Chapter One: Buried Treasure

The air conditioning felt good, not that I was content to stay inside but it had been hot enough recently to appreciate the luxury of sitting in the coffee room for a change. It was mid-afternoon and I was finishing off the remnants of the morning pot of sludge that used to be called coffee when the young summer intern poked his head in the door.

"Sure thing, sport. What do you need?" I asked.

"Well, there's a guy out here that's requesting a permit to do some camping up in the Bent Tree Canyon area and I was told that requires a Ranger's approval." The kid explained.

Bent tree Canyon, although part of the park, was an area remote enough that it was rarely patrolled and could provide for some rather aggressive hiking, or present some challenging terrain beyond the means of the average tourist. As a precautionary measure, the Ranger Station usually requested that any applicant demonstrate that they were at least properly equipped and knowledgeable enough not to end up getting into too much trouble.

"Would you mind talking with him?" The kid asked.

"Sure, I'll be right out." I answered. I took another swig from my cup as the door slowly closed, and questioned why I was even attempting to drink the god awful excuse for java. Dumping the remainder down the sink and rinsing out the cup, I headed down the hall to the front desk to help the kid out.

It took only a second to recognize the familiar physique of the man standing opposite the counter; just slightly shorter than average height, salt and pepper hair, but built rugged. He had the lines of a Greco Roman wrestler; thin waist, broad shoulders and forearms that looked as though they could crush coconuts with his bare hands. He was standing at the window, looking out across the parking lot, and holding his familiar hat in his hand.

"Hey, Parker! How the hell are you?" I asked.

"Bill, good to see you." The man replied with a smile, holding out his hand for a firm handshake.

Ray Parker was a familiar face around the park, or at least used to be. He had been one of the senior Rangers stationed here until his early retirement a few years ago. Ray had the fortune to find himself a lovely younger woman, a professional to boot, and decided to hang up his pick axe and rain gear to follow her as she pursued her career. Lucky bastard was living the life of Reilly, but for as much as you can take the boy out of the country but not the country out of the boy, he would still visit a couple times a year to fulfill his nature needs.

"I'm doing great, how 'bout yourself?"

"I'm good. How's Carol?" I asked.

"Oh, she's good. She's here, down at the commissary getting us some supplies." That was a change, not because Carol was purely a city woman, but that she actually had the time to get away from her practice.

"How about that. I'm glad to see she could get out and follow you for a change." The ribbing didn't bother Parker one bit; he knew he had it good, and any jabs coming his way from his former colleagues was pure jealousy.

"Fuck you, Smith." He said with a laugh.

"So, what's the scoop?" I asked, referring to the maps he had in his hand.

"Well, it'll actually be three of us. We brought along Carol's kid sister with us, so I thought I'd take them out the service road and we'd hike down to the Bent Tree Steps." He explained.

The hike was one that typically would be reserved for the more experienced hiker, as the normal route to get to the canyon was rather severe, but taking the service road would cut the travel time down considerably, and I didn't have any quarrel with Parker using the restricted road. He was more than qualified to lead anyone through even the most challenging of areas, and the payoff of the trip was seeing the remote Bent Tree Steps, a series of small but picturesque waterfalls carved out of the steep limestone canyon's walls.

"Nice. How long were you planning for?"

"Just five days, that's about as long as Carol can stand to be away."

"Sounds good, is there anything you need?" I asked.

"Don't think so, thanks." As Ray finished, I noticed Carol through the window, loading supplies into her truck.

"Alright then. Come on, I'll walk you out so I can get a squeeze from that gal of yours." I said. I had worked under Parker for my first two years at the park and learned to respect his abilities as well as his friendship. Carol was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, and probably would have been for any guy who was lucky enough. She was young, bright and beautiful and as devoted to Ray as the day is long.

"Hey Carol, look what I found straggling around the place." Ray hollered as we walked across the parking lot. As she turned from loading the supplies, standing with a smile and her hands on her hips, it only reaffirmed to me that Ray Parker was indeed the luckiest bastard I knew.

"Raymond Parker, you hold that tongue!" She barked with a schmirk. "Hello Bill, it's nice to see you."

Even in the most social situation, having the sensation of her body pressed against mine, as she gave an affectionate hug, was enough to melt most men. And I was no exception, for an instant the distant memories began to well, but that was a long time ago, I reminded myself.

"Hello Carol. It's always great to see you." I replied.

She stepped back and gave an unconscious hug to Ray, slipping under his arm. It was the kind of thing that on it's surface was so innocent and natural that it wouldn't draw a second thought, but also showed as a reminder of where I stood. It was hard to come to grips with the fact that after all the years, I still felt for her.

"So... You've been to Bent Tree before, haven't you Carol?" I asked, jolting myself back to reality.

"Yeah, but it's been a long time. I'm looking forward to seeing it again." She said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, we need to get moving. Where's Lisa?" Ray piped in.

"Oh, she's down at the visitors center still. I told her we'd pick her up on our way out." Carol answered him, "Lisa's my sister, Bill."

"Yeah, Ray told me she was along. Listen, I won't hold you up any longer but promise me that if you come out of the canyon early that you'll stop by before you leave, Okay?" I said.

"That's a promise." Carol answered.

"Yeah, but only if you're not the cook!" Ray laughed.

"Once an asshole, always an asshole." I winked to Carol.

As Ray pulled out the truck, popping his head out the window to say goodbye, I added in, "Ray, I'll be on channel 24 if you need."

"Okay, Rook." He said with a smile. It was a long time since I'd heard that nickname, but it was said with affection. I think it was Parker's way of reminding me that he'd probably forgotten more than I ever knew about this place, as he was prone to remind me from my first days on the job here. "We'll see ya later."

Walking back to the station as I watched them pull away, I found my thoughts mumbling over the site of Carol, and my own reaction to seeing her again. I don't think Ray ever had any idea of how I'd once felt about her, or what had happened between us for that matter, or if it really mattered at all. If Carol had wanted him to know, she'd have told him. And if she had, then the only one still thinking about it was me.

"Fuck it! Nothing a good dowsing at the bar wouldn't cure." I told myself, and set back off to work.

 

Chapter Two

Two days later...

"RANGER SMITH, YOU'VE GOT A PHONE CALL." The radio squawked.

Shit. Why in the hell does it always happen when I'm just sitting down to lunch. "Yeah, Kenny. Who is it?" I replied.

"UMM... I THINK IT'S FROM THE WEATHER STATION, SIR." The kid's voice crackled nervously.

"Can you pass it through to the radio for me?" I asked.

"UMMM..." I could hear some fumbling for a moment until the kid piped back in, "UMM... I'M SORRY SIR, BUT I'M NOT SURE HOW TO DO THAT."

"Never mind, just ask them if I can call back."

After another pause, Kenny's voice came back over the radio, "SIR, HE SAY'S IT'S KINDA IMPORTANT AND THAT HE NEEDS TO TALK TO YOU."

"Uh oh." I thought silently to myself.

"Alright... Kenny, ask them wh... never mind, just tell them to hold on and I'll be right there."

"Strange", I thought to myself. I poked my head out the cab of my truck and craned my face upward; nothing but blue sky. Well, whatever it was, it was unusual for the weather station need to talk to me that urgently. Firing up the truck, I began to turn it around when I realized that I was probably closer to the weather station than the base station.

Heading down the bumpy road and into one of the canyons, I grabbed the radio mike and called out to the base station, "Kenny, this is Bill."

After a moment of silence, I keyed the mike again, "KPT Base, Come in."

The radio popped and squawked a few times before I could hear the kid come on, " THIS IS K... . ASE...OVER."

"Shit." Some of the canyons were deep enough to make even the radios have a tough time getting through, the steep walls trapping and bouncing the radio signals around.

