Broken Souls ... by Annay Dawson
Chapter 27
Captain Holmes was right. This was not going to be an easy hike. He was also right in not sending out the search teams. It was his own choice to risk his safety as he regained his footing for the fifth or sixth time. The rocks, or gravel, skidded down the steep slope once again as he stumbled to keep his footing. It should be getting better as the temperature dropped and the ground froze a bit more. Then again small patches of ice and darkness rarely mixed well. As he watched the sun slowly sink into the horizon he knew his chances of finding her were getting slim and his chances of getting hurt himself were increasing.
Soon, too soon, it would be dark and he would be working off flashlight and instinct. It had been a while since he had been on this trail and the trees had grown over the trail on some spots, a lot more than he had expected. In other parts there would be nothing to grab onto if he were to slip. The worst part of the trail was yet to come with the steep and rocky drop offs, at least that part of the trail had a few more trees and she would stand a fighting chance if she had slipped off the path. If he had to guess it would be there that he would find her, he hoped. He had been calling her name over and over again not really expecting her to answer but he hoped. She had already been out long enough for dehydration and hypothermia to start getting their ugly hold on her.
The darkness began to engulf him. Slowing a bit but never stopping he pulled out the flashlight. Each step now took even more time as he double checked his footing and moved forward at what seemed to him a snail's pace. The trees on the path began to slowly thin out as the path wound it's way back toward the pond in which he had been swimming. The pond he had first met Kari at and the place where the trail was the most treacherous. In the spring and summer this was the prettiest part of the trail. He could only hope that he would be able to show it to her one day. Holden slowed his pace as he swung the flashlight back and forth across the path before taking a step. He then swung the light past the path and onto the trees and surrounding area to look for any signs of her.
"Kari!" he yelled again. Checking his cell phone he confirmed what he suspected. No signal. Like in most of the park the cell signal was weak or non existent unless you were at the recreation areas. If she had gotten hurt here there would have been no way of contacting anyone if she had had her cell. He had forgotten to ask. If she couldn't have made her own way out then she would have been stuck. That would mean that she must have been hurt pretty bad, and with that thought he pushed himself.
The path here was narrow, rocky and unstable. If something happened it was most likely near here. During the day the path would be wet and with the freezing and thawing that happened unstable, slick and treacherous. Feared gripped him. If she slipped along here she could have fallen up to thirty feet, tumbling uncontrollably, and most likely unconsciously, into the pond many feet below. The thoughts and images of what may have happened ran through his mind and he totally ignored where his foot fell onto the path. His foot slipped and he instinctively grabbed for the small tree just to his right. As the branch snapped off in his hand he slowed and regained his balance. Waiting till his breath slowed he then refocused. He was even more determined to find her now as he moved the light to illuminate the path better. With his free hand he secured himself by grabbing on to another larger branch, and then a rock.
"Kari!" he was more insistent as he flashed the light on the trail looking for anything that would give him a clue. Moving slowly he purposefully made each step and put each foot down securely as he grabbed on to what he could with his free hand. Even though it was cold outside he could feel the sweat running down the side of his face and dripping on to his collar from both the effort and fear of what he might find. She had already been out here too long. Stopping for a moment he slowly moved the light across the path once again looking for anything that would indicate she was near. He had done this so many times before that he almost missed it.
"Oh God," he breathed when he saw where the path had collapsed completely. Fear twisted in his stomach leaving only a gnawing sense of loss. Without moving he let the light follow the debris down the side of the mountain. He didn't see much of anything for the first ten feet except for branches, rocks, small trees and shrubs. With each inch the light covered there was both hope and dread. The path that the slide left was smooth and wide, wide enough to be made by a human. He could barely keep the light steady as he continued to follow the trail of debris down looking for anything.
The light slightly shook as he moved it inch by inch until it touched the toe of a boot, her once new hiking boots, then the light went perfectly still. In that instant every memory from the accident came flooding back. The pain the sounds of suffering, and worse yet, no sound at all from those too injured to make noise and those who wouldn't ever make noise again. And just as suddenly as he had stopped, he began to move. Quickly he took the rope off of his shoulder and secured it to the only thing he could, the base of a small tree. Testing its strength he then wrapped the other end of the rope around him so that his hands would be free. Digging his heels into the hard cold ground and using one hand to focus the light on the path in front of him he made his way slowly down the side. His free hand working the rope.
