20. Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Frankie
“ M y radio,” Frankie croaked, looking up into Benjamin’s once panic-stricken face. He’d calmed somewhat, reducing his earlier overt terror to a humming anxiety. “We need to call Jon.”
“Let me.” He reached for her pack and unhooked the carabiner holding the walkie-talkie to the arm strap. Fortunately, her tumble hadn’t destroyed the handheld device—they likely had the soft snow to thank for that. And her brother’s renewed obsession with survival gear after his own wilderness mishap with Lucy the year before. Benjamin pressed the button, about to say something, then stopped. “Is there a specific distress code for something like this?”
Was this guy for real?
“Yeah,” Frankie said as she rolled her eyes. “You need to do a series of Morse code clicks and pauses or else Jon will ignore the fact that we fell down the side of a fucking mountain .”
His cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
“Right.” Benjamin cleared his throat. “Johnny. Are you there, Johnny?”
The ensuing silence added to Frankie’s unease as she watched more powder fall silently around them. It wasn’t supposed to snow until later that evening. Freaking meteorologists. And yet here they were, lounging at the bottom of a valley, flakes flitting around them like they were in a damn Christmas snow globe .
Benjamin attempted another call with no response.
Last year, Jonathan had gone on a personal protection tirade, swapping old gear with the highest safety-rated equivalent. That included the new, super rugged GMRS walkies that were supposed to transmit further and through more obstacles than their FRS counterparts, but so far, his purchase had left a lot to be desired.
Frankie snatched the radio from Benjamin and scolded into the mic.
“Jonathan Stanley Miller. So help me god, if you don’t answer, I’ll include the Valhalla incident of 2018 in my wedding toast.”
“Is his middle name really Stanley?”
She snorted. “No, it’s Andrew. I use Stanley when I’m pissed or want to mess with him.”
A crackle of static played through the radio, words indiscernible. Her heart leapt into her chest.
“Jon? Come on, Jon,” she begged, thinly veiled panic stringing through her words.
“ Frankie? ” Still muffled, but better than nothing.
“Yes,” she almost screeched. Looking up at Benjamin, she noted the tentative hope adding color to his pale features. He shivered slightly and held her close, likely as much for his warmth as hers. “By the drop-off. We fell down a ravine. I hit my head.” She said each word with slow clarity to break through the grainy sound Jon would likely be hearing.
“ Sit tight. ”
“Oh, thank god,” Benjamin breathed out, dropping his head to rest on Frankie’s shoulder. His head snapped up as if he suddenly remembered something, then he unclasped his pack. He reached for his thermos and opened the screw top. “Here, drink this. ”
The heavenly scent of hot apple cider swirled up from the large container like a healing elixir. Testing a sip for temperature, Frankie moaned in delight then took a couple more gulps. Benjamin followed suit before he sealed the canister and replaced it in his pack.
“Thank you,” she said with a sigh, snuggling further into his warmth.
“You’re welcome. So, what do we do now? Just sit here?”
Frankie shrugged, partially to shimmy the accumulation of snow off the jacket draped over her. The clouds needed to stop dumping on them. More snow meant harder rescue efforts.
“That’s all we can do.” She gestured to the steep embankment. “There’s no chance in hell we can climb that thing. Stay safe, stay dry, stay put. We don’t want to make the evacuation harder for SAR than it already will be.”
“What’s the Valhalla incident of 2018?”
Frankie snorted. “If you don’t already know, I doubt you and my brother are that tight.”
She glanced up just in time to notice Benjamin flinch. The shame she saw in his eyes just before he turned to survey their surroundings tugged gently at her heart. As far as Frankie was concerned, he didn’t deserve her sympathy, but she felt it anyway.
“I shouldn’t be telling you, but seeing as you’re keeping me warm and dry, this will make us even.”
Benjamin leveled his sapphire eyes on Frankie’s face, enveloping her with his undivided attention. The intensity stole her breath for a moment before she reminded herself it had everything to do with the gossip she was about to share.
“In July 2018, Jon and I decided to hike Valhalla on our day off. He’d just gotten over food poisoning—or so we thought. We reached the lake, and he . . . had an emergency.” Benjamin cringed as she continued. “He found a semi-secluded spot, but while he was . . . you know . . . a family of four popped out of the woods nearby and scared the crap out of him . . . oof . . . pun not intended. Anyways, in his haste to finish up, he grabbed a fistful of poison oak instead of practically any other plant available. It was, all around, a very, very bad day for him.”
Frankie watched as Benjamin bit his lips closed to hold back a laugh despite how much his shoulders shook. “Poor guy.”