"Kenny... tell them I'm on my way to their station, copy?"

"YES SIR... I MEAN, ROGER." He replied.

"Rook..." I mused to myself, his voice reminding me of my first job working for the park service as a kid. I had found a job, much like Kenny, as a summer intern in high school working for the Forestry Service Fire Fighting Corps. It was a great experience, catapulting me into manhood and eventually getting me into Fire Jumper School when I graduated. Six months of training, only to blow out my knee on my last training jump, ended any chances of continuing. I suppose I was lucky that was the worst of it, but for a young man sitting in a hospital for two months, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

I pulled into the weather station a few minutes later and popped in the door. "Hey Frank, what's up?"

"I'm glad you came, Bill. You might want to take a look at this." Frank Wilson replied. Frank was a young kid, probably only 23 or 24 and fresh out of college, but pretty sharp at his trade. I followed him into the lab and stood behind him as he sat down at his computer. He began to pull up a few different screens and explain to me what he'd seen. I have to admit that for the most part what he was explaining made no sense to me; "barometric this" and "pressure inversions" that.

"Frank... I'm sorry, you've lost me. What exactly does all this mean?" I asked.

"Sorry, Bill. Look here..." He explained again, pointing to the screen. "We've got this front, and this front converging together rapidly."

"And..." I asked, feeling rather naive.

"And... when they do finally meet, which looks like will happen right over us, things are going to get very interesting." Frank explained.

"How interesting?" I asked with a sense of unease.

"Hard to tell exactly, but I'd say we could expect heavy amounts of rainfall, maybe as much as 3 or 4 inches per hour, for how long I don't know. The winds will get rather severe as it progresses but for how long it's hard to say. I've been going over this with the guys at the National Weather Service Center but a lot of this is unique to the geography of this area and because of that, there's no way to be certain."

Listening to Frank started the wheels spinning in my head. It's not unheard of for such severe weather to crop up in the area, it just meant that there were a few precautionary measures to take; secure the base lodge, inform the campsite, etc.

"When do you expect this to happen?" I asked, already planning in my head to start getting things ready.

"Best guess? I'd say maybe as early as late afternoon or early evening."

"Shit. Alright, thanks Frank. I'm outta here, let me know if anything changes, okay?"

"Sure thing, Bill."

I spent the time heading down the winding canyon road making mental notes as to what to assign to whom when I reached the Base Station. The mobile radio burped and squawked again but the steep canyon walls garbled it enough to make it useless until I reached the bottom of the road. As the canyon began to open up, and the road level out, the radio once again began to crackle...

"... ome in, Bil........an you hear m...." The static swirled signal leaked out of the radio.

Even in the distorted signal, I immediately recognized the voice, it was Carol. My hand immediately reached for the radio as I cranked up the volume and lowered the squelch.

"... ill Smith.....ome in...KPT BASE FOR RANGER SMITH COME IN OVER"

The sound of the base station blasted out of the radio, nearly popping my eardrums as it walked al over the weaker signal. "Fuck!" I screamed out loud. Mashing the accelerator a bit harder in an effort to get out into the clear, the radio sprang to life again.

" Bill, come in please... KPT BASE TO RANGER SMITH COME IN..."

"KENNY, CLEAR THE FUCKING RADIO!" I screamed into the microphone.

"...can you re...RANGER SMITH IS THAT YOU?" The kid piped in again, interrupting Carol's faint signal once more.

"KENNY, STAY OFF THE RADIO UNTIL YOU HEAR FROM ME !!!!" I screamed.

"Carol, this is Bill. Do you read me?" I tried.

"...ill, this is Caro......an barely hear you... over." Her transmission was still weak but getting better. "... I repeat, I can barely hear you, over."

"That's it!" I said to myself, hearing her voice come in clearly. Slamming on the brakes, the truck slid to a halt on the gravel road.

"Carol, this is Bill. Come in...over."

"Thank God! Bill, Ray's in trouble... he fell..." She stammered out breathlessly.

"Carol, slow down. Tell me what happened." I could hear the fear in her voice.

"It's his leg, it's broken. It's broken bad. I don't think he hurt anything else but the bone is sticking out of his thigh." She rattled out.

"Carol, listen to me. Is Ray conscious?"

"Yes."

"Have you tried to stop the bleeding?"

"I think I've got it stopped, but I think he's lost a lot of blood."

"Carol, where are you...exactly?"

My heart was pounding hard as I listened to the silence. "This is not good..." The thought raced through my mind, "This is not good."

The radio finally sparked back to life. "...Bill, It's Ray." The sound of Ray's voice was a bit of a relief, sounding calm but strained.

"Go ahead, Ray."

" We're at Little Harbor Falls, in Bent Tree."

"Roger that. Ray, how's the leg?" I asked.

"Not good...but Carol got the bleeding stopped. Guess I finally drew short straw..." His transmission trailed off with an audible grunt of pain.

From my first days working at the park, Ray Parker had been known as one of the toughest pricks to ever walk the woods, and hearing him say "draw the short straw" told me it was bad. Ray had always prided himself on having both the smarts and luck to never have had to be airlifted out, for any reason. Rumor was that he hated to fly but he would never admit it, even if it meant walking out of the woods busted up, and he'd done that more than once.

"I'm on it, Ray. Listen up, I've got some news."

"Still here." He grunted.

"Bad weather is close, do what you can to go and I'll be there in two." I said, speaking as clearly as possible.

"Roger that."

"Carol, are you still there."

"Yes, Bill..."

" Listen to me carefully. There is some bad weather headed your way. I'm calling in the MediVac Helicopter to get Ray out. Do what you can to keep him warm and I will be there as soon as I can, okay?" I tried to sound as reassuring as possible.

"Okay Bill." She replied.

"Alright... hang tight, the cavalry is on the way. I'm going to leave this channel open for you."

"Kenny, are you still there?" I asked.

"YES SIR"

"Did you copy any of that?"

"JUST YOUR END, SIR"

"Listen up, I want you to get out on all channels for everyone to be at Base Station in five minutes, no excuses. Tell everyone CODE RED and CODE BLUE AIR, Got that?"

"YES SIR"

"Keep this channel clear...copy?"

"ROGER"

I could see as I approached the Base Station door that everyone appeared to be there. "Okay, everyone here?" I asked as I opened the door.

"Jamerson's out. Called in sick this morning." One of the men called out.

"Alright then," I began, "Here's the scoop. The weather station is reporting a localized severe thunderstorm warning. Frank thinks it might get nasty; very strong wind gusts, maybe even tornados, along with the possibility of heavy amounts of rain. So what this means is that we need to start securing down for heavy wind, that means at all of the stations as well as notifying the camp areas. Now, I don't need to tell any of you how dry it's been of late and that means the ground has been baked hard, and THAT means that if we get a bunch of rain it's not going to have time to be soaked up. We need to get everyone away from the water, ... John, get me the A2 map."

The tone of the room turned serious, most everyone understanding the implications of what could happen, and the look of the veteran Ranger's showed their intensity.

"We've also got a Code Blue situation up in Bent Tree Canyon." The second dose of bad news brought a few murmurs.

"Dave, I want you on this one with me. What's the status?" I asked. Dave Johnson was in charge of medical, a former corpsman in the army and a damn sharp kid.

"MediVac is on Stand-By, and ready to go." He shouted.

"Good, grab your shit and meet me out front." I hadn't even finished before Dave disappeared out the door to grab his gear.

"John, I want two man teams. Split 'em up and get 'em out, Frank says we might have as little as 4 or 5 hours." John Larson had been around the park for as long as I had, and knew the "ins and outs" as well I did.

He merely returned a knowing nod, but read the stress on my face all too well. "Who's in Bent Tree?" He asked.

