Chapter Nine
Sommer
They had to park on the side of the dirt road that led to the ranger’s station. There were already a lot of people who had shown up.
Good.
Doused in tick spray, with their boots properly laced and their packs adjusted on their shoulders, the women walked to the ranger hut where they’d been told to report.
People stood in clusters dotting the small gravel parking area. There was a table to sign in and fill out paperwork. Sommer didn’t bother to read it. It probably just said that if she broke her neck, it was her decision to be there and her responsibility to deal with any bad outcomes.
“Do you see any of our people?” Marna asked, sliding her gaze from group to group.
“Look,” Abbie pointed. “Someone in a uniform is heading over.”
“False alarm,” Marna said as that person shifted into a group standing off to their left.
Sommer could make out a hiking logo on most of that group's shirts.
“Should we have worn one of our Women Top the Peaks shirts?” Abbie asked. “I didn’t even think about cohesion.”
“We’re not at an amusement park getting separated by the crowds. We’ll be on our trail all by ourselves.”
“Well, hopefully the kids will be there.”
“Hopefully,” Marna said.
The logo group closed in around the person wearing khaki tactical pants and a blaze-orange shirt. A few minutes into their briefing, the leader passed around a can of bug spray, and as it made the rounds, a plume of perfumed chemicals wafted their way.
The friends moved upwind and sat silently on a log meant to demarcate the edge of the parking area, watching that group head off on the Beaver Creek Trail. It was an intermediate-level climb.
Sommer elbowed Marna as she spotted two of the men with backpacks slung over one shoulder and hanging almost empty.
They wore shorts with their hoodies. Bare-legged in the chilly damp of pre-dawn mountain air, they were both in flip-flops.
Wet flip-flops rubbed blisters then holes into the delicate skin between the toes.
Sommer had to assume they’d shown up, offered to volunteer, signed the same “I won’t sue anyone” papers, and said they’d be fine.
“They heard a call out and decided to join in,” Marna said. “I’d give them forty-five minutes on the trail, tops.”
“I wonder if the search leader would say, ‘good luck going home,’ or if they’d all have to escort the two men back,” Abbie said.
“The flip-flop guys might just get lost in the woods trying to descend. So add two more to the headcount.”
“Emergency Services will triage the kids.” Marna pulled her pack onto her knees and rested her chin on it. “You can’t split forces when the men have muscle, fat, and, hopefully, some life experience to guide them, while the little ones have hope, fear, and damp pajamas.
“What those men lack is common sense,” Sommer said. “So that doesn’t bode well. Look, there are three more of us.”
Abbie stood and raised her hand in a wave. “They’ve got someone in the blaze-orange uniform shirt with them. Come on. Diane’s signaling us over.”
Sommer stood, then pulled her pack over her shoulders. “Let’s get to the rescuing.”
“Are you members of the Women Top Peaks Hiking Club?” The rescue gal asked as the three friends strode over.
“They’re with us,” Diane said.
“I’m Wendy.” The searcher had her head down as she rifled through her papers, pulling two out of the pile and placing them on top. “Sommer Hayes?” she announced clearly.
“Me.” Sommer stepped forward.
“And Marna Bickham,” Wendy said.
“Yup.” Marna raised her hand.
“You two are our medics on this team. I’m carrying a field first aid kit at the top of my pack. If one of us gets hurt, or we find the kids, are you comfortable taking on that role?”
“We are,” Sommer said. “Do you need us to sign something?”
“No, we already have your paperwork, and that’ll be good enough.
You’re using Good Samaritan laws. I’m just letting you know where the kit is in case it’s me who goes down for the count.
” She pointed up, “Full moon, which is great for seeing clearly. In the field, we’ll use red or green on our headlamps to preserve our night vision. ”
Wendy handed out paper maps. On each, she’d marked their path with a yellow highlighter. “This is the trail that we’re tasked with.” She held the last one up in front of her chest. “I understand you ladies go up that stretch at least once a year, so you know the area pretty well.”
“In the daytime,” Diane said.
“We’ll be fine,” Marna said. “We know the trail.”
“This trail goes up to the peak that’s miles long. Hours of hiking. Could the kids get that far?”
“Their trailer is a hundred yards from where we’re standing.
