Page 48 of Torch Songs

Guthrie studied the elaborate system of pulleys and physics and some really ingenious thinking and swallowed. “This must have taken half the day to set up,” he said.

Maureen nodded. “We started in the hospital, waiting to see how Eamon—the sheriff—was doing after surgery, when the teenagers started spitballing, and then Yoshi showed up, and he called in the physics teacher and the geologist and….” She chuckled. “And Olivia used some sort of emotional blackmail to get the search and rescue guys to forego the red tape and get their asses out here. By the time we had the setup for Christiana to talk to the guys, it was dark, and….” She sighed. “We need more light. We need to be able to see cracks or shifts in the soil, to watch for scree or rockfalls, and to know where the guys areexactly. Right now they’re under the trees, leaning against an enormous dead tree that ended up stuck horizontally against the younger trunks. We can’t see much of them, even with the lights shining down, because of the shadows. It sucks—I mean,believe meit sucks. Christi’s dad has a concussion so bad he can’t holler, and that’s not right, trust me. And you know, my dad is law enforcement. He’d be bleeding out his eyeballs and say, ‘It’s fine, honey. See to everybody else, okay?’ So we know your worry and your impatience, trust me. But….”

“But you all already pulled off a miracle,” Guthrie said softly, looking again at all that work in a hurry. “So we’d better not push it.”

She smiled at him. “No, we’d better not. Now I know you wolfed down a burger at Larx and Aaron’s place. Do you needany more food? Livvy packed a whole bag of apples….” She said it like she was luring him in, and he smiled, grateful.

“An apple would be much appreciated,” he said, glancing around again. As he did, he took in a dilapidated, tattered old house that might have once been the epicenter of activity, but it sat, deserted and alone, falling in on itself toward the road. He realized that the football-stadium-sized area of industry he saw now had once been the place’s backyard. There were vehicles—SUVs, sedans, battered cars, and teacher-mobiles—parked on the street in front of the house, and he saw a couple of guys sitting in their cars, eating. Search and rescue had brought vans, and that’s where the guys in uniform were. The teenagers were putting together the care package in the center of the work area, shoving cheeseburgers and fries in their mouths as they worked. A small Asian man wearing the bright Pusheen button-down shirt and khaki shorts was helping them, also eating his burger one-handed.

Maureen dug into the bear-proof chest for the apples, showing Guthrie how the latch worked, and Guthrie thanked her and took his apple to go help with the organization process.

“Okay,” the Pusheen guy said, “I think if we shove the eggcrate down on top of everything and wrap the straps overit, nothing should fall out of the basket during the initial drop.” He glanced at another man with sepia-toned skin and a fall of rich black hair. “Mandeep, are yousurethe edge isn’t going to crumble when it touches down on the side of the canyon?”

“No, Yoshi, I’m not,” Mandeep said shortly. “Remember, we pulled this whole thing out of ourassesabout eight hours ago.” He sighed and stared out toward the gaping darkness that Guthrie knew instinctively was the canyon itself. “But itshouldhold. And we need to get them out.”

Yoshi nodded. “Buddy, nobody’s going to blame you if this doesn’t work—but wearegoing to double-check with you,because you’re the smartest one here.” Yoshi shoved the last bite of food in his mouth and spoke while chewing. “I’m an Engrith teather, rmmbr?”

Mandeep rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Yoshi. Just an English teacher. My God—if you ever get to be principal without Larx, we’re all going to have to run for the hills, because you are an absolute dictator.” He shook his head, and another man—younger, wearing a denim jacket and sporting a couple days’ worth of scruff—ran over from giving some of the search and rescue guys burgers. He was digging hisownburger out of a bag, and he paused by the rest of them to eat it.

“Everybody fed?” Maureen asked.

“Everybody but the dads,” the young man said. He glanced worriedly at Maureen. “How’s Livvy? She settled?”

“Last we saw her,” she said, indicating Guthrie with her chin, “she was on the recliner, talking Tad Hawkins’s sister down from the ledge. Poor thing.” Maureen shook her head. “She was beat. I gather these guys had been through the wringer to get here.”

Guthrie grimaced. “This wasnotApril’s comfort zone,” he admitted. “But she had to see her brother.”

“Are you her boyfriend?” Elton asked as he wiped his hand off on the ass of his jeans. He extended it with a self-conscious smile. “Elton McDaniels—Livvy’s husband.”

“Guthrie Woodson,” Guthrie said, shaking. “And, uhm—”

“Wrong sibling,” Maureen said dryly.

Elton laughed. “Sorry about the assumption,” he said. “But I’m glad you both are here.” He sobered. “From what I understand, Tad is doing okay….” His voice trailed off like “okay” wasn’t the word. “They asked for antibiotics, saline, and bandages—and ibuprofen. We’ve got a witness that says Tad took a shot in the upper thigh. It was from a distance, so blood loss isn’t the problem, but infection….”

Guthrie nodded, feeling numb. “So you guys swing up there and talk to them?”

Elton shook his head. “We’re not doing that again—we got eyes on them, but barely, considering the light. We’re lowering the care package, and Yoshi’s going to use the megaphone to talk to them, and then….” He shrugged, the hamburger in his hand still held up to his mouth but forgotten. “Then we hunker down for the night. I’m going to run and get Livvy—and probably April, if that’s okay—early in the morning so she can be there when we go to pull them out. You’re welcome to settle down here with us.”

“I’ve got the pickup truck,” Guthrie said, feeling like he should contribute something. “It should sleep three in the back. There’s eggcrate and sleeping bags, so anybody who needs to stretch out—”

“I’ll take it!” Kirby said, straightening. “Kel?”

“I’ll sleep in the cab,” Kellen said, shivering. “All the stars overhead? Creepy.”

“I’ll take the pickup,” Elton said, yawning. “That way I’ll see the sunrise start to hit the canyon, and I can go get Livvy. She’s going to be losing her mind.”

THE LOWERINGof the care package was almost a disaster. The thing went up in the air, over the edge, and then was lowered to the ground—to be met by a chorus of yelps and “The actualfucks!” from their rescuees in the canyon. Apparently, they’d set up the basket’s path to be directly over where the four men were holed up against the tree, and that sent debris onto their heads in an unwelcome hail.

Yoshi apologized quickly, and then, with a speed that amazed Guthrie, the entire operation was just… moved. The PVC and paracord contraption was picked up in sections and reassembled fifty feet to the south, the truck with the winch wasmoved to accommodate the new location, and he was one of the group of people who hoisted the rescue basket and hot-stepped it to where the S and R guys were reassembling the pulley system.

“Wow,” he said, a little dazed as, less than half an hour after the first try, they sent the basket down again. Somebody had a searchlight in the trees driven by remote that they used to track the progress of Larx and Aaron, Guthrie was told, as they ventured across the inhospitable incline to drag the supplies back to their small base camp on the other end of the tree.

“Did he still have his half shirt on?” Guthrie asked.

“No,” Elton told him, semihysterical laughter in his voice. “Apparently, by the time they got to the basket, there wasnoshirt. No shirt at all.”

A surprised smile tilted at Guthrie’s lips as the camp—reassured that the supplies had been retrieved and the rescuees were making the best of a very uncomfortable night—began to power down. They left the lights on for another hour as everybody found a vehicle and some blankets or sleeping bags. Guthrie was particularly touched by Christiana and Maureen, reclining in the seats of what Guthrie took to be a Chevy Impala that wasjustfor the teenagers to drive. The girls were turned toward each other, each with a fleece blanket pulled to her chin, clutching each other’s hands as the generator-driven lights were shut off, a few at a time.

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