Light Snow Falling, Dave Robinson [different ereaders .txt] 📗

doesn’t sound like much fun, but if our survival depended on it, I think I could to it.”
“We’ll talk more about it in the morning,” Cappy said, “You can sleep on it.”


Chapter Twelve

“More Bad News”

Sometime during the night the fire went out. Alex and Cappy awoke to a very cold cabin. Alex started to get out of bed, then burrowed back inside her sleeping bag where she was snug and warm.
After five minutes she braved the cold, crawled out of bed and laid kindling in the stove. Except for a few warm coals, all the wood in the stove was consumed and she pushed the ashes aside, laid a fire starter pellet in the stove, kindling on top and struck a match. It took about an hour, but the cabin finally warmed up above freezing. Alex had bundled up and busied herself around getting water on the stove and making hot tea for herself and some coffee for Cappy.
“According to the weather forecast, we’re going to start with clear weather tomorrow,” Cappy was thinking aloud. “So it’s to our advantage to get that ELT working if at all possible.”
“So how does that work again?” Alex asked.
“Well, it sends a signal to a satellite which then pinpoints our location and notifies a ground station called a Rescue Coordination Center. The way it usually works is that the Rescue Coordination Center, or RCC, notifies the Coast Guard, the Air Force, or the Civil Air Patrol.” Cappy went on, “But it operates a little differently here in Alaska.”
“How is it different in Alaska?” Alex wanted to know.
“In Alaska, the RCC notifies the Air Force in Anchorage. The Air Force operates the Alaskan Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage, or AKRCC for short. Alaskan Search and Rescue is carried out by the Air National Guard or local authorities.”
“Sounds pretty complicated,” Alex admitted. “I just hope somebody finds us, that’s all.”
Breakfast was a can of sliced, fried Spam. After breakfast, the pair huddled around the ELT. The light inside the cabin wasn’t the best even during daylight hours. The overcast skies coupled with the small windows in the cabin made for dim lighting.
Cappy tried to use the flashlight sparingly to conserve the batteries.
“This wire has to connect with that wire right there,” he pointed with a small screwdriver.
“Can’t we Super Glue that, just like we did the other end?” Alex asked.
“That might work, but I’d like to try to twist them together before we daub it with glue.” Cappy said. “My eyesight seems to be pretty well back to normal this morning, but even that is pretty small for my eyes, besides my fingers are too big to get in that tight spot.”
“I can try,” Alex volunteered. “Let me work with it.”
Cappy stood, grabbed his crutch and clump-clumped to the front door. Even his ankle had stopped throbbing. It was still plenty sore, and he wasn’t about to put any weight on it, but he could tell that it was on the mend.
He stood there for several minutes. He could see the lake and the surrounding mountains. Not only did he see the wild natural beauty and all that it contained, but he also knew it was the beauty that could kill them if they didn’t handle their situation with wisdom. The events of the next day or two would dictate their strategy for survival. If they could get the ELT working, it was a good bet that the rescuers would come to them. If not, then they needed to make attempts to get to the rescuers.
Cappy continued his musings, “All the experts agree on one thing. When there’s an emergency, you should stay in one place. Here they were in this little cabin. Left vacant by a miner or trapper or maybe even built by the Forest Service. It was snug and warm and they did have some food, at least for the next week or so. Then they could survive on fish or maybe ptarmigan or some other wildlife, but it would be a long winter. They needed to bring this experience to a conclusion.”
“That Ranger Station was 12 miles away. Depending on the trail, if there was one, and if the weather stayed sunny and clear, she could make it in one long day. She didn’t have any cold weather gear, but she was plucky and the odds were, she wouldn’t have any problems. But then there was the chance that there was no one there. Then she’d spend the night there and come all the way back to the cabin.” Cappy didn’t really like that option…
“I think I’ve got it,” Alex interrupted his thoughts. “I managed to twist those wires together and pinched ‘em with the tweezers. Then I put a drop of glue to hold things in place.” She was rubbing her eyes as if to relieve the eyestrain.
“Outstanding,” Cappy said. “Let’s see if it’s going to work.”
The pair went back inside and huddled together over the table. Alex picked up the battery and slid it in place inside the ELT. She snapped it in place. Nothing. Then the little red light blinked once and a puff of smoke came out of the case. Then more smoke. The smell was identical to the hot plastic smell when the radios burned out in the airplane. The electronics inside the box were destroying themselves!
Alex looked at Cappy. “That’s not good, is it?” It wasn’t really a question. Cappy just shook his head.
“No,” Cappy said flatly, “It’s not good. It must have gotten toasted when the electronics went bad in the plane,” he explained.
“Where does that leave us?” Alex asked.
“The weather’s going to clear up sometime tonight or in the morning,” Cappy was thinking out loud. “They know that and they’ll be ready to fly in the morning. If they come this way and if we get our signal fire lit in time, then there’s a chance they’ll spot it. That’s a lot of ifs.”
“So do we wait out tomorrow to see if they find us?” Alex asked, “Or do I take off for that Ranger Station first thing in the morning?”


