35.
The MD 902 Helicopter carrying Fenton Hardy and Captain Stewart swept a course along the Fryingpan river. Hardy kept his eyes trained along the faint trace of the river.
"Hard to see anything in the snow. There must have been a pretty heavy fall last night. Keep your eyes peeled, sir." He said. Fenton Hardy nodded. The sheer amount of snow and the fact it covered most of their search area was beginning to play tricks on his eyes. He had to rub his eyes frequently and refocus on the landscape. Hoping to find some telltale sign of human life or an aircraft.
"Indeed, it is." Hardy said looking down through the field glasses. "Lots of snow. Which makes me wonder how and why anyone would be out in this firing off their guns. It looks rather deep the further this direction we go." He said grimly. Stewart nodded.
"Two feet deep, easy." He said observing the snow fall still on many of the trees. "The trees are weighing down with the latest. It's a good way of determining recent snowfall. The snow in the trees tends to melt sooner than what is on the ground. But there is plenty of it in the trees still." He observed.
They flew in parallel sweeps to the west of the river for the next half an hour. Fenton Hardy had hoped they would have encountered the people who had been responsible for the gunfire. He had really hoped they would have run across the downed aircraft they sought. The more he studied the terrain and all the new snowfall, the more he realized how hard it would be to see a white plane in all of the snow. He further realized that the plane would likely be covered in snow if it had indeed been down for over two days. With a firm jar he swept his field glasses back and forth.
"C'mon, c'mon. Just one break." He muttered softly. Captain Stewart gave him a sideways glance.
"I hope that break comes soon." He stated. Hardy looked back at him. Stewart pointed down to an indicator on the screen. It was a fuel range estimation system readout. "We are under 100 miles range, sir. Which gives us about another half an hour before we have to refuel. And, well, once we go back and do that, the sun will be setting around the time we would get more fuel in this thing. While you can fly at night. You can't fly a copter in this range of the mountains in the dark. You have to keep within the FAA guidelines of safe altitudes in the dark." He said.
Fenton Hardy nodded grimly. He couldn't argue this point as it was quite valid.
"I understand, Captain." He said. Stewart looked over to him briefly.
"Well sir, there are a lot of ground rescue in on this as well. Forestry has every man they can spare on this and there are several rangers pulling double shifts anywhere near the triangulation area. Granted that is a lot of treacherous ground to cover and things do not move as quickly as we want, but there are feet on the ground!" He said attempting to reassure the worried detective.
Fenton Hardy briefly lowered the field glasses to his lap and rubbed his eyes. Stewart turned the copter towards the opposite side of the river. Hardy gave a yawn. He couldn't remember the last time he slept. His anxiety made rest impossible. His boys had been in harm's way before. But the element of an air crash and its implications were hard to shake off. The reality of the probable outcome was not one which Hardy wanted to even reckon with at the moment.
Captain Stewart gestured over his shoulder towards the back access of the cockpit area.
"Drinks in the cooler sir. If you need a pick me up. Caffeine might be in order for you. If we were on the ground I could make some coffee in the galley." Hardy smiled and nodded. He turned to his left and found a small cooler.
"Much as I'd prefer a coffee in the temperatures, I will take a Coke just to keep me going. Thank you." He said pulling a Coke from the cooler. He sat back for a moment and popped the can open. He took a drink and closed his eyes.
A moment later without explanation, Captain Stewart pulled hard on his controls and the craft took a deep bank to the right! Fenton Hardy sat bolt upright. He looked to Captain Stewart.
"What's going on, Captain?" He asked. Startled by the sudden maneuver. Captain Stewart pointed over to the left beyond a couple lower lying foothills.
"Is that what I think it is, sir?" He asked with a perk of hope to his voice. Fenton Hardy seized the field glasses and trained them on the area Stewart was indicating. To his amazement he saw a faint, but distinct trail of black smoke rising into the air!
"Affirmative, Captain! Smoke!" he exclaimed. Renewed with hope Hardy picked up his drink and downed it quickly.
"I almost didn't see that!" Captain Stewart stated. He turned on his radio transceiver. "This is CAR 29er. We have a smoke sighting on the base of Red Table. We will investigate and advise. Over."
"CAR 29er. Understood. Please advise and indicate regarding status 3. Over."
"Roger that. CAR 29er, over and out." He said and flew swiftly in the direction of the smoke. Mr. Hardy looked over to Stewart.
