Page 6 of Mountain Captive

“I might buy one. I’ve always enjoyed landscapes, and yours are beautiful—but they’re also complex.” He glanced at her arm and the artwork there. She wore a sleeveless blouse, revealing a tapestry of colorful flowers and birds from shoulder to wrist on the arm closest to him. Columbines, bluebells, foxglove, a bluebird, and a gold finch. The scene reminded him of one of her paintings. And yes, there, just above her elbow, half-hidden between a dragonfly and a sunflower, a woman peered out with large dark eyes, hiding and watchful. “Mysterious.”

“Hmmm. Not that I don’t like it when people say nice things about my work, but it’s not going to convince me to go out with you.”

“Can’t blame a man for trying.” He smiled.

She looked away.

“Let’s get started, everybody.” Danny spoke from the front of the room, and the chatter died down. “I’ll start by introducing our newest team member. Some of you already know Dr. Rand Martin, who assisted with our rescue of the injured hiker on Saturday. In addition to serving as our medical adviser, Rand has decided to join as a full-fledged volunteer.”

Scattered applause from the gathered volunteers. Rand nodded. Danny continued, “Just so you know, Rand’s a rookie, but he has a lot of experience. He served with a mobile surgical unit in Afghanistan and is the new director of emergency services at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Junction.”

More applause, and a few shouts of “Welcome!”

“You can introduce yourselves at the break,” Danny said. “Now, let’s get down to business.” He consulted the clipboard in his hand and read off a list of upcoming training opportunities, certification deadlines and local news. “The sheriff asked me to remind everyone that the annual Backcountry Base Camp rally is August 1 through 4. There’s also a scout group from Denver planning a wilderness-skills camp up on Dakota Ridge starting August 5. Both of those groups could mean more calls for us.”

“A bunch of kids playing with fire and knives?” a big man near the back of the room said. “What could go wrong?”

Danny smiled and waited for the chuckles to die down. “I’m going to turn it over to Tony now for our training unit on wilderness searches. For some of you this will be a review, but pay attention, because we have some new protocols based on the latest research. And for you newbies, know that you could be called to put this into practice any day now. We have a lot of wilderness we’re responsible for, and it’s easy for people to get lost out there.”

Rand pulled out a notebook and pen and settled in as a tall, thin man, his blond hair and goatee threaded with silver, moved to the front of the room. Chris passed Rand a sheaf of handouts. “Pretty much everything is on these,” she said.

“Thanks.”

He pretended to study the first sheet of the handout, but he was really focused on her. She was more relaxed than she had been Saturday, but she still had the hyperawareness he recognized from his time in Afghanistan. In a war zone, chaos could break out at any second, even in the middle of dinner or when you were trying to sleep after a hard battle. Soldiers lived on high alert, and being in constant fight-or-flight mode took its toll physically and psychologically.

But Chris wasn’t in a war zone. So why so tense?

The room darkened and Tony began his presentation. Rand forced himself to concentrate on the lesson. Apparently, people who became lost tended to behave in established patterns depending on their age, gender and history. “Knowing these patterns doesn’t guarantee we’ll locate them,” Tony said. “But it helps us establish a search plan and can increase the odds of finding them.”

Rand underlined phrases on the handout and wrote notes in the margin. And here he had thought his training would consist of learning to tie knots and reviewing how to administer first aid. He was so absorbed in the material he had to shake himself out of a kind of trance when the lights went up again. He checked his watch and was surprised to find over an hour had passed.

“We’ll break for ten minutes, then finish up this unit,” Tony said.

Chairs slid back and the hum of conversation rose. Rand turned to address Chris, but she was already out of her chair and moving across the room. Danny waylaid her, and the two fell into earnest conversation. Curious, Rand worked his way toward them but was stopped by other volunteers who wanted to introduce themselves. He made small talk, all the while working his way over to Chris and Danny, who stood in the hallway outside the restrooms.

Rand positioned himself in front of a bulletin board around the corner from them and listened. “I’m sorry,” Chris said. “I know I shouldn’t have disappeared like that, but it was an emergency. I got a call from my mom. She’s okay now, but I thought at first I was going to have to rush to her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Danny said. “I’ve been in that position myself. But next time, let someone know. Send a text or something.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Are you sure that’s all that’s going on?” Danny asked.

“Of course.” Rand thought he recognized a forced cheerfulness in her voice. He moved over to get a better look, and Chris collided with him as she came around the corner.

“Sorry,” he said, steadying her with one hand but immediately releasing her. She was skittish as a wild colt, and he didn’t want to upset her.

She stared up at him, eyes wide, then moved away. Rand watched her cross the room, half believing she would leave altogether. Instead, she stopped by a table of refreshments and began filling a plate.

She didn’t return to her seat until Tony had resumed the lesson. She slid onto the sofa beside him just as the lights went down, as if she had timed her arrival to avoid further conversation.

When the evening ended, Rand started after her but was halted by a trio of men, including the big guy who had made the remark about the scouts. They introduced themselves as Eldon Ramsey, Ryan Welch and Caleb Garrison. “Have you done any climbing?” the big guy, Eldon, asked.

“Only a little,” Rand asked.

“It’s a skill that comes in handy on a lot of the rescues we’re called out on,” Ryan said. “You’ll have training opportunities, but any time you want to get in some practice on your own, give us a shout.”

“We’re climbing in Caspar Canyon most weekends during the season,” Caleb said. “Come on out and join us anytime.”

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