Page 26 of The Duke's Brother

He studied the darkening snow. He could see where piles of snow at fallen, could see holes where things had landed, but nothing seemed big enough to indicate a fallen body. With some relief, he shook his head. “I don’t think she’s in there. Let’s keep looking over there where the ledge ends.

“Roger that.” The pilot moved them up and hovered slowly along the ledge and over to the wider space. But no ski tracks were visible. He scanned the area of trees. Nothing. His phone dinged.

He whipped it out. “A message from Jenneca!” It took a moment for the text to load. She’d sent it over an hour ago. Finally it showed up. “Help. Fell off ledge. Deep.”

“Turn around. She’s down there.”

The pilot hovered back to the ravine. “Prince Valdez. I’m not a rescue copter. I don’t know if I can make it down there.”

“But if she’s in the snow, she’s gonna run out of air.” He texted all the information to his assistant. He would forward it to all the search and rescue teams. But Tripp knew if they didn’t act now, Jenneca might not make it.

“I need ropes. I need shovels. And I need the ladder.”

Jorge gripped his shoulder. “Are you going down?”

Tripp nodded. And the relief on Jorge’s face warmed him.

The pilot cleared his throat. “I’ll try. That’s all I can promise.”

Tripp opened the hatch. Instead of a glass bottom they were looking down directly at the snow below, the icy air filling their cabin. He strapped snow shoes onto his back, pulled his back pack on and prepared the rope ladder. He checked and double checked it was fastened securely to the copter, then he waited.

The pilot lowered them painstakingly. It felt like inches at a time. They were mere feet from the cliff walls on two sides. A shift in the wind could send them into the wall at either side. They needed to be quick and yet their pace was slow. With every breath Tripp took, he worried Jenneca had taken her last. He texted her. “We are above you. Hang on.” The closer they got, the more clearly he could see the difference between the different indentations in the ground. There was a hole that was darker than the others, that seemed like it might go deeper. And that is where he was headed. But he had to be careful not to cave all the snow in on her.

At last he felt they were close enough. He rolled down the ladder, nodded at Jorge who reached forward and gripped his arm. And then stepped his first foot on the swaying ladder. He hurried down the rungs, scrambling almost until he reached the very end. Still ten feet above ground, he made sure he was far enough away from the hole and dropped the rest of the way. He had to be careful not to create his own hole, one he could not climb out of and so he flattened out, stretching his body into a large X, and prepared for the coldest belly flop of his life. He hit the snow hard. It wasn’t as soft as he expected, but that was positive since it also didn’t cave in around him. He rolled to his side, quickly clipped on his snow shoes and walked over to the hole where he suspected Jenneca sat trapped.

The helicopter hovered above them.

Tripp lay across the snow and peered down into the hole. He let out his breath in great relief when he saw the top of Jenneca’s head. Her body was wedged in a tight ball, her knees almost to her chest. Part of the problem might be that her boots were still clipped into her skis. It looked almost like she had come down in the tucked position and sunken into the snow, becoming trapped. “Jenneca!”

She didn’t respond. “Jenneca! Listen to me, honey. Answer me. Jenneca!”

No movement, no response was disheartening, but Tripp got to work. He yanked the rope out of his backpack and fastened the lasso type knot he would need. Then he grabbed his shovel and began scooping away at the snow, digging away at the lip of the hole, throwing snow out behind him as fast as he could. All the while, he called to Jenneca.

He dug and dug. His arms were numb from the pain and effort, but he ignored the fatigue. He ignored the panic that tried to well up with Jenneca’s continued silence. He dug down until he was low enough to try to slip the rope down to her and perhaps get it to go down around and under her arm.

He felt like the kid in the video game store moving the claw, hoping to grasp onto something substantial before he brought it back up. Except he had never cared so much to catch hold. “Please Jenneca. Wake up. Grab the rope, honey. Grab it.”

He got it down around her shoulder and pulled up. It caught up under her arm. “Yes!” With that connection, he could start to pull her up, maybe, depending on the skis.

“Jenneca. I’ve got you. I’m gonna try and pull you up. If you can help me, just hold on. I’ve got you.”

It wasn’t the best hold, and he had to be careful not to let the rope slip and go up around her neck. The sound of the helicopter above and the silence below him reminded him how much of a hurry he was in.

He pulled the rope, slowly at first and then with greater intensity. She was nudged to the side, the rope yanking up from her armpit towards the opposite arm. “Jenneca. Jenneca honey.” He jiggled the rope, jostling her, with the hopes that she might wake. The hole was bigger and the air closer to her.

He waved the copter closer. He was going to have to try to tie the rope to the ladder and lift her up that way. It might hurt. It might even put undo strain on her legs, with boots on, skis still attached and stuck under the snow. But with her unconscious, and not responding, he didn’t see any other way. He prayed he wouldn’t break her legs.

The pilot lowered the helicopter slowly. The ladder hit Tripp on the head and he grabbed on, tying the rope. He tried to rouse her one last time. “Jenneca.” He tossed some snow down onto her face.

She jolted awake, frantically trying to look above. And she took a deep breath.

“Jenneca!”

“Tripp?” She couldn’t tilt her head back to look, but she tried. “Tripp?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m here. You have a rope up under your armpit and I’m about to pull you up with a helicopter. But honey, can you slip out of your boots?”

“I don’t know.” She reached down and tried to mess with the latches. But her fingers wouldn’t work the metal. “My fingers are numb.” She paused. “I think my legs are numb too.”

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