Page 26 of Fierce Family

I shriek when a call through Tommy’s radio breaks the silence of the night. What I can gather from the message is that the helicopter is moving in. I strain my ears and I think I can hear the distant rotor noise of it approaching but it could just be my imagination.

Tommy acknowledges the radio call before we carry on walking. My mouth is dry and it’s difficult to swallow. I’m not sure if this’s because of the cold night air, the exhaustion of the steep hike, or the anxiety… Or maybe all three.

“Here.” A rescuer holds out a bottle. I think his name is Ryan. I stop and take a sip of water and another before draining almost half the bottle.

“Sorry,” I try to hand it back to him.

“Keep it, I have another one,” he winks before heading off to follow his friends leaving me and Josh behind. This is the first time we’ve had a minute on our own since the start of the search.

“Josh, what if—”

“There is no point in speculating, Sheila, we won’t know what’s happened until we get to them. And whatever it is, I’m here to help.” He pulls me into his arms and I almost wish I could stay there and hide from whatever awaits us in the woods.

“Josh,” a voice calls out. We can see the beams of the headlights and torches ahead of us. The urgency in the voice makes me want to run again.Have they found him? Have they found my boy?

As we approach the group, I can clearly hear the noise of the helicopter now.

“HELO found them in a clearing less than five minutes from us,” Tommy explains.

“Are they okay?” My voice is shaky and I’m not sure I want to hear the answer.

“We don’t know,” is all that Tommy says. We immediately head off towards the location where the helicopter spotted them. After a few minutes, we leave the path andhead through the woods. It is difficult not to stumble in the dark but Josh has a firm grip on my hand and pulls me upright whenever my foot gets caught in a root or shrubbery.

The helicopter’s beam provides a bit more light as we step into an opening in the trees the size of a football pitch. There are the smouldering remains of a bonfire in the centre and I can make out two hunched figures near it. Nobody seems to be moving and it feels like a scene from an apocalypse film.

As the helicopter sweeps back over the clearing I notice other people lying on the ground, but it is all too quick to make out how many there are. Tommy organises the rescuers and Josh’s colleagues and sends everyone out around the meadow.

“I need to find him,” I mumble and finally move.

“Sheila, wait!” Josh calls but I start running in the direction of the nearest person I see lying on the grass. A mountain rescuer is already there and talking calmly to the kid. In the beam of the rescuer’s headtorch I can make out that it is a boy, but it is not Gregory.

I leave them to it and run towards the bonfire. I need to find my son.

Chapter 12

Josh

Sheila disappears into thedarkness, and my heart clenches with fear for what she might discover, or that she might stumble and injure herself. With Nicholas close on my heels, I sprint after her.

What have these kids taken?I pass Tommy who is calling for a second helicopter on the radio. At his feet, Nick, another rescuer who I occasionally climb with, is giving CPR to a girl with blonde hair.

A scream ahead of me draws my attention back to Sheila. She has no torch, so she was running by the beam of the helicopter. I direct the light in my hand towards her and see her crumpled on the ground. It only takes me a few steps to get to her.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.” She tries to get up but I stop her.

“Sheila, let me check to make sure you’re not hurt.”

“I don’t feel any pain. I’m fine.”

“You’re driven by panic and adrenaline and could easily miss something, please let me check.” I slide my hands over her ankles and legs, but all seems fine. Her trousers areripped at the knees and I can see some blood, but nothing major. I take her hands and also see scrapes on her palms but otherwise she seems to be fine.

“I need to find him, Josh,” she sobs.

“I know, come on,” I help her up.

“Sheila,” Nicholas shouts from somewhere to our left. I direct my torch and see him hunched over a person.

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