Page 16 of Saving Veronica
“Last year. Remember last spring when that plane flew over for a couple of days, then someone showed up at your door and asked if you wanted a picture of your ranch. An aerial view?”
Several people told Hector that they had bought one for their own ranch. “When the guy came and showed the picture to Ronnie, she talked to him and commissioned him to make this.” He pointed to the wall and Finn walked forward and saw the aerial views all put together, so he could actually see individual trails, houses, cars, and animals.
“This is awesome. What is the relation to where we are right now?”
“Here.” Gerald stood beside him, and Hector gave him a yardstick. He shrugged and grinned. “That’s what Ronnie uses.”
“Fair enough.” Gerald took it and began pointing. “We’re here. This is Ronnie’s house. To the west of her is my spread. Around the base of the mountain and to the north, the first ranch you come to is the Johnson spread. Further on is Pattersons’.” As he pointed to all the ranches, Finn nodded.
“There are only the four of you guys in this area?” He waved his hand around the entire map.
“Yes. Now remember, we’re in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, in the state of Montana. Where we’re located, there aren’t a lot of neighbors in this neck of the woods. The ones we have we’ve become good friends with and do everything we can to maintain those friendships.”
“Understood. Now, Hector, the horses came from this way.” Finn pointed to a trail. “Did Ronnie go up that way?”
“Yes. See, each of the four ranches have a trail that leads up to the meadow.” Hector took the yardstick and pointed up the trails. “South east, south west, north west, and north east.”
“What are these?”
“Ravines,” Gerald said. “About three miles up each trail, a ravine starts. All four of them are our source for running water on our spreads. See these trails?” He pointed to several trails that went left and right around the base of the mountain. “These run all around the mountain. Other than the actual meadow, or the paths, that’s the only way to get around the mountain. That is here, not going by the road, but only three quarters of it. See?” He pointed to the one from Ronnie’s trail to his. “By taking this trail, you can go from here to here. Same for here.” He continued connecting his trail to the Johnsons’, and the Johnsons’ to the Pattersons’. “However, Pattersons’ and Ronnie’s don’t connect.”
Finn leaned forward to use his finger to follow the trail from Pattersons’, then from Ronnie’s. “Why not?”
“This is a forest. Yes, there are trees all around, but this stand of trees is like the base to another mountain that goes up from here. Like a stair step. That’s how the mustangs get from this meadow to the next one,” Gerald said, and went over to indicate the area on a huge state map.
“Okay, now tell me about these ravines. How deep are they? Do they always have water in them? Is it standing or running? How wide?”
“At the beginning, or base, they’re only a few feet apart, but the farther you climb, the wider they are. It’s almost five miles up from each ranch to the meadow.”
Finn frowned, then squatted down and began rummaging through the knapsack he’d brought in from his truck. He stood and held something on the map then ran it up. “Five point four seven.” He then went up the ravine and at one point, the point that looked the widest he did the same. “Ravines are a little under five miles long, but at the widest point, they’re fifty to sixty feet across. This gadget can’t tell me how deep.”
“Plan about a hundred to a hundred and fifty feet.” The Sheriff sighed. “Few years back we had that hiker we pulled out. Search and rescue were called in and he was at the bottom.” From the tone in the room, Finn didn’t have to ask if he survived. The mood said he hadn’t.
Finn studied the map for several minutes then went to Ronnie’s desk, rummaged through the top drawer, and found a pad of tiny post-it notes. He went back to the map and wrote on the notes and began attaching them to the map. Everyone watched in confusion. Fifteen minutes later Finn looked up and saw everyone staring at him.
“Sorry, this is what I did in the desert. Pictures like this would have worked great, but unfortunately if there was a plane up there taking them, it would have been shot down. We had to rely on satellite images.” He stepped back and sighed. “Okay, I have a plan.”
“What is it, son?” Gerald came up beside him and studied the map.
“First, we’ll want to be on horseback. I think if each trail has five riders.” He pointed to each trail. “When we get to this point.” He indicated where the trails went around to connect to the next trail. “Two riders break off and head in each direction. When they meet up, turn back to your original trail, and head up.”
“Why?” Maggie asked. “What’s the purpose of that?”
“We don’t know if Sarge tried down a trail and lost Ronnie or not, we’ll be looking for evidence of their hoofs.”
“I understand,” Gerald said. “I’m assuming you, me, Johnson and Patterson will continue up our own trails and the ones that break off will meet up with us?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m thinking. However, the two from here and from Pattersons’ will have to be good trackers. They’ll have to go around and come up through the forest. I’ll go up here with Major and we’ll track for her. Do you guys have flare guns?”
“Yes, why?”
“If we find her alive, we’ll shoot one flare. A second one for medivac.”
“I don’t understand.” Maggie said, as she looked over and saw all the men tense at Finn’s words.
When no one said anything, Finn sighed. “Maggie, we don’t know if Ronnie is lying on a trail, in the meadow, or at the bottom of a ravine. I don’t mean to scare you, but it’s a possibility. The first flare is if she’s found and is alive. The second one is that she’s hurt and needs immediate medical attention. I helped a medic in the Marines and I can do a lot, but if she’s five or more miles up, she’s going to need a medivac to get her out.”
He looked over at Gerald and he took Maggie’s shoulders. “Either way, we’ll make a phone call back to Amos.”