"It's Ray Parker." I didn't have to say anything more, John had know Ray for as long as I had.

"Get going, Bill. I'll take care of business here." He said anxiously, then turned to the rest of the men and began to bark out orders. With all that was tearing through my mind as well as emotions, it felt strangely comforting to hear John's words. We'd worked together for a long time, almost 12 years, and John had always been there for me when I needed him; even when it came down to the two of us for this job.

I darted behind the desk and grabbed a spare radio, thinking it would come in handy, and heard as soft word, "...Sir?" I turned to see the young kid, Kenny, standing and looking a little befuddled.

I stopped for a moment and looked him square in the eye, "Kenny, I want you to listen to John and do exactly as he tells you to do. If you're not sure about something, ask. Don't hesitate, understand?"

"Yes sir." He answered, still looking nervous.

"There going to be a lot going on, just stay calm and be sharp." He nodded in return, and then I added with a smile, " It's time to step up to the plate, kid. I'm counting on you, Okay?

Kenny had looked up to me from his first day on the job, and the little pep talk seemed to work, as he replied with a smile in return and a confident sounding, "Yes Sir." Manhood comes in different ways to different people, and this would be his leap.

"Alright, I'm gonna be talking with MediVac on this channel, and this one is to be kept clear unless you hear otherwise from me." I instructed him, then headed out the door to see Dave tossing his pack into the back of my pickup.

Had the situation not been so serious, it would have been comical. We'd made our way out of the forest lined entrance road as I blasted through the stop sign and out onto the highway, heading north toward Bent Tree Canyon and the service road, when we both saw it. Leaning forward together for a clearer look, simultaneously the words came from our mouths, "...Holy shit..." Behind us, the sky was as brilliant a blue as could be, but ahead was a site to be seen. Along the entire horizon line, a gauntlet of clouds appearing like a massive tidal wave were forming; a black rolling base that seemed to spill over the distant range, capped with endlessly rising brilliant white tops. Frank had been right, and it was moving in fast.

"Bill... are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Dave asked, his neck still bent as he examined the impressive site.

Unfortunately, I was. The service road that Ray and Carol used to get up to the Bent Tree Canyon was still a good thirty miles ahead, and was strictly that; an unpaved path cut and worn out of the earth, gnarling it's way along the steep and narrow back side of the park boundaries. If the canyons began to flood, there was the possibility of getting trapped ourselves, or worse. And judging by the clouds ahead, it seemed to be a very real possibility. I looked over at Dave, watching him as he sat slack jawed in amazement, looking out the windshield, and tried to think. If I said, "Go", he'd go without hesitation. He'd been in the shit before and knew the risks, but it would be a damned fool thing for me to do.

"Dave, how much time will MediVac need?" I asked.

"They can be here on twenty minutes notice." He replied. "What are you thinking?"

"I've got an idea, ever use a wave runner before?" I asked, slamming on the brakes and wheeling the truck into one of the campsite roads. Dave just smiled and said, "I'm game, if you know the way." It was a gamble, but it seemed that our options were dwindling minute to minute. I had been up to this campsite the day before and seen a few campers out on the boat ramp loading their wave runners into the water. The gamble paid off as they were still here, by pure luck, loading their machines onto their trailer as we pulled up to the boat ramp. It took only a few minutes of explaining the gravity of the situation to convince them to lend us the use of their machines. As they began to unload them once more into the water, I fished a map out of the glove box of the truck and hurried back to the dock.

Dave was already aboard his machine, bobbing out in the water waiting, as I fired up mine. I had some experience on some Jet Ski's, the old stand up style, but these things were more like motorcycles and easy to use. We headed out across the lake at top speed, and before long had reached the other side. I stopped for a minute to get my bearings as I pulled the map from my pocket. The lake had been artificially created with the dam construction back in the 1930's and so had numerous twists and turns to it's shoreline, as well as several rivers and creeks that emptied to create it. It took a while, but eventually I spotted the familiar end of the Bent Tree River.

"Dave, we'll head upriver as far as we can, then dump the wave runners and go on foot." I hollered to him, then gunned the engine again. We made it upriver several miles before the river began to widen out, becoming too shallow to go any further.

"Over here, Bill." Dave yelled, as he'd found a small sandy spot to beach the machines, running his full speed up onto the shore. I followed his lead, and we pulled the machines up as far out of the water as we could, tying them off to a tree in hopes that they wouldn't be washed away if the river rose too high.

It was nearing 4 o'clock in the afternoon as we set out on foot, following the river as best we could in an effort to make our way up to Little Harbour Falls, a good three hour hike if we pressed it. We'd hiked for nearly an hour and a half, making what I'd considered to be good time, when the sun began to quickly disappear beneath the black front of clouds that rolled across the sky. The look on both Dave's and my own face could well have been a mirror, as we both took the queue and picked up the pace. Soon, we had passed the lower falls and I knew we were close.

"Dave, get MediVac on the radio and tell them to be ready, we should make Little Harbour in about 15 minutes." I said, never slowing my pace. Dave fell behind slightly as he talked on the radio, then Dashed to catch up. The canyon walls had begun to narrow significantly and I knew that the last mile was going to be tough.

"Bill... bad news..." Dave said in a labored breath.

"Fuck!" I thought, wondering when we'd start to catch a break.

"The MediVac had another call and is already in route. Their ETA back at the hospital is 20 minutes, then another twenty to get here." Dave informed me.

"Alright, nothing we can do about that, let's just keep going." I said, resolute in the notion that I was going to get Ray out of this, even if I had to carry him out on my back.

"...Bill, this is Carol. Do you read me...? Carol's nervous voice crackled from the radio on my hip. The clouds continued to roll in, darkening the sky further as the cool winds of rain began to pick up.

Grabbing the radio quickly, I replied, " Carol, this is Bill. I read you."

"How much longer...?" She asked nervously.

"Hang on, Honey..." I grunted, vaulting over a larger rock, "We're almost there. Ten minutes. Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I was just getting nervous..." She replied.

Those last few hundred yards seemed to take a lifetime to traverse, the terrain getting steeper as we climbed and the canyon continuing to narrow. It was just as I felt my legs beginning to cramp from our frantic pace, that I saw the top of the falls just above. Grabbing hold of Dave's arm to hoist him up to me, I hollered over the hum of the river, "Just ahead, Dave." Although Dave was at least ten years my junior, carrying the pack on his back was catching up to him as well, but the sight of the falls ahead gave us both a jolt of energy to cover the last few yards quickly.

Little Harbour Falls had gotten it's name from the near oasis like lagoon that it had carved out of the steep canyon. The land leveled out into a large circular step, surrounded by the steep cliff walls. The sensation was as if standing in an emptied fish bowl nearly 30 yards across. Just as we'd crested the rise and seen Carol and Ray, the rain began to fall, not in thunderstorm proportions or at least not yet, and the gathering winds seemed to swirl the light rain around and around in the confined alcove.

"Bill!" Carol shouted in relief as she saw Dave and I approaching. "Thank God you're here!" She said with a bear hug. Dave immediately headed for Ray, and after Carol had released her tension filled grasp on me, we joined him at Ray's side.

Dave was already at work, unwrapping the makeshift dressing on Ray's leg to have a look.

"Look's good, huh?" Ray grunted out to me, forcing himself to smile through the pain.

Ray's leg looked pretty busted up, the lower half of his thigh bone still penetrating the skin. Dave spent a moment or two assessing the damage, then turned to his pack and began to fish out some things.

"Yeah Ray, it looks pretty good." I said to him. "Carol did a good job at stopping the bleeding though."

"She's the best, ain't she?" Ray groaned out, looking to Carol with eyes filled with love, and pain.

