Ellie and I returned to the bags, and I remembered that it was my turn to carry my pack and give Marshall a break by letting him carry Lydie’s relatively small pack. Hoisting my pack onto my knee, and then swiveling it around to my back, I suddenly felt very small and vulnerable again. Stay balanced. One step at a time. You can do this, Girl. The positive voice in my head reminded me of something I would say to a sister or friend, but I had a hunch that this encouragement was from my Father. No way was I clear-headed enough right now to think of that on my own.
I carried Lydie’s pack over to Marshall, who was setting Lydie’s water bottle next to her elbow in the stretcher. “You sure, Marlee?” Marshall gestured to my load.
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll let you know when I need to switch. Thanks for carrying it this far,” I smiled. Now that all the buckles were tightened, I was feeling more stable. Just a few more hours to Mom and Dad, I thought.
In another moment, we all had our packs on our backs and were squatted down with the ropes of the stretcher in position on our shoulders. “On three,” Sawyer called, and then to make us laugh he added, “This is for you, Marsh: uno, dos, tres.” We all cracked up and stood up on tres.
11
“How will the Search and Rescuers find us? I mean, where will they even begin looking for us?” I pondered aloud. We had been hiking again for about ten minutes, regaining a steady pace. Sawyer’s limp had lessened, Marshall was continuing to look more alive, and Lydie was resting rather peacefully. We had been silent, which gave me time to think about Mom and Dad. It made me wonder about the Search and Rescue that I prayed was activated on our behalf. Were our dads a part of the group? Would they come for us in helicopters like in an action movie? Would we be in trouble for our carelessness? Dad had told me time and again that most erosion in the mountains is caused by Search and Rescue teams helping people who were not prepared – people who had made poor decisions or people who needed help. Yikes! I had never wanted to be one of ‘those people.’
“I did a research project on Search and Rescue last year,” Sawyer began, clearly thinking the same thing. “In our case, where our dads will figure out what we planned, they’ll probably begin the search on the peak. A group of volunteers with trained dogs probably gathered this morning to plan. They decide on where we are most likely to be found. Since we had a satellite messenger, they’ll be able to locate that immediately. My prayer is that when they track down our satellite messenger and see that it’s buried, they’ll see the information that Marlee wrote in the snow and follow our tracks and the trail until they find us. In cases where the rescuers do not have a clue where the victim is, they actually make a grid system of an entire area, and they prioritize where to search based on the likelihood of where family and friends think the victim would be. But, like I said, I think Dad and Mr. Forrest will have deduced pretty accurately on our whereabouts.”
Ellie and I gaped at Sawyer. My simple question resulted in a textbook answer. “Interesting,” I said. “You figure Dad and Mr. Caleb will suppose that we took the ridge route rather than the more traveled northern trail?” I hopefully prodded.
Sawyer tilted his head, “That’s where they may lose some time in the search. Part of me thinks our dads would certainly expect us to have taken the ridge route since it’s quicker,–”
“Supposed to be quicker,” Ellie butted in.
“Right,” continued Sawyer, “but part of me is afraid that they would figure we’d take the safer northern trail. Then again, they’ll probably start the day by tracking down Dad’s satellite messenger. If they start there, they won’t even bother trying to guess where we are. They’ll probably start searching the whole basin area with dogs. Who knows, maybe they’ll even find Marshall’s pack. Since we camped there and had a fire, it should only take a little while to see our message in the snow and get on our trail.”
“Do you think our moms are helping in the search?” I asked.
Sawyer shrugged, “I can’t think of any reason they would not join the search teams – unless they’re too panicky, and the rangers are keeping them at the station,” he added quietly.
That thought made me shudder. My mom, Quinn Stanley, is very strong. She can keep cool when the rest of us are freaked out. But then again, I’ve never seen her in a situation where all three of her children were in danger – as in totally missing. AWOL! I wasn’t sure about Ms. Julia, Sawyer and Marshall’s mom, either. Anytime I have been around her, she was sweet and level-headed. But, who knows how she would cope when her boys were missing in an avalanche zone?
“Should we make excess noise or do anything to attract their attention?” Ellie asked.
Sawyer thought for a moment before deciding that we should save our energy to hike efficiently. “They’ll be calling our names and making themselves audible, so let’s wait until we hear them. If they see our note in the snow, they’ll hike up on us quickly compared to this limp pace we’re maintaining.”