The children grew up in the woods and are used to long hikes with their parents.
We think that if they found a trail, they’d get on it and stay on it.
The brother, at least, would know what to do.
That’s why we asked the hiking clubs to join the search. ”
“Glad to be asked,” Abbie said.
“Glad you all said yes,” Wendy said as she flipped her map over to hold up a colored flier with back-, side-, and front-facing pictures of the missing children.
“Luckily, their mom and dad have up-to-date pictures. And this one here,” she pointed to the bottom, “shows what they were wearing when they went to bed.”
“Did someone take the kids? I mean,” Diane asked, “are we looking for a bad person?”
“No signs of foul play.” Wendy’s gaze swept their group.
“The little girl, Amber, is eight. She’s on the autism spectrum and wanders.
The mom thinks her son, Cory, aged six, went out to make sure Amber was okay.
The mom only noticed them missing because she had a nightmare and went to check.
So we don’t have a good timeframe for when they went missing.
Anything after ten o’clock when Mom checked on them before she went to bed. The dad was working late shift.”
Sommer reached for the photo and pulled it over to hold between her and Marna.
Both women scanned the photos. It wasn’t likely there would be any other stray children on the hike, and they knew the photo was there, so the searchers’ brains had clear, fresh images of hair color, size, and matching bunny pajamas.
But she and Marna were looking for other clues.
Clues that might be missed by someone who wasn’t in the medical field.
Clues that showed up with an explanatory story in the emergency department. They were looking for layers in the ages of bruises and the watchful look in the children’s eyes.
Both nurses scanned each child’s picture, looking for a reason to disbelieve that the children had merely wandered and maybe even to suspect that something more nefarious was in play.
Marna pointed at a fading bruise on Amber’s forehead.
Sommer pointed to the red welt around the girl’s wrist, only visible in one of the pictures, then caught Marna’s eye.
Wendy must be a good search-and-rescue person because none of that exchange went unnoticed. “You saw Amber’s wrist?”
Sommer held the picture out to Abbie so she could see, too.
“The family was trying out a tracking bracelet to see if Amber could tolerate it. She has sensitivity to things that touch her skin, and it was too much for her to handle. Trying to get it off left that mark.”
Marna sent Wendy a skeptical look.
“Her mother has taken to recording episodes on video because well-meaning people are often concerned about Amber’s bruising, especially on her forehead.
Amber finds relief by banging her head on hard surfaces when she’s frustrated.
” Wendy took a step back. “Because of Amber’s sensitivities, we won’t be calling out the children’s names on this rescue because Amber will hide from noise and strangers.
That means we have to be as quiet as possible in the woods so that we can listen carefully. ”
Wendy paused for radio traffic.
“We have a management team supporting us. We’ll stay in contact with them throughout.
Now, if the children are spotted, please note that while emotions will run high, you will contain them.
You will not race toward the children unless they are in immediate danger.
If you see the children, you will stop and put your hand up in the air.
” Wendy demonstrated by taking the extra step of putting her other hand over her mouth.
“If you see someone’s hand up, you will stop and put your hand up, and that way the whole team becomes aware.
At that point,” Wendy turned their way. “Marna and Sommer will approach the children appropriately.”
Again they had to pause for radio chatter. It sounded to Sommer like they were checking in, making sure no man was left behind. That team had seven plus a K9.
Sommer would like to see a dog in action on a search. She’d only seen it on film.
When the radio person said “Out,” Wendy began her instructions again. “Also remember, the entire mountain is considered a possible crime site.” She turned to Diane. “That’s protocol on every search.”
Diane gave her a thumbs up.
“Don’t touch anything you find on the trail, but do point it out to me.
Again, once we’re in the woods, we will walk in silence using all of our senses, especially paying attention to our guts.
Our brains take in far more information than we consciously process.
If you sense something, signal, and we’ll follow up.
No worries if you’re wrong. We follow all clues. ”
Wendy tucked her map and the photos into a silicone sleeve that dangled from her pack.
“Ladies, thank you for coming out in the middle of the night. Take a final moment to use the bathroom, check that you have sufficient water and a functioning headlamp; we’ll meet back here in five minutes and off we’ll go.”