“Watch out—coming through!” Ben stepped aside as a group of the burliest men he had ever seen barreled past him, carrying a stretcher. Marco was on it with his eyes closed in pain, his leg strapped down. He winced with every bounce and bump.
“Dad!” Cory yelled as they passed. Marco opened his eyes and smiled at his son, reaching a hand out to him. Cory’s face lit up from within.
Ben scanned the crowd. From a distance, he spotted his dad speaking frantically into his cell phone. He held a folded map in the other hand. Ben knew his dad was desperately trying to find him, and a sharp pang of guilt shot through him. Ben felt sick at the thought of what he’d put his dad through.
Ben watched as Hero crossed the clearing in a few long strides and ran to Ben’s dad. Hero jumped up on him with his front legs, knocking the map from his hands.
Ben’s throat tightened as his dad looked up and saw him. His dad ran across the clearing, scooping Ben up in a massive bear hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay—”
“—Dad, I’m so sorry—”
Ben felt Hero jump on them as they hugged. He stepped back to let Hero join in their embrace, and he and his dad burst out laughing. They looked at each other.
“Ben,” his dad said, “I could kill you if I wasn’t so happy to see you.”
Ben hung his head. “I wouldn’t blame you.” He didn’t know how he could feel so joyous and so awful at the same time. He wished he could have it both ways—he wouldn’t change any of what happened if it would save Jack, Scout, and the Boy Scout troop again. But he would never wish this kind of worry and fear on his family, not for a second. He didn’t know how to tell his dad that these two feelings took up equal space in his chest.
But he didn’t have to. He looked up at his dad.
“Look, Ben,” his dad said, his hand on his shoulder and his eyes locked on Ben’s. “I know as well as anyone that it takes great risk to save lives. And I know what it feels like to have that—that drive in your heart. But I’m just not ready for my son—for you—to be the one taking that risk.”
Ben hung his head. “I know, Dad. I know.”
“Sergeant Landry,” a uniformed man called out, waving him over. “We’re ready to load them up.”
“Coming,” Ben’s dad replied. He turned to Ben. “You want to go home?”
“I sure do,” Ben said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“By the way, do I even want to know why you’re soaking wet?” Ben’s dad asked with a shake of his head.
“Not really.” Ben grinned.
Ben and Hero followed Ben’s dad to the nearest helicopter. Jack held Scout in one arm and pulled himself up the rope ladder with the other. Noah followed closely behind. One by one, the Boy Scouts made their way up the ladders of the two aircraft—tiny specks clinging to the rungs.
Ben and his father waited for the last of the kids to climb. Ben tipped his head back and followed the ladder with his eyes. It flapped in the stiff breeze of the helicopter’s blades. He sucked in his breath. Ben looked back at his dad, who nodded.
“I’ll be right behind you,” his dad said. “With this guy.” He gestured at Hero, who waited patiently by his side. His dad clipped a strong rope to Hero’s harness, which the guys in the chopper would use to pull Hero up to safety. Hero could climb ladders—but not one that loose in such a strong wind.
Ben took a deep breath and grabbed hold. He stepped onto a low rung and the ladder swayed under his weight. He pulled himself up and started to climb.
23
THE BRIGHT LIGHTS WERE SHINING RIGHT in Ben’s eyes. He couldn’t see anyone in the audience, but he could hear his mom and dad, Noah’s parents, Jack’s mom—and Jack’s dad—cheering from the front row. Ben’s kid sister Erin’s high-pitched voice rose above the crowd. “Goooooo, Benny!” she shouted.
Ben put his hand on Hero’s head and scratched him behind the ears. Hero’s tail thumped on the ground next to him. Noah stood on one side of Ben, Jack on the other.
“We are starting to run out of ways to recognize the bravery of the Landry family—and now their friends,” the mayor said with a chuckle into the microphone at the podium. The crowd went nuts, cheering and clapping. The mayor waited for the noise to die down. “And we are definitely running low on adjectives for their amazing dog, Gulfport’s own search-and-rescue hero, Hero.”
The hoots and hollers and clapping were so loud that Ben’s eardrums tingled. Hero didn’t seem to mind. He just looked out at the boisterous crowd with his usual calm expression. He let out a short, sharp bark and wagged his tail some more.
“But hopefully this medal of honor from the city of Gulfport will express our gratitude once again.” The mayor was trying to wrap up his speech, but he was having trouble getting through it with all the interruptions. Especially from Ben, Noah, and Jack’s teammates, who released a loud, coordinated “Whooooooooop!” every few minutes—followed by a chorus of young Boy Scouts in uniform screaming “Yaaaaaayyyyyy!”
Ben’s cheeks burned with embarrassment every time the audience let loose. It was hard to resist the temptation to roll his eyes, but he didn’t think his mom would appreciate a photo like that ending up in the paper. Instead he tried to remember all the things he planned to say to his very loud friends the second this was over.
Ben was hot in his suit. He didn’t love the way the stiff collar of his dress shirt scratched at his neck. He definitely hated the tie and clunky shoes. But he was proud to be standing onstage, with Hero at his side. He couldn’t deny that it felt pretty good to have helped someone—well, lots of people this time.
Over the last couple of weeks, every time he thought about Cory’s face the moment he saw that his dad, Marco, was okay . . . Ben didn’t know the right words to describe the feeling. He just knew that he wanted to have it again. He knew he wanted to save people for a living.
There would always be danger involved. He got that—and he knew his parents would not be happy about it. But all of Ben’s worries and fears were calmed by the knowledge that he had a powerful ally in his corner: Hero.
As long as Ben and Hero were a team, he wasn’t afraid.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Huge thanks to Les Morgenstein, Josh Bank, Sara Shandler, and Romy Golan at Alloy; Margaret Anastas, Cheryl Eissing, and the Harper sales, marketing, and publicity teams; and Katelyn Hales at the Robin Straus Agency.
Huge gratitude to Hayley Wagreich and Robin Straus—you are patient, kind, and really good at keeping wandering writers on track.
And huge love to Virginia “Gigi” Wing; Kunsang “Somo” Bhuti; my husband, Brian; and—of course—the goons. You make it all worthwhile (not to mention possible)!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Campanelli Photography
JENNIFER LI SHOTZ is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine., about the coolest war dog ever. Among other things, Jen has written about sugar addiction, stinky shoes, and sports-related concussions. A Los Angeles native, she graduated from Vassar and has an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, where she is campaigning hard to get a rescued pup. For the occasional tweet, follow her @jenshotz.
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CREDITS
Cover photos by anadorado/Getty Images and Leonard Zhukovsky/Shutterstock
Photo illustration by Allied Integrated Marketing
Cover design by Rick Farley
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
HERO: HURRICANE RESCUE. Copyright © 2017 by Alloy Entertainment. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been grante
d the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2017934810
EPub Edition © May 2017 ISBN 9780062560469
ISBN 978-0-06-256044-5 — ISBN 978-0-06-256043-8 (pbk.)
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