Chapter 6
Sheri and Slade kept walking, the snow powder soft, perfect for snowshoes, and they were getting a really good workout. She was looking forward to warming up, having dinner, and then running as wolves.
As soon as they arrived at the cabin, Sheri said, “Do you want chicken?”
“Yeah. I’ll get the fire started.”
Then they shed their winter gear and he helped her make dinner—lemon and pepper roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and spinach. They made a great team when they cooked. They just jibed, each of them taking a job to get it done.
Then they sat down to eat. “Well, this is delicious,” Slade said.
“Yeah, it sure is. We did a great job.”
After dinner, they cleaned up and then Slade pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Hmm, are you ready to run as wolves?”
“After the long hike we had today, a walk is more like it. A trot.” Though as wolves, they could walk for miles without getting tired.
“Yeah, I agree.”
They kissed again, then stripped out of their clothes. He opened the door while she shifted and ran out of it. That was the problem with staying at human-run places. No wolf door.
Naked, Slade stepped onto the snowy deck and closed the door. It locked automatically. It helped that they could use a code to get in and not have to worry about a key. Then he shifted and they ran off. Even though they were going to walk on the trail, they wanted to navigate a good distance from the cabin as wolves to make sure they didn’t run into any humans. But the only prints in the snow were their own snowshoe prints from their hike earlier.
The northern lights were slipping across the sky now, bright green and pink and mirrored on the ice-covered lake. They were just amazing, like a moving art palette of colors, the various hues in the form of light. She howled for joy. He licked her face and howled too. Tomorrow night, she planned to capture the northern lights on her cell phone if they appeared again.
She and Slade were taking a nice leisurely walk, about five miles per hour for a wolf, smelling the scents in the area—another fox that had crossed the trail and the cool, crisp air surrounding them—as they listened to a squirrel up in a tree squeaking at them, fluttering its bushy tail, telling them to go away.
She was wondering what they should do about tonight. She wanted to join him in bed, but she wasn’t sure he was ready for that. They’d made unconsummated love before—with no sexual intercourse, which between wolves would mean they were mated for life—but they’d never stayed together overnight. They would figure it out when they returned from their wolf trip.
They had been walking for about an hour when the winds began to pick up. The weather could be so unpredictable, especially in the last few years with conditions ranging from a rare late-season tornado, to pouring rain and then a flash freeze right away. The forecasters hadn’t said anything about this. But even within the BWCA, the weather could be very different from one area to the next.
Trees began falling, crashing off in the distance, making Sheri and Slade’s hearts race. They stopped in their tracks, looked up at the trees near them to make sure none were leaning over and ready to fall. Slade woofed at her. She knew it was dangerous to stay here or return through the woods to the cabin, but if they reached it safely, they would have shelter for the rest of the storm.
That’s when they heard men’s shouts off in the distance. That didn’t sound good. But if anyone had been injured, Sheri and Slade couldn’t rescue them as wolves. It could take hours for emergency help to arrive to aid anyone out here in the best of weather conditions. But at night during the height of a storm?
She shifted. Brrr , man, was it cold. “I should check on them and see if anyone needs help. You run back to the cabin and shift, dress, and come back with the first aid kit and satellite phone. I mean, I’ll howl and let you know if anyone needs assistance first. There’s no reason for you to come back for me if no one’s in trouble.”
He shifted. “If you howl and say they’re okay, I’m still coming back for you.”
“It won’t take me long to reach the cabin, and there’s no sense in us both being out in this.”
“I’m returning for you. If you were to get injured, I wouldn’t be there to take care of you.”
“All right, that’s true. Go. I’ll be fine.” She shifted and ran off in the direction where they’d heard the shouts. She hoped everyone was okay, but she appreciated that Slade would return for her so they could both go back to the cabin together unscathed, hopefully.
***
Slade would have done just what Sheri had suggested if Hans had been with him and it wouldn’t have mattered who returned to the cabin.
As it was, he was running full out as a wolf, leaping over fallen trees, some of them newly fallen since the storm had begun. He wished he could fly back to the cabin and grab everything he needed in a flash. The longer they were both out here, the worse it could be. The best-case scenario would be if Sheri didn’t find anyone needing medical attention and they would return to the cabin and enjoy the rest of the night with each other in relative safety.
His heart was pounding as he jumped on top of a downed tree and heard one crack to the left of him. He jumped back down off the fallen tree to avoid the crashing one and hunkered behind it. A small branch hit him on the top of the head, but not hard. That made him even more worried about Sheri being out in this too.
When they’d started their run, they had been walking through the snow as wolves, just sniffing around, enjoying themselves. So they hadn’t really gone but about five miles from the cabin. But now he was running as fast as he could, about thirty-five miles per hour, but he couldn’t run that fast for long periods.