"I guess I shouldn't get too excited as it could be someone's camp fire or a cabin." He said. Stewart shook his head.
"I'm doubtful, sir. Smoke is too black for a home or cabin. And you would have to be a hardcore camper to be out in this and not even be at a campsite. There are no sites in this area. Keep your fingers crossed!" He said. The copter swung down lower towards the Red Table range foothills.
Chet, Kelly and Bill had been relaying material from the plane's seats to fuel the fire which had been burning low for the last fifteen minutes. As unpleasant the odor that burning such things produced, it was necessary to keep the blaze going!
Bill handed Chet the last piece of seat cushion. Chet tossed it on the fire and quickly backed out of the way to avoid the toxic smell. He resumed his spot-on top of the plane with Bill and Kelly. Chet coughed briefly. Then took a few deep breaths.
"Nasty crap!" Chet said. Bill nodded his agreement. He gestured towards the file which was now renewed nicely thanks to the added 'fuel'.
"Funny how that stuff is supposed to be flame retardant and yet goes up like a Christmas tree!" he said. Kelly shook his head.
"Whatever the Hell is in it, I have a good size headache right now. Almost feels like my head is beating." He said rubbing his eyes. Chet nodded. He too felt a beating sound in his head.
"You too, Kelly? Damn this stuff makes my head and ears pound." He said rubbing his temples. Bill, looked to his side and noticed Chet rubbing his head. Bill could feel a beating sound but he didn't have a headache and was perplexed. He looked back to Chet then to Kelly.
"I hear it too, but don't have a headache. I think the altitude is messing with us a…." his words faded as he had looked up along the crest of a hill and looked wide eyed. He couldn't find his voice. Instead he stood upright and pointed into the distance. Coming around the hillside was a large red colored helicopter! Chet stood up as did Kelly. A smile crossed all of their faces as they now knew what the beating sound really was!
"You see that?!" Chet exclaimed loudly. He and the others started waving their arms in hopes the chopper would see them when it came all the way around to their side of the hill!
Fenton Hardy and Captain Stewart hugged the foothill and came into a direct view of sight with the smoke. In the distance they observed a small fire! A moment later Fenton Hardy pointed to a pattern of damage in a tree line!
"There! Trees and branches, covered in snow, but bent and beat to Hell! And look down the line!" He exclaimed. The detective and the pilot spotter three figures waving their arms wildly standing on an abnormally shaped bank of snow!
"The missing plane!" Captain Stewart chortled. He smiled broadly. Fenton Hardy heaved a sigh at the fact they had found the missing plane and what appeared to be three survivors. Though he could not yet identify who they were, he was happy none the less that there were survivors!
"yes, indeed. The missing plane. Hiding under that sheet of snow and ice! Thank God for that signal fire." He said. Captain Stewart nodded.
"You got that right, sir." He looked down at the signal monitor. "Because that ELT signal has not increased one bit and we are on top of the damn thing. We could have flown by it a dozen times and not seen it without the fire!" He said.
Captain Stewart assessed the area and determined he could set the copter down safely.
"Luckily this thing is equipped to land in deep snow." He said. "I will have us on the ground in a moment, sir." He said. Fenton Hardy nodded with a broad smile. He was still very nervous. Pensive in fact. Until he knew his son was among the survivors he would not be fully relieved.
Captain Stewart was on the radio.
"We have a positive location on downed aircraft. Please be advised I am sending a digital signal location beacon with exact location. Please advise when you have a lock on. Over." He said. A moment later a voice came back.
"Affirmative CAR 29er. We have your transmission. We will have CAR 42 in route as well as Forestry. Law enforcement will also be in route. Be advised that CAR 42 is medivac equipped. Over." Captain Stewart nodded.
"Wonderful. We will assess the situation and advise further needs. But we do have a visual on three survivors. Medivac will no doubt be needed. Over." He said.
Captain Stewart set the helicopter down about seventy-five yards from the crash site. He turned to Mr. Hardy.
"Ok, sir. I am getting my medic and survival kits and we will get over there." He said. Captain Stewart and Mr. Hardy got out of the copter and jumped down into the deep snow. Stewart opened the rear passenger area and took out two large field packs of supplied and his hand radio. Mr. Hardy joined him and helped him with one of the larger packs.
"Let's go!" Fenton Hardy snapped and the pair headed towards the plane and the three figures who were clearly relieved to see rescuers!