Page 13 of The Northern Lights in His Eyes

Garvin noticed the shiver and said, “If you’re cold, you can stay here.”

William got on the snowmobile. “Not cold. Just excited and ready to go.” He patted the seat, and Garvin shook his head. This was the last reaction he had expected. William was really surprising him.

“Fine. But stay with me, and under no circumstances are you to go off on your own.” Maybe he was stupid for bringing William along, but he took solace in the fact that the most likely areas would be taken by the forest service and the local volunteers would be searching the outlying areas just in case. It wasn’t likely they would actually find anything, and this was largely going to be a long snowmobile ride.

“Got it. Do you know the way?” William asked, and Garvin nodded. “Then let’s go.” William pulled everything down tight, and Garvin started the snowmobile forward.

The sky was clear and the air cold and dry. He was grateful his goggles were tinted; otherwise he’d be completely blind in the glare off the snow. To save time, Garvin pushed the snowmobile as fast as he dared, reaching the meeting point in about twenty minutes. “Tell everyone that Ghost and Mr. Chicken have reached the meeting point and are heading out.”

“Who?” William asked.

“That’s us.”

William pulled out the radio and sent the message. “And I’m the ghost. You can be Mr. Chicken.” He put the radio away once they had been acknowledged. “There’s someone else coming.” He pointed, and Garvin looked, but it took a few seconds before he heard the engine. Damn, William must have bat hearing or something. “That’s Enrique. He’s going to be our other half.”

William waved, and they got one in return. Enrique signaled, and Garvin took off to their assigned area. “I’m glad the engine is under us. It’s keeping my butt warm.”

Garvin smiled as they continued farther into the wilderness.

There was a road, but it was closed and under feet of snow, so for now, this area had reverted almost completely to nature. Enrique pointed and veered off. Garvin followed, going as fast as he dared. William held on tight, not saying anything. After a few minutes, they reached what had to be the leading edge of the avalanche.

“Jesus,” William said, pointing to where the snow had come down, cutting a huge swath through the landscape. “Can anyone survive that?”

“We have to try to find out.” Garvin continued forward and heard William call in that they had reached their area. He nodded and smiled to himself. William seemed to have picked up on what they needed to do.

“Do you see anything?” Enrique asked. Garvin shook his head.

“Turn off the engines,” William said loudly. Garvin switched off his machine, and Enrique did the same. Instantly, the area turned quiet, with only the breeze and the snap of branches that gave up under the weight of the snow. William went stock-still, turning his head. “Okay, let’s go.”

“What are you doing?” Enrique asked.

William leaned closer. “In all this mess, it isn’t likely we’re going to see anything unless it’s a bright coat color. There’s too much jumble in the landscape. But we might hear something.”

Enrique nodded and then pointed, and they were off again.

They made a large circle of their search area, stopping every few minutes to listen before continuing on. “There,” William said, pointing as they neared the end of their loop.

“I don’t hear anything,” Enrique said.

“Over there,” William insisted. Garvin started the engine and slowly headed in that direction. “Stop.”

Garvin turned off the engine, and William pointed once again. “I’m hearing something on the wind from over there.” He pointed once more and then stilled. This time Garvin heard it as well. He wasn’t sure if it was a voice, but Enrique nodded, started the engine, and continued forward.

“There.” Enrique pointed, and sure enough, something yellow marred the snow. “Stay here.” Enrique grabbed snowshoes from the back of his snowmobile, and William radioed in that they might have found something.

Garvin carefully moved forward, and Enrique waved his arms before hurrying back. “It’s all three of them, and they are definitely injured.”

William immediately called it in and then handed the radio over. Garvin detailed the GPS coordinates. “We’re going to need a chopper. We have all three, but they are injured and probably suffering from exposure.” Garvin had no idea how they got all this way, but avalanches had been known to carry people and debris for miles.

“We’re converging on your coordinates. We have a helicopter on the way.”

“Excellent, we are rendering what aid we can.” Garvin handed William the radio and carefully made his way around him to the insulated box. He handed William a bottle of water. “Drink all of it.” Garvin saved one for himself and then wrapped the others in the blankets and handed the bundle to Enrique, who moved his snowmobile closer to the men. Garvin followed.

“Okay. Stay here and man the radio. I’m going to help Enrique.” He stepped off the snowmobile and sank nearly to his waist. He had expected it, and he propelled himself forward toward a depression the caretaking crew had managed to dig out for themselves to be able to sit, pushing the packed and jumbled snow behind him in a swimming motion.

Garvin handed out blankets for additional warmth and got them all wrapped up. “He’s the worst,” the smallest of the three men said, pointing to a taller man. “I think my leg is broken, Claude dislocated his arm, and Mark probably has cracked or broken ribs. We managed to stay together as the snow rolled us like laundry.”

“Okay. We have help on the way.” Garvin gave them all some water and helped them all share warmth until more snowmobiles sounded in the distance, followed by a second one with more blankets and supplies as well as an EMT, who took charge. Garvin stood, peering out of the depression, taking in the surrounding devastation. Trees, boulders, and chunks of wood from buildings stuck out at random intervals from the sometimes-dirt-strewn snow. It was a miracle they all survived.

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