Dave had pulled out some fresh dressings for the bleeding, keeping them covered from the rain, along with a needle and some medicine. "Bill..." He called to me.

Carol hovered over Ray, kissing him gently on the lips and stroked his forehead. "Bill..." Dave whispered to me quietly, "... we're going to have to set that leg before he can be moved anywhere." His tone was all business, and the implication was that it wouldn't be a pretty job. I gave him a knowing nod, and we turned our attention back to Ray.

Dave unwrapped a syringe and plunged it into a small vial of medicine, drawing out the amber colored liquid slowly.

"What the hell is that?" Ray groaned out, looking intently at the needle as Dave poked it into Ray's arm.

"Morphine..." Dave replied matter of factly.

"The fuck..." Ray began to say. It seemed clear to me that Ray had no interest in getting stuck with a needle, and it suddenly dawned on me that I'd never seen him take any medicine, ever. Not even an aspirin.

"Ray..." I spoke strongly to him, "...listen to me. You are going to need this, trust me."

"Carol, my name is Dave. Your husband is going to need to have his leg set before we can transport him. Do you have... a framed backpack?"

"Yes." She replied.

"I want you to go empty it out and bring it here, okay?" Dave asked, then gave me a nod as Carol sprang to her feet and headed off to retrieve her pack. He pointed me towards Ray's head as he made his way down to his feet.

"Bill, take his arms and hold them down over his head. He's not going to like this." Bracing himself and grabbing hold of Ray's foot and knee, he began the count, "Okay, here we go. On three, one... two... three..."

For the first two or three seconds, Ray never uttered a word. His body became rigid, his neck straining as his face flushed red with the pain, until it became too much. The sound of his scream was one I would never forget, nearly shaking the ground with it's power and fury. So focused on restraining his powerful arms, I never heard Carol's sympathetic cry as she heard Ray's roar. And just as quickly, Dave slowly released his grip, leaving Ray gasping for air.

I watched with amazement as Dave immediately diffused Carol's panicked dash back to her husband's side. "Carol!..." He shouted, grabbing her attention, "Okay, now I'm going to gently lift Ray's leg. I want you to turn over the pack and slide it under his leg, understand?"

Damn, this kid was good. He'd taken total control of the situation, distracting Carol from the natural instinct to protect her mate and channeling her attention to where it was needed most. Her eyes were wide as she nodded to Dave.

"He's gonna yell again, but everything is going to be fine. Are you ready?" He told her, more than asked. She gave him another slow and nervous nod. "Ray are you with me?"

"... just do it..." Ray grunted out.

"Okay, here we go..." Lifting as gently as possible, Dave raised the leg enough for Carol to slip the backpack frame beneath the leg, as Dave lowered it in place. Ray had never made a sound, holding his breath to subdue the urge to scream. He was one tough bastard, I thought to myself.

Dave quickly set in motion, repacking the opened wound, which had begun to bleed once more. Carol moved up to Ray, pressing her face close to his in an effort to comfort him. I sat back for a minute, asking Dave if he needed anything, as well as relaxing from the energy spent restraining Ray. With all of my weight pressing down on his outstretched arms, he had still nearly been able to lift me off of the ground.

"Bill, your turn. Get on the horn to MediVac, you're gonna need to guide them in." Dave called out as he continued to work on Ray, dressing the wound and securing the shattered leg to the makeshift splint.

As I stood, taking notice of the growing wind in the tight canyon, I was able to get hold of the Medivac Helicopter as it made it's way toward the park. Slowly pacing as I spoke on the radio, making a mental picture in my mind of the area to help guide the MediVac unit in, I caught out of the corner of my eye, the figure of someone standing off to my side. In the excitement of the situation, I had nearly forgotten that there was another hiker along with Carol and Ray, Carol's sister. She was standing along side the pile of camping gear piled up near the cove's steep cliff walls, her arms wrapped tightly around herself from the chilling rain and wind, watching intently as Carol and Dave hovered around Ray.

"Jesus..." Making my way toward her as I spoke on the radio, I began to feel the rain pick up it's strength. The MediVac helicopter was quickly approaching the canyon area, and the timing would be close as the winds had begun to gust around the canyon walls, making things more difficult.

As I walked up to the girl, she's looked at me from underneath the rain soaked brim of her hat, buried under the hood of her windbreaker. "Are you okay?" I asked. She gave a silent but confident nod, as her attention was drawn back to the others. I followed her gaze, then looked up skyward to realize that it was becoming increasingly dark as we stood in the rain.

"Do you know which pack is Ray's?" I asked her. Ray never went anywhere without adequate emergency gear, including a flare gun, and we would be needing one. Pointing down to Ray's pack, I began to rummage through it's pockets when I heard the distant sounds of the helicopter's blades begin to echo off the cliff walls. Finding the flare gun, quickly unpacking and loading a single shell into the barrel, I stepped out into the clear to call the MediVac to have them look for our signal.

It was a brief moment after firing the flare that the helicopter reported spotting the signal as it's brilliant red light disappeared from our sight, blown by the harsh wind.

"Any minute now, Dave." I yelled over the increasing noise of wind and copter as I walked over to Dave and Carol. "How's he doing?"

"He's ready" Dave replied, as the MediVac helicopter began to peak over our heads.

"CAROL, YOU'D BETTER STAND BACK!" I hollered, pointing over to where her sister was still standing, as the noise from the helicopter became almost deafening as it hovered over us, blasting down the wind and rain in it's wake. Dave shielded Ray as best he could with his body as I grappled with the rope, and then basket as it descended from the helicopter. After a few minutes, Dave and I had Ray secured into the basket and gave the all clear to begin lifting him. It would be a long trip up as the MediVac pilot was hesitant to lower his altitude into the cove, fearing the swirling winds. Dave and I held tightly to the guide rope as the basket ascended to the awaiting helicopter, fighting the winds and blade wash that wanted to send it swinging.

After a few minutes, standing directly under the hovering helicopter, the word came from the pilot that Ray was safely aboard. Carol began to make her way out to Dave and I, staring intently up at the helicopter with a look of worry on her face, when the MediVac lowered the rope once more; two slings attached to the end. The pilot piped in over the radio that he was ready to take on the next two. Carol looked nervously at the rope and then to me. The indecision in her eyes was obvious, wanting desperately to be with Ray and unsure about making the ascent. It was just as I was ready to load her into the sling, then myself to ease her tension, when she looked over to her sister standing over at the cliff wall then back to me. Through the wind and rain, I could see the tears that began to well in her eyes, and felt her worry.

"CAROL..." I said, pulling her closely and looking deep into her eyes, "...DAVE IS GOING TO TAKE YOU UP. I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOUR SISTER, OKAY?" and gave her a reassuring smile.

Carol blinked out a stream of tears and smiled. "I love you..." She whispered into my ear, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me tightly. "Time to go..." I replied.

I motioned to Dave that I wanted him to take her up and he replied with a nod, slipping the sling's loop around his chest, then pulling Carol tight to him. I gave the MediVac the all clear and they began to ascend. Everything was going well, until Dave and Carol reached midpoint in their rise; the rain began to dramatically increase in strength, soon flooding down from the sky in a virtual blanket of water. The water from the rotor blasted down on my face at an almost painful strength as I held onto the guideline, when a gust of wind began to rock the helicopter. I could hear the pilot's attempts to compensate with the rotor's collective but the irregular gusts of wind were becoming dangerously difficult for him to remain steady. Dave and Carol began to swing back and forth like a pendulum as they rose, swinging dangerously close to the cove walls despite my efforts to steady them.

I heard the pilot's voice blast out over the radio..."HOLD ON.."

