Chapter 4

Just then the lights came back on and I could hear the phone start ringing over the hum of all the other machinery in the house. I ran to the table that housed the phone-set and screen and hit the 'respond' button. The screen flared with a fuzzy picture of a woman I'd never seen before.

"Yes, hello, this is Jeff Tracy..." I gasped through a mouth suddenly gone dry.

"Mr. Tracy, I'm so glad to finally reach you! I'm Theresa Simmons with the Marion County Emergency Dispatch Center. I'm afraid I have some difficult news about your wife..."

"Terri, I've already discussed it with Jeff," Sam moved in to stand next to me. "Have they picked up the boys?"

Her face fell. "No, I'm sorry. The copter just wasn't able to get through in this storm," she sighed. "But I do have your son, Scott, on the line. There's no picture but I know he'd like to talk to you. Shall I put him through?"

I could feel my mother come to stand next to me. "Yes," I said breathlessly. "Please, let me speak to my son."

Soon I heard his quavery voice. "Dad? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Scotty," I answered, my own voice trembling. "Are you all right? How is Alan?" I left unspoken the questions I wanted to ask about Emily.

"I..I'm okay," Scott said. "And Alan's fine. We're j..just really cold and really scared. When are you coming to get us? Mom...Mom..."

"I know, Scotty, I know about Mom," I said, leaning against the table hard. "I'm trying really hard to get you out of there, son, but you just have to wait a little longer. Do you have shelter?"

"We're inside the plane, Dad. Theresa helped me arrange it so it'll be warmer but the snow is still coming in through the holes and now it's snowing worse. I've got a fire going but it isn't very big..."

I could hear the terror in his voice and that made it even more unbearable. I heard the noise of my other three sons waking up in the back of the house. My mother left the room to attend to them and I turned back to the phone. "Scotty, I know this is hard, but you've got to try to be brave. I'm coming out there to get you, and that's a promise," I said firmly. "You hold tight until I get there, okay?" I said, pressing my hand against the blank screen. I didn't know how I'd do it, but if I had to beg, borrow or steal transportation, I was going out there today and get my sons. "Can you hold on, son?'

"I guess so," he said. "But...come and get us soon?"

"Just as soon as I can, Scotty," I replied. "Theresa, are you still there?"

"I'm here, Mr. Tracy," her face came back to the screen. "I'm sitting with Scott until he can be picked up."

"Thank you, I'm glad someone is with him. Can you tell me who you've contacted about using a snow cat or snowmobile? I'm going to start making some phone calls now that the system is back up," I said crisply, going into command mode. My boys were coming home if I had to ski in.

We kept the primary line clear in case there was news, but Sam radioed everyone he knew and I worked the phones, trying to find some kind of ground transport suitable to the heavy snow and rough terrain. Everyone was sympathetic but, as it turned out, every county in Kansas was stretched to its limit. The state was farming country, and a farmer with extra money was more likely to spend it on a new tractor than a snowmobile. Any that were available for rent, sale or could be commandeered were already in use by the local rescue organizations.

Lunch time arrived before I put the cell phone down. The house had been wonderfully quiet while we were working and I soon found out why. My mother had kept Virgil, John and Gordon in the back of the house with her. When she realized I was off the phone, she turned them loose. I was quickly ambushed by Virgil, a rambunctious seven year old, Johnny my five year old and Gordon at four.

They all wanted to know the same thing. Where's Mommy? Virgil climbed into my lap and was nudged out by Johnny and Gordy. "Where's Mommy?" Virgil demanded. "And where's Scotty? Are you going to go get him now?"

"What have you told them, Mom?" I craned my neck and asked my mother.

She shook her head. "I haven't told them anything except that they went shopping. Until we had the call, I didn't know what to tell them," she paused. "But I will say one thing, somehow Virgil seem to know what happened to Scott. He told me that Scotty was scared and crying and surrounded by snow."

I turned to Virgil and asked him gently, "Is that true, Virgil? Do you know what Scotty's feeling?"

Virgil nodded. "I always could. Doesn't everybody?" I was flabbergasted at my seven year old's logic.

I replied gently, "No, son, I think you and Scotty are a little closer than most brothers are," I replied. "Do you think that if you were somewhere near Scotty you could tell what direction he was in?"

Virgil thought about it for a moment, then he nodded. "Yeah, I bet I could. I can always find him at the park and in the mall. That way I never get lost when Mom takes us...took us shopping," he said, suddenly looking sad.

"You know something about Mommy?" I asked, shaken.

"Yeah," Virgil said sadly. "I can't feel her anymore. I think she went to heaven."

I pulled him close and held all three boys hard, resting my chin atop Johnny's head. "I think you're right, Virgil," I said softly, feeling the tearing sorrow flood me. I took a deep breath. I didn't have time to mourn. I still had two sons out there that I still had to retrieve, but I'd exhausted all my possibilities. The snow was coming down again, another blizzard had moved in and I was helpless.

The house phone rang and I alerted. Mom got to it first, then came and got me with a quizzical look on her face.

"It's for you, Jeff," she said and took Gordon from my arms, shooing Johnny and Virgil toward the television set. I moved in front of the screen and frowned, seeing a face I'd hoped never to see again. He was a pale, fat man with bushy white hair and wire glasses, his tiny blue eyes crinkled with amusement.

