone had really come for me.”

  “Will anyone be checking on you before morning?”

  “No, they feel pretty sure that I would not run off, they have said they would kill my father if I run away or tried to contact anybody.”

  “Your father is safe, and it is my responsibility to get you out of here and back to him.”

  “Are sure he is safe?”

  “Yes, I am sure, but we don’t have time for the details now. We need to leave soon! Is there anything you need to take with you?”

  “No, there is nothing here I want or need.”

  Looking at her dress and shoes, which were brown leather lace up shoes with a heel which was only one inch by three-quarters of an inch in size at the bottom and one inch tall.

  He asked, “Do you have any other clothes you could wear other than the ones you have on?”

  “I have a few other things, but they are like what I have on. Why?”

  “We will be traveling by foot, and I was hoping you might have something more suited for travel.”

  “No, I am sorry, I have only this pair of shoes and another dress like this except in yellow.”

  “That’s okay, I have some clothes for you at our first campsite, let’s get started.”

  Dan blew out the lamp, and they went over to the window.

  Dan said quietly, “I will go first, when I get my gear together, I will turn back to the window, as you come out the window I will take you in my arms, and I will carry you the first part of the way so there will be fewer footprints for them to follow.”

  She nodded that she understood.

  Dan when through the window as carefully as he had entered. He picked up his hat and pack and placed the pack on his back and the strap for the canteen over his neck and shoulder. He turned to the window, and Alice leaned out. He held her by the waist and lifted her through the window. When she cleared the window, he allowed her to swing down and around. Without touching the ground, she put her arms around his neck as he put his arms under her. Without saying anything he turned and started walking away from the house. The moon was just coming up, and there wasn’t as much light as he would have liked to have, but this close to the house he could use the house as his reference as to which way to go to find the creek. He moved carefully straight out from the house until he found the clothesline. Once safely past the clothesline, he turned enough to the left to be on a line that would take him toward the creek. He moved carefully in the poorly lighted trees to avoid tripping or falling.

  After traveling about two hundred yards, he stopped behind a large pine tree and let Alice stand.

  He said quietly, “We will stop here for a few minutes and let the moon get a little higher. Are you alright?”

  “Yes.”

  “I want to continue to carry you until we get to the creek, but I need you to lay over my shoulder. It is almost an hour to the creek. We can stop if you need to. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Yes, but why carry me?”

  “The moccasins that I am wearing will leave less of a track on the ground than the shoes you are wearing.”

  “Okay”

  Fifteen minutes later, Dan said, “Are you ready to travel?”

  “Yes.”

  He knelt down, and she leaned over his shoulder, and Dan stood up.

  He whispered, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes”

  Dan knew that it was an uncomfortable position for Alice, but he could travel faster with her in that position. She weighed more than his fully loaded pack frame, but he didn’t have that far to go, and the terrain was almost flat. With the moon, higher, Dan could see well enough in the open pines to get his direction and see the ground well enough to avoid fallen branches and other obstacles. He moved at a steady pace through the moonlight. If they were lucky, it would be morning before Alice was missed, but even if they found she was gone before morning, it would be morning before they would have enough light to try and find her trail. He hoped that with moccasins and the pine straw underfoot it would be hard to find their trail.

  After about twenty minutes he paused to catch his breath and ask, “Are you doing okay?”

  “Yes, but can I get down for a few minutes?”

  “Of course.”

  Dan knelt down until Alice was able to reach the ground, then she pushed off his shoulder and stood up.

  He asked, “Are you sure you are alright”?

  “Yes, but it's hard to breathe and I thought if we were stopped I would catch my breath before we continued.”

  “That’s fine. Do you want to try to ride piggyback?”

  “What about your pack?”

  “You would have to wear it.”

  “Let’s try it and see how it feels.”

  “I am ready if you are?

  “Okay.”

  He took his pack off and helped her put it on her back, then asked, “How does that feel?”

  “It is heavier than I thought it would be, but not too heavy.”

  “Okay, then let’s get started.”

  He knelt down slightly, and Alice put her arms around his neck and jumped upon his back and brought her legs up and forward.

  Dan caught her legs behind the knees and pulled her forward, and then he said, “You have done this before.”

  “Not since I was a little girl.”

  “Hold on.”

