Title: Deadly Vacation
Author: DancingStar
Crossover: PSI Factor/ Sue Thomas F.
Pairing: Connor/ Lindsay, Jack/ Sue
Category: Adventure
Summaries: Lindsay imagined the trip to Alaska a little bit differently...
Comment: None, but if you can please send some medicine and tissues to me! My address is... :-) Just kidding!
Deadly Vacation
"Could you please drive slower?", Lindsay complained and looked at Connor, who drove his car along a mountain road highly focused. She looked at the road again which was buried under a thick blanket of snow.
"We should reach the hut before it´s getting dark. Jack said, grizzly bears live in this area and I don´t want to meet one", Connor replied.
Leaning back in the passenger seat, Lindsay sighed: "Oh great". A grizzly bear during their stay in Alaska's dreamy winter woods wasn´t really one of her wishes. It was her and Connors vacation and Lindsay actually preferred a warmer vacation place. When Connor then proposed to travel with Jack and Peter to Alaska, she wasn´t thrilled, but the idea counted. And Connor really tried to be a good partner...
Connor steered the car around a curve and then stopped it in front of a group of wooden huts. "We're there," he informed her and got out to inspect the houses.
Immediately, a dog barked loudly behind a door at the main house. The door opened and Levi ran to them. Levi was the hearing dog of Jack's deaf wife Sue.
"I thought you´d never arrive," Peter said with amusement, when he followed the dog, "How was your journey?"
Lindsay wanted to answer, but before she did, a cold gust of wind swept over them. Of course, Peter had noticed and looked at her. "It's a little colder than at home but the area is beautiful. Yesterday we even hiked to the Cave Of Eternal Ice", he tried to cheer her up more or less. Lindsay had heard of this underground cave system, consisting of pure ice, but basically she couldn´t imagine that here, somewhere in the Alaska Range, was something else but snow, ice and countless trees.
"If you tell me now that the Bering Strait is just around the corner, I cry," Lindsay swore in her thoughts, but that never happened.
"Have you already seen a grizzly bear?", she asked instead and Connor smiled. If Lindsay wanted to be worried, then she did it thoroughly.
Peter shook his head. "If I saw a bear, I wouldn´t be here. Come on in! I'll show you your hut."
Together they trudged through the snow to a small hut and Peter handed Connor a key. They entered and Lindsay was happy that their accommodation had electricity and warm water. Nevertheless, the hut housed only three rooms: one bedroom, one tiny bathroom and a living area. Due to the narrowness it all seemed very comfortable.
Lindsay looked at Connor. "Where is ...?", she wanted to know but once again Peter was first: "The kitchen is located in another hut. Of course we have only one of them and..."
"This will be our smallest problem," Lindsay said and threw her canvas bag on a chair in the living area. She had little luggage, probably because she hoped to return home quickly.
When Peter had left the hut, Lindsay checked everything curiously. Her eyes kept falling through a window, through which she could see the dark forest behind the house. The forest was creepy. It was hiding something mystical, Lindsay thought.
"Shall we go and see Sue, Jack and Claire?", Connor asked and Lindsay immediately slipped back into her jacket. Finally, she couldn´t wait to see her friends.
A little later, Connor and Lindsay were on the road to the hut where the communal kitchen should be located. She opened the door and a gust of wind and occasional snowflakes also swept into the house. Then she took off her jacket and walked along a short hallway. This ended in a large but shabby kitchen where two women were already busy. For the first time this day she met Claire and Sue and she was damn glad to see her friends again. "Hey! There you are", she greeted them.
"Hi", Sue smiled. But Claire looked stressed. "The stove is broken. What do we do now? ", she asked.
"I also didn´t want to come here. If Jack had only asked before."
"Yes," Claire agreed, "I wasn´t enthusiastic about this trip when Peter suggested."
"Therefore, I think we should go back home," Lindsay said and Sue shook her head. "We can´t. We can´t leave this place."
"Why?", Lindsay asked now and a shiver ran down her back. Although it was pleasantly warm in the entire house, she could feel the coldness of these creeps.