"Kari!" he yelled as he went. She was about 10 yards down the slide, and on the only area that had any ledge to it. There was a slight moan that fueled his descent. She was alive! Rocks skittered out from under his feet as he slid about a foot and the flashlight went flying down the path. He watched it go the first two bounces before the bulb burst and then it was just a painful noise in the darkness. Slowing he reminded himself that she was alive. If he wanted her to stay that way he would need to take more care. Five feet farther in either direction and the outcome could have been very different. She had managed to land on the only stable ledge. Now all he had to do was find it in the dark.
"Kari if you can hear me I will be there in a few minutes, just hold on," with one hand on the ground and his feet moving only inches he continued his progress down the slope from memory. Not hearing a response this time made his heart beat even faster as he slipped down another couple of feet. His foot bumped up against something that wasn't a rock and he knew he had reached her. Without the light it was going to be difficult to check to see just what her wounds were and if he should even try to move her.
"Kari, can you hear me? How bad are you hurt?" His hands searched for the small pack she wore when out hiking and he almost shouted with joy when his hands landed on it. Hopefully she had some form of light inside of it.
"Cold," came a small whisper as his hands opened her pack.
"I know honey, but first I have to see if you have a light so that we both don't end up at the bottom of this thing," his finger touched what felt like a small LED light at the bottom of the small bag. Flipping it on he could then see everything. They were on a small rocky outcrop, about six feet long and three to four feet wide at the midpoint. There was plenty of brush and a small tree trying to occupy the space as well. Surer of his footing now he turned his full attention to Kari. She must have wrapped herself around the only tree, sapling really, when she had first fallen. Smart woman, it was what had kept her safe on this ledge. There were bruises and swelling on her head and face as well as quite a few lacerations that had stopped bleeding a while back. That was good news. He had been careful not to move her head and neck or to touch her too much, but that ended now.
"Honey I am going to be touching you to see what might be broken or hurt and then I will try and get you warmed up, okay," not expecting a reply his hands started to gently move from her head, down her neck and over her ribs. When she moaned a bit he stopped, paying closer attention to that spot.
"Does it hurt here?" he was feeling her ribs on the left hand side just below her breast.
"Like it," was all she was able to say. Holden swallowed hard and continued to check for injuries trying to ignore what she had said.
"Tell me if it hurts," he said softly.
"Leg," a pause then, "Head," his hands went toward her legs as she continued, "Stupid."
"No, you shouldn't have gone down this trail at this time of year but it's not stupid," the fact that she was responding at all made him more hopeful that the head injury wasn't too severe.
"No, no, stupid that I let him go," Holden's hands stilled and he turned to try and see her face. In the light that the little flashlight gave off it was difficult. There were too many shadows thrown onto her face but he could tell that her eyes weren't open. There went his hopes for no severe head injuries if she wasn't sure who he was. At least she was talking and he decided to try and keep it that way.
"Him who," he hated to ask as his hands moved lower and down her legs trying to be careful but pushing hard enough to feel through the thick jeans. His fingers got caught in one of the many rips that the jeans had sustained on the trip down. He could feel her skin, and how cold it really was. He needed to complete this quickly and get out the emergency blanket and try and get her warmed up.
"Holden," at the sound of his name he gulped, but didn't stop. Her responses were slow, labored, but she continued, "He was so," at that same moment he found the break and she howled out in pain covering anything she was going to say about him.
The following whimpers stabbed at his heart. Glancing at his watch he knew that they would be out here for at least six more hours before help could even start to look for them. It was his job right now to do all that he could to keep her going until they got to them or he got her out of there and he couldn't risk taking her out of here in the dark.
"Kari I am going to get a blanket out and cover you up right now," he explained as he rummaged through his pack for the lightweight emergency blanket. "I'm going to try not to hurt you but I have to get you wrapped up so that you can warm up." As he tucked the blanket in and around her he tried to ignore the small sobs. There wasn't much room to work but he managed to gently move her into a better position and not fall off himself. He then used the rope to secure them both. Repositioning the light he then pulled out his water bottle and poured only a small amount on a piece of cloth.
"I am so sorry I made you so upset," he began to clean her face and check the extent of her cuts. Her lips fumbled to try and catch the damp cloth.
"I want a drink," she had to be warming up, she sounded a little more with it.
"In a moment," he continued.
"Now," and then pleadingly, "Please." Stopping everything he grabbed for the bottle, opened it and put it to her lips.
"Only a little bit right now," he poured a small amount into her mouth and watched her gulp it down. "In a few minutes, it that stays down and you don't have any pain from it you can have some more." About an hour later and with a half a bottle of water down her she drifted off to sleep. Holden wrapped her in his arms and stroked her hair as she drifted off. The morning was still a ways a way and until then it would be unadvisable to try and get back up the side and onto the path. He had dreamed of holding her as she slept, but certainly not like this.
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