  He had to lean slightly more forward to balance Alice and the pack she was wearing. She was high enough on his back that her arms rode on his shoulders and not around his neck. As he headed toward the creek, he angled a little more to the left. This he did to ensure that he would intersect with the creek downstream of the trail up the ridge. He tried to avoid bare patches of ground where he might leave a foot track, but also keep to the areas between the trees where the moonlight was the brightest. He didn’t want to waste his breath talking, and he didn’t want to stop again unless she asked to. It took almost forty-five minutes to reach the creek. He didn’t hesitate, but turned upstream. A quarter of a mile upstream he found th
e place where the game trail crossed the creek.

  He turned to the right just off the trail and said, “Time to get down for a minute.”

  “Good I am ready to straighten up a little myself.”

  “Stretch all you want, but don’t move around. Until we get a few yards up the trail on the other side of the creek, I want you to leave as few tracks as possible.”

  “Why did we stop on this side of the creek?”

  As he sat down on the pine needles, he said, “I want to take my moccasins off to keep them dry.”

  “I see.”

  Rising, he stuck his moccasins in the front of his pants and his socks in his pants pocket, then rounded up his pants legs to above his knees, and then turned to her and said, “Ready to go again.”

  “Yes, I am ready.”

  He bent over, and she jumped on his back again. He moved quickly to the edge of the creek, then entered the water slowly. He could not see the creek bottom through the water in the moonlight, so he had to feel his way with his feet. He had to feel the bottom before he put his weight down on each step. It was important not to cut his foot on a sharp stone or fall and get her so wet that you could see the watermarks on the edge of the creek when they come out. When he reached the far side of the creek, he left the creek a couple of feet right of where the game trail came out of the water. He paralleled the game trail for about ten feet before he rejoined it, then he traveled another twenty feet before he stopped.

  He knelt down slightly and said, “Last stop everybody off.”

  She said, “Not that I don’t appreciate the ride, but I am glad it is over.”

  He helped her take the pack off and set it on the ground.

  He handed her the canteen and said, “Catch your breath and have some water and we will be off.”

  “How far is to your campsite?”

  Looking up from his seat on the ground where he was putting his socks and moccasins back on, he said, “About five hours. It is in the valley on the other side of this ridge.”

  She looked up at the north face of the ridge and said, “Can we climb this in the dark?”

  “It is not as bad as it looks. I climbed it a few nights ago, just to make sure we could climb it.”

  “I am ready when you are.”

  “Okay, I will take the lead, and you let me know if you need to stop or need some help. Going up this face your shoes should not be much of a problem, but going down the other side the heels will be a problem, so be careful.”

  Dan readjusted the shoulder straps for the pack and put it on. He looked at his watch in the pale light and could see well enough to tell that it wasn’t eleven o’clock yet. He looked back at Alice and started up the trail.

  The lower part of the trail was not too steep and without the weight of Alice he had enough breath left to carry on a conversation, so as they walked on he said, “I am sorry, if I have pushed you too hard, but we have to put as much distance between us and the ranch house before they find you are gone.”

  “I understand, and I want to get as far as I can from there, as fast as I can.”

  He could tell from her labored conversation that this climb wasn’t as easy for her as it was for him, so he said “Save your breath for now, and we will have time to talk later. If you need to stop or need water, let me know. I want to reach the campsite as close to four o’clock as we can, but a few minutes either way will not matter.”

  They continued up the face of the ridge. They stopped at the rock where he had overlooked the valley on his scouting trip.

  He handed her the canteen and asked, “How are you really doing?”

  “Better than I look I am sure, but thanks for the stop.”

  “The other side is not as steep, but it will be darker. Let me know when you are ready to continue.”

  “I am ready.”

  They continued up the trail then over the top of the ridge and into the trees on the other side a short distance.

  Then Dan, said, “We will stop here for a few minutes to catch our breath and let our eyes become accustomed to the darker landscape.”

  “Do you want some jerky to go with that water?”

  “No, I am okay. I ate dinner about seven o’clock, but thanks.”

  “Let’s get started then, and we can rest when we get to the bottom.”

  “I am ready.”

  They moved down the south face of the ridge in the broken moonlight. They had to slow down in the darker areas, but he had expected that. They stopped once more for water and a rest, then continued on until they reached the creek. Dan turned toward the rockslide, and the campsite and Alice followed.

  When they reached the rockslide, he turned and said, “I will carry you across.”

  “All right.”

  This time he didn’t take his moccasins off, but simply turned and picked her up in his arms and walked across the creek.

  Then he told her, “We are going up this rockslide. You go first, and I will follow.”