"Someone drained the fuel form our car just after our arrival. Because we came with one car, we're stuck. And if we´d decide to walk to Anchorage, the next town, we would walk almost twelve hours in this cold if Jack´s right."
"Why didn´t you tell us about this earlier?", Lindsay asked and turned on her heel. She wondered why Peter hadn´t told them about this, when she and Connor had got out of their car, but Sue told her that Peter knew nothing about it.
Now, she wanted to see if someone had also drained the gasoline from Connors car. When Lindsay, Sue and Claire reached Peters car first, they saw a black spot in front of the van´s rear wheel. Somebody had actually broken the tank and drained the fuel. This unknown person was no ghost, but a being of flesh and blood: She recognized the large footprints in the snow, leading into the woods.
"Is there a gas station or a garage you can call and ask for help?", Lindsay had no idea what else to say.
"Telephones don´t work up here," Sue told.
"Then I´ll use my cell phone."
"Mobile phones have no service. The mountains are to blame."
Lindsay pulled out her cell phone from her jacket pocket and actually saw NO SERVICE written on the screen. She never thought that two such insignificant words would make her so angry.
"What about the replacement tank? We always have a spare tank in our car!", she recalled and hurried to the trunk, where she took out a blue plastic canister. The tank held just as much gasoline so they could reach the next gas station in a case of emergency, but now it was questionable if they would even make it to the next town.
"It´s useless," Claire said and looked at the tank, "Your tank is damaged, too, so that new fuel would leak again."
Now Lindsay noticed the black spot next to Connors car. "Then we´re really stuck."
Lindsay told Connor about this in the evening and he wasn´t very happy about what had happened. "What about the owner of these huts?", Lindsay asked when she sat down on the sofa in the living room.
"I guess he lives up here in the last hut of this little village. Jack says, he isn´t very talkative."
"What do we do if food is short in supply? We can´t even get help", she said.
"Jack reported the owner of the huts told that the mountain rescue service comes by once a month...", Connor's voice was very quiet when he took her in his arms.
"But I don´t like it anyway," still skeptical, Lindsay looked at the little Christmas decoration, consisting of a garland with tiny Christmas balls, which hung over the now-burning fireplace and wasn´t removed until now although Christmas was over since month. The fire crackled softly and gave off the sense of silence and peace. But Lindsay knew deep inside that there was something else. A dark side. A dark power which was emanated by this place.
Next morning Lindsay met Jack for the first time since she was here. He was in the middle of the "square", the center of the village and chopped a pile of wood.
"Hi!", He greeted her cheerfully.
"Hey! What the hell came over you when you booked this trip for us?", She asked him. Lindsay was still angry she had to spend her vacation in the mountains but not at home.
"It was a surprise. But probably that was bad call." For a brief moment, he laughed to himself about his remark and thought Lindsay would do the same but maybe it wasn´t that funny.
It started snowing again and Jack was working faster. "Could you please help me?", he asked her and gave her two logs. More and more snow fell from the sky.
"Did you see Connor today?"
"He's skiing with Sue, Peter and Claire," Jack replied.
Lindsay just hoped they would find back safe in the impending snow storm. Unsure, she looked around and hoped for some sign of life of her husband. Perhaps randomly, he would return with his friends right at this time...
Then she saw a further hut. It looked haggard and the windows and front door were nailed with massive planks. "Do you know what´s in there?", Lindsay asked, while Jack hit the next piece of wood in half.
"No idea. When I received the keys from the owner, he didn´t allow us to enter this hut."
"This man has a name?"
"Frank Cradall!"
"Why doesn´t he come out of his house?", she asked, turning her gaze to the hut of Frank Cradall.
"Well, he probably has a snow allergy," Jack muttered and before Lindsay could say anything, Connor, Claire, Sue and Peter finally appeared. Levi was with them and jumped merrily through the snow. Connor kissed Lindsay´s cheek when he came to a stop beside her. He saw her bad-tempered expression. "Did you fight?", he asked amused, "Is it about the accommodation?"
"I really think it´s better if we get some help," Lindsay said.