“If they see the note I wrote in the snow?” Could they miss it? I had written the letters plenty large, in block letters to increase their visibility.
“It’s okay, Marlee,” Ellie soothed. “Sawyer’s just saying that it could take them a while to find your message, especially if they’re searching on foot rather than from helicopters. And there is always the possibility of a strong wind or even another avalanche wiping away what you wrote. But, like Sawyer says, they’ll have dogs to their advantage. And, even at our limp pace,” she shot an annoyed look at Sawyer when she used his word, “we could still manage to make it to the ranger station hours before dark.”
Sawyer nodded in approval of her summary. “When I said limp pace, I was making fun of myself,” he muttered. “You all are excelling, and I’m just sorry I’m slowing you down.”
“Stay positive, Captain!” I announced.
Ellie shook her head, and with an annoyed tone said, “Seriously, Sawyer, stop beating yourself up. The negativity is driving me crazy.” Uh-oh. This sounds like the Ellie and Sawyer we’ve all known for years.
“I appreciate your kindness, Ellie, but the truth is, we wouldn’t be in this predicament if it weren’t for me. Lydie is injured, Marshall’s weak, and Marlee had a stick in her head–”
“Avalanches happen, Sawyer!” Ellie shrieked. “But look how you’ve handled this situation!” She was shouting, but she didn’t sound angry at Sawyer. More like she was angry with how he was getting down on himself. “Don’t you get it, Sawyer Miles? We survived an avalanche! We spent a night without the comfort of a tent and sleeping bags and are alive. We are hiking out together. We are evacuating Lydie. You have done a fantastic job guiding us through challenges, and yet you keep beating yourself up. We can’t change the fact that we’re here now. Our job now is to trust God, be smart, and keep cooperating like you and I have miraculously done for the last few days. Please, change your attitude and stay as strong as I know you can be,” she implored.
Wow, it turns out Ellie’s speech was more of a pep talk. A bit brash, I suppose, but much more positive than the typical Ellie retort.
I glanced at Sawyer, wondering how he had perceived the ‘talk.’
He bit his lip, trying to hide a smile, and said, “I’ll have to give you a new nickname.”
“Huh?” Ellie mused.
“When we were younger and you used to yell at me all the time–”
“When did I yell at you?” Ellie yelled, making Sawyer grin.
“As I was saying before you rudely interrupted,” he teased, “Marsh and I used to refer to you as Yellie.”
Ellie gasped, and Marshall busted out in laughter.
“But, that pep talk was very good. Thank you, Ellie,” he sincerely said with a warm smile. And then his warm smile turned into a mischievous smile.
Ellie shyly returned his smile, and then whispered, “Was I Yellie before or after I was Smelly?”
Sawyer looked down with a hurt look, as if the reminder of the Smelly incident made him feel terrible for it all over again. “You never were smelly, but hold that thought.”
Hold that thought? What does he mean by that? Ellie looked just as puzzled as me by his mysterious statement. I glanced at Marshall, who seemed purposely to avoid seeing my questioning look. Before anyone could pursue the subject, Lydie stirred uncomfortably in her sleep and whimpered, “Mommy. It hurts.” Marshall and I instantly looked at her, and Sawyer and Ellie tried to look over their shoulders at her. She appeared to still be asleep, but her face was now wrinkled in a painful expression. Seeing her like that brought tears to my eyes. It was heartbreaking to see anyone, much more my little sister, writhing in painful sleep.
“Honey, we’re taking you to your parents right now. We’re on our way to your mom and dad. Stay strong, Lydie,” Sawyer gently said in a tone like an uncle would use. While his soothing words were obviously intended for Lydie, I also appreciated them. Lydie nodded, her eyes still squeezed shut, and she seemed to fall back into a more comfortable rest.
Ellie looked worriedly over her shoulder once more at Lydie, and I saw her eyes brimming with tears as she took in the condition of our usually lively sister. “We need to be thankful that she didn’t go into shock when the avalanche injured her leg,” Ellie said.
Sawyer wordlessly nodded, but his grim countenance told me that Lydie’s injury could have been much worse.
“How is everyone else holding up?” Sawyer suddenly asked us.
After a moment of shoulder shrugging, Ellie spoke first, “Battling a headache that is probably due to hunger and stress. Scared for Lydie and dying to see our parents, but otherwise I feel pretty well. I just focus on not thinking about how weak I should feel right now.”
