Lost Valley: The Escape

by J. T. Cross

  Luc ran toward the helicopter. The hatch door slid open as he got close and a man reached out and took his backpack and then helped him in.

  “Nice to meet you, Luc,” the pilot said.

  “Scott, I’ve never been so happy to see a helicopter in my life.”

  Miller laughed. “That’s what they all say.”

  The pilot closed the hatch and went back to the cockpit. “Come up front and take the copilot’s seat. You’re going to have to guide me to the survivors,” he said as he strapped himself in.

  Luc quickly climbed into the other seat and fastened his seatbelt. “The others are waiting midway down the mountain at the edge of a large clearing.”

  “That’ll work.”

  Luc felt himself pressed back in the seat as they lifted off.

  “Which way?” the pilot asked.

  “Down the side of the mountain,” Luc said as he pointed to the east.

  The pilot flew over the edge of the mountain and began descending. After several minutes, they came to a sharp drop-off.

  “I believe that’s the face of the mountain I climbed,” Luc said.

  The pilot flew out over the drop off then turned and illuminated the vertical face with a spotlight.

  “You climbed that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Crap, that’s pretty gutsy.”

  “It helps to be an experienced rock climber, but believe me, it wasn’t my first choice.”

  “I believe that. Which way now?”

  “Straight down the face,” Luc said and felt the helicopter begin to descend.

  As they went lower, they began to enter a light fog. Luc watched the pilot as he constantly looked back and forth between the rock wall and the indicators on the cockpit dashboard.

  “I’m reading about fifty more feet before we touch down,” the pilot said.

  Luc suddenly saw the ground come into view through the fog. He also saw several wolves running across the area below them.

  “Can you shine the spotlight straight ahead into the fissures?” Luc asked, pointing toward the bottom of the rock wall.

  The light illuminated the rock face and the large crack where Luc had left them. What he saw chilled his blood. Two large wolves were running away from the crack.

  “Do you have a pistol?”

  “No, Victor took all the firearms.”

  Then they saw movement as Chuck ran toward the helicopter carrying Kelly with Stuart, Christie, and Kate running close behind him.

  “They’re coming. We need to get the door open,” Luc said as he unbuckled his belt and moved to the back. The burning pain in his side reminded him that he’d been wounded.

  He grabbed the handle and slid the door open just as Chuck arrived and handed Kelly to him. Chuck then helped Stuart, Christie, and Kate into the helicopter. Climbing in after them, he slid the door shut.

  “You got here just in time. The wolves just found us,” he said sounding very relieved.

  “Do we have everyone?” the pilot asked.

  “Everyone but Victor,” Luc yelled up to him over the sound of the helicopter turbine and blades. “You’ll have to come back for him later with a search party.”

  Luc felt the vibrations increase as the blades came up to speed and the copter began to lift off. He laid his head back and began to relax. They had done it.

  A sense of euphoria began to come over him. Suddenly, the hatch door opened wide. He looked up and saw Victor appear from out of the night, pointing a semi-automatic pistol directly at him.

  Kate threw herself across the helicopter cabin and reached for the gun. “No!” she screamed.

  Before Luc could react, the gun went off and he saw her thrown back across the cabin.

  Luc lunged at Victor, closing his hands around the barrel of the pistol.

  “What the hell’s going on back there?” yelled the pilot.

  “Victor shot Kate,” Christie screamed out.

  Luc poured all his strength into trying to wrestle the pistol away from Victor. As soon as he would pull it in his direction, Victor would twist it and pull it back in his own.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Luc saw Chuck jump into action and repeatedly punch Victor as he fought to keep control of the pistol.

  Luc suddenly felt the pistol slip out of his grip and found himself flying backward. He hit the cabin wall and scrambled back up onto his knees in time to see Victor pull the trigger. The gun didn’t fire.

  Almost instantly, Victor brought the handle of the gun down on Chuck’s head. He watched Chuck fall backward and collapse.

  Luc launched himself at Victor. In mid-flight through the cabin, he saw Victor pull a hunting knife from his belt and take a vicious swipe at him with it. The knife narrowly missed his face and he managed to grab Victor’s wrist.

  Victor immediately brought his knee up and knocked the breath out of Luc. He gave out a bellowing yell and drove his elbow hard into Victor’s face, pushing him back toward the cockpit.

  Luc felt Victor’s feet under him and was then suddenly thrown back against the cabin wall, his head banging hard against the metal.

  He struggled to get back up and continue the fight as Victor came at him with the knife again. He put his hands up to protect himself but slipped backward and fell. He watched the knife come down and felt Victor bury it deep in his chest.

  Christie screamed and grabbed a fire extinguisher off the cabin wall. Pointing the nozzle at Victor, she pulled the trigger sending a shower of white powder into his face.

  Victor began madly rubbing his eyes as Christie slammed the fire extinguisher tank down on his head. He reached out and ripped it out of her hand, shoving her back across the cabin.

  Victor stood up and looked down at Luc. He raised the knife up and bent over to stab him a second time as Luc brought both his feet back and kicked at Victor with the last of his strength.