"How do you plan doing that?", Jack asked, "We have empty tanks and mobile phones have no service. We should wait for the mountain rescue." Meanwhile Peter knew about their situation.
"Then we'd better find a radio. I´ll check the hut right there." Lindsay walked to the old hut.
"Don´t do that," Jack tried to stop her, "I won´t have trouble with Cradall. He said entering this hut it´s not allowed because it could collide..." With these words, Jack went to the little wooden house, which housed the kitchen and he left Connor and Lindsay, who were still staring to the old hut.
Ever since, Lindsay's curiosity became bigger. At night, she was thinking about the forbidden house, she couldn´t sleep and finally she decided to go to the hut. She would find a reason why no one was allowed to enter the hut and she knew it wasn´t because of the cabin was in danger of collapsing.
The way to the little wooden house felt longer this time, the distance to the cabin was at least 20 meters. Gently she pressed her hands against the door and wasn´t surprised when the door wasn´t opening. Shivering, she crossed her arms and looked around. Snow was falling again but she noticed a crowbar which was half on the porch of the house. She decided to pick it up and went to the back of the hut. There, she opened a nailed window with the crowbar and peered inside. Inside, everything was dark, it smelled like mildew and lots of spider webs hung from the ceiling.
Lindsay leaned on the windowsill and climbed inside. She was happy to have a flashlight, because at every step she did, she pushed with her feet against some items which caused a strange noise on the floor. Using the lamp, she was able to walk around the obstacles.
Slowly, her eyes got used to the darkness and now she could see a table and a chair. In the back of the hut there was a whirring freezer and a bed, covered with very old blankets. These blankets were piled up in a strange shape and it looked almost as if... Lindsay hardly dared to think this idea to an end: As if somebody was resting under the fabric. But who was going to stay the night in this rat hole?
"Hello?", she asked and took a further step on the bed. Carefully, she reached for the blanket on the bed. "Oh," she croaked out. Her throat was bone dry suddenly. The bloodied body of a young woman lay in the bed and even a quick glance was enough to realize that the woman's feet were separated and this mutilation left a large blood stain on the yellowed varnish.
Like a whirlwind Lindsay rushed to the window and fled back to her own hut.
"Wake up! Wake up!", she said to Connor and shook his shoulder. Tired, he turned around and looked at her. "What´s wrong?"
"I saw a woman! She is dead and her feet were cut off!"
"Where?"
"In the hut we´re not allowed to enter!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course, I'm sure! Come on, I'll show you!", She dragged him out to the place where the body was found and when they were standing in front of the bed in the ramshackle hut, the bed was suddenly clean. There was no dead woman.
"I don´t understand," Lindsay murmured confused.
"Maybe it was just a bad dream..."
"It wasn´t a dream, Connor. I really saw a dead woman. I'm sure!"
Connor looked at her, he finally sighed. "Let's go back to our hut, I'm just in a T-shirt," he complained about the cold and walked back to his hut purposefully. Outside the forbidden hut Lindsay discovered deep footprints in the snow. She was sure: The footprints hadn´t been here a little while ago. And she felt like as if she had heard a faint creaking, possibly from a tree branch, in the wood behind her.
"Maybe he got rid of the body," Lindsay thought when she caught her husband and Connor's face told her he didn´t even begin to believe it.
"You should at least check if Cradall is in his cabin... Please!"
Connor gave in. He´d be much happier if Lindsay was calmed so he went to Cradalls hut, she followed him and he knocked on the door. Seconds later a large, old man opened the door and looked at them anxiously.
"You all right?", he asked. Now, Connor had to find a white lie quickly. He couldn´t tell the old man that his wife thought him a murderer. Again he looked at Mr. Cradall then he stared into the forest near the small hut. Now he knew how to apologize.
"Sorry for the late disturbance: We thought we heard wolves", he lied and Cradalls wrinkled face showed concern.
"I hope they don´t come here. If you see wolves between the huts, let me know. I got a shotgun."
"You use the gun only for hunting or do you also shoot other trophies? Young women, for example?", Lindsay asked. She believed in what she saw in the hut.
