Shattered (Anderson Special Ops #4) - Melody Anne Page 0,34
to the Snohomish County Search and Rescue hangar, and then we’re going to take a hike up to the Heybrook Lookout Tower. Does that sound like a good day?” he asked, his voice happily infectious. The kids loved all of the volunteers. The program chose them carefully.
“Yeah,” the kids shouted as they jumped up and down in anticipation. Smoke forgot about his woman and mother troubles as he looked around.
They all divided up and climbed on the bus as they made their way to the hangar. There wasn’t time to talk more as he led the kids in songs while they traveled.
The next few hours didn’t give him alone time to talk to Amira. He did have time to notice that his mother and Amira had their heads together a lot, both of them laughing, or more concernedly, nodding with earnest expressions on their faces. This wasn’t good — it wasn’t good at all.
Their group met with the amazing staff at the Snohomish County Search and Rescue, the kids given the chance to crawl in, and around, a SnoHawk rescue helicopter they were told had rescued one of their very own leaders in the Seattle ICO in the backwoods of Washington in 2019. The kids were really impressed with that fact.
The highlight of the day, for many of the children, was when they had a turn to sit inside the helicopter’s pilot seat — moving the control stick around, feeling as if they were flying over the Cascade Mountains.
Another highlight for many of the kids was when they split into teams to see who could put on the rescue suits the Helicopter Rescue Team used then sprint back fully geared up. Everyone laughed at the suit being way too big for the kids. Seeing little Amanda jump for joy, amid cheers from her teammates as she crossed the finish line, and crowning her team the victors, was beautiful.
Smoke noticed a special light in a couple of the children’s eyes that told him they’d be doing jobs like this when they were adults. He wondered if they’d ever think about that type of career if not for this volunteer program. He doubted it. This enforced his love of what he was doing, and he vowed to continue helping the youth for as long as he was able.
Once they moved on from the hangar, they went to the trailhead for the Heybrook Lookout Tower. The kids weren’t breathing as heavily as the volunteers while making the 1.3-mile trek up the steep terrain that gained 850 feet in elevation over the short distance. They didn’t stop there but climbed the additional 89 steps to the top of the tower. The hike was totally worth it once they reached the top because the view was stunning.
By the time they arrived back at the school, their bellies full after their stop at Pizza Hut, the kids were practically falling asleep. Smoke wasn’t close to sleepy, he was amped. He noticed Amira sat as far from him on the bus ride back as possible, and she’d grown quiet.
By the time the last kid was picked up, and Smoke was able turn his attention to Amira, she was gone.
“You have some explaining to do,” his mother said, drawing his attention to her. She was standing there with too big of a smile on her face as she watched him.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Amira?” she asked, the word both a question and a statement.
“There’s nothing to tell,” he said, unable to look her in the eyes. He’d never been good at lying to his mother. He didn’t see how any kid could get away with it.
“Mm hmm, I don’t think so,” Laysha said with a chuckle. “But I know I’ll get it out of you eventually. I’m a patient woman.”
She turned and walked to his vehicle as she waved at the last of the volunteers who were smiling as they went to their own cars. They’d all had a great day, and they’d sleep well that night.
Smoke hung his head as he followed his mother. He wasn’t sure what in the world he was going to say to her. He couldn’t exactly explain anything about Amira as he didn’t know what the heck was going on. But he didn’t want his mother getting the wrong ideas in her head.
But then again, what were the right ideas? And what were the wrong ones? Damned if he knew.