Chapter 7

Jim takes a few deep breaths then restrains himself and lets go of Dewayne's shirt. "You need to finish getting these horses ready now." He stands close by as Dewayne finishes saddling the second horse. Dewayne leads the big bay out to the front hitching post next to the gray. "Have you called a vet for that horse yet?"

"No, I need to do that still."

"Let's go do that right now." Jim follows close behind Dewayne. He comes to the conclusion that Dewayne is stupid, but is not behind the absence of Jenny and Pete. Dewayne makes the call to the vet.

"I'm going to wait out front for Jeff." Jim walks out to where the horses are tied. A few minutes later, a brown Bronco pulls up to the barn with two men. The driver is a middle-aged man in his early forties and the passenger, a younger man, is maybe about thirty. They climb out of the truck and are both dressed in an official park uniform of dark green pants and tan shirts. They greet each other with a firm handshake.

The driver greets Jim, "Hi, you must be Jim. I'm Jeff Olson." He is sporting a thick mustache and wearing a ranger hat. "This is my assistant Brian Steiner. He is going to be stationed here. If by chance Jenny and Pete make it back here, Brian will radio us." Jeff pulls out a park map and spreads it over the hood of his truck. He points out the various stops like Little Pines, Meadow Loop, & Horse Flats that Jenny was scheduled to patrol. We should start out on this trail.

Dewayne comes trotting out of the shack and approaches the men. He interrupts them, "There is someone on the phone from the Los Angeles Police Department wanting to talk to Officer Jim Reed."

"Excuse me, gentlemen." Reed dismisses himself. He runs into the shack. "Hey, Mac. What's up?"

"I have over a dozen officers coming out to help with the search. I have contacted the sheriff's department and they will be sending some people to help as well."

"Mac, they can contact Brian Steiner at this location. He is overseeing all the manpower in the search. I'm about to ride out with Jenny's supervisor. We are hoping that Pete and Jenny left some good tracks for us to follow."

"Are you going on horseback, Jim?"

"Yes, because many of the trails are narrow and over rough terrain. Jeff says that hiking and horseback are the only mode of transportation that can get through certain trails. I'll call you when I can."

Jim walks back out to join Jeff and Brian. "Jeff, you should know that Jenny and Pete are down to one horse. I just discovered that the horse Pete was riding returned to the barn last night with what appears to be a knife wound in his hip. I have a bad feeling that it wasn't a riding accident that caused all of this."

"Why in the world didn't Dewayne report this information last night?"

"I'd like to know that myself. We could have been out looking for them hours ago."

"Well, there will be severe repercussions for Dewayne. I promise."

"Jeff, do you have a weapon?"

"Yes, I carry a twenty two caliber gun and usually a rifle too." Jeff heads to the back of his Bronco to pull out his gear including a leather rifle holster. He looks over the weapon and loads it. "Jim, do you need a weapon?"

"I have my off-duty handgun, but do you have a shotgun?"

"I like to be prepared for anything." Jeff pulls out a shotgun and some shells. "Take this. Hopefully, we won't need them though." Jeff grabs the first aid bag, canteen, flashlight, radio and food. He walks over to where the horses are and loads everything into the saddlebags of his mount. "Go ahead and mount up Jim. You take the gray. His name is Jackson."

Meanwhile, Brian, who had been on the radio, interrupts their final preparation, "Jeff, I just heard back from Greg. He spoke to some folks that remember seeing two people on horseback at Little Pines. Sounds like one was Jenny and the other must have been Officer Malloy. Everything seemed fine per the park guest. They just rode north out of the campgrounds."

"Do we know what time it was?"

"They said it was around ten thirty yesterday morning."

"Have we heard anything about Meadow Loop? It would have been the next logical place for them to patrol."

"Bill hasn't reported in yet. As soon as I hear something, I'll radio you."

Jeff grabs the looped reins from the hitching post and swings up onto the tall bay horse. The leather creaks as he mounts up. Jim does the same. "If you hear anything out of the normal, let me know about it. Expect to hear from us every thirty minutes. Brian, you're in charge of the new search teams as they arrive."

"Ok."

Both horses readily move out with a simple tap. They start out at a fast clip knowing that they made it as far as Little Pines. The day is warming up quickly with temps already in the low seventies. The heat isn't so much of a factor because of the strong winds.

Jim and Jeff hear back from Brian that campers also saw Pete and Jenny at Meadow Loop yesterday just before lunch. They take the information and cut off some distance and travel directly to there. They take extra time near Meadow loop to find signs of tracks leaving the campground. Jeff is very experienced with tracking and quickly notes the fresh marks of two horses. They follow closely the trail made and come up on an area that horses were tied and grazing. They deduce that it was a lunch or rest spot for Jenny and Pete. "No sign of any problem yet." Jeff says as he remounts.

"Can we pick up the pace a bit?"

"As long as the trail isn't too rocky for the horses."

Jim and Jeff ride hard until they come to an area of rocks and a more rugged climb to the crest. At the top they discover a small clearing with signs of a fire pit. They both dismount and tie up the horses. As they both canvas the area, each discovers something that leaves a lump in their throats. Jeff yells to Jim, "I found some blood over here. It's not a large amount, but it trails off in this direction." He points in the direction they just came from.

Jim kicks through the ashes in the fire and notices something. He reaches down and picks up a partial burnt piece of leather. He opens what looks like a wallet and gasps. "Jeff, I found Pete's wallet. Someone threw it into the fire."