"What?", the old Cradall asked. He seemed to know what it was, but…
"There is nothing, Mr. Cradall! I´m sorry, she's just tired", Connor had to lie again and he moved Lindsay gently from the front porch, "Come on, honey, you need to get some sleep."
Mr. Cradall went back to his house a little offended but when Connor and Lindsay had left, he crept out again on his porch.
He still saw the slim, dressed with black strappy sandals legs of a woman, which stuck out of the deep snow near the forest...
"I can´t believe you did that!", Connor said to Lindsay, when they were back in their hut.
"And I can´t believe you don´t believe me!"
He made a big step toward her. "Listen, this was planned as our vacation..." With one hand he lovingly stroked a strand of hair out of her face, "Last night, you've hardly slept and you may you don´t get the height. I mean we're on a..."
She interrupted him with a shake of her head: "I know you just wanted to be kind, but that's a terrible vacation!"
"I´m sorry. Can you forgive me?"
"Yes. I guess I can forgive you", she wrapped her arms around him, too, "If you just hold me."
Next day at noon Lindsay took a walk alone in the woods. She didn´t come skiing with her friends because she wasn´t able to ski. As a child her overprotective mother never allowed she learned skiing and so she sometimes was bored when her parents had fun and the snowy tracks.
Lost in thoughts Lindsay walked through the woods when suddenly two arms wrapped around her. She let out a scarred yell when she landed in the cold snow.
"Gotcha!", the person released her. It was Connor, who tried to get up now and reached for his skis.
"You are so mean", Lindsay scolded him laughing and wiping snowflakes from her hair, "I thought you were a bear or someone who wants to rob me out."
"You should be quiet. You maybe lure a grizzly. That´s why...", he began, slipped and landed with his skis on the bottom on a semi-hard frozen tree trunk. Both heard a crack and then Connor screamed in pain.
"Oh God!", he bellowed, "I think I broke my arm!"
"Now you should be quiet!", she said, "Or you´re luring a grizzly... Now come on, I'll help you and then we walk back to our hut."
As promised, she helped him and they left the ski carelessly. They wandered through a small wooded area and Connor began to feel worse and worse. The pain in his arm became stronger and he also felt pain in his chest. He supposed he also broke a rib.
They stayed for a moment, Connor took a breath. In the forest behind them he heard branches breaking. Something was moving over there, something big. He told his wife about it and she opened her mouth to ask if it probably was a moose, but then she didn´t when Connor raised a warning finger. The sound seemed to be only remotely and to come closer. Now it was so close that he expected to see its shape in every moment. Connor shrugged his shoulders and suggested to go on. They walked some steps and when they heard a cracking noise again behind them, they stopped.
"There it is again," he murmured and turned around. At that moment he discovered a grizzly bear, which grazed through the forest.
"Move slowly. Bears can´t see well and if we're lucky, we´re on the tree before he even remembers that we are there", he gently pushed her to a tree and climbed up a few steps behind her. His arm and his chest ached terribly.
Lindsay stayed in the treetop, sat on a large branch and watched the bear.
The bear walked around the tree and rubbed its body on it.
Connor and Lindsay had to hold on tight if they didn´t want to fall down. Suddenly something fell from the tree directly at the feet of the bear and the animal recognized that is was presumably a lost haversack which was attached by some skiers and when the bear had eaten it, he came to the theory that there on the tree was more prey. When the grizzly realized he had no success, he threw himself furiously against the tree trunk and Connor and Lindsay had almost tumbled down from their branch. He wished he had two healthy arms and none of them was broken.
"Can he bend the tree?", Lindsay asked and Connor watched the bear.
"He'll try anyway!"
"What shall we do?"
"Try to stay on the branch... as long as you can! If I fall, just don´t try to help me or he kills both of us!"
Lindsay saw how Connor grimaced when the bear started another attack to the tree. She swallowed and grabbed him by the sleeve. "I won´t let you fall!"
"Maybe you… can´t prevent", his voice was slurred, "I... I am a bit... dizzy."
