Page 38 of Wilderness Search
“The tree has been down a little while,” Deni said. “It takes a long time for pine to turn brown.”
“Send that oxygen tank down, will you?” Danny radioed.
They returned their attention to caring for their patient, who turned out to have a probable fracture of the fibula and some cracked ribs. They stabilized his injuries, then secured him in the litter and carefully raised him from the pit using a combination of ropes and man power.
At ground level once more, they attached a large wheel to the center of the litter and stationed people at the four corners to steady its occupant and help the contraption over rough places in the ground.
While they were packing up the last of their gear, Ryan took several photographs of the pit and the surrounding area. “We should tell the sheriff about all of this,” he said. “Someone will need to make sure there aren’t more of these out here, waiting to trap some person or animal.”
“This looks recent,” Tony said. “Do you think someone did this to deliberately trap one of the people searching for Olivia?”
“Who would do that?” Deni asked.
“If someone kidnapped Olivia and is holding her around here somewhere, they might be trying to keep other people away,” Ryan said.
“Or they could be someone who likes hurting other people for no good reason,” Willa said.
Deni put a hand on Ryan’s back. “It doesn’t matter to us who did this, or why. We need to get Mr. Wagner to the hospital.”
They took turns handling the litter. When Willa wasn’t involved with that, she sought out Melissa and fell into step alongside her. “Did you see any sign of Olivia before your husband fell?” Willa asked.
“No. We were talking about turning back and going home when Luke fell.”
“Why did you decide to search in this area?”
“We want to help, but when we showed up at the camp, they told us only trained search and rescue volunteers were needed there. So we decided to come here. It was close enough we could imagine the little girl might have wandered over.” She sighed. “I guess there’s a reason they only wanted trained searchers. We didn’t realize how rough the country would be. I don’t see how a little girl could be okay out here.”
“It’s hard to want to help and not be able to do anything,” Willa said.
“Only now we’ve made more trouble for everyone.”
“It’s what we’re here for,” Willa said. They never wanted to discourage people from calling for help when they needed it. It was why they didn’t charge for rescue missions.
An ambulance was waiting in the parking lot of Mountain Kingdom Kids Camp and they loaded Luke Wagner into it, and Ryan and Deni drove Melissa to her car so that she could meet her husband at the hospital in Junction. Willa, adrenaline ebbing and exhaustion taking over, trudged to her own vehicle at the far edge of the parking lot.
She stiffened when she recognized the tall figure waiting for her. “What do you want?” she asked Aaron, the words coming out more brusquely than she had intended.
“I’m hoping you’ll do something to help with our search for Olivia,” he said.
She clicked the key fob to unlock her car, but didn’t open the door. “What can I do?”
“You could teach a first aid class to the girls in Olivia’s cabin. Talk to the kids and see if any of them know something about Olivia and her disappearance that they haven’t told authorities.”
“Why me?” she asked.
“You’re a nurse, so you’re qualified,” he said. “We think the girls would like you and confide in you.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“Me and Jake.” He hurried on before she could ask why they had been discussing her in the first place. “The girl you saw in the clinic seemed willing to talk to you about Olivia.”
“It seems a sneaky way to get information.”
“We’ve already questioned every camper at least twice,” he said. “They’re suspicious of cops. They’ll be more relaxed with you.”
She could see the logic in that. Sort of. “What am I supposed to find out?”
“Why she ran away from camp,” he said. “Was someone there bullying her? Was she afraid of anyone? Is she trying to get someone else in trouble? Having those answers might help us figure out how to find her.”
