Part 16 (1/2)
”I'm Judd,” the cowboy said. ”Hop aboard. I'll get you down there in no time.”
Gloria stared at him. ”It sounds like that's the thinking that got everyone into this mess.”
”Look, ma'am. I'm a professional. I can get you there safely and in half the time.”
She would have trusted Kristine's word more, but Kristine wasn't in front of her. Judd was. She stowed the radio back into her daypack. Judd hung the backpack from the horn of his saddle, gave her his left stirrup and showed her how to link her elbow through his to swing aboard. As soon as she had her arms around his waist, they were moving down the trail.
Her mind jumped back four years, hearing her father's voice full of fear, urging her to come home as soon as possible. Her mother was in the hospital with complications from her last treatment. He'd called Gloria in Tennessee where she had picked up a research opportunity in the Smoky Mountains. Hours had already pa.s.sed when she returned to her camper to find the message. All of the unknowns had crunched her stomach into a knot as she put herself into motion to get home. She'd worried the entire time that she wouldn't make it. The drive to the airport, the flight, getting a car to make it home...she was suspended in time, as she was now on the trail, at the mercy of the transportation to deliver her but void of control of the situation, at the mercy of what she would find when she arrived. That trip had indirectly brought her here to the High Sierras. The thought of arriving home to find her mother already gone drove her to select her next projects more conservatively.
Judd let her off at the crest of the waterfall. Running down the switchback stairs, she quickly spotted the fallen riders. Her brain tried to unscramble the words she heard them hollering. Then she realized they were not calling her. They were letting Kristine know she'd arrived.
Gloria reached the boy first. He sat in another rider's lap resting against the man's chest.
”I hope it's okay that we moved him. He seems mostly scared. I couldn't let him sit on the rocks any longer.”
”Should be fine. What's your name?” She asked the s.h.a.ggy-haired boy. He grimaced, and his recently-cut adult teeth that pinched his lower lip accentuated how small his face was.
”Sammy. I want to see my dad. They won't let me go see my dad.”
”It's important we know you're okay first. Can you follow my finger?” she asked, moving it from side to side in front of him. His eyes tracked her finger, and his pupils dilated. She felt his hands and asked the man holding him to lift the s.h.i.+rt that he held to the boy's head. Blood matted the boy's head but the pressure seemed to have stopped active bleeding. ”Looks like they've taken really good care of you. Now let me check on your dad, okay? Sit tight for just a minute longer.”
She found Kristine standing on the trail. Those eyes catching her off guard again. No matter what her expression, Kristine always managed to give Gloria pause. Gone were the indifference, anger and hesitation. The woman looking at her was fully in her element, calm and in control.
”We did okay by him?” Kristine's eyes darted to the boy.
”Yes, he'll be fine. His father's in worse shape?”
”That's where we need your help. He was bleeding pretty badly out of his thigh. I've got his buddy applying pressure up in his groin. I'm so glad you got here as fast as you did.” Kristine cut the switchback, and Gloria did the same.
”Good chance he's in shock,” Gloria said, settling next to him, taking in his pale coloring. ”Smart to cover up the wound. What did it look like before you started applying pressure?”
”Like I said, he was bleeding. I saw bone but still figured we needed to try to stop the blood loss.”
”Are we talking bright red spurting blood or darker, seeping blood?” Gloria asked quietly.
”I'd say seeping.”
”Let's have a look, then.” She nodded at the man applying pressure, and he sat back, giving Gloria access. As she peeled away the towel, her patient wailed in pain. She placed a hand on his shoulder. ”I know it hurts, but I've got to have a look before I radio the Forest Service.” She nodded as she examined the wound. ”Well, the good news is the blood isn't from a major artery, so we'll just need to stabilize the leg to travel.”
”What do you need?” Kristine asked. ”A belt? Boards?”
”Let me call Scott and see what the EMTs recommend doing. For now, keeping him still should be enough.”
”Could we move his son down here? They've both been asking to see the other.”
”The boy can come down here for the time being.” Instead of calling to one of the guests, Kristine cut the switchback again, climbing to the boy. Gloria saw another side of Kristine as she bent over him. He listened attentively to whatever it was she said, nodding in agreement when she sat back with her hand on his shoulder. She swept him up in her arms and carried him down the trail, setting him gently by his father who immediately wrapped his arms around his boy.
Her eyes went to the father and son and then returned to Kristine. ”You're good with kids. What were you saying to him?”
”Just some stuff about helping his dad out.”
Knowing how upset Kristine had been with the party, Gloria was surprised by the gestures that went beyond managing the crisis. Kristine's tenderness made Gloria want to wrap her arms around her. However, she reminded herself that they were professionals and there were still a lot of things to address before they could evacuate.
”The boy'll be okay to ride, won't he?” Kristine asked.
”I expect so. My guess is that they won't take him out by air,” Gloria answered.
”You know what they say about getting back on the horse.”
”Why do you cowboys make such a big deal out of that, anyway?”
”Keeps him from a.s.sociating riding with falling. Always stop on the positive.”
Gloria saw Kristine retreat into the thoughts that so often distracted her and realized that she was probably thinking about how she'd left the Lodge on a negative. She wanted to ask about it, but Kristine had already pushed the thought away, telling Gloria to let her know when the boy was ready to travel, her mind back on the task at hand.
Gloria nodded, and as she put in the call to Scott, she watched Kristine coordinate a crew to gather the dunnage spilled in the fall. She admired how Kristine controlled the scene and knew that her calm had been a big part of managing what could have been chaos. That she did so without letting the past distract her impressed her even more.
”You two work together a lot?” the wounded man's friend asked when Gloria ended the call.
”No. We've crossed paths a few times this summer, but we're not colleagues.”
He looked puzzled. ”The way you work together, it seems like you've done this before.”
Gloria smiled. ”I'm just following Kristine's lead like the rest of you.”
”Well, we would have been sunk without you two.” He nodded from Gloria to Kristine, who stood catching her breath from hiking back up the trail.
”Do we need boards to make a brace?”
”No. Scott says we don't want to risk nicking the femoral artery, so we'll just bind the broken leg to the good to keep it stable. A few belts will do the trick.”
”You heard her. We need some belts here,” Kristine said with authority. Gloria enjoyed watching the guests scramble to comply.
Gloria accepted the belts and snugly bound the legs just above and below the protruding bone.
”Can I snag some of your gauze?” Kristine asked when she'd finished. ”One of the mules has a nasty gash I need to wrap before he can travel.”
”Make sure the injured guy stays still. Give a holler if the wound starts bleeding again or he pa.s.ses out.” Standing, she said to Kristine, ”Let's see how good I am at doctoring a mule.”
”Thank you for helping us out,” Kristine said when they reached the stock. ”The way you talked about the Lodge before, I wasn't sure...”
Gloria waved off Kristine's thanks.
”What?” Kristine asked.