Page 54 of Annika's Aurora

“I love books. Can I tell you about my favorite one?”

“O … Okay.”

“It’s about a girl named Anne. She had red hair just like you. Do you like your red hair?”

“It’s okay,” Megan answered.

“I think it’s beautiful. Anne didn’t like her red hair too much. Her best friend, Diana, had black hair, and Anne wanted to have hair just like hers. One time, she bought some hair dye, but it wasn’t a good kind of dye. It turned her hair green.”

Megan laughed. “Mommy dyes her hair, but it never turned green.”

“She’s very lucky then. Anne had to cut her hair short in order to get all the green out. It was very tragic for her. She loved her long hair. It was probably about as long as yours. Are you sure your name isn’t Anne?” Annika teased. “Whenever I read Anne’s story, I always picture someone who looks exactly like you.”

“Really? What else did Anne do in the story.” Logan would never cease to be amazed by how she could capture a child’s interest so easily just by talking about books. And it was even more remarkable to alleviate their fears at the same time.

“Well, she was only a little older than you when she was adopted by a brother and sister. They were much older. And neither had married or had kids of their own. They owned a farm, and they needed help. They wanted to adopt a boy to help with the chores on the farm, but there had been a mix-up, and they got Anne instead. It had been the best mistake for all of them.”

“They became a family?”

“That’s right. And they loved each other very much.”

The team rejoined Logan, followed by the first responders who had finally arrived with the jaws of life. It was time to get the little family out of the vehicle. “Annika, we are ready to cut into the car. Can you see if you can get the baby out?”

“Okay. You hear that, Sweetie. My friends are going to get you out of here now. Let’s take care of your sister first.” After a few minutes, Annika’s arms popped out the window holding the baby. Logan took her from Annika’s arms and handed her to Graham, who climbed up the incline to the paramedics up top.

“Okay, Sunfire.” Logan handed a blanket to Annika. “Spread that over the broken glass if you can. We don’t want Megan to get any cuts on the glass.” Once that was done with Logan helping as much as he could from outside the vehicle, he said, “Okay, Megan’s turn.”

“I can’t get the seat belt off.” Some of the saplings that were helping to hold up the car were starting to give way with loud cracking. Logan heard a tiny squeal of panic from the little girl and Annika’s calm reassurance as the car trembled.

“Here. Take my knife.” He handed her the same knife she’d given him all those years ago.

“Okay, Megan. Time to rejoin the world of the right side up people.” After a moment, Logan heard the clatter of the knife falling as Annika caught Megan. “I’ve got you, Sweetie. Do you think you can crawl through the window? My friend Logan is out there, ready to take you up the hill. Okay?”

“Okay,” squeaked the little girl as the car slipped again. Time was of the essence, and they needed to get the parents out now. And Logan really needed Annika safely out of that car.

A little red head popped out of the window. “Hi, Megan. I’m Logan. You doing okay?”

“Yes.” She let him help her out of the window.

“My friend Graham here will take you up top while I help your parents.”

“What about her?” Megan pointed to Annika still inside. His trepidation growing, he wondered why she hadn’t climbed out right after the girl.

“I’ll get her out too. Don’t worry. Everyone will get out.”

“Hop on.” Graham indicated that she should get on his back, piggyback style. “And hold on tight.” He climbed up the hill with the girl riding on his back, and the team started with the cutter on the driver’s side.

Needing Annika out now, he crouched down to peer inside the car. She had his knife back in her hand and was hunched over the middle console between the two front seats, attempting to cut through the parents’ seat belts. The car shuddered again. She froze for a moment and Logan could see the flash of fear in her eyes, but then continued to cut. His heart jumped into his throat; he needed her to get out of there. Now!

“Okay, Annika. That’s enough. Time to get out of there!” He had to shout to be heard over the hydraulic sound of the jaws.

“No, I can get the mom too. Just another minute.” Logan wasn’t surprised she wouldn’t come easily, but that didn’t help ease the worried knot that she could get hurt. He heard her shifting to the other side of the car, which shook again as more branches cracked. Any movement was causing the vehicle to wobble.

The team had cut into the car enough that they were now working on getting the dad out. They had used another tool, a ram, to try to push the dashboard up enough to get the man’s legs out. Graham handed a collar to Logan asking him to pass it to Annika to put on the mom. Logan called out and threw the collar to her. The quicker they could stabilize the parents in the car, the better. Logan understood that, but he wished it weren’t Annika who was inside with them. Once the father was out, the car shifted again, and Annika cried out.

“Annika?” He lay flat on the ground to see inside the car, suddenly even more fearful for her.

“I’m fine.” But the wobble in her voice worried Logan.

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