The MediVac had appeared to list under the strength of another gust of wind, and the pilot yanked on the collective, shooting the helicopter along with it's dangling passengers shooting skyward. The force of the helicopter rising was fast enough to yank the guide rope from my hands, burning them from the friction. The world around me seemed to disappear, the noise and rain vanishing from my senses as I watched Dave and Dave swing perilously close to the cliff wall. It could not have been more than a matter of inches, Dave's arm lightly scuffing the wall before they were clear, rocketed upward to safety. The helicopter disappeared overhead, slewing beyond the cliff walls from my sight. I grasped my radio, clutching it with nervous fear to hear from the pilot.

"...CLEAR... CLEAR...CLEAR..." The radio spurted.

"THIS IS MEDIVAC ONE... EVERYONE IS ABOARD SAFELY... RANGER, I"M SORRY BUT IT"S GETTING TOO HAIRY TO TRY THAT AGAIN... OVER." The pilot announced.

"Roger..." I replied with a sigh of relief. "We're good here, get going..."

"UH, ROGER THAT... THIS IS MEDIVAC ONE, OUT."

I stood in the pouring rain motionless, listening to the sounds of the helicopter as it sped away, feeling a sense of calm and relief wash over me. I couldn't help but to smile, beaming from ear to ear, as I felt the satisfaction of having gotten Ray and Carol to safety; the adrenaline slowly dissipating as it made it's way through my veins. As the sounds from the helicopter finally disappeared in the distance, replaced by the sounds of the pouring rain, a bolt of lightning lit the darkened afternoon sky above my head, snapping my attention back to the situation at hand.

Still standing over at the edge of the cove was Carol's young sister, wrapped in her own arms to shield the wind and rain. I hustled my way over to her, still unable to wipe the smile from my face.

"That was really something." I said aloud, in an effort to break the tension, but the young girl just nodded tentatively. "Are you okay?" I asked again, looking intently at her in an effort to judge her condition. She nodded again, the rain streaming down her half covered face.

"Ray and Carol are going to be fine, they're in good hands now." I told her, trying to aleve any concerns. "We're going to be okay too, but what we need to do is to find a little shelter from this rain. Are you okay to do a little walking?" She looked around at the cove and to the falls, nodding her response.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked again, a little concerned by the distracted look on her face. It was then that she unwrapped her arms, turning to me slightly and showing her face for the first time, and gave a half smile and a nod. I stood for a half second in amazement; she was beautiful. Only when I realized that she was looking to me for guidance did I snap back to attention.

"Okay then, let's... umm... grab these packs and see if we can get out of this rain. I know of a good spot not too far from here." I grabbed Ray's pack and a few discarded things from Carol's emptied belongings as the girl grabbed her own pack, slinging it over her back. I had taken a few steps when I realized, strangely taken by the beauty of this girls looks, that I didn't know her name. I stopped and apologized, "I'm sorry, ...my name is Bill, Bill Smith."

"Lisa." She replied shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Lisa." I said with a smile, holding out my hand.

She reached out and softly shook my hand, and for the first time fully smiled, amused at the situation. Her smile was infectious, and I laughed as I looked into her eyes. My god, she was astonishingly beautiful.

"Okay, Lisa. Let's go." I said, leading the way up the steep path, out of Little Harbour Falls.

Chapter Three

"Here, give me your hand." I reached out to help Lisa up the last slippery step onto the ledge. We'd managed to make good time under the circumstances, hiking for almost a half hour in the rain and growing darkness before reaching our destination. It was a ridge above Little Harbour Falls, cut into the steep canyon walls that had a natural cave carved into it's side from it's prehistoric past. Not so much a deep dark cave as you might think, just a scoop taken out of the walls from a time when the river was much higher, but it was deep enough to provide ample shelter from the rain. It was a familiar spot to the infrequent hikers that came this way, and as luck would have it, there was some left over dry firewood in the small fire pit. Most importantly, it was far enough away from the rapidly swelling river.

"Home sweet home." I said, unslinging my pack and resting it along the cave wall. Lisa set down her own pack and took a seat, propping against it as a cushion and resting her head back. It had been a spirited climb and I felt the exhaustion as well, but knew that we would be needing a fire quickly to dry out our rain soaked clothes, as well as fight off the rapidly cooling air. I stoked the remnants of the fire pit to find enough charcoal and unburned wood to get us started, and after a quick dash back out into the rain to find more wood, returned to light the fire. Lisa was still leaning against her pack, eyes closed from exhaustion and most likely from the stress also. She had remained very quite as we'd hiked, and I worried a bit about how she was handling the entire situation. It appeared as thought the worst of the front had already blown through, the fierce gusts of wind had given way to a softer breeze and the bulk of the storm's rain.

The warmth of the small fire felt comforting, and before long was sizable enough to leave to it's own. I walked over to where Lisa sat resting, sitting down as she had, and leaned against Ray's pack; closing my eyes for just a brief moment...

My eyes opened slowly, the magical light of the fire casting a deep orange glow from the surrounding stone walls as it's flames flickered away, but did not stir. I tried to reason, through the fog of waking, how long I'd been asleep and realized it must have been for a while. The day had turned to night, the sky disappearing into an inky nothingness beyond the dancing light of the fire on the trees. My body felt heavy, reluctant to wake as my eyes had, and I wasn't in any hurry to force myself to move just yet. Closing my eyes once more, feeling the relaxed slumber my body refused to relinquished, I let them open again and slowly looked around. Young Lisa was standing next to her pack, her back to me, lifting a sweater up her outstretched arms and slowly pulling it down over herself. The curve of her back, accentuated by the harsh shadows of the firelight, seemed perfectly hourglass as she held her arms over her head, lowering them gently as she pulled the warmth of the sweater down to cover herself. It was a sight to see.

As she turned slightly, kneeling down to her pack, I couldn't help closing my eyes, feeling a twinge of guilt at having stolen such a beautiful sight without her knowing. I stirred my legs in an effort to alert her to my waking before opening my eyes again, catching site of her as my movement had drawn her attention.

"Mmmmm..." I mumbled with a groggy voice, feeling the continued resistance of my legs to stir. The dampness of my clothing reinforced my body's unwillingness to move, but I forced it anyway; knowing that I should follow Lisa's move and at least attempt to dry out my clothing. Lisa glanced over as I continued to stir, silently unpacking items from her pack. I think I grunted as I sat myself up, feeling the exhaustion and soreness of my body that had propelled me up the canyon at breakneck speed. I gently rubbed my eyes, then held my hands out toward the fire, feeling the warmth of it's flames on my hands and face.

"I see you've already found some dry clothes." I said to her. She smiled lightly and nodded, holding on to her silence in an innocent manner. "Looks like a smart idea." I said aloud, almost more to myself than to her, wondering all the while if her silence was intentional or from fatigue.

She untied her sleeping bag, rolling it out on the stone flooring of the cave, and pulled a few more things out of her bag. I pulled Ray's pack from behind me and unzipped the cover, hoping to find a change of clothes that might fit. As I fumbled through his pack, finding a clean dry shirt and a pair of shorts that looked as though they would suffice, Lisa finished her unpacking and sat down on the soft padding of her sleeping arrangement, facing the fire and enjoying it's soothing warmth. I gazed in shy fascination, as I untied the laces of my rain soaked boots, as the warm light of the fire brushed Lisa's face. Even the harshness of flames illumination could not overcome the soft features of her face, her skin seeming to almost absorb it's hardness and dispense it with a soft glow.

She seemed to stare intently into the fire, hypnotized by it's power.

"Feels good." I said softly. She looked over to me with a puzzled look.

"... the fire?" I added, unsure if she'd not heard, or misunderstood me.

She smiled, looking a little embarrassed, then spoke. "Yes, yes it is, I mean, it does. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just really tired... zoning out like this."

"Don't apologize, I understand completely. It's been an eventful day, I'm sure you must be exhausted." I said.

