The boys trailed after the dogs. They were back under the thick canopy of trees, so the rain and wind weren’t too bad. But it was dark, and Ben’s flashlight only lit up the area a few feet ahead of them.
Hero moved silently through the thick underbrush, the reflective strips on his vest floating smoothly through the darkness. Scout tripped and stumbled on every vine and branch. Yet the smaller dog forged ahead, determined in his mission to lead them to Jack.
The boys worked hard to keep up with the dogs, but it was a lot easier to move through the storm debris if you were on four legs and had incredibly sharp vision, a nose for danger, and killer reflexes. Ben and Noah were stuck with two feet and stiff rain gear, hauling mud-filled boots and heavy backpacks.
Ben reached for his phone and opened up his GPS app. Service was spotty, and the map wasn’t much help this far out in the woods anyway. It just showed green mountains and no trails. Thankfully he didn’t have a message from his dad yet. He must be pretty busy in town—and, Ben thought with some guilty relief, he probably assumed that Ben and Noah were safe and dry at home.
“I guess we better do this the old-fashioned way,” Ben said. He pulled out a compass from his backpack and held it out in front of him. He shined his flashlight on it.
“I feel like we’re on some survival TV show,” Noah quipped. “But at least we’re not in our underwear.”
Ben laughed. Despite the circumstances, his spirits lifted slightly.
They were continuing northeast, away from Gulfport. He needed to keep track of where they were going so he could get them back home later.
They couldn’t walk side by side in the dense forest. Noah marched a few feet ahead, and Ben brought up the rear. Suddenly Ben heard a thump, and Noah let out a loud grunt.
“You okay?” Ben called out.
“Yeah, I just tripped,” Noah replied over his shoulder. He slowed down for a second so Ben could catch up to him. “You okay?”
“Oh, great,” Ben said with a little laugh. “I mean, my best friend, my dog, and I just survived a hurricane but now we’re lost in the woods looking for my other best friend—oh, and we just saved his dog, who was trapped on an island across alligator-infested waters. It’s, like, a perfect day.”
“Well, when you put it that way . . .” Noah joked. It was quiet for a moment as they started walking again. “Actually, though . . .” Noah’s voice grew serious. “Can I ask you something about that ‘other best friend’?”
Ben had a feeling where this conversation was headed. There was no way anyone would ever replace Noah in his life, and Noah had been cool with Ben hanging out with Jack so much. But still . . . Ben sometimes felt like things had changed between him and Noah, in a way that was hard for him to put his finger on. But Noah had never mentioned it, and Ben didn’t know how to ask him.
Ben felt a little twinge of guilt. “What about him?” he asked.
“Nothing, really,” Noah said.
Ben could tell that wasn’t true. “Doesn’t sound like nothing,” he prodded gently.
“Well, I guess—I mean, I’m just . . .” Noah trailed off. “When did he get so important to you?” he continued. “You know—important enough to come out here and find him?”
It was a fair question. Ben thought about it. They had only met Jack a few months earlier, but Noah and Ben had been friends for almost a decade. In some ways, though, time had nothing to do with it. It was more like a gut feeling—sort of like how Ben felt the day he and Hero met Scout. He just knew Scout belonged in his life.
That’s how Ben felt about Jack—even though Jack had been kind of a jerk at first. He’d been cocky and competitive with Ben, and rude to Noah. But after Ben had gotten to know him a little better, he’d realized that Jack just wasn’t sure how to act. He was the new kid in town, and he really missed his dad and his old life and his old friends. Until he’d moved to Gulfport, Jack had lived his entire life in the same place. He’d never had to make new friends before—which was good, because it turned out he was really lousy at it.
That didn’t make Jack a bad person, though—just a lonely one.
Noah had never really gotten past that first impression of Jack. Ben had been hoping it would happen over time.
“I don’t know,” Ben started. “I mean, I know he can seem kind of . . . tough or mean or something.” He struggled to put into words why he thought Jack wasn’t such a bad guy. “It’s like Jack was alone for a while until we started hanging out, you know? And his family kind of sucks right now. But he’s a good guy, I swear.”
