Page 3 of Mountain Challenge

“Popeye’s fine,” Trista said, her voice calm and clear. “I’ve examined him, and he’s not dehydrated. His body temperature is normal. He’s healthy. Just tired. And stubborn.” Her lips closed together, as if trying to stop a smile from coming through.

“But how do we get him down?” The man looked at Trista as if she held all the answers.

“Do you have any of his favorite snacks with you?”

The man and the woman nodded quickly. “Beef jerky and oatmeal liver bites. We’ve tried. He’s not interested.”

“Give them to me,” Trista said decisively. “Let’s try one more time, just in case.”

As she dug into her bag for the snacks, the woman stopped for a moment to appreciate the sparkly diamond shining on her hand.

Once more, Ry had to stifle a smile.At least she said yes.

“How heavy do you think he is?” Hugo muttered. “I know we’re going to end up carrying him out of here.”

His friend was a pessimist, not aglass-half-fullbut more of athere’s-no-glasskind of person.

“Give Trista a chance. She might be able to convince him to get up and walk.” If anybody could, that would be Trista. She was amazing with animals, and most specifically with dogs.

Ten minutes later, however, even Trista had to concede defeat. Beau pulled her aside so the four of them could talk in private. “It’s getting late, and they’re not prepared to spend the night out here. We need to get them off the mountain now.”

Trista sighed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help.” Fondness entered her voice. “Popeye’s certainly stubborn.”

Beau shook his head. “I’m sorry we had to drag you all the way up here. You helped us a lot by confirming the dog is healthy.” His boss seemed reluctant to say the word Popeye out loud. “Come on, let’s set everything up. We’re carrying him out of here.”

Hugo rubbed his chin and groaned, giving Ry his trademarkI told you solook.

Ry shrugged. He’d also known this was a likely outcome, but that didn’t mean he would choose to live his life worrying about all the bad outcomes.

A few minutes later, Trista and the owner had managed to slip the stretcher under the dog’s body.

Hugo stood at the front, while Ry took the back, and together they lifted the large animal.

This is going to hurt.

Hiking down was always harder on the knees than hiking up. Doing so while balancing thirty five kilos of dog on a stretcher would be even harder.

At least, Popeye made things easy for them. He didn’t issue a single complaint. If anything, he seemed downright pleased to sit there, staring at the world going by. At one point, he turned his head to look back at Ry.See? This is a much better way to travel, his expression seemed to say.

Ahead of them, Beau barked out into the phone. “CommandantFontaine.” He listened for a moment. “We’re not even off the mountain yet. How the hell did you find out about it already, Yvette?” Despite his gruff tone, a note of fondness entered his voice. Yvette Legrand, the mayor’s chief of staff, was dating Alex, another of their team members.

Ry almost laughed out loud. Yvette always knew everything almost as soon as it happened. She had her ways.

“No, you’re not going to call the press, Yvette. This is a rescue operation.” Beau rubbed his temples with his free hand, as if fighting a headache. “Yes, the dog is fine. Everybody is fine. No, I don’t care how good the publicity is. Tell the mayor he’s not going to turn this into even more of a circus than it already is.”

The call ended less than a minute later, without Beau having been able to get another word in. Ry was pretty sure who’d won the argument. If Yvette wanted the press there, the press would be there. And the storywascompelling, he had to admit. A young couple, a mountain proposal, and Chamonix’s own rescue team coming in to save the day before anything bad could happen.

Except for the blisters on our hands.

Halfway down, they stopped to rest for a few minutes. Beau walked over to them, ready to take his turn. That was one thing Ry liked about his team leader. He was always ready to shoulder his share of the load, or even more than his share, when that was what was required. He was a man who was easy to respect, and for Ry, that made him easy to work with.

“I’m good. Take Hugo’s place,” Ry said. The front was harder, so it made sense for Hugo to get a break first.

After the switch, they got going again. Hugo took the lead, followed by the couple, who by now looked exhausted, but at least weren’t complaining.Probably too embarrassed.

“You know who would have been able to help us?” Ry said conversationally to Trista, who closed the party.

“Bailey,” she said, laughing. Bailey was Hiro’s search and rescue dog, and the most popular member of the entire PGHM. Now that Trista and Hiro had moved in together, Bailey was happier than they’d ever seen her, living with her two favorite people in the world. “You’re right. I’ll bet Bailey could have convinced Popeye to move.” Unfortunately, Hiro and Bailey were away on a training course. Search and rescue dogs never stopped training.

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