Chapter 12: To the Rescue
"Quick young ones! We don't have much time!" Mama Smurf shouted. She ushered her brave volunteers of three smurfs and four smurfettes onto the backs of two blue herons. Each smurf and smurfette carried extra rope and rolled up blankets. Handy, Tattlerette, and Farmer took their spots onto Ms. Blue's back, while Hefty, Toughette, Nursette, and Cowgirl hop on Ms. Blue's nest sister, Cerulean.
As soon as Mama Smurf, herself, hops on Ms. Blue, both birds took off towards the dangerous field where most of the debris had fallen from the volcano. Although, the rocks and lava seemed to have calmed down a bit, the danger still lingers.
"As soon as we land, young ones, we will rescue our friends then make it up Mount Peak before the sun sets." Mama Smurf instructed to the others while pointing at the tall mountain at the opposite end of the forest.
"That sounds a lot easier in words, rather than actually pulling it off in reality." Farmer Smurf commented. He looked up and notices that only a couple of hours remain before sunset, if they are lucky. The job Mama Smurf described could take at least half a day.
"It does, I know. But if we all work together we can at least make it out of harm's way before this volcano fully blows."
The blue herons finally glide down past some burning trees and into the field below. As soon as they landed the smurfs and smurfettes jump off. Right away they all ran to where they heard voices calling out in distress, all but Mama Smurf, she turned to Ms. Blue and Cerulean.
"Thank you, my friends, now you go get yourselves to safety." She told the birds. Ms. Blue and Cerulean nods their heads before lifting off to fly away. Mama Smurf watched them fly past the trees and disappear before she joined the rescue team.
"Help!" A muffled voice cried out from behind some fallen branches. The branches were blocking a small cave entrance. A thin rusty red color hand pokes out to wave at the smurfs and smurfettes as they came running up to the area.
"We need to move these branches out of the way." Hefty ordered, as well as stating the obvious. He turned to the western style smurfette and barked, "Cowgirl!"
"Way ahead of ya, partner!" She said as she tosses her lasso up towards the thick tree branch above them.
When the other end came down, Handy, and Nursette quickly tied it to the fallen bundle of branches. Toughette, Farmer, and Hefty ran up to Cowgirl and together they prepared to pull the rope. In no time Handy and Nursette have the heavy branches tied. Handy gives the others a 'thumbs up' stating that the branches were ready.
"Alright everysmurf, put your backs into it!" Hefty commanded.
With three mighty heaves the branches are now high enough for Nursette, Handy and Tattlerette to head into the cave and investigate the condition of the trapped Wood Sprites. The first thing Handy Smurf notices was that these were not your usual Wood Sprites. They were all at least three and a half apples high, and very thin. If the Sprites wanted too they would blend easily amongst the twigs or small branches in the trees. They wore clothes that are elf-like. But what really stood out though was that each Wood Sprite had their own distinct skin color, and all had dragonfly shape wings.
"Is everyone alright in here?" Nursette instantly asked as she entered the cave.
"We have wounded over here, Nursette!" A light green male Sprite said waving his thin hand in the air.
Without delay, Nursette rushed towards the back of the cave where two injured Sprites lie.
The rusty red Sprite turned to the smurf beside him. "Thank you Hef…wait a sec, you're not Hefty."
"Um, no, I'm Handy Smurf, ma'am." The carpenter smurf replied politely.
"Could we leave the introductions for later? I would be more then happy to fill you in on the whole story." Tattlerette jumped in between the sprite and Handy. "We should see if Nursette needs help with the wounded first."
Nursette turned to Tattlerette and Handy as they came running up. "I'll need a gurney about four apples long, and two apples wide." She ordered.
"I'll get it!" Handy offers. He quickly spun around to run back outside. On his way out, he passed Mama Smurf that was rushing up to the injured victims.
"What is happening back here?" Mama Smurf asked her young smurfettes.
"Mama Smurf! Tasle and Marla are badly hurt. We are going to need a gurney in order to get them to safety. Handy just left to go quickly build one." Nursette explained while addressing the pale blue Sprite and the pink Sprite on the ground.
"Alright. In the meantime, I suggest we patch up these wounds as best as we can." Mama Smurf commanded.
"Yes Mama Smurf." Both Tattlerette and Nursette chime at once.
Handy passed Hefty, Toughette, Farmer, and Cowgirl on his way towards some fallen branches and leaves. Hefty looked at him with curiosity.
"Hey what's going on?" He shouted at his carpenter friend.
"I need to build a gurney in order to help haul out the wounded!" Handy explained.
Hefty turned to his girlfriend, whom was struggling with holding onto the rope. "Toughette go help him!" He told her. She looks up and saw the trust he has for her. Toughette says nothing but nods her head 'yes' before releasing her grip on the rope. She quickly ran over to where Handy Smurf crouched down.