“Yeah, I know,” Noah said. “Jack’s cool. It’s just that you wouldn’t be out here in this”—he held his hands palms up in the air, gesturing at the sky and trees above them—“for just anyone. Neither would I.”
“You didn’t have to come—” Ben started to say.
“That’s not what I mean,” Noah cut him off. “I know I didn’t. But was I supposed to let you come out here by yourself?”
Noah’s words felt like a punch in Ben’s gut. He’d been so worried about Jack and Scout that he hadn’t stopped to think about Noah. Noah was just doing for Ben what Ben was doing for Jack.
“Thanks,” Ben said. “For coming out here with me, I mean. It’s a lot less scary with you here.”
“You’re welcome,” Noah said.
“And I know Jack gives you a lot of grief,” Ben said. “But I really think you’d like him if you got to know him better. Can you just give him a chance?”
Noah sighed. “Okay. But first we have to find him.”
11
SCOUT’S HIGH-PITCHED BARK CUT THROUGH THE darkness ahead of them. Hero caught up with him and they let out a chorus of barks.
“Come on!” Noah said. He took off running. Ben followed as quickly as he could. He stumbled, trying hard not to trip in the darkness. Water drops flew into his eyes.
“Jack!” Noah cried out from a few feet ahead.
“What is it? Did you find him?” Ben skirted a pile of branches and wet leaves and stopped short. The two dogs had stopped next to a downed tree. Scout was jumping up and down excitedly, his tail wagging a mile a minute. Hero sat quietly, his front paws perfectly together, and looked at Ben, waiting for his command. Noah was on his hands and knees, inspecting something on the ground. He turned back to Ben with a worried expression on his face. “Did you find Jack?” Ben repeated.
Noah nodded.
Ben ran over and couldn’t believe his eyes: Jack’s legs were jutting out from under the long trunk of the fallen tree. His body was on the other side. He wasn’t moving.
“Jack!” Ben shouted, panic rising in his chest. “Are you okay? Can you hear me?”
There was no response.
“Jack!” Noah and Ben called out.
Jack stirred.
“I’m okay,” came his weak voice from the other side of the trunk. He sounded like he had just woken up. At the sound of Jack’s voice, Scout went crazy. He whimpered and yipped. “Hey, Scout,” Jack said.
Ben let out a burst of breath and smiled. A look of relief washed over Noah’s face. Ben’s chest tightened, his emotions a physical sensation.
“I can’t get up,” Jack croaked. Scout began digging at the ground by Jack’s legs, trying to get his owner out.
Noah looked up at Ben, his eyebrows raised. This isn’t good, he mouthed at Ben. Ben shook his head.
“Jack, man, can you feel your legs?” Ben’s voice broke on the words. He braced himself for Jack’s answer. There was a long pause.
“Yeah. I can feel them. I’m wiggling my toes.”
Ben looked at Jack’s boots. They were moving. “That’s great!” Ben said.
“Yes!” Noah pumped a fist in the air.
“Okay,” Ben said to Jack. “Give us a minute while we figure out how to get this thing off you.”
Noah pointed to one end of the tree. “Check this out,” he said to Ben.
Ben followed Noah’s hand and saw that the top of the trunk
was resting on a pile of debris. The pile had absorbed most of the weight when the trunk fell—saving Jack’s legs from serious injury.
“Wow,” Ben said. “You were seriously lucky, man.”
“Really? This is ‘lucky’?” Jack shot back. Ben was glad to hear a note of sarcasm in his friend’s voice. That meant he wasn’t too bad off.
“The tree landed on some other stuff, so it’s not all on you.”
“Well, it kind of feels like it’s all on me, so why don’t you wimps lift this thing off me already?” Jack cracked.
“You know we can still leave you here, right?” Ben groaned.
“Yeah, Jack, sorry—I need to get home for dinner,” Noah chimed in. “But we’ll come back tomorrow.”
“Very funny, you two.” Jack paused. “For real, though,” he said, his voice getting quiet. “What are you guys doing here? Did you come out here to find me?”
“We can talk about that on the way home,” Ben said. “I’m just—I mean, I’m really glad you’re okay.”
A booming crack of thunder shook the air around them. All five of them—human and canine—jumped at the sound of it. “We need to hurry,” Ben said softly to Noah. “Sounds like the storm is picking up again.”