“I warned him. First, about the gas station sushi the morning before and again just before we left for the hike.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Always been a slow learner, my brother.”
By the time Jon’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie again, the snow was falling so heavily that it was nearly impossible to see clearly to the top of the embankment.
“ Frankie, Benji. Do you copy? ”
“Loud and sorta clear,” she responded.
“ I’m trying to get eyes on you, but we can’t tell where you went off trail. The new snowfall is obscuring things. Can you both yell out? Might help. ”
“Roger.”
Together they hollered as loudly as they could. Benjamin waved his arms in the air to give Jon some movement to spot. Through the growing clumps of snowflakes, they could just make out the outline of a person peering carefully over the edge.
“ I see you. I’m going to hand you over to Miguel. ”
“ Hey, kiddo, ya hanging in there? ” Not even a decade older than Frankie, the head of the local search and rescue team was like another brother. He had four younger sisters himself and regularly said it made no difference claiming her as his fifth.
Hearing his voice imbued Frankie with an extra boost of faith as she pushed the button to respond.
“We’re ok. Trying to stay warm and dry. Though the new snowfall isn’t helping. ”
“ I’ve sent Jon back to my truck to radio the team. It’s going to be a while before we can get you out of there. What I need you to do for me is to describe your surroundings. We need to figure out a safe place for you two to hunker down and wait. ”
Benjamin helped her sit up and get a better look. Outside of the situation, Frankie would have described the setting as a magical, wintery paradise. Large boulders meandered along where they sat on the valley floor. Covered in glistening snow, they reminded her of icing-topped gumdrops bordering a winding path to a gingerbread house. A few trees stood mightily between them, mostly keeping to the steep hills on either side. The snow fell rapidly, swiftly covering the tracks that their clumsy descents carved into the embankments a short time ago. It was breathtaking. Frankie was so captivated that she imagined the tinkling of tiny bells to cap off the seasonal ambiance.
Scratch that. Not bells.
“Oh no,” Frankie gasped. She carefully reached down beside Benjamin, hastily scooping the snow aside. After removing a glove, she sank her bare hand into the snow.
“What is it? Francesca, stop. You’ll get frostbite!”
She shrugged off his concerns, reaching farther down until her fingers reached something cold, hard, and slick.
“Ice.” She retracted her hand and jammed it back into her glove. “Miguel? Fuck. I think we’re on a creek. I felt ice beneath the snow, there’s a pretty open winding path through the valley, and I hear moving water.”
Benjamin’s eyes widened. She laid her hand on his chest in an effort to calm him, but the thundering pulse that beat against her palm caused her own heart to accelerate.
“ Listen carefully. You need to get off the ice. There’s no telling how long it will hold. The water probably isn’t deep, but if you break through and get wet, the risk of hypothermia increases. Drastically .”
“Got it.” Frankie hooked the walkie back to her pack. “Help me slide this on, then I’m going to crawl off of you and climb through those boulders.” She pointed to the stack of rocks a few feet beside them.
“But shouldn’t we cross over and stay on that bank?” Benjamin’s words linked together as they flowed from his chattering teeth. His icy blue eyes, wide with fear, collided with hers. “We’d be closer when they rescue—”
“We can’t risk the crossing. You heard Miguel. Stay out of the water. Follow me but move carefully.” She used every ounce of her authoritative guide voice, and it seemed to have the desired effect. Benjamin nodded, took back his coat, and helped her shimmy into her pack.
With great care, Frankie slid off his lap and onto the snow beside him. She moved with purpose, thinking light thoughts all the way. After a moment, she scurried between the two rocks and landed on solid ground.
A heavy breath escaped her, but she knew they weren’t in the clear just yet. Benjamin was much larger than her. She’d felt so small and comfy nestled against his warm chest. Laying in his lap. Long legs curled up to act as a barrier between her and the snow. Focus, Frankie. The point was, the guy outweighed her by . . . well, by a lot. Any wrong move could spell disaster. There was no telling how thick the ice was in any given spot.
“You’re next, professor . Move slowly, got it?”
Benjamin’s eyes glinted at Frankie’s tease. But he nodded anyway.
He gracefully shifted and pushed to a stand. Without his snowshoes, his feet sank all the way down to the ice. He appeared more and more comfortable with each lumbering stride.
“Like a walk in the pa—”
A fragile crack resounded from beneath his boot and echoed throughout the valley.
Frankie captured Benjamin’s eyes in a panicked flinch.
“Fuck,” they mumbled in unison.