"Yeah, I think maybe I'd better try to get some sleep." She said, looking at me again with innocent, and tired eyes.

"Go on, get some sleep. We'll see about heading out in the morning, after we get some rest." She smiled in return and then crawled her way into her sleeping bag.

I took off my boots, relishing the feeling of getting my feet out and the warmth of the fire on them, and set them near the fire to dry out. It was only a matter on moments before I could tell that Lisa was sound asleep; her slow, deep breathing giving away her exhausted slumber. I sat up for another hour or so, enjoying the solitude as I thought of all that had happened, until I found myself as Lisa had; hypnotized by the flickering fire and completely exhausted once more.

Chapter Four

It was the heavenly aroma hanging in the calm morning air that my waking senses noticed, treating my nostrils and perking my brain from a restful sleep. It was the smell of freshly brewed coffee, enticing me as I sat up, noticing the steaming pot on the unattended fire. Lisa was obviously up and about, but nowhere to be seen. The calmness of the morning surprised me, after the violence of the previous day, the sun just beginning to filter down through the still air, casting long shadows through the slumbering trees. I drew in a deep breath, mixing the pleasant odors of the fresh coffee along with the comforting smell of moisture laden pine, and stretched my arms over my head. As the warm flush of blood crept out my arms and filled my head with it's energy, I heard the footsteps of Lisa approaching from around the corner of the ledge.

"Well, good morning." She said, seeing me stirring .

"Good morning." I chuckled, a little embarrassed to have found myself last up.

"Did you get enough sleep?" She asked politely. "I hope I didn't wake you?"

"Mmmm, I think if anything, I slept too long." I replied, stretching once more and finally feeling awake.

"I made you some coffee, would you like some?" She asked.

"Oh, yes." I answered, thinking to myself that it was the first time I'd heard her speak more than a brief sentence at a time.

Lisa bent and filled a small tin cup from her mess kit with the steaming coffee, "I'm afraid we didn't pack any cream or sugar." She said apologetically.

"No, this is perfect." I replied. She appeared to be in good spirits, moving around the makeshift campsite, light on her feet.

"Well, I see that you got a good nights rest. How do you feel?" I asked, sipping slowly on the hot cup of joe.

"I feel..." She hesitated for a moment as she looked out toward the sound of a bird chirping from a nearby tree, "... great!" She beamed a smile as she said the word, then hid her exuberance shyly.

"Well.." I began to say, then grunted a bit as I attempted to stand, feeling the soreness of my stiffened muscles, "... I'm glad to see you're feeling chipper." I continued with a chuckle.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, just a little... um... slow getting started this morning." I admitted, feeling angry at myself for having neglected my fitness of late.

"We don't need to leave right away, if you need some time?" She said innocently. I could tell she meant her words sincerely, but I couldn't help but to feel a little ashamed, out of place... old. There couldn't be more than ten years that separated us, but I suddenly felt as if the gap had grown with her comment.

"No, no. I need to get back to the station to, umm..." I began, trying to disguise my thoughts, " ... help assess the damage from last night's storm. Besides, I'm sure Carols' worried sick about how you're doing."

"I guess your right." She said, sensing my embarrassment, or so it seemed to me. I wondered if it was all just in my head, as well as wondering why had I become so suddenly self conscious in front of this young girl. But as the two of us silently broke camp, packing our belongings and dowsing the fire before heading out on the narrow trail, I once again was overcome with the sensation that this was not the "young girl" that my preconceptions kept trying to force on me. Maybe it was the fact that Ray had referred to her as Carol's "kid sister", or the fact that she indeed seemed so young and beautiful, I don't know. But what I did know was that looking at her, and thinking about her seemed to preoccupy my thoughts as we walked out of the canyon, toward the lake, and "home".

We made our way along the upper trails of the canyon, catching a glimpse from time to time the rushing water below. It appeared as though the rains had not been as fierce higher up the canyon, as although the water was running higher and swifter than normal, it was not nearly as rapid as I'd feared it might have been. Eventually we reached the widening in the river where Dave and I had abandoned the two jet skis, and I felt I owed it to the owners who volunteered them to us, to make an effort to check them. I asked Lisa if she might feel more comfortable remaining on the trail and waiting for me, pointing out that the descent down the steep canyon might be a little treacherous, given the previous night's rain, but was surprised to see the look of disappointment on her face at my suggestion. I don't know whether she was uneasy about having to wait for me to make my way down the canyon, leaving her alone, or angry at the insinuation that she couldn't handle the trek. Either way, when she said that she'd go with me, I wasn't going to ask her if she was sure. To be quite frank, I was a little nervous about the descent myself, as it could get hairy if things went wrong. But as we made our way cautiously down toward the river, Lisa continued to surprise me with her deft balance and poise, making her way down almost effortlessly. Reaching the bottom of the canyon, standing on a large rock and looking down the river, Lisa made the comment, "That wasn't so bad." I'm not exactly sure if it was meant to be heard intentionally by me, but having the impression it was, I chuckled to myself at the jab.

We followed the riverbank downstream for a while before coming to the place where Dave and I had beached the craft, and to my surprise found both tied exactly where we'd left them, albeit much closer to the risen water than before. I was pleasantly surprised to find that neither vehicle had suffered any damage, other than the covering of wet leaves from the strong wind and rain.

"Are these yours?" Lisa asked.

"No, actually they belong to some campers who volunteered them so that we could get up here as quickly as possible to help Ray." I explained.

Lisa stood silently, as I examined the two machines for a moment, then said, "Bill?"

"Yeah?" I stopped and looked at her. Her expression was one of seriousness and caught me a bit by surprise.

"I don't remember if I thanked you last night for all that you did, for helping Ray and Carol." She said.

"There's no need to thank me, it wasn't anything that anyone else would have done." I said, feeling a bit humbled.

"Carol told me that the three of you go back a long way and, well, I just wanted you to know that it meant a lot to her that you were coming to help Ray." I was touched by her words, as well as seeing the sincerity in her eyes.

"I would do anything for the two of them." I said, " They're like my family."

Lisa just smiled in return, and I could see that she thought highly of them as well.

"Say, have you ever ridden one of these things before?" I said, attempting to lighten the seriousness of the moment.

"Umm... No, not really?" Lisa replied with a quizzical look.

"Well, I was thinking..." I began, "There's not enough gas left in both of them to make it back to the dock, but there is probably enough for one?"

Perhaps it was a comeback to the small jab she'd given me after making it to the bottom of the canyon, but I thought I'd throw a challenge at her just to see her response. She stood for a moment looking between the machine and the river, and at me.

"Or we can head back up the trai..."

"I'll go." She interrupted, matter of factly.

I looked at her, finding it impossible to keep the smile from my face at her tenacity. She may have been leery, but it was obvious that she was not going to let me see any of it.

"Well. alright then!" I said with a laugh, Lisa joining me as she laughed excitedly. I spent a few minutes draining the gas tank from one of the jet skis, pulling the fuel line off of the carburetor and filling a small canteen, before pouring the remainder into the second machine. We had burned a lot of fuel heading upstream, but there appeared to be enough to get us back with no problems. Using some bungee cord from Ray's pack, we fastened the two backpacks to the far end of the seat, leaving just enough room for the two of us to fit. Pushing the jet ski back into the water, it roared to life after a few pulls of the starter cord.

I climbed onto the water bike and revved the engine a couple of times, and feeling like everything was good, turned to Lisa and hollered over the burbling motor, "Okay, ready?"

"Hold on a minute..." She said. Pulling her hat off, she pulled the light sweater she'd been wearing over her head, revealing what looked to be either a swimsuit or a leotard underneath. She stuffed the sweater into her pack, then stood smiling at me as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, stuffing it through the opening of her cap. It took a concerted effort to keep my eyes fixed to hers, seeing her magnificent figure as she smiled with excitement at me.