“Can you lift it off?” Jack asked from the other side, a hint of desperation in his voice.
Ben wrapped one arm around the trunk and tried to shift the weight of it a little. He couldn’t—it was too heavy. Jack grunted as Ben handled the tree. Even though the full weight wasn’t on Jack’s legs, it still had to be pretty uncomfortable.
Ben stepped over the tree trunk, careful not to bump it. Jack was lying back against a tree branch. He gave Ben a weak smile and a thumbs-up.
“Sit tight, okay?” Ben said to his friend.
“Like I have a choice.”
“Good point.” Ben crouched down to inspect the tree where it made contact with Jack’s shins. Hero leaped over the trunk and landed lightly next to Ben. Scout barked from the other side.
“Hey, Hero,” Jack said. Hero sniffed at Jack’s legs. Ben shone his flashlight along the underside of the tree trunk.
“I guess you were right, huh?” Jack said to Ben. “This was a really stupid idea.”
“Like I said, we can talk about that later.” Ben grinned at his friend. “But yeah. It was. Now stop talking for a minute. I’m trying to think.”
Another clap of thunder cracked overhead. Jack looked up at the sky. A worried look crossed his face.
“It’s okay,” Ben said to him. “We’ll get you out of here, Jack.”
Jack looked back at Ben with tears in his eyes. “Thanks, Ben.”
“You got it.”
“Okay,” Noah called from the other side. “Can we try to lift this thing?”
“Yeah. On three,” Ben replied. “You count.”
“One,” Noah began. He and Ben squatted down on either side of the tree and put their hands under the trunk. “Two. Three.”
The boys strained to lift the trunk off Jack’s leg. It didn’t budge.
“Man,” Ben said with a grunt, “it doesn’t look that heavy.”
“Trust me,” Jack said, “it’s heavy.”
Ben stepped back to survey the situation. A brilliant burst of lightning lit up the sky for a second, then everything went black again. A few seconds later, a deep rumble of thunder vibrated around them. Ben took a few steadying breaths. The worst of the storm was over, he told himself. If anything, they’d just get more wet. They could handle that.
“We could push from the same side,” Ben said to Noah, “but then it would either have to roll over his legs or onto his chest.”
Noah shook his head. “That wouldn’t be good.”
“Nope,” Ben concurred. He snuck a look at Jack’s face. Jack had his eyes closed. His nostrils flared as he took short, quick breaths.
Ben’s brain was churning with ideas, but all of them ended with Jack getting hurt. Then it hit him: They didn’t need to move the entire trunk off his leg. They just needed to lift it enough so that Jack could pull himself out from under it. “Okay,” Ben said, hopping to his feet and brushing his hands together to get the dirt off. “I got it.”
Luckily he had thought to throw a long nylon leash of Hero’s in his backpack. He worked quickly, looping it twice around the tree. Next, Ben found a large rock nearby. With a lot of grunting, he and Noah rolled it through the mud. They nudged it into position, up against the fallen tree. They would use it as leverage to brace the tree trunk as Hero pulled from the leash.
“Okay,” Ben said, double-checking that everything was in place. “Now I just need you, Hero.” Hero trotted over to him. Ben snapped the hook of the leash to the loop on the back of Hero’s vest. Ben locked eyes with Jack. “You ready, man?”
“I’m ready.”
“You know what you need to do?”
Jack nodded. “As soon as the pressure lets up, back up as quickly as I can.”
“And get out of the way,” Ben said.
“And get out of the way,” Jack repeated.
“Your arms still work, right, Jack?” Noah joked.
Jack pushed himself up on his elbows. “Looks like it.”
“Noah, you ready?” Ben asked.
“Yep.” Noah was positioned across from Jack, lying in the mud on his back. “I’ll lift from this side.” He exhaled slowly.
Ben nodded. He squatted next to Hero and put a hand on his dog’s head. “You just need to pull the tree trunk as hard as you can, okay? I’m right here to help you.” Hero nudged Ben’s face with his wet nose.
Ben wrapped his arms around the trunk.
“On three. One. Two. Three—Hero, go!”