"Why, Jeff Tracy, I heard about your family difficulty and thought I'd call to offer my help," he boomed.

"Governor Hillis," I said slowly. "You've heard about the plane crash?"

"Oh yes," said Hillis. "Word does filter up to me. You know, that offer I made to you last month is still open. If I could count on your endorsement in the next election, as Kansas' famous astronaut, I might be able to help you. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours."

I had turned him down flat at that cocktail party a month ago, knowing him for a dishonest shyster of a politician who'd steal candy from a baby. He'd already gutted half a dozen social service agencies to pay off his campaign contributors. He was part of the reason that emergency services in Kansas were so underfunded. He'd been after me for months and just being associated with him would sully my name. Emily...Scott... Alan...What choice did I have?

I gritted my teeth and answered. "As a matter of fact, there's a favor you could do for me, Governor. Emergency services are tapped out, they tell me, and have to spend their resources where the threatened population is larger. Would you be able to spare me a State Guard team and a snow-cat?"

"I'm so sorry to hear about that," Governor Hillis said with a mix of glee and false sympathy. "You're in Edwards County and they went down in Marion, I understand? Consider it done. There's a snow-cat and team already on their way from one county over, in Kiowa. They'll stop by to pick you up in an hour and help you find your boy. They've already been in touch with Marion County Dispatch."

"You knew I'd accept your deal," I gritted, rage flooding through me.

"I didn't get where I am today without being a judge of men," Hillis said, with a crocodile grin. "My aide will contact you to set up your speaking schedule."

SCOTT TRACY

After I talked to Dad, Theresa had to hang up for a while, but she said she'd be back. I put the phone down next to me and cuddled closer to Alan. It was so cold and getting colder. I knew I should get more firewood and try to keep the fire going but I was just too tired. After all this time I really hoped that Dad would come get us, but I was starting to doubt that would happen.

What if they didn't come get us? I looked up at the flimsy little plane that kept at least some of the snow off and knew it was getting worse. I'd piled everything I could think of around Alan and me. I'd even taken Mom's blankets off; I didn't think she'd mind. Her face and hands were blue, so I knew she really was dead. Alan had gone to sleep and I was worried about him. He was so small. I'd wrapped all his baby blankets around him and put on his extra sweater, then replaced his baby snow-suit and hood. I opened my jacket and pulled Alan close to my chest, then zipped it up again, leaving only his face peeking out. Then I lay down and tucked the blankets around us as tight as I could. I was so sleepy, I decided to take a nap until they found us or Theresa called back.

JEFF TRACY

While I dressed in my snow gear and waited for the team to arrive, I thought about Virgil and Scott. They'd been inseparable since Virgil was born and seemed to get closer every year. I remembered losing Virgil in a grocery store and Scott deftly retrieving him from under a display. Then the two of them playing endless games of hide and seek, with Virgil unerringly making a beeline for Scott's hiding place. I eyed my seven year old and considered that there might be something in what Virgil was telling me. Then I looked out the windows at the heavy snow fall and realized that a GPS signal might not be enough to find a small plane.

The snow-cat arrived within the hour as promised. It was a big machine with a yellow cab on a pair of treads, suitable for just about any snow condition. I was dressed warmly, waiting for them, with Virgil by my side.

"You aren't bringing a child along with us, are you?" The leader of the snow-cat team snapped angrily.

"We're going to rescue his older brother," I said firmly. "Virgil has a knack for finding him. If this snow continues, we might need him."

The men grumbled but let me bring Virgil along. As for Virgil, he was delighted to be aboard the 'big machine' and peppered the men with questions about it while we traveled. I was content being silent, worrying about my two boys out there in that freezing wilderness.

We finally hit Marion County, traveling largely overland, and began to search for the GPS position the Dispatch Office had tracked. Even so, we were in a large, whited-out area and what I had feared, happened. We couldn't see a thing. We were on gentle rolling plains with occasional patches of trees, all of it covered in deep snow. We knew that the plane had landed in a small grove of trees, which narrowed it down somewhat, but in whiteout conditions that didn't help much.

We tried calling Dispatch, but Scott had stopped answering his phone. I tried his number but it rolled to voice mail. I began to fear that we were too late. I turned to Virgil, in the seat next to me, and asked him, "Virgil, how is Scotty doing now?"

He frowned, his brows meeting in the middle. "I don't know. I think he's sleeping."

The men and I exchanged glances. "Virgil," I continued. "Do you know what direction Scotty is in?"

Without hesitation, Virgil reached a hand out and pointed. "He's that way, Dad."

The driver shrugged and turned the snow-cat to follow Virgil's direction. Periodically, Virgil would alter his direction a bit, but we soon found ourselves next to a small grove of trees with a large, snow-covered lump in the middle.

As the team got up and began to collect gear, I turned to Virgil and said, "Virg, you stay here where it's warm. Will you do that?"

Virgil nodded. "You're gonna get Scotty?"

"Yes, I am, and Alan too. So you just wait here," I finished fastening my heavy jacket and climbed out of the snow-cat, heading for the wreck of the Cessna.