Chapter Twenty-Six
Mike listened as Missy explained some of the things she was learning. The search and rescue guys were telling the wives how mobile coverage on the Kepler Track was generally poor and unreliable in winter, with some patchy service near the Luxmore Hut but little to none elsewhere.
Missy said, “They did get to that Luxmore Hut at the end of the first day and spent the night there. There are three large huts for hikers along the trail but in winter, the facilities are greatly reduced. While there’s a volunteer ranger on site at Luxmore and cooking facilities with fuel are available, you need to bring your own cooking stove and fuel for boiling water, as supplies are limited.
You should also prepare for potential deep snow, cold weather, and the risk of avalanches. ”
“What about at the other huts?”
“Basically, the same only there is no ranger on site. There are toilets but no showers. The toilets at the Iris Burn hut are flushing toilets but at the Moturau hut there is no running water and the toilets are just outhouses.”
Mike said, “I think I’m getting why the wives didn’t want to go. Did the men get to that Iris Burn hut?”
“That’s unknown right now. The big worry is that something probably happened during the alpine section climb. That’s forty-six hundred feet high and as we saw when we went skiing, there has been a lot of snow recently in this area of the country.”
“So there’s a lot of ground that needs to be searched and even if they use a helicopter, that might take days. I know you want to help with that, right?”
Missy nodded and said, “Yeah, I do. Also, if those men need any medical attention, my healing ability might help save them. Time is of the essence here and I can use my finder witch ability to get to them fairly quickly. Once I make sure they’re okay, I can let you know how they can best be reached by those search and rescue people. ”
“What do you need for your finder witch ability to work? You need to sense something with their scent or energy, right?”
“Fortunately, those guys spent one night at this hotel with their wives before they started out on their hike. I can teleport into those two rooms and sense what I’ll need.”
“Okay, so let’s go buy a suitcase where we can put all your clothes. Then we can go around back somewhere and you can disappear. I’ll make up some story for the search and rescue guys once I hear from you that you’ve located the two brothers.”
It took several minutes to accomplish that part of the plan and then Missy was in her spirit form, searching through the hotel for the two rooms which the brothers had used. She was able to locate those since she had gotten close enough to the wives to get their scent.
In each room, Missy was able to both sense what each man’s scent was as well as sense what their energy signature was.
Then, she headed off to Te Anau where the men had begun their hike.
Although she could teleport much faster than walking, she was not able to zip anywhere instantly the way she could if she were teleporting to a person or place she had already experienced.
The distance was over one hundred miles but Missy managed to get there in less than an hour.
Then she began following the residual energy signatures of the two brothers.
When that brought her to the Luxmore hut an hour later, she felt confident she would find them.
She sensed the men had indeed spent some time at this location and had then headed over to the Luxmore Cave.
This was a natural limestone cave approximately ten minutes from the Luxmore Hut.
The cave featured impressive limestone formations, including stalactites and stalagmites, and was home to glowworms that illuminate its interior.
Visitors would need to bring a torch, as the cave was very dark inside, but Missy was able to see okay with her spirit form’s ability.
The surrounding area offered panoramic views of the Fiordland landscape, making it a popular side trip for hikers on the Kepler Track.
Missy was able to sense the two men had indeed spent some time there before they eventually headed off towards the Luxmore summit which was not that far away. Again, the men spent time on the summit before continuing their journey.
The distance to the Iris Burn hut was about nine miles.
There were great views of Lake Te Anau and the Murchison Mountains but this was a very challenging tramp in an alpine environment with steep, rocky, and exposed sections.
There was great concern about sudden weather changes as the snow and ice could then create very hazardous conditions on this track.
Avalanches were also a concern and there were two emergency day shelters situated along the way.
Missy found the brothers had managed to reach the first such shelter and had spent quite a bit of time there.
She suspected the weather had forced them to do that, as the snow was very deep everywhere around there.
Had she not been able to sense these men with her abilities, she would not have been able to know they had even stopped at this location since there was now no evidence that anyone had been there.
There had not been any effort to make a fire and the men had eventually continued onward.
The hike between the Luxmore hut and the Iris Burn hut traversed a ridgeline with spectacular mountain views.
Missy was very much at home up there and had her mission not been one of such urgency, she would have enjoyed experiencing all of this.
But, she kept following the energy signatures of these two men and that was how she noticed where the men had fallen from the track and gone down the mountainside.
She knew the abundance of snow had surely made this trek very treacherous.
She had no doubt the two men had tied themselves together and thus, when one of them fell, that caused them both to fall.
She went down over five hundred feet before she found the men, huddled together under a large outcropping of rocks.
They were unconscious but thankfully, they were both still alive.
Missy sent Mike a mental message with this latest update of her search.
Then, she began her examination which revealed that Randy had a badly broken leg.
Buddy had managed to secure two splints, one on each side of his brother’s leg.
It then appeared he had attempted to make some sort of a camp.
There was evidence of a fire but that had now burned out.
Missy sensed both men were experiencing advanced hypothermia and she began pushing her healing energy into each of them.