Hero tried to run forward, but the weight of the tree snapped him to a full stop. He dug his paws into the wet dirt and strained hard against the harness. As Ben struggled to help lift the tree, he checked the setup, making sure nothing could hurt Hero or Jack. He eyed the harness—so far it was holding. No signs of tearing yet. Noah was flat in the mud, pushing the trunk from underneath. Ben could tell that the trunk had moved a little. But it wasn’t enough.
“Come on, guys, we got this!” Ben called out through gritted teeth. “You okay, Jack?”
“I’m good,” Jack grunted. Ben could tell the shifting weight of the trunk was causing him some pain. Scout let out an anxious bark and skittered around them. “It’s okay, Scout,” Jack said.
As Ben strained against the tree, he felt a fat raindrop hit his cheek. Then another. Then it started to pour.
Water slicked down Ben’s face, mixing with sweat. Slowly, inch by inch, the trunk shifted onto the large rock. This was it. They just needed to raise it a centimeter—not even half an inch. “Go, Hero!” Ben cried. “Come on, Noah!” And with that, Hero pulled harder, Ben lifted, and Noah pushed so hard that his face turned bright red. Finally, the leash stretched tautly over the top of the rock, and the tree trunk rose up and off of Jack’s legs.
“Jack—can you move?” Ben yelled.
“Almost!” Jack cried. He sat up and used his fingers to dig at the mud around his legs. Scout pawed frantically at the earth on the other side of the tree.
“Hurry!” Noah said through gritted teeth. “I can’t do this much longer.”
Jack planted his hands in the mud and started to scoot himself backward. Ben looked at Hero. The dog’s head was stretched forward, his ears back flat on his head, and his eyes were focused on a spot in the distance. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth, and his legs shook with exertion. Ben was terrified that Hero would get hurt if he had to pull for much longer.
Jack lay down on his back and rolled out of the way.
“I’m out! I’m good!” Jack shouted. “Let it go!”
“Hero, drop it,” Ben said. The dog shifted his weight, and Noah and Ben slowly rolled the trunk back down the side of the boulder. “Careful,” Ben said to Noah. “A little bit at a time.”
Hero moved with them as they lowered the tre
e. The leash went slack, and Hero dropped down on the soggy ground, panting. Ben stretched out his cramped hands, unsure if he was drenched with rain or sweat.
Jack was safe. They had done it.
Hero had done it.
And now they could go home.
12
BEN DROPPED TO HIS KNEES AND unhooked the leash from Hero’s vest. He wrapped his arms around his dog.
“Thank you, buddy,” Ben said into Hero’s wet fur. “Thank you for saving Jack.”
Hero was panting hard. His muscles were shaking from the exertion, and his tongue dangled out of his mouth. They’d been out in the woods and the storm for hours—Ben guessed it had to be close to midnight. Hero hadn’t stopped tracking or moving through the dangerous terrain the entire time.
Ben was amazed at his dog’s strength and stamina.
Scout scrambled up and over the tree trunk and ran over to Hero. He lay down under Hero’s chin and licked the bigger dog’s neck and face. Ben reached into his backpack and pulled out his water bottle. He tipped it into Hero’s mouth, then Scout’s. The dogs lapped up the water.
Noah ran to Jack. “Jack, are you okay?”
Jack lay on the ground, staring up at the trees above him. “I’m fine. I just need a minute to get the blood flowing in my legs again.”
“Let me help you,” Noah said. He crouched on the ground next to Jack and helped him to a sitting position.
“Thank you,” Jack said, putting an arm around Noah’s shoulders to hold himself upright. “I mean it—you didn’t have to come out here.”
Noah shrugged. “What else was I gonna do today?”
Jack smiled. “Fair enough.”
“How’re your legs?” Noah asked as Jack straightened and bent them a few times.
“Not bad, considering,” Jack answered with a grunt.
Noah handed Jack a water bottle, and Jack took a long slug of water.
“You think you can walk?” Ben called over.
“Let me try.” Jack eased himself to his feet. Noah reached an arm out to steady him as he took a couple of awkward steps. Jack winced a little. “I’m sore, but nothing’s broken or sprained. I’ll be fine.”
Hurricane Rescue Page 5