  The force of the kick threw Victor through the open hatch door and out into the air. Luc heard his screams as he fell away from the helicopter.

  Luc looked down and saw the front of his shirt was soaked in blood. Christie came over to him and looked down. “What should I do?” she screamed out.

  In a hoarse whisper, Luc asked, “How is Kate?”

  Christie shook her head. “Her eyes are closed; she’s not moving.”

  Luc struggled to get a breath. “Tell... Tell Chuck to give her CPR. You have to help her.”

  “Luc, you’re bleeding real bad. What should I do to help you?”

  He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and running down his face. He tried to rise up but fell back. He was too weak to do anything. He realized he had lost too much blood. “Please try to help her.”

  Christie ripped open his shirt and he looked down at his chest. He could see the blood flowing from the wound the knife had made. “Get something and put pressure on it,” he said, still struggling to breathe.

  He saw her looking around the cabin, and then watched her unbuttoning her blouse as his vision blurred. She came back to him with it wadded up in a ball. He took her hand and put it on the wound. “Push down and try to keep the blood from...”

  She covered the wound with her blouse and pushed down firmly. Luc felt pain shoot through his chest. He moaned and closed his eyes as he felt the helicopter climb into the night and his world sank into darkness.

  Chapter 28

  Luc gradually became aware of his surroundings. He didn’t try to think or figure out where he was. Slowly, voices began to impinge on the quiet of his consciousness. He didn’t try to understand what they were saying.

  He began to notice a deep throbbing pain. It seemed to be coming from his chest. He tried to ignore it.

  He woke and opened his eyes and realized he was lying on a bed in a white room. There were several lights on the wall that gave off a dim glow. He looked to his left and noticed a device with a screen on it near the side of his bed.

  He stared at it mindlessly, watching little squiggles move
across its screen. A little later, he realized he was looking at a heart monitor and he was hooked up to it.

  Second by second, he became more aware of his surroundings and started looking around the room. To his left was a window covered by mini-blinds that were closed. Near the ceiling in the left-hand corner of his room was a TV set.

  A man he vaguely recognized was on TV and was busy putting tile on a countertop. It was one of the home improvement shows he sometimes watched when he was bored.

  He looked to his right and saw his grandfather, who immediately noticed that he was awake.

  Matuska stood up and bent over the bed. “Luc, how are you feeling?”

  It was comforting to see his grandfather’s face. “Where am I?”

  “The Manatuk Village Hospital.”

  He tried to swallow. “Is there any water?”

  Matuska poured some water into a paper cup and handed it to him. Luc drank it slowly as he began to be more alert.

  “Son, you did a very brave thing bringing everybody out of the valley. Your friend Chuck told me everything you did. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of you.”

  “Thank you, Grandpa. That means a lot to me.” He looked at his grandfather and thought how very tired he looked. “How long have you been here?”

  “Since they brought you in.”

  “You should go home and get some rest. I’m going to be fine, I promise.”

  “First, let me call the nurse,” Matuska said. Luc watched him push a button by the side of his bed.

  Matuska sat back down as a nurse entered the room and turned on the overhead lights. She walked over to Luc and glanced at the monitor for several seconds then turned back to him.

  “So, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” she asked, as she put a digital thermometer in his ear.

  “I’ve felt better.”

  “How’s your chest? Are you in pain?”

  He noticed the throbbing in his chest again. “It hurts some.”

  She went to her cart and picked up a small cup and handed it to him. “Here’s a pain pill. You’ll feel better in a little while.”

  “I think I’m going to go on home now,” Matuska said. He stood and slowly walked to the door then turned back to Luc. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  “See you then, Grandpa.”

  He suddenly remembered Kate had been shot and tried to sit up. He needed to find her.

  The nurse gently pushed him back down. “I’m not ready to get you out of bed just yet. We’ll do that a little later.”

  “There was a lady on the helicopter with us who got shot. Her name is Kate McGrew. How is she?” He held his breath, almost afraid to hear the answer.

  “She had a bullet wound to the shoulder and lost some blood. They stitched her up. The docs say she’ll be fine.”

  “Thank God,” Luc said and put his head back down on the pillow.

  “Are my kids okay?”

  “They’re fine. I think they’re in the cafeteria with their mother.”

  The door opened and Chuck walked in wearing a hospital gown and robe. There were bandages around his head.

  “You aren’t supposed to be up and walking around by yourself,” the nurse said.

  “I can’t sit still too long before I get antsy,” Chuck said, walking over to Luc. “You’ve been out for almost 20 hours.”

  “You’re kidding,” Luc said, managing a little smile. He watched the nurse push a button by the side of his bed.

  A few seconds later, another nurse walked in the room and came over to Chuck. “You’ve got a concussion and you’re supposed to be resting. I’m going to walk you back to your bed before you fall down.”

  Chuck shuffled out of the room as the nurse held onto his arm. As soon as the door closed, it opened again and Christie, Stuart, and Kelly walked into the room.

  “Look who’s here,” the nurse said.

  “Daddy, you’re finally awake,” Kelly yelled out and ran over to his bedside, grabbing his arm.