Chapter Fourteen

“Lemon Valley Ranger Station”

Forest Ranger Melody Robbins busied herself with last minute details. She and her crew had been at the Ranger Station since last spring. Twice a week the Forest Service helicopter had flown food, mail and supplies from the District Office in Cordova. Now that winter had set in, there was almost no fire danger, no hikers and no fishermen.
The Forest Service crews had spent the summer building trails, maintaining the old trails and had even built two more cabins like the one they had built last year at Lemon Lake.
Melody knew that the weather was going to break in the morning and that would be a good time to get the helicopter in to take her and the other two employees back to Cordova for the winter.
The water lines had been drained, several armloads of firewood had been carried inside and stacked by the big wood stove in the Ranger Station, just in case somebody wandered along and needed to be warmed. There was plenty of food in the pantry, although most of it would be frozen before long.
She sat at the radio desk and keyed the microphone, “Lemon Valley to base,” she spoke into the mic.
After a few seconds the radio came alive, “Go ahead Lemon Valley.”
“Lemon Valley to base, we’re going to be buttoning things up here and will be ready to leave tomorrow morning, can you dispatch the chopper to pick us up?”
“Ah, standby a minute, Lemon Valley, we’ll check on the schedule.” Two minutes later, “Base to Lemon Valley.”
“Go ahead,” Melody said.
“Can’t make it tomorrow,” the dispatcher said, “It’ll have to be the day after tomorrow, the chopper won’t be available until then.”
“Roger,” Melody acknowledged the dispatcher. She didn’t like having to lay around all the next day with nothing to do, but there didn’t seem to be much alternative.

“I’ve thought it over,” Cappy said carefully. “Here’s my idea. If you’re willing to do this, you can give it a try, but if you don’t feel good about it, or don’t think you can make it, feel free to turn me down.”
Alex nodded, she knew what was coming, she had been thinking about this for two days now.
“You take off for the Ranger Station first thing in the morning. First light. That’ll get you a head start on the day and barring any difficulties; you should make twelve miles before dark.” Cappy went on, “I can get around well enough to get outside and light that fire if I hear an airplane. If they find me, then we’ll come and get you. That way we don’t have to just sit here and waste at least a day of good weather waiting for them to find us. What do you think?”
Alex thought for a few seconds before she answered. “Let’s do it. I’m willing to give it a try.”
Cappy cautioned her, “Now it’s going to be cold, very cold. And it’s a long ways. Do you know how far twelve miles is?”
“Well, back home, the nearest town is ten miles away, so it would be two miles beyond that,” Alex reasoned. “Yeah, I can do it.”
“Ok,” Cappy said, “Let’s take a look at this map then.”
They spread their topographical map on the table and studied it for several minutes. Cappy broke the silence, “Here we are right here,” he dotted the map with a pen. “There’s a stream flowing out of the other end of the lake and it looks like it flows right down that valley to the Ranger Station. See that, Alex?”
Alex nodded.
“Now this shows the Ranger Station to be on the north side of the river, so you’ll want to follow the river on this side,” Cappy ran his pen along the north side of the river. “Because when you get to the Ranger Station, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of the river. Do you understand?”
Again Alex nodded.
“So what you’ll want to do is go around the lake this way,” again Cappy pointed with the pen. “That means taking the long way around the lake, but at least it’ll put you on the right side of the river. Looks like it’ll add a mile or so to your hike.”
“Now let’s decide what you’re going to take with you,” he said.
Alex emptied her backpack and between the two of them, chose each item carefully. There were matches, fire starter pellets, some MREs, a first aid kit, all of her extra clothing and a multi-tool that had a small saw, sharp knife and some other tools. Cappy put fresh batteries in the flashlight and handed it to her.
“I want you to go cut a walking stick,” Cappy said. It’ll come in handy if the trail gets slick or steep.”
There was still room left in the back pack. “Tomorrow morning we’ll put your sleeping bag in, just in case you have to spend the night on the trail,” Cappy