"Okay!" She said, climbing on board behind me.

"Okay, hold on. Here we go!" I shouted over my shoulder. It felt amazingly comfortable, the feeling of her arms as they wrapped around my waist, her body pulled snug to my own, as I gunned the engine and the jet ski lurched forward.

Heading downstream, with the current, proved to be more of a challenge than it had been going the other way, but after a few minutes and moving cautiously, I seemed to get the hang of it. It felt much more like riding a horse, letting the flowing water provide much of the motion, while only occasionally using the throttle to make small corrections. We took our time, not wanting to push pace, and attempting to keep well clear of trouble spots as we moved along. And although the water was decidedly cool to the touch, the sun had risen high above, providing plenty of warmth on our backs. Lisa seemed to relax a bit, her grip loosening from around me as we both began to feel the groove of the waves, Lisa laughing in my ear at what a wonderful ride it had turned into. I must say, I was enjoying it as well. The smooth undulations of the water beneath us, the warm sun, and the feeling of a woman clinging to me; it had been a long time since I'd felt that familiar touch.

It was past noon as we neared the end of the river, the canyon beginning to open more and more as we approached it's end, when over the hum of the jet ski's motor I began to hear a low and muffled noise. I blame myself for what was to come, having been lulled by the pleasant and scenic trip we'd experienced up till then, instead of keeping focused on what the river was capable of. I carelessly allowed us to drift toward the inner corner of the river as we approached a rather steep bend. As we began to turn the corner, the low muffled noise suddenly became a roar; the roar of rapidly rushing water from a joining river. It had never occurred to me that although it hadn't rained as much as I'd anticipated in our own canyon, it might have in others. And as we turned the sharp curve of the river bend, we were suddenly caught in the churning deluge of the adjoining canyons wash.

"Hold on!" I screamed, suddenly finding myself fighting the powerful onslaught of the river. The water blasted us from all sides, tossing us about like a wild bull at rodeo time, and we were being propelled downstream with dangerous speed. Gunning the engine to avoid one disaster, only to find us aimed at another, adrenaline was pumping like a fire hose through my veins. I knew that it wouldn't take long for the widening river to absorb the sudden gush from it's neighbor, but that moment seemed to last for ever. Dodging another approaching rock, I gunned the engine once more, rocketing us to our left only to find us nearly falling into the bottom of an impending swell. The water before us appeared a boiling wall of mud brown terror, poised to launch us skyward. There was no time for correction, as we were thrust up the face of the wave.

"Hold on!" I yelled again as we were launched over the crest, floating as we fell crashing to it's base. There would be only one chance at avoiding being sucked down and back into the roller coaster again, and as the jet ski slammed to the water, my hand instinctively wrenched the throttle. The impact of the fall, combined with the suddenly change of direction as the jet ski's motor shot us forward, was too much for Lisa. I heard her scream as her hands began to slip from around my waist, and felt her body separate from mine. She was slipping off of the side of the seat, headed for the churning water, and danger. By pure luck, as I reached back to grab her, my hand met hers, clenching shut in a determined grip. I heard she scream again as we began to rise up another wave, slamming both of us with it's fury and nearly knocking me off of the jet bike along with Lisa, but I never let go of her hand. As we slid down the back side of the wave, I mustered every ounce of strength I could find and pulled Lisa toward me, hoisting her to the side of the bike.

"Grab on to me!" I yelled, as she wrapped her arms around my chest. I pulled again, lifting her over my lap as we headed for another wave. This time, we were lifted gently then rolled down the back of the wave, and just as suddenly as the nightmare had begun it was over. The water was still sheparding us downstream, the jet ski bobbing up and down over the decreasing waves as we caught our breath. Lisa's feet were still dangling over the side, and wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her up to my chest as she swung her leg over the gas tank, straddling my hips and coming to sit on my lap facing me. She wrapped her arms around my back, holding tightly as we continued down river for a while, both of us still shaken by the sudden fury of the river. I began to think of attempting to head toward the shoreline, when looking over Lisa's shoulder ahead of me, I saw the river as it emptied into the lake. We'd made it, and none too soon. I felt a strong shiver run through Lisa's body, the cold water still dripping from us both from our ordeal, and decided that it would probably make sense to just continue on to the lake and the station.

"Are you okay, Lisa?" I asked aloud.

I'm... I'm okay, just a little cold I guess." She replied in my ear, as she faced backward over my shoulder.

"That was a hell of a ride!" I said with a laugh, feeling the relief of seeing the lake, and knowing she was fine.

"Yeah..." She laughed in return, "...but let's not do that again!"

"The lake is right up ahead, if you hold on we can make the station in just a few minutes?" I said.

"Okay..." She replied, her voice trembling a bit as another shiver shook her.

"Alright, here we go." I said, slowly twisting on the throttle and heading for the open water.

As we began to pick up speed, the jet ski's hull slapping at the light chop of waves that covered the lake, I began to feel the satisfaction of having made it down the river. This was certainly going to be a few days to remember, I thought to myself, but little did I know that it would just be the beginning of the real adventure that lay ahead.

The wind felt chilling to the skin as we skimmed across the lake, both of us still soaked from the dunking we'd taken in the rapids, Lisa's wet hair flowing behind in the wind, long since freed from the cap she'd lost in the water. We had made it about half way across the lake when I heard Lisa's faint voice over the wind and motor.

"Bill..." She'd said lightly.

"... BILL ... wait..." She said again, with a growing sense of urgency to her voice.

" What is it?" I asked, then felt as her body began to clench tighter and tighter to mine. Something was wrong, but I couldn't tell what. I released my grip on the throttle, holding tight to her slender waist as we began to slow abruptly.

"Bill... I... " She began to say with a labored voice, her face looking pained, when she shut her eyes tightly and her face winced. Before I had a chance to ask what was wrong, she pulled herself back to my chest, her arms wrapping around me and her thighs clamping tightly at my sides. It was then that I began to feel, slowly at first, the growing warmth on my lap. She sat motionless and rigid, still attempting to halt the inevitable, as the flow of her warm liquid began to quickly penetrate my already soaked pants, bathing my crotch with her release. Finally giving in, realizing it was too late, her body began to relax it's grip on me, and the I could feel the power of her relief as it poured from her body, showering me with her inner warmth.

She began to whisper, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." in a choked voice of embarrassment and tears into my ear. It was the sound of pure humiliated *pain, and my heart felt for her. I began to gently stroke her back, pulling her to me as I whispered, "It's okay, it's okay..."

She squeezed me again, in an effort to fight off a burst of tears, and again my heart fell hard. And it was in that brief moment that everything would change. As we sat motionless in the water, gently embracing in a bizarre moment of tension and anxiety, I began to feel the sensations of having a woman so close to me; the feel of her feminine curves under my hands, the soft touch of her skin as her cheek pressed at my neck, and the comfort of her hips as they straddled mine, pressed with the heated moisture that bound us together. It was sensory overload for the primeval portion of my brain, and I was helpless to stop it's response..., I began to get an erection. My own anxiety began to grow at the realization that I, too, was incapable of stopping the inevitable, and as the lapping waves continued to rock our interlocked bodies in this strangest of situations, my physical arousal grew with astonishing speed and strength. It would only be a matter of time now, before...

I felt as Lisa drew in a deep breath, holding it tightly in her lungs silently. She began to lean back, gently releasing her tight hold on me, and slowly sitting herself upright on my lap. Her hands trailed along my shoulders, coming to rest on my chest, her full weight coming to bear on my excited member. If it wasn't enough, this precarious mixture of sexual angst and embarrassment, my eyes would find themselves focused to the sight of Lisa's chest as she sat herself back; her perfectly shaped breasts pressing her chilled and stiffened nipples hard to her clinging swimsuit. It was heaven and hell, all in one brief moment.

