tight. I’ll be right back.” When he found Jensen in the cockpit with the pilot, she was cleaning a wound on his head.
“How is he?”
“He’s still out. His vitals are good, however. I think he’ll wake up soon. Did you call Ten or Joseph to report we’ve found them?”
“No. Let me do that now.” He placed the call, then stood up to gaze out of the plane while he talked. Jensen worked to make the pilot comfortable, bathing his forehead and face with a cooling towelette.
From what she could hear of Clint’s call, the others were jubilant. Once he rang off, he offered Jensen a hand. “They’ll be coming in the rescue helicopters. They’re sending two so we’ll be able to ride out also.”
“Perfect.” She accepted the help up and they moved to the back of the plane to pop Judah’s arm back into place. “I’ll probably need your help with this.”
“I’m ready.” He put a guiding hand on her back. “Just tell me what to do.”
As she approached Judah and Pepper, she explained what she was about to do. “Judah, I’m going to perform what’s called a closed reduction, putting your shoulder back into place. It’s going to hurt like a son-of-a-gun, but you’ll feel immediate relief.”
“No problem. I’m ready.”
In a few minutes, the worst was over, and the singer laid back against the wall of the plane, exhausted.
Lastly, they cleaned and doctored Pepper’s contusions. “Can you tell me what happened?” Clint asked. “Did the plane have engine trouble?”
“We ran into a flock of Canadian geese. It was terrible,” she told them. “There was nothing Ollie could do. They flew up from a lake and right into our path.”
“We survived though,” Judah whispered. “We’ve been through too much to let a little thing like a plane crash defeat us.”
“That’s right.” Pepper went over to sit next to her husband, curling up at his side. “We’re going to be fine.”
After seeing to the young couple’s needs, Jensen returned to the pilot and stayed with him until they could hear the drumbeat of approaching helicopters. Tennessee was lowered down first, and he was so relieved to find his sister alive and well that he cried. Joseph came also, as well as several local SAR volunteers. While the injured were raised by cable to safety inside the helicopters, two of the SAR people made sure there were no fuel leaks that would pose a danger to the fragile ecosystem of the park.
Lastly, Jensen and Clint were ready to be loaded. As luck would have it, they were set to be flown out in different helicopters. The one Clint boarded took off first. Jensen was strapped in and being raised up when the basket started spinning wildly. She held on for dear life, but a clasp snapped, and the basket tilted, throwing her out and to the ground some twelve to fifteen feet below.
…Meanwhile, Clint packed his things at the lodge. The plane home was due to leave in less than an hour. He kept expecting for Jensen to walk through the door any minute. When he was finished, he went to find one of his cousins. “Hey, Joseph, where’s everybody else?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know, we’re trying to find out.”
About that time Ten came running in. “Our helicopter had to return to the crash site.”
“What happened?” Clint asked, his blood pressure spiking at the news. “Is something wrong?”
“The basket broke. Jensen’s hurt.”
That was all Clint needed to hear. “I’m going.”
“Too late. The helicopter’s already left to take her and the pilot to a hospital in Kalispell. We’ll be sending the plane back after them when they’re ready to leave.”
“Jensen’s hurt? How badly?”
“Not too bad. She’s just bruised and jarred. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Well, why can’t we wait?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m staying with her.” Clint was adamant.
Ten grabbed Clint’s arm. “No, you need to get back to Texas. You’re needed at home.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s your sister, Bethany. She’s in surgery and your mother is asking for you.”
“What kind of surgery?” He was already carrying his bags to the front porch.”
“Gunshot wound to her shoulder. A shooter opened fire at her school. Nine people were killed and fourteen were injured. Three of the dead were children from Bethany’s kindergarten class. She’s devastated.”
“Oh, my God.” Clint felt sick to his stomach. He was torn to the point of agony, but he needed to go home. “I’m ready to go when the rest of you are.”
* * *
Jensen tried to