  He took her to the edge of the rockslide and showed her the way up. Without hesitation, she started up. He wanted to follow her up the rockslide in case she slipped or fell, he could catch her.

  When they reached the ledge, he said, “Step to the right and let me get on the ledge with you.”

  Once on the ledge, he said, “Follow me to the edge of the trees and then wait there while I go into the trees and check the campsite out.”

  “Okay.”

  They moved to the edge of the trees, Dan paused, looked back at Alice, then continued along the ledge into the trees. It took a minute before he could see anything in the dim moonlight filtering through the pine trees. He moved along the ledge toward his pack frame. He lit a match and saw by its light that everything was as he had left it. He quickly recovered the candle from where he had left it and lit it before the match went out. He set the candle on a rock near the rock face, dropped his pack and went back to get Alice.

  She seemed a little surprised when he stepped out of the trees, and he asked, “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, I guess I just got a little scared. The way those trees closed in behind you, it was almost like you disappeared, and I was afraid for a second that you would not come back.”

  “It’s alright, I am back, and we have a safe place to rest, just follow me.”

  The light from the small candle seemed to cheer her up.

  He said, “I know it has been a long night and you are tired.”

  “I guess you are right. I have been up almost twenty-three hours, and I am tired.”

  As he rolled out her bedroll, he said, “I understand, sit down here, this is your bedroll. Take a few minutes to relax, and you will feel better. Do you want anything to eat?”

  “No, I don’t need anything now. How about yourself?”

  “I am okay. I will eat breakfast with you in the morning, but morning will be here quickly. As soon as you can lay down, do so and try to get some sleep.”

  “Do you think they will follow us?

  “Do you think they will?”

  “Yes, they will. Is my father safe?”

  “By now your father should be at Colonel John’s ranch waiting for us. It will be daylight before they know you are gone and even when they find the trail, we will be at least five hours ahead of them.”

  “Thank God. I was so worried about him.”

  Dan said, “He has been worried about you too, and that’s why I was sent to get you out.”

  “I haven’t had a chance to thank you. I was so surprised that someone actually came for me.”

  “The Colonel says you, and I have met before do you remember me?”

  “Your face was familiar, but I wasn’t sure who you were until I heard your name then I remembered.”

  “Are you getting tired?”

  “Yes, I think I am.”

  “Take your shoes off and let me measure your feet.”

  “Measure my feet, for what?”

  Dan smiled, “So I can mak
e you a pair of moccasins to wear.”

  “Oh, all right.”

  As she unlaced and removed her shoes as he retrieved the leather from the pack frame.

  He placed two rectangles of the heavier leather on the ground and said, “Could you stand on this for a minute?”

  Rising, she said, “Of course.”

  He took a small pencil from his pack and outlined her feet on the leather, and then said, “That is all I need. You can go to sleep now.”

  “What about you?”

  “I slept yesterday afternoon. I will wake you when it is time to get up.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are quite welcome.”

  He showed her how to open the bedroll and gave her a rolled-up shirt from the pack frame to use as a pillow and said, “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight and thank you, Dan.”

  “I am glad I could help.”

  Alice settled down in the bedroll and turned away from the candle and was soon asleep. Dan began working on the moccasins and soon had everything cut out, but he had to guess on some things because he didn’t want to wake her up to get additional measurements. He didn’t punch any of the holes for fear of waking her. He would do that in the morning. He sat the leather aside and began to work on getting the back frame in order for the next day. He removed the clothes that Alice would be wearing and set them on the rock ledge. He removed the jerky and hard tack he had left in the leather pack and set it aside. He then moved two boxes of 45-90 cartridges from the bag on the pack frame and into the pack to make them more accessible if needed them. He removed enough jerky and hard tack from the grub sack on the pack frame to give him enough for breakfast and lunch, and then he put the food for lunch in one of the compartments of the leather pack. He removed the two shoulder holsters he had been wearing and put the holsters and one of the pistols in the leather pack. He could not get to the pistols when he had the pack frame on. But he did remove a cartridge carrier for the 45-90, from the bag on the pack frame and load it with six cartridges. He would wear that on his belt to give him faster access. He took a seventh cartridge and loaded it into the hi-wall. He didn’t like to carry the rifle loaded, the only safety it had was a half cock on the hammer, but he wanted to be ready. After everything was ready, he picked up the leather again and did all the layout and cutting he needed. It would only take a few minutes to punch the holes and do the lacing.