They were the only ones who had been on this trail today, so their tracks were still there from their snowshoe hike and wolf prints. But with the blowing snow and new snow falling, the tracks were being obliterated fast. It took him twenty minutes to return to the cabin, loping the rest of the way.
Just as he reached the walkway to the deck of the cabin, he heard Sheri howl. It was a distress call. Someone needed help, which was just what he had feared.
***
Sheri had reached the campsite where the men had called out and it was a disaster. Two trees had fallen on top of their two tents. Two of the men were trying to move the tree off one of the tents using only their cell phone lights, but the trees were massive, and the men couldn’t budge them.
She worried that someone was still in that tent trapped underneath the tree. A chain saw would be needed to cut the behemoth of a tree off the tent. Chain saws weren’t allowed in the Boundary Waters so the campers wouldn’t have one with them. Emergency crews could get an exception to save someone, but it would take too long to get hold of anyone to get approval and bring a chain saw to reach the trapped camper or campers, so she figured they were on their own for now.
When Sheri howled to Slade to let him know that the campers were in need of help, the two men stopped what they were doing and looked in her direction, but she was hidden in the woods, all white, blending in with the snow. Well, and it was dark out so they couldn’t see at night like she could either. Still, when she howled, she was close to them, so they would know she was there even though they couldn’t see her.
“Hell, that’s all we need is wolves coming to dinner, Trenton,” one of the bearded men said, shining his cell phone light at the woods in her direction, but the beam didn’t carry that far.
“Hey, Morgan, Lionel, can you hear us?” Trenton called out, frantic to find his friends. She was glad at least two of the men had managed to get out of their tent safely.
“Yeah,” a man groaned from inside the collapsed tent. “The tree pinned my leg. I can’t move out from underneath it. Lionel, hey, buddy, are you okay?”
The other man finally groaned. He had to be Lionel, and the man with the pinned leg was Morgan. “Yeah, what the hell happened?”
The wind was blowing hard, sending the snow on the branches flying while it was snowing, the flakes being swept sideways in the stiff wind. Sheri hoped Slade would bring an ax. One of the men was trying to get something out of the other tent that had been crushed by a tree, both trees appearing to have been uprooted about the same time. It was still blowing hard, and she worried for their safety and for Slade’s. She wished she could help the men.
Then she had an idea. She could pretend to be a helpful dog. But what if they worried about a dog coming out of nowhere and were afraid of her? Particularly if they really believed she was the wolf that had just howled nearby.
She came out of the woods and barked at them, wagging her tail. With her night vision, she could find things. And she could dig.
“What the hell?” One of the men finally grabbed a camp lantern from his tent, turned it on, and saw her.
“Shit, it looks like a wolf, Andy.”
“An Arctic wolf? Nah, they don’t have them out here. It’s got to be a dog,” Andy said. “But where’s its owner?”
Thankful that Andy put the other men’s minds at ease, she began to dig under the fallen tree where the men were trapped. The snow was deep underneath the tent, so if she could dig there, they might be able to pull the trapped men out.
“What…what is that?” the one guy pinned in the tent said.
“A big white dog and he’s trying to dig you out, Morgan,” Andy said.
She —she wanted to tell them. She wasn’t a he .
“We don’t know where he came from. Hopefully, his owner is okay and not injured somewhere in the Boundary Waters. We’re helping him dig you out. We thought of chopping up the tree, but it would take way too long. The dog has the right idea, Morgan,” Andy said.
“I–I just need to cut through the tent. I’m pinned down by the tent and my sleeping bag. If I could slice through them, I could get out,” Lionel said.
“I’ll see if I can find my knife.” Andy returned to his and the other guy’s tent and began trying to find it, using the camp lantern.
“Hurry it up, Andy. I can’t see anything without the bigger light,” Trenton said, using the light from his cell phone to see by.
“Okay, okay, the tree is on top of all our gear, Trenton. I can’t find anything,” Andy said.
“Well, bring back the light then,” Trenton said.
Andy returned to Lionel and Morgan’s tent and was beginning to dig when they heard Slade shout out, “Hey, is anyone hurt out here?”
Immediately, Sheri began to bark, to let him know she was down in the snow digging, no longer hiding in the woods, observing what was going on. She was so glad he was safe and here now to help.
“Yeah, tell us you’re with a rescue crew,” Andy said. “I hope this is your dog. We worried someone was injured out here or lost and the dog found us.”
“She’s mine. Sadie’s a rescue dog and she got away from me on a hike when the trees started falling. When I heard her barking, I knew she’d found someone in trouble, and I got here as soon as I could. It took me a while to find her and you.”
“So you’re just a camper like us?” Andy sounded disappointed.