"How can you be sure?"

"It has his badge."

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Jenny leads the way for big John, Steve on Trooper, and Dean. The sooner she gets them down to the trailhead the faster she can return to Pete. Of course, there isn't a guarantee that they will let her go when they reach the trailhead. An escape plan would be a good start. I need to be sure someone knows about Pete if something happens to me.

Still standing and bound around the tree, Pete looks down at the heavy silver badge in his open hand. How can I use this to cut the leather? First, he tries to run the edge of the badge across the leather strap in a sawing motion. It's difficult to position with little space between his hands. With sweaty palms the badge slips from his grasp and falls to the ground. "Great job Pete; now you have to bend down to get it."He scolds himself out loud.

As he looks down on the ground filled with dry pine needles, he notices some burning embers that rolled out of the fire area and into the needles. He quickly realizes the significance of Dean's mistake. He sees about three or four areas beginning to smoke just a few feet away from him. The wind is gusting to the east and if a fire starts it will be on track to follow Jenny. His sense of urgency to escape escalates. Pete squats down with great discomfort then manages to pick up the badge. He opens the pin in back of the badge and pokes and picks at the edge of the leather strap binding him. This is going to take some time, which I don't have. Pete looks around to see if there might be another option to try. He sees two spots where needles burst into flames. "Damm it. I've got to get free." While holding tight to the badge, he yanks back against the tree hoping to snap the leather. But no such luck, Pete only causes more shooting pain in his chest from the effort. He starts picking at the leather again with the badge. It puts a small notch in the edge of the leather. He switches back to sawing at the notch with the edge of the badge.

The two fires spread quickly with the help of the wind. An area of dry underbrush is quickly engulfed. Orange flames begin to climb up many smaller trees. The ground turns black as the fire moves away. Cracking and popping noises abound as the fire consumes things. The heat from the flames radiates toward Pete. He not only is perspiring from a fever, but now from the fire only feet away. The forest is like a new box of kindling from the recent droughts. Even if Pete was free he couldn't put out the large flames now.

He continues to work at the leather with the badge and sees the notch growing. Come on. Just a little bit more. Pete gives another tug with his waning strength and it finally rips apart. Now free, Pete looks at the wall of fire that is growing by the minute and drifting in the same direction of Jenny and the robbers. The steep trail down offers only a narrow path that is now consumed by fire. Pete makes his way over to the stream and soaks the cloth that Jenny gave him earlier. He uses it to cover his nose and mouth. He starts to approach the burning trail, but the heat and flames are just too much and he can't pass through. A whisper escapes his lips, "Jenny."

A forest fire doesn't take long to rear its ugly head. Smoke starts to waft above the trees and spread toward the east with the wind. Jenny is hiking through a difficult part of Devil's Canyon trail. The wall rises above them on their right, while to the left the ground drops down to the river in varying heights. It's very narrow and steep here. There are no real choices now. It's either up or down the hillside. A fork of the river stills follows alongside much of the trail and the sound of water flowing deafens the other noises. Suddenly, the distinct odor of smoke develops. Jenny picks up on it as well as Trooper who starts to snort. The usually calm horse begins to get agitated. Jenny recognizes the potential for disaster with a fire in this location. She glances up to see the smoke looming above. This may be her chance to escape. The horse's instincts tell it to run, but the mild pressure on the reins say the opposite. In the next few moments all hell breaks loose as Trooper's instincts take over. Trooper rears up and dumps Steve and collides into John knocking him over. The horse's familiarity with the dangerous trail gives him an advantage and balance that the men don't have. He stumbles a few times, but gains distance down the trail and away from the encroaching fire. Big John still shocked by the fleeing horse staggers to get up and to go help Steve. He and Dean spot the smoke for the first time. This is it. I have to try to run for it. Jenny takes off running down the trail. The men are so frightened and distracted by the flames licking up behind them that they don't notice Jenny's escape. She makes it a few yards down the steep trail then trips and falls down a ten-foot drop to a rocky ledge below. Trying to protect herself in the landing she shields herself with her right arm then hears a loud snap. She cries out as a sharp shooting pain overwhelms her. Knowing time is against her she rolls up, and cradles her arm looking for where to go next. The fire is fast approaching so Jenny makes a difficult decision. She creeps across the narrow ledge toward the river. The rocks beside the water are slippery, but Jenny knows that the water could be her only chance. While still holding tightly to her broken right arm, Jenny eases herself into the icy cold river. She slips down onto her bottom and starts to be pulled downstream with the current. Fortunately, the river is fairly shallow and there is little risk of drowning. She gets her feet out in front of her trying to protect her from the submerged rocks. It's a rough ride at first, but she comes to a spot where the river hooks around and has a deeper and quiet pocket to the right side. She half swims with her good arm and legs to the water's edge and grabs onto some tree roots for an anchor.

In the meantime, Dean and John help Steve up and they all try to half run and half walk down the path. The pace they are moving will not keep them in front of the fire for long. The narrow and winding path is almost impossible for them to navigate with three people. The injured leg of Steve is now putting all three men in danger. The smoke begins to blanket them and the men start to cough. Dean breaks off from the other two to make a mad dash down alone. He stumbles on the uneven path then begins to roll head over heels down the mountainside. He lands in an unconscious heap against a large fur tree. John and Steve still coughing and dripping in sweat from the heat continue to move slowly down the hill with little hope of beating the fire.