Handy concentrated on how he could build a strong reliable gurney with no tools and with only the fallen branches. Before he even could start, Handy noticed Toughette running towards a nearby bush. She started tugging at some large smurf size leaves that were growing beside the bush.
"Here Handy, we can use these leaves for the base, they are strong enough!" Toughette quickly explained as she tossed three large thick leaves down in front of him.
Handy looked at the leaves questioningly. "Ah, I don't think…"
"You don't think?" She spat. "Handy, I know how to build gurneys, ok! What do you think I used to smurf Hefty to the Smurfette Village when I found him?"
"If you say so…We still need strong branches and we can use the extra rope we brought."
"Ok."
As quickly as they could, Handy Smurf and Toughette built a reasonable gurney in record time. The crackling sound of burning branches high above their heads encouraged them to move with incredible speed. A branch fell from one of the trees and landed in a nearby bush, which in a result caused it to go up in flames.
"This is as good as it's going to get, let's go!" Toughette said with a hint of panic in her voice. Handy agreed and helped her carry the gurney back into the cave.
The rusty red Sprit started to notice that the smurfs holding up the heavy branches were starting to get tired.
"Here I'll help you!" He called out as he ran up to them. The Sprite grabbed hold of the rope to help them keep the branch suspended long enough so his people and the other smurfs and smurfettes could get the wounded out.
"Thanks Coron." Cowgirl said gratefully.
"Not a problem Cowgirl." He told her.
As soon as the injured Sprites were hulled onto the gurney the smurfs also laid the extra blankets on with them. Handy, Toughette, and a female mauve Sprite start pulling the poor wounded out of the cave. The others follow close behind. When the last Sprite left the cave with the smurfettes, the smurfs and Coron let go of the rope and allowed the branches to fall.
"Is this all of you?" Mama Smurf asked as she mentally did a head count of every smurf, smurfette, and Wood Sprite.
"No, there are two more trapped in the smaller cave down the meadow." Coron explained.
Both Toughette and Nursette run up to the smaller cave, and the first thing they notice was that the entrance was being blocked by yet another fallen branch and a few boulders that must have rolled down from the hill behind them during the last quake.
"Is anyone hurt in there?" Nursette called out to the trapped sprites.
"No, we are just trapped." A Sprite replied from behind a small opening.
Mama Smurf, along with Hefty and Handy run up to inspect the scene.
"How are they?" Mama Smurf asked.
"They seem ok. Just trapped. Mama Smurf, you should start getting the others to safety. We'll catch up." Nursette informed the smurfette elder.
"You will be ok?" Mama Smurf appeared hesitant.
"We'll be with them, don't worry Mama Smurf." Hefty assures her as he addressed both him and Handy, whom had already started tying the branch up with another extra rope they brought.
"Yes Mama Smurf. This shouldn't take too long. Right now, you and the others really need to make sure the wounded Sprites are safe." Nursette commanded.
"Ok then. Stay safe my young ones." The red capped elder said before running back to group surrounding the gurney. "Alright everyone, let's get smurfing now!"
"But what about the others?" Farmer Smurf asked pointing to his fellow smurfs with Toughette and Nursette.
"They assured me they will be fine and will catch up with us shortly, Farmer. Would you go help Cowgirl, Coron, and Shia in pulling the gurney please?" Mama Smurf said.
"Alright Mama Smurf." Farmer nodded and ran up between Cowgirl and the mauve Sprite. All together the four of them pull with all their might out of the meadow and up a nearby path. Mama Smurf took the lead, while the light green Sprite followed from behind, more so to keep an eye on the injured.
Meanwhile, Handy had just finished tying the branch. Hefty tosses it over a strong branch on the tree above them. Handy, Toughette, and Hefty pull down with all their might, lifting the branch high above them.
"You both got it?" Hefty asks the others. Handy and Toughette both nodded, yes. Hefty let go of the rope and began to help Nursette in moving some of the heavy boulders that were still blocking the entrance of the cave. Finally they were able to make an entrance big enough for the Sprites to come out from.
"Thank you, my friends." A golden yellow Sprite sighed gratefully as she climbed out.
"You can thank us later after we get to safety." Nursette stated quickly.
As soon as the purple Sprite came out, Toughette and Handy drop the branch, and all six of them headed for the same path the others took. But before they could reach the path, a tree, so engulfed in flames, came crashing down in front of them. This of course blocked the path entirely, creating more bushes and trees to catch fire, thus making it too dangerous to catch up to Mama Smurf and the others.
"Something tells me we better find another way out of here." Nursette stated as matter of fact.
"Agreed, follow us friends!" The purple female Sprite said as she led the smurfs and smurfettes up along another path.