The Grizzly rattled impatiently at the tree trunk. He had raised himself to his full height and hit his mouth over and over again into the bark and several times fell with his whole weight against the trunk.
Lindsay looked around frantically. It was still snowing a bit. To their right there was a high cliff with loose rocks on it. With each attack they fluctuated a bit further in that direction.
"Connor!", Lindsay pointed to the rocks, "Shall we try to jump over there?"
"Good idea! But the bear would follow us!"
She could see Connor gave up all hopes. Probably because of the cold and the pain, or perhaps he got a concussion in the fall. If she wouldn´t help him soon he would fall directly into the bear's paws. She clutched his arm. "Let's try!"
Connor's face twisted into a wry grin that was typical of him sometimes. "Okay! The next time we jump over to the rocks! One... two... three... GO!"
They threw themselves into the air. Lindsay felt her breath stopping, when they impinge on the cold stone floor. Her fingers clutched on the rock, her feet trying desperately to find some foothold. Connor was two meters above her. At first Lindsay thought he was unconscious but then he groaned and climbed a little further up. They heard the bear was groaning angrily.
"Connor, hurry!" Lindsay urged, "Get up! We have to get out of here before he gets us!"
"I... can´t", he groaned and Lindsay was now next to him, "I will… just fall asleep … here."
"No, you won´t!", Lindsay hissed, "Come on, get up!" She pulled his sleeve. They finally left their position. Connor was tired and exhausted.
Lindsay looked down to the bear. He had ceased to work on the tree and then sniffed the air. In a few seconds he would have taken up their scent.
"Come on," she said again, "There´s a cave. We´ll be save in there!"
"Much too small," Connor grumbled and shook his head.
"Too small for a bear, but big enough for us!"
She pushed Connor into the little cave. "How much room is there?", Lindsay then asked.
"Not much," Connor touched his hurt arm. The pain seemed to become worse.
"Go on! Go on!", Lindsay urged and pushed him into the cave. She could already see the bear behind them.
"The cave is too small," Connor replied. He groaned when he tried to create also space for her. Suddenly, they could smell the bear. The grizzly was following them and she noticed how the rock vibrated gently, when the bear's claws hit against the rock. And he was damn fast!
"Connor!", Lindsay yelled. At the last moment she crawled in the cave, when something grabbed her and tugged on her boots. Her feet slipped out of her shoe and she felt a brief, sharp pain. But then Connor grabbed her arm and with his last power he pulled her into the dark cave.
"He caught me," she gasped in shock and felt a warm liquid running down her ankle.
"I guess we´ll wish we had stayed on the tree," Connor whispered suggestively.
"Why?", Lindsay asked.
"Because we're trapped. The bear will find a way how to get us... and now you're hurt, too."
Lindsay was shaking all over. Her head bumped against the ceiling. Behind her, where the rocks met, she saw a gap and from the outside it was completely covered with snow.
"I don´t hear the bear anymore," Connor whispered, "He's probably gone. Or he is looking for another opportunity to come in here."
Lindsay felt how he pressed something soft into her hand. It was Connor's scarf. "This is for your hurt leg," he muttered, "Are you hurt badly?"
"No... My boots saved me." She could feel how her husband was shivering, too. He was apparently quite cooled down. She took off her Jacked and wrapped around his body. Her hand touched his cheek briefly. He felt cold. "Don´t worry," she promised softly, "We´ll find a way out."
Connor's head was heavy on Lindsay's shoulder. He must have fallen asleep.
"Hey, wake up!", she said and gave him a gentle nudge, "Tell me a joke or sing a song for me..." She knew it was dangerous if he fell asleep in this cold and possibly with a concussion. She just had to keep him awake. Connor´s head hit against the rough rock wall. "Ouch! Damn it!"
"Come on, sing!", she had to be careful that he wouldn´t fall asleep because she had no idea if the bear was nearby. She looked up at the snow-covered crevasse. Was she only dreaming, or was it already getting dark outside?