She did this slowly, a little at a time, gradually warming up their body temperatures.
Then she sent Mike a detailed description of their location advising the rescue would definitely require a helicopter.
Mike had followed the search and rescue team in his rental car over to Te Anau and had kept them in sight while he had been communicating with Missy. He was greatly relieved to get this information.
Mike now approached Gavin Webb, the man in charge of the search and rescue team, and introduced himself as an American tourist who had some psychic abilities. He told him that Robert Ulrey of the FBI Psychic Division back in the U.S. would vouch for him, if that was needed.
Gavin looked at Mike very skeptically and asked, “You’re saying you’re some sort of psychic? Have you ever even been to New Zealand before? Why should I listen to anything you have to say?”
Mike replied, “Because I know that Randy Clarkson has a broken leg and his brother would not leave him. They both are now suffering from severe hypothermia and will need to be evacuated by helicopter since they fell down from the ridge somewhere between the Luxmore hut and the Iris Burn hut. That happened maybe two miles after the first emergency shelter up there.”
Gavin listened to all this and then said, “How could you possibly know any of that?” He was very incredulous but at the same time, if there was even the slightest chance that Mike was correct, he didn’t want to ignore him.
“If you bring me up in a helicopter, I know I’ll be able to point out the exact location,” explained Mike. “What have you got to lose by doing that? You need to search the area from the air anyways, right?”
After a lot more discussion as well as a phone call back to Robert Ulrey, Gavin finally did arrange for Mike to climb into the helicopter which had been assigned to this case.
As it lifted off the ground, Mike was able to communicate that to Missy.
She, of course, had been asking him yes and no questions to which she was able to sense from his emotional responses what his answers were.
Meanwhile, Missy was gratified to find the two brothers were slowly responding to the healing energy and warmth which she had poured into them.
Buddy was the first to wake up and he immediately reached to check on Randy.
Then Randy too regained consciousness, although he was in a very confused state.
Now her concern was how to signal Mike and the helicopter once it came overhead. These men would not be visible unless Buddy were to move out into an open position and wave up at them. She waited. She knew it would take another twenty minutes or so before that helicopter would arrive.
Mike continued to answer Missy’s mental questions to him as the aircraft made its way towards her and the two men’s location.
When she at last sensed the aircraft was approaching, she went over and physically lifted Buddy using her telekinesis ability and pulled him out to where Mike could see the man.
Buddy was only half aware of this but once he found himself standing on the mountain side and heard the helicopter high above, he then began to fully come alive.
He began waving wildly, knowing the miracle which he had hoped for during these past three days was actually coming true.
Mike was able to see Buddy waving and he pointed him out to the pilot.
Then, the aircraft made a descent to where it could come to a hover directly above.
A crew member opened the door and lowered a basket down from the aircraft.
He quickly followed that himself on a cable while another crew member operated the winches inside the aircraft.
When the crew member and the basket were both on the ground, Buddy waved for the man to help with his brother Randy. A few minutes later, Randy was securely inside the basket and that was then winched back up until the crew member inside the aircraft was able to grab the basket and pull it inside.
Randy was removed from the basket and the basket was lowered once again. Soon Buddy was being brought up. Finally, the crew member on the ground was also winched back up and the door of the aircraft was closed. The rescue had been a success!
Missy was thrilled and she teleported back to Te Anau.
Mike had parked their rental car in a remote location but Missy had no problem finding that.
Inside, of course, was the suitcase with her clothing.
Thus, Missy managed to get herself fully dressed once again by the time the helicopter came back and landed.
There were EMT’s waiting with two ambulances and so too were the two wives. Mike watched as Buddy and Randy were offloaded and each man was put into an ambulance, his loving wife climbing into that with him. Soon both vehicles were on their way to the hospital.
Gavin came up to Mike as he was climbing out of the helicopter and said, “I don’t know how you managed that, Mr. Ryan, but I am very certain those two men owe their lives to you. I will be in touch with Robert Ulrey. I will also keep your involvement in this a secret, as promised.”
Mike said, “Thanks, I really appreciate that. I’m over here on my honeymoon and … ah, here she comes now!” He could see Missy walking towards them and he gestured over towards her.
Missy exclaimed, “I’m so proud of you, Mike! Will those men be okay?”
Mike introduced her to Gavin and let Gavin answer her question.
Then they said goodbye and returned to their rental car.
On the way back to Queenstown, Missy said, “Thanks for today, Mike! Letting me do what I did and for convincing that Gavin guy what a wonderful psychic you are. If you hadn’t been able to talk him into letting you go up in that helicopter, things would have taken a lot longer and I don’t know if those poor brothers would have been able to survive. ”
Mike shook his head but continued to give his attention to driving the car. He said, “Somehow, you would have saved them even if you had to use your telekinesis powers to drag them back here. The Fabulous Fates gifted those two men with you today, Missy. I don’t mind sharing one single bit.”
They had a nice dinner back at the Rosewood Matakauri Lodge. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.