I slowly pulled my eyes upward, unknowing of what to expect when they would reach her face.

The remnants of a tear trickled down her soft cheek, pausing before it dropped off her face. Lisa's mouth hung open speechless, her eyes wide open with an expression that held me in suspense. I struggled to decipher her thoughts, her face hovering between a look of surprise and shock. I suppose that mine was the same, and for a long, silent moment we sat motionless, staring into each others eyes; shocked, embarrassed and confused. And just as I heard the sounds of an approaching motorboat, I could swear I felt Lisa's hips tilt, pressing her pubic bone ever so slightly harder against my throbbing hard on. But just as quickly as I felt, or thought I felt her movement, she heard the same sounds of the approaching boat, and swiveled her head around to see one of the park outboards approaching us. My eyes were still fixed on her in fascination, and self doubt.

And just as quickly, our precarious situation would come to an abrupt end, as Lisa half stood herself and then plunged into the water. I could hear the sounds of familiar voices calling out from the approaching boat, "BILL! Man are we glad to see you! Is everything okay?" It was Larson, throttling down his motor and drifting toward us.

"Yeah... yes, we're fine." I replied, watching Lisa bobbing in the water beside the jet ski, and shaking the cobwebs loose from my brain.

"Man, we've been trying to reach you for hours." He called out again, tossing me a small line.

"I... um... yeah, something must be wrong with my radio. Here, grab hold of Lisa's had and get her in your boat." I said, reaching down and offering my hand to Lisa. She grabbed hold of my hand and as John pivoted my jet ski around, grabbed his as well, John hoisted her up, helping her climb into the wobbling boat.

"John, give her your jacket, she freezing cold." I said, still watching her as she sat down in the boat, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Are you okay?" John asked her as he wrapped his jacket over her shoulders. She merely nodded a reply to him as she pulled the jacket close.

John gave me a look, and I returned it with a smile. "Go on, get her in. I'm fine here, I'll follow you in." I said.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah, go on. I'll be right behind you." I said.

As John sat himself back down, getting ready to take Lisa back to the station, I saw Lisa gently lift up her head and look at me. Her eyes were soft and loving, and I felt a flurry of confused and contradicting thoughts run through my head and my gut as I watched John gun the engine and the two head off toward the docks. I sat for a moment, watching them head off, thinking and wondering to myself of what had happened. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was exhaustion, I didn't know. But one thing was for sure, in that brief moment; with Lisa's warm and soft body wrapped around mine, her soft and gentle flesh pressed against mine, the way her body seemed to mold to mine like it was a glove, ... and the strangely erotic sensation of having her inner warmth flowing across my skin, it was the most bizarre and yet sexually exciting thing I'd ever felt. And sitting there, deep in thought, I began to sense the almost familiar scent of her mixed with the water in my clothes. And with as much surprise as the first time, I began to get another erection. "Oh god..." I thought, "I must be losing it."

I slipped off the side of the jet ski and down into the water, still wearing all of my clothes, and dunked my head into the water. I had to break out of this funk, get my head straight before I headed back to the station. Forcing myself to get serious, I climbed back on the jet ski and twisted the throttle hard, rocketing a rooster tail behind me as I shot toward the docks and... home.

Chapter Five

The dock was buzzing with activity as I arrived, the attendant tending to the jet ski as I climbed off and onto the dock, as I was met by several of the other rangers. After all of the back slapping and handshakes of congratulations, I cautiously looked around to find no sight of Lisa. I asked where she was and was informed that Carol had been at the dock to meet her. Ray was in the hospital, doing just fine much to my relief, and things around the park were not too terribly out of sorts. Much to my objection, I was ushered back to the station and "ordered" to see "the Doc" to get checked out. "The Doc" turned out to be Dave Johnson, sitting with a beaming smile in the coffee room as I stepped in, closing the door behind me.

"You crazy bastard!" He said with a smile, shaking my hand and ushering me to sit down on the table's edge.

"How's Ray?" I asked, feeling suddenly drained as I sat.

"Ray's fine, they had to put a few pins and screws in to sure things up, but he's out of surgery and already cussing at the nurses." Dave explained, adding with a chuckle, "He really hates needles."

"How about Carol?" I asked.

"Oh, she's fine. Just a little stressed out I think. She got a little sleep this morning before heading back here to see about her sister. When we couldn't raise you on the radio she got a little worried. You're dramatic entrance didn't help much." He went on, giving me a curious look.

"... and Lisa?" I asked.

"As far as I can tell, just fine. I sent Carol and her over to the lodge and had them set up with a room to get some rest. Now, how about yourself?" Dave asked, questioningly looking at me.

"Oh, I'm fine." I said.

"Funny, you look like shit." Dave replied.

"Thanks, Dave. Kiss your mother with that mouth?" I said, returning the jibe.

"I'm serious. What the hell happened? When I heard that someone spotted you driving that wave runner across the lake, I almost shit! What the hell were you thinking?" He asked.

I explained to him what had happened, how the river was not bad at all, only the very end when things got exciting. But when I began to balk about him having a look at me, insisting that I was just catching a quick breather before getting back to work, Dave finally pulled medical rank, insisting that I was done for the day.

"Listen, there's nothing here that we can't handle, no matter how important you think you are." He said with a smile. " Just go on to your cabin, get a good hot shower and relax. Doctor's orders!"

"Thanks Dave. I guess you're right." I replied, the sound of a good hot shower sounding appealing. "And Dave..."

"Yeah, Bill?" He asked, walking to the door.

"Thanks for everything. People are gonna know how good you were up there, and I just want you to know that I appreciate all that you did for Ray and Carol." I meant what I'd said, thinking to myself to find a way to reward Dave's excellent work.

"All in a days work." He replied simply.

"Yeah... I know. Just the same, I never forget a favor. And by the way, you should take your own advice, call it a day, huh?" I said. "I'm buying."

"Sounds good, Bill. I think we both earned our pay." He opened the door and stepped out, calling out before heading down the hall, "I'll see you at Ruggies."

I soon followed Dave, heading out the door and down the hall towards the exit, but not before stopping in the office to see how things were going. John Larson was sitting behind the desk, the phone propped to his ear, and he laughed as I walked into the room.

"What?" I shrugged.

"Johnson told me you'd be in here. Go on, get outta here. I'll fill you in at Ruggies tonight." It was starting to piss me off a little, being ordered around, but John meant it with the best of intentions.

"All right, all right. I'm going. But I want a full run down, here me?" I said, attempting to sound authoritative.

"You're the boss." John replied.

And as I left the building, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and a little bit strung out as I walked to my cabin, I thought about the men that worked for me. Good men, all of them. I tried my best not to put myself in the position of being "the boss", preferring to be known as just another one of the guys. Yeah, there were times when it was necessary to put the foot down, especially to some of the newer and younger men, but on the whole I felt that all of them respected the fact that I didn't walk around flashing my authority. They were a good group of guys, and I felt proud of the work we did and felt as though they did too.

After kicking my boots off at the door, I headed in to my cabin, ducking into the bathroom to draw up some hot water. It was dark and quiet in the room, always having felt more like a cave than a home, but it did have it's good points. And after spreading out my water logged wallet across the bureau and stripping off my still damp clothes, I stepped into the steam filled bathroom. "Jesus..." I whispered, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror before stepping into the shower, "You do look like shit." The comfort of the hot water on my skin cleared my thoughts for a while, as I felt the need to just relax. I could feel the tension slowly melting away with the water, and the satisfaction that everything worked out as it did. It had been a long two days.