Connor finally answered: "Can´t sing... You said I´m a horrible singer... Last weekend you called me a drunken Elton John while I was singing under the shower."
"That´s not true! Hey, what´s the name of this Christmas song by Elton John?"
"Elton John is great..."
The bear was still in front of the cave and now he had worked on the rock so far that he could poke in a paw. Lindsay let out a scream and threw herself to the back of the small cave as much as possible and then she grabbed for Connor to get him out of the bears reach. The long claw grabbed for a curved piece of rock and she could hear the bear trying to break up the gap.
"Connor! It´s moving! My God, the rock is moving!", Lindsay shouted and picked up a stone with which she hit the bear paws. The bear had a strong will, but she had, too!
The grizzly gave a startling cry of pain, but the bear didn´t stop shaking violently against the rocks. They could hear him scratching at the stone surfaces. "The rocks loosen a bit," Connor muttered, "It´s probably useless, honey! It´s over."
After a walk in the woods Peter and Jack reached the clearing. Both were worried about Connor and Lindsay and had set out to find them. And just an hour ago when they had found Connors skis alone and abandoned, their concerns grew. "Over there is something...!", said Jack, looking at a few scraps of cloth and plastic sheeting that were snowed in half. "Looks like it would have been exploded… Just look at that tree! That must have been a bear!"
"There are footprints! That might be Connor´s and Lindsay´s! But where are they?"
"Last week," Jack began, "A bear attack was reported in this area. The bear has bitten a fisherman and then dragged him away. They found his body on a sand bank in a mountain river, half-eaten."
Peter suddenly felt sick. "You don´t think...?"
"We have to search for them," Jack said, pulling the shotgun out of his backpack, "How nice that Mr. Cradall lent it to me!"
At that moment they heard a scream. It came from the cliff They both looked up and saw a huge boulder fluctuate over the cliff edge and a mighty bear. "Look!", Jack shouted and the next moment the rocks tumbled down the cliff. Jack shot and Peter tried to avoid the rocks. In dizziness, Peter looked up again: Up there on the rock wall someone cried for help again!
"Get out!", Lindsay screamed and tried to hit the bear.
"Lindsay ...", Connor gave her a gentle nudge, "Stop it... He is dead… Help me to get out…"
Peter and Jack climbed up the cliff and with Lindsay´s help they managed to get Connor out of the gap. "We're glad you're finally here," Lindsay said and hugged Connor, so he stayed warm.
Peter stared at the mighty grizzly.
"It was a good shot. I've never used a shotgun before… Except for shooting plastic ducks at the fair", Jack said.
"I thought this would be the end of us", Connor gasped and looked at Lindsay, who began to cry with relief. She lowered her head.
"But now it's all over... and I´ll get well again", he reassured her and kissed her cheek when she didn´t want to calm down.
"We shouldn´t waste time," Jack finally said, when he put away Mr. Cradalls shotgun. "Let's go back to the hut!"
Back in the hut Peter first examined Connors broken arm. He wasn´t a doctor, but he would like to help and he was amazed: "Your arm isn´t broken. It´s only bruised bad."
"Fortunately," Connor said while he accepted a bag of ice for cooling, "What about my rib?"
"That´s another point", Peter admitted, "I guess you´ll have to see a real doctor because of that."
"You should relax," Sue suggested concerned and Lindsay exhausted agreed, "Perhaps the radio is working tomorrow morning."
"Where did you get a radio from?", Lindsay asked confused. Sue sat down next to her and handed her a cup of coffee.
"After Connor told us about your mysterious discovery of this woman, Jack crept to the hut and found a radio. It´s broken but he believes he can fix it."
"Maybe Cradall has some spare parts," Lindsay added but when she caught Sue glaze, she was silent.
"He doesn´t know we found his radio. I was just thinking you should know about the radio."
Levi jumped happily around them, waving like crazy with his rod. The dog then sat down in front of Connor and tried to play. But now he wasn´t in the right shape.
"We'll play another time, okay?", tired, he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Do you need anything?", Lindsay asked.
"I could like a bag of potato chips," he joked, shaking his head, "No, I just want to sleep a bit."