“We’re staying in one of the cabins nearby. Have you called this in?” Slade had a flashlight, though he hadn’t needed it because of his wolf vision, but he must have figured the men in trouble would.
“Yeah, we called the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office right away. They can’t get to us for who knows how long. They told me several emergencies were called in over the blizzard and blowdown. If it had occurred in summer, a seaplane could have landed and they would have picked us up,” Andy said.
Sheri was thinking that Slade might have flown his plane in to rescue people if he had been home and not vacationing out here. Then again, as violent as the winds were, flying a seaplane was probably a no-go. She sighed. In the worst way, she wanted to shift, dress, and help them out more, but she was doing all she could as a wolf.
“Do you have a knife on you?” Andy asked. “Lionel believes we can get him out if we can cut him from his sleeping bag and tent. He’s stuck under the tree too.”
“I’ve got it.” Then Slade said to Lionel, “Talk to me.” He began cutting away at the tent.
“I’m good. I hear you trying to reach me. It’s much appreciated,” Lionel said.
Sheri was thinking that they wouldn’t be happy about losing their tent, though she knew they would be glad to get their friends out.
“Hey,” Slade said, “I see your sleeping bag. Just hold still while I extract you from it.”
“Yeah, holding still as a board.”
While Sheri and the others were still digging, she heard Slade slicing through the sleeping bag. Then he was helping Lionel out of the bag.
“Are you okay?” Slade asked Lionel.
“I think so.”
Slade helped him to his feet. Sheri was glad that he hadn’t been injured… if he hadn’t been. He might have some issues he didn’t know about though. Heightened adrenaline could mask the pain from injuries at first.
Using Slade’s flashlight, Andy went back to his tent to look for something else while Sheri, Slade, and Trenton worked by the camp light. Andy finally shouted, “Got them!” He trudged back through the blowing snow to the other tent carrying two folding shovels.
Great, that would really help.
Andy and Trenton began digging out their friend with the shovels and Slade began to dig with his gloved hands. Another tree fell nearby. They paused, and she swore they all had PTSD, anxious about the trees falling on top of them, which was totally understandable. When they realized they were all in the clear, they began digging as fast as they could again.
“I hope you’re getting me out soon,” Morgan said.
“What part of you is pinned?” Slade asked.
“My right leg, hip.”
“Do you feel like you can move it at all?” Andy asked.
“Yeah, a little. But my leg hurts like a son of a bitch,” Morgan said.
“Okay, can we ease him out now?” Andy asked.
“Yeah, let’s do it.” Slade took hold of Morgan’s shoulder while Andy and Trenton took hold of Morgan’s leg that hadn’t been pinned and gently pulled.
Morgan groaned and they stopped. Sheri could smell his fear and pain.
“Are you okay?” Slade asked.
“I’m in a lot of pain.”
Normally, they wouldn’t move an accident victim until they could safely do so, but with the trees falling all around them and the subfreezing temperatures, they had to get out of this weather and move Morgan to safety. And truthfully, they were all at risk until they reached the cabin.
They finally eased Morgan clear of the tree. “Let’s grab one of your sleds and gently lift Morgan onto it, secure him, and we’ll go along the Border Route Trail to carry him to our cabin. We’ll have to lift him over the fallen trees in our path. There were a lot down already, but more have fallen since my girlfriend and I traversed it earlier,” Slade said, taking charge. “Everyone needs to bundle up in layers in the warmest clothes you can find.”
“I guess your girlfriend didn’t want to venture out in this weather, and I don’t blame her,” Andy said. “What made you do it?”
“I was taking my, um, dog for a walk before we went to bed, and she alerted me someone was in trouble. I’m a seaplane pilot and I’ve gone on several emergency rescue missions in the BCWA. I’m just not with an official rescue service.”
“Hell, that’s good news, that you’re trained for rescues,” Trenton said.
“Yeah, I agree. How far away is your cabin?” Lionel asked.
“About five miles at the point where your trail connects to the Border Route Trail. It’s a half a mile hike on your trail. But it will be slow going.” Slade helped them dig through their tents for extra clothes, another comforter, and blanket. “You’ll need your snowshoes too.”
At the same time, Sheri tugged a blanket out of Morgan’s tent with her teeth and pulled it over him. She noticed Lionel wasn’t helping anyone to do anything. Either he wasn’t one to pull his weight, he was in shock, or he might have been too injured, and he wasn’t letting on.
“You’ve got quite a dog there,” Morgan said, then winced and groaned.
“Yeah, she’s a great rescue dog. When she heard your cries after the trees fell on your tents, she alerted me right away. They have such great hearing,” Slade said.
Sheri woofed at him, and he smiled at her. But she noticed Lionel was having to catch his breath when he finally began trying to gather warm clothes for their journey.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Slade asked him.