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“We have you! Finally. Is everyone okay?”
Wilson gave them the short version of what occurred, then asked that a few of the men come toward them with blankets for the boys.
“We can do one better,”said Code.“Evie dropped a crate this morning with five ATVs. The boys are headed your way. Stay put.”
“Shit, I love you guys right now,” said Wilson, stopping. He looked back at the others. “We can stop here and make a fire for the boys. They’re coming to us with ATVs.”
Less than an hour later, Angel, Gabe, Luc, and Baptiste showed up with the large ATVs. Each one could seat six large men, so they easily loaded the boys.
“Hey, mister. Is that your twin?” asked a boy, pointing to Gabe. “Or is that one? Or – hey, what’s going on here?”
Luc just laughed, shaking his head.
“We’re brothers,” said Luc. “You might not have noticed our other brothers last night. There are nine of us.”
“You got eight brothers!”
“Yep. And six sisters,” smirked Luc.
“They’re the worst! I have two sisters, and they drive me crazy. They take forever in the bathroom,” he said in an exaggerated way. All of the men just laughed, nodding at the boy.
“Well, it only gets worse with a girlfriend or wife,” said Baptiste.
“That’s why I’m getting a dog.”
“You’re in luck, kid,” laughed Angel. “We have three of the biggest dogs you’ve ever seen back at camp.”
It didn’t surprise any of them that the boys fell asleep on the ride back. The ATVs were heated and covered, offering them protection from the changing temperatures. The minute the vehicles stopped, the boys spotted the dogs and were off and running.
“Boys and dogs,” smirked Wilson. “It works every time. Let’s get them fed, and then we can have the rangers get them to the hospital.”
While Mama Irene, Ruby, and the others fed the boys, the park rangers called for buses to take the boys to the hospital, where they would meet their parents. No one was injured beyond a few scratches and some mild hypothermia.
It was the best possible outcome.
“Should we head back to the others?” asked Nash.
“No,” said Tailor. “They’ll let us know if they need us, but too many of us out there could be problematic. We’ll stay here and keep an eye on camp.”
“And the girls?” smirked Nash.
“Don’t say that too loud, or we’re all in trouble.”
“Sir?” called Peter to Tailor. He just shook his head, not willing to tell the man not to call him sir.
“Tailor is my name,” he smiled.
“Yes, sir. Saul and I will stay here with all of you. The two other rangers and the agents who were out with your team will take the kids to the hospital.”
“Why don’t they want to stay here?” asked Tailor.
“Honestly, I think the agents got a bit of hypothermia and serious blisters on their feet. None of them brought the right clothes. The rangers have to file the reports since it happened within the national park.” Tailor only rolled his eyes, nodding at the young man.
“You and Saul are welcome to stay with our team.”
With the children loaded up once again, the men took all of them to the buses, along with the five agents who were leaving. Wilson lifted the last boy onto the bus and waved at him.
“Hey, mister? Thank you for trying to save that man. He was a nice man.”