The path were somewhat clear, but still not quite safe since the trees above were crackling with flames and the burning branches fell around them. Eventually they came up alongside a ravine, which is now supporting a river of lava. They all stopped sudden in their tracks and just stared out to the other side of the ravine.
"Why did we stop?" Handy asked in between breathes.
"The bridge! It's gone!" Toughette said with a cracked voice.
"What bridge?" Handy questioned.
"There was a bridge here. It would have been the quickest rout to get up to Mount Peak." Hefty explained.
"The lava must have destroyed it." Handy suggested as he inspected the scene more closely. He noticed charred wood panels that were used to hold up a bridge at the edge of the cliff.
"Well, it looks like we are finding another way across." Toughette sighed.
"Oh my Smurf! The others! You don't think…?" Nursette couldn't bring herself to finish her question.
"They had to have made it across." Hefty said, trying to sound confident.
"They must have." Handy spoke up. He finds the marks on the ground to be very interesting. "Here we see tracks that only the gurney would have made…and if you look carefully, you can see the same tracks start up again on the other side. It continues up towards the mountain."
"I hope you are right, Handy." Hefty said as he places a hand on his shoulder.
"Look, Tiango and I will scout ahead. We will try and find another way to get you four across." The golden yellow Sprite suggested.
"Morligo and I would fly you all across, but I'm afraid the ravine is too wide and we are just not strong enough." The purple Sprite shook her head in regret.
"That's alright, we understand." Nursette assured them sweetly. "We will catch up to you further up the hill then."
"Alright." Morligo nodded her head before she and Tiango flapped their dragonfly wings and took off.
"Ok everysmurf, we've got a long way to run, so lets start smurfing." Hefty ordered.
"I never smurfed so much running before in my life." Nursette groaned.
"Well, I'm sure if you'd workout a little more like Hefty and me, then you wouldn't be so tired now." Toughette said as-matter-of-fact.
Handy couldn't help but to shake his head. How that sounds so familiar, he thought. He turned to give Hefty a 'knowing' look before the four of them continue their jog up the hill.
Toughette and Hefty took the lead as they all ran up the hill. Handy followed close in second, while Nursette struggled to keep up from behind. The four of them had to take a slight detour when they came across another blocked path due to the forest fire and falling debris. They have made their way up deeper into the forest and are now trying to make their way back down towards the ravine in hopes to catch up to the Sprites.
Nursette suddenly was taken off guard when a scared wolverine jumped out of a bush. The beast became so stunned to nearly run into the little blue smurfette that he started to growl at her, thinking that she's a threat.
"Easy friend," Nursette said, trying to sooth the beast. "I-i-it's going to be alright…"
The wolverine was so scared of what's happening around him that he doesn't care to listen to Nursette's calm words. He began to snarl as he prepares to attack the young blond smurfette.
"Oh dear!" Quivered Nursette.
"Nursette!" The others all turned and yelled at once when they realized danger Nursette was in.
Handy, being the closest to her jumped in between the wolverine and Nursette. "Stay back!" He warned the beast.
Toughette and Hefty quickly pick up the strongest long sticks they could find, and rushed up to rescue their friends.
As soon as Nursette noticed the wolverine's claws rising up to prepare to lash out, she knew they were in real trouble. "Handy! Look out!" She yelled, grabbing the carpenter smurf and pulling him back. Unfortunately, she was not quick enough. The wolverine's claws managed to knick Handy's arm, causing him to fall over in pain.
"Hee-Ya!" Toughette yelled as she does a leap kick, knocking the wolverine over with a stunned look on his face.
"I suggest you get up and leave, friend. We don't want to hurt you." Hefty tried to play the 'good cop' role in order to convince the scared beast they mean business.
Not convinced at all, the wolverine got up and prepared to attack once more. This time Hefty swung his stick it at him. The wolverine fell back, but didn't give up. He spun around and readied himself to leap at the armed smurfs. Before making his attack, the wolverine sensed something. He looks up towards the hill behind the thick bush then quickly ran off in the opposite direction.
"That was too easy!" Toughette stated. "Wolverines never run from a fight."
"Who cares? Let's just get out of here!" Hefty snapped back.
"Wait! I need to bandage up Handy's wounds." Nursette said as she puts her medicine bag down and opens it.
"You have to do that now?" Toughette screeched with a look of disbelief.
"Yeah, it's not necessary. I'm fine." Handy tried saying as he waved off Nursette's offer to clean his arm.
"Nonsense! Your arm is bleeding. I will not allow you to run around with such an injury so it could become infected. I'm sorry, but that is not how I do things." Nursette stated in a lecturing tone.
"Oh brother," Toughette sighed. "Leave it to Nursette for when the sky is falling around her, she still will find time to clean off a few scratches." Hefty responded with a chuckle.