  “Hi, sweetie, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, I am,” he said kissing her on the forehead.

  Christie walked up behind Kelly and placed her hand on his shoulder. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m still kickin’.”

  “I wanted to thank you for risking your life to find us and bring us out of that valley,” Christie said.

  “You’re welcome,” he said wondering if her feelings had changed at all toward him.

  She looked at him with a serious expression. “You had lost so much blood they didn’t know if you would make it through surgery. They said you would’ve died if the knife had entered a quarter of an inch to the left.”

  “Well, I’m going to be fine,” he said.

  “The kids were frantic while you were in the operating room.”

  He waited for her to say something about how she had felt, but she didn’t.

  “Roland flew up here personally to offer me his condolences,” she said with a hint of reverence in her voice.

  He hadn’t expected to hear that.

  “He said the company would take full responsibility for Victor’s actions.”

  “Yeah, right, It wouldn’t surprise me if Roland was behind the whole thing,” Luc said, feeling offended.

  “No, Luc. It isn’t like that at all. Roland had no idea what Victor was up to. We think he was trying to get some of those black rocks for himself to sell to the highest bidder.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “Yes,” she said looking a little indignant. “Roland is convinced that Victor and those men were acting on their own. He even said Victor got what he deserved when you kicked him out of the helicopter.”

  Luc didn’t know what to think.

  “There’s something else,” she said as she pulled an envelope out of her purse. She opened it and handed him a folded piece of paper.

  He unfolded it and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Written across a cashier’s check were the words One Million Dollars and 00/cents.

  He looked up at her. “That’s pretty generous. What’s that for?”

  “Northern Energies gave a check to Marcus’ wife, too. For the loss of our husbands.”

  “I think Roland’s manipulating everyone. He’s just after the ore. That’s what the million-dollar checks are really about.”

  “Luc, you’re a good man, but you have such a myopic view of the world. I still think you should go back to college, get a degree, do something with your life.”

  It wasn’t the first time he had heard that from her, but for her to say it now...after all they had been through, it was almost too much to handle.

  She really knew how to get under his skin, he recalled. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he decided he should keep it to himself. This was the last place he wanted to get in an argument with Christie, especially in front of Kelly and Stuart.

  “I see your point,” he finally said.

  He saw a smile come over her face and he realized that it didn’t matter if her feelings toward him had changed or not, she wasn’t the right person for him.

  Christie walked over to Kelly and Stuart and put her arms around them. “I talked to my mother and father this afternoon, and they want the kids to stay with them until I sort things out.”

  “Sort what things out?” Luc asked.

  “Honestly, Luc, don’t be so insensitive. I just lost my husband, and Kelly and Stuart have been through a lot, too. They need to be somewhere that’s familiar, some place they feel safe.”

  “We feel safe with Dad,” Stuart said.

  “We’ll talk about this later, Stuart,” she said glancing at him.

  She turned back to Luc. “Are you okay with that? I know you were planning to keep them for a couple weeks. Can we reschedule?”

  He tried to sit up but the pain in his chest made him lay back down. Maybe it was for the best. He was in no condition to take care of anyo
ne at the moment.

  “We can reschedule,” he said glumly.

  The nurse walked to the side of his bed. “It’s time for me to get you up. You need to do a little walking.”

  Christie bent over the bed and gave him a quick hug. “We’re going to go now, Luc. When you’re feeling better in a few weeks, call me and I’ll arrange to fly the children up to spend some time with you.”

  Kelly and Stuart ran over to him. “We’re going to miss you, Dad,” Stuart said.

  “Yeah,” Kelly chimed in.

  He slowly sat up on the side of his bed and pulled Kelly and Stuart close. He hugged them. “I love you guys. In a couple weeks when I’m all better, you can come back up here and we’ll do all kinds of fun stuff.”

  Christie walked over to them and took their hands. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Hang on. I want a minute alone with the kids. Everyone else clear out.”

  When everyone else was gone from the room, Luc held his children’s hands. “First, I want to say how much I love you. I don’t think I ever said it very much, but now I feel like I can’t say it enough.”

  He opened his arms and hugged his kids. “We love you, too, Dad,” Stuart said.

  “Yeah, we love you, Daddy!” Kelly said.

  Christie tapped on the door and came in. Stuart’s eyes flicked between Luc and Christie.

  “Bye, Dad. See you soon,” Stuart said.

  “Bye, Daddy,” Kelly echoed. “Get better.”

  He kissed them goodbye and watched Christie lead the children out of the room. It felt like she was taking two big pieces of his heart with her.

  “Okay, big guy, time to stand up,” the nurse said, moving in with purpose.

  She helped him to his feet. He walked to the door with the nurse at his side and gazed down the hall just in time to see Kelly and Stuart walking into an open elevator. As the doors slid closed, he was filled with a sense of loneliness he hadn’t felt in a long time.

  “I’d like to see Kate,” he said to the nurse.

  “Let’s walk down to the nurses’ station and see if she can have visitors.”

  The nurse held onto his arm as they walked slowly down the hall toward a central area with an oval counter. Another nurse sitting behind the counter glanced up at them as they approached.