Lindsay escorted Connor to the cabin and closed the door behind him. She smiled: she hadn´t really thought of seeing this little wooden house again.
"Is everything okay?", she asked and she put her arms around him when they lay in bed together. He nodded wearily. "Yes, now it is."
"Levi, don´t run so far away!", Jack exclaimed to the dog, when he returned from a short walk with him. Sue was already sleeping but the dog didn´t want to listen to his owner: Again and again he returned to a specific point in the snow and rallied around it. Levi returned back to Jack and brought him a black lady's slipper. It didn´t make any sense to him, because he was sure neither Claire nor Sue and Lindsay would bring strappy heels to the cold Rocky Mountains.
Levi still scratched in the snow and Jack sprinted quickly to the dog. He pushed Levi aside and shuddered when he found a couple of separated feet. One foot was still wearing a black shoe.
He quickly rushed back into the house where he and Sue spent the night and after he woke his wife and after some consideration, they went to Connors and Lindsay's hut. "What´s wrong?", Lindsay asked as she saw Sue and Jack.
"Connor told us about the body without feet you supposedly found. Well, I think I've just found the rest."
When Lindsay heard this she woke Connor and then Peter and Claire and together they went to the place: In fact, there were the feet and the black shoes. "Unbelievable!", Connor exclaimed. Jack and Sue were a bit speechless.
For the first time they examined the separation more precisely. It was done accurate, without causing any cracks to the bone. Cradall probably had used a chain saw or similar things. Jack wondered why they were just caught in this situation.
Lindsay got up again. Suddenly she knew where the rest of the corpse was. "The hut, in which the bed was standing... There is also a working freezer. We should take a look."
"I think so, too," agreed Peter to her and at that moment they heard a faint click behind him.
"Nobody´s looking in my freezer", a voice said, "Turn around slowly or I'll shoot!"
They did what the voice wanted and when they had turned around, they saw Mr. Cradall. He kept his shotgun pointed directly at them.
"You can´t ...!", Peter began, but Cradall interrupted him:" I can and I will."
"But the mountain rescue...!"
"It was a fairy tale! Somehow I had to convince you to stay!"
"But why?", Lindsay said while Cradall stepped in her direction.
"The loneliness up here is very nice but if visit is appearing and finds out what happened, I can´t let them leave and tell my secret to the world, young lady. You found my little Annie..."
Lindsay knew who was meant: the woman. And now he would kill them all, just as he killed Annie.
"Annie was a good girl... So young and innocent...", he told, cocked his shotgun and for a brief moment he seemed to decide who should be shot at first. Levi exploited this indecision and pounced on Cradall. He threw him to the ground when suddenly a shot had solved. The bullet luckily missed Lindsay and hit a metal pot, which was put here by Claire after dinner. The bullet bounced off and hissed back to Cradall. It hit him right on the head and he died instantly.
"Levi, down!", Sue ordered and Levi sat down right now. A large pool of blood formed around Cradalls head. Connor hugged Lindsay. "Let's go. We have to get the radio fixed," he said, still shocked.
In the middle of the night, they managed to get the radio fixed. "Mayday! Mayday!", Connor yelled into the microphone, "This is Connor Doyle, please come! Does anybody hear me? Over!"
But the only response was a loud crackling and popping. "Perhaps someone heard us", Claire tried to cheer them up. And then a distorted voice came from the loudspeaker: "This is the mountain rescue! Are there problems? Please tell us your exact coordinates if you can."
Instead of an answer everyone was crying happily. They were happy they soon could leave this place. Connor had calmed down at first and told the mountain rescue their coordinates.
The next morning, the mountain rescue came to pick them up. The men also checked Mr. Cradalls body and looked after the woman's legs. They found Cradalls body, the legs of Annie and the rest of the corpse, which was hidden in the freezer as expected. Annie's remains were wrapped in plastic film and when the men of the mountain rescue saw her for the first time, they looked helplessly and shocked and shook their heads at the same time. They took Annie's dead body and with three helicopters everyone was brought to the next city…
Fin