Nursette pulled out a small bottle and a gauss. She dabs a few drops the liquid substance onto the gauss but paused to look up at Handy, sheepishly. "I'm sorry. This could sting a little."
Handy tries to prepare himself for the worse, but didn't expect the worse to be so painful. He winced as he groaned loudly.
"Sorry." Nursette again apologized with a cringe as she started putting the Band-Aid wrap around his arm.
"It's ok," Handy said as he started recovering from the pain. He softened his face and smiles up at Nursette. "Thanks."
"No. Thank you for trying to protect me." She said with a blushing smile.
Both Hefty and Toughette shook their heads, knowing that those two were now lost in each other's eyes. Toughette's attention suddenly turned to a strange, almost rumbling, noise, which was creeping down the hill behind them. Curiously, she walked up to the thick bush, and pulls back some of the leaves to see what this noise was. Stricken with shock, Toughette lets out a loud yelp when she saw a river of lava rolling down the hill towards them.
"What's wrong, Toughette?" Hefty asks. He normally doesn't hear Toughette out of her 'tough' character.
"Ah, Hefty. We have a slight problem." She said, with fear written all over her face. This started to really concern the strong smurf.
"What?" He asked, walking up to her.
"THAT!" She yells as she points up towards the hill.
"WHOA!" It was Hefty's turn to yelp.
Without delaying another second, Hefty and Toughette drop their fighting sticks before running up to Handy and Nursette.
"There done." Nursette cheered as soon as she tied the ends of the Band-Aid together.
"Good! Because we are smurfing out of here right NOW!" Hefty screamed in a panicky tone.
"Why? What's up?" Handy questioned.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because there is a huge river of lava coming right for us!" Toughette screeched as she pointed up towards the hill. The smurfs looked up to see the trees were all going up like roman candles. And the lava, glowing red, came oozing into view.
"WHOA!" Both Handy and Nursette let out a high pitched scream. Instantly they jumped up from the ground to start running along side with Hefty and Toughette down the hill.
Nursette for some reason came to a screeching halt, spun around, and ran back towards the burning lava.
"Nursette!" Hefty cried out, being the only one that noticed her action. He quickly turned to run up after her.
The braided blond smurfette stopped to pick up her medicine bag that she had laid down just moments ago. She threw the strap over her shoulder then stood frozen, and wide-eyed in seeing the hot lava racing towards her.
Hefty caught up to her and quickly grabbed her upper arms to shake her back to reality. "Come on!" He yelled at her. Before she could react to what he said, Hefty took a hold of her hand and started running - tugging her along.
Tiango and Morligo flew up towards them along the same path. They gasped once they noticed the situation the smurfs were in.
"Hurry friends! This way!" Tiango calls out as she signals the direction she wants them to follow.
The smurfs have no trouble in following the Sprites down the path. Their little smurf legs never moved so fast before in all their lives.
Morligo glided down towards Toughette and Handy. "Up ahead we found a narrower part of the ravine and some vines to help get you across. We are sorry, but that is the best we can come up with." She told them.
"It's fine." Toughette panted.
The two Sprites flew up ahead to ensure the vines were in reach for the smurfs. Toughette and Handy concentrate hard on targeting the vines. They grabbed hold and swung themselves forward over the ravine. The two smurfs could feel the heat rising from the hot running lava below as they swung across. Once their feet touched the ground on the other side, both Toughette and Handy collapse forward in trying to catch their breath. That's when they noticed Hefty and Nursette were not with them. They spun around to see their comrades still running with the lava quickly catching up to them.
"Hurry!" Both Toughette and Handy cried out to them.
Morligo and Tiango took the vines and brought them back to the other side so Hefty and Nursette could have something to swing them across. The heat rushing up along their heels causes Hefty and Nursette to run even faster. It felt like they were running forever and that the others across the ravine were so far away.
Hefty finally released Nursette's hand seconds before they both grabbed hold of the vines. Their own weights push themselves across with great ease. As soon as they landed on the other side, like when Toughette and Handy landed, Hefty and Nursette fell forward in a breathless heap. Their little hearts were beating so fast and so loud that it felt like it could explode right out of their chests.
The rumbling sound of the lava rushing over the cliff causes the smurfs and the Sprites to back away from the ravine even more. Mostly because the heat was becoming even more extensively hot. They all watch in awe over the beauty and destruction of this natural disaster.
Toughette suddenly starts laughing. The others looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"We just out ran lava! Talk about a real workout!" Toughette said in between chuckles.
Finally catching on to what Toughette meant, Hefty, Handy, Nursette, and the Sprits all started to join the golden haired smurfette in the joke.
Sometimes you just need to laugh in order to get over a scary experience.