Beacon in the Storm - Chapter 3
It's 3:10 a.m. the following morning. Jack is sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands. Memories of long ago have trickled back into his thoughts and he's been debating with himself whether to be proud of Amy for taking off, or upset with her for risking her own safety due to Ty's poor judgement.
In the Family Room, Lou is playing spectator to a cribbage match between Scott and Mallory. Their third one, to be exact. Scott won the first two. No one has been able to sleep since Amy rode off on Harley.
Outside, the storm is still raging with gusts of wind often howling like an angry wolf. This only adds to the nervous tension that everyone feels. They do their best to ignore it.
"Fifteen two, fifteen four, fifteen six and six for twelve."
"How did you do that?!" Mallory complains. "That's the third time in a row you've scored at least twelve points!"
"I only scored two points on the last crib." Scott reminds her while moving one of his two scoring pegs.
"That's because I gave you garbage. Like you're supposed to." Mallory shares, crossing her arms in frustration. She'd managed to beat everyone else at least three times and figured she'd do the same with Scott. But it's not working out that way.
"I guess today's my lucky day." Scott shares, smiling at Mallory who softens just a bit. Then he turns to Lou, "Given how this day has been going, I think I deserve some. We all do, actually."
Lou returns a half-hearted smile but then looks at her phone for the 118th time in the past 90 minutes.
Amy texted a smiley-face about a half hour after she left. They haven't heard anything since.
"She'll be okay, Lou. Amy's a smart girl. She's wearing multiple layers and she's got a thermos full of your hot apple cider to keep her warm." Scott reminds her.
"I'm not sure I'd call her smart." Lou replies, just loud enough for Scott to hear.
Understanding her concern, Scott turned to her and pulled her hand into his. "Lou, we know two things right now. First, something has happened to Ty. Amy's seeing Ghost confirms it. I know you don't believe me but I need you to believe her."
"I'm know." She says, trying to stay calm and tempering her words so as not to upset Mallory. "I'm just worried."
"Like I'm not?!" Mallory interjects. Suddenly feeling like an outsider in the family. Lou puts an arm around her and pulls her close.
Scott continues. "We all are. I doubt very much Jack's getting any sleep. I imagine he's not out here with us now because he's tired of Mallory beating him." Scott seasons that last bit with his gentle smile aimed directly at Mallory.
"I'll just corner him tomorrow." Mallory says, adding her own smile.
"To be honest, with the authorities dealing with three different accidents around Hudson, Amy and Harley are probably the best chance Ty has right now. The roads are not passable by vehicle but a good horse and seasoned rider can get through."
Appreciating Scott's efforts, she leans in for a quick kiss. "Thanks, I needed that." Then she sits back and grabs her phone. "I'm going to send her a text. She may not be able to respond but at least she'll know that we're thinking about her." She grabs her phone and quickly taps out a message.
"C'mon Scott. Enough stalling." Mallory says as she reaches for the cards.
"Oh, no! I'm shuffling, Mallory. I've heard what happens when you try."
"That was only one time! And how was I to know Jack's nose was going to get in the way?" Mallory adds with no sense of embarrassment or regret. Just a hint of amusement which makes them all chuckle.
…..
Somewhere out on the road, Amy adjusts her scarf for the umpteenth time because it keeps slipping below her chin. She's been out for over an hour and she still hasn't found Ty. She's unsure of how far they've traveled because visibility is so poor and there aren't any buildings along this stretch of the road.
More than anxious to find Ty and more than frustrated when Scott's truck failed to start, Amy rushed into the barn and pulled Harley out of his stall. Not waiting to saddle him, she tossed the rope-tied bags over Harley's back and hopped up wearing her backpack. After taking a moment to adjust the straps so it wouldn't shift, she took off.
Holding Scott's flashlight in her right hand, Amy used it to see the roadway ahead and look for obstructions on this stormy moonless night. In her left, she held her phone with the GPS app running. The app was zoomed in as close as possible so she could see if she and Harley were on or at least near the road. And if they were going in the right direction.
It hadn't occurred to Amy to use the GPS app until she misjudged a turn and found herself and Harley in a neighbor's field. Her flashlight hitting the blue reflector on the side of a water trough was like a breech in the emotional dam that she'd built. Suddenly, fear and doubt washed over her like waves at high tide, and she became angry with herself for being too impulsive and not thinking things through. She shut off the flashlight and laid flat against Harley for several minutes wishing she was back at Heartland by the fire. The world suddenly felt colder.
But then her phone buzzed. Amy removed it from her coat pocket and read Lou's message. "Scott says you did the right thing. We love you and are sending warm thoughts. Find Ty! Be safe!" Amy read the message three times. Each time, feeling a warmth come back to her and the fear and doubt fade. After the third time, she fired up the GPS app, zoomed in as close as she could, skritched Harley's neck and told him "Let's go find Ty!". Harley's response was to nod his head vigorously as if to say "About time!". They turned around and slowly made their way back to the road.
Riding bareback turned out to be a very wise move. Lying flat along Harley's back kept almost half of her out of the bitter wind and able to stay warm. Looking up only when necessary to confirm they were on level ground and the road ahead was clear, she was able to keep most of herself protected. The blowing snow was a different matter as it made visibility impossible beyond 20 feet or so. Worse than that, it hid patches of ice which could easily injure an unwary horse. It was, in fact, a second patch of ice that made Amy jump down and walk next to Harley. That was a half hour ago.
As long as the ground felt solid, Amy stayed parallel to and downwind of Harley's front legs. Every so often, she would raise her hand and rub his neck to reassure him. If the ground felt slippery, she walked ahead of him, guiding him slowly around the spot. But being out front exposed her to the wind and it was taking a toll. Her feet and hands were getting cold.
Amy wiped her eyes with her gloved right hand to clear the ice crystals forming on her eyelashes and then checked her phone. No signal yet. She had about half her battery left so she didn't have to worry about her phone dying, at least. Checking the GPS often to keep them on or near the road, she would occasionally nudge Harley a bit left or right, based on where she thought they were.
After another five minutes and avoiding three more icy spots along the road, Amy comes over the top of a hill. Wiping off her phone, she sees a signal bar in the top right corner. "Harley! Ty's close!" She looks at her phone again to confirm it and then hollers to the sky "Wooooooooooo! Hooooooooo!". The excitement warms her from head to toe and all the doubt she'd been harboring vanished instantly.
Fighting the urge to rush ahead, she continued at her current steady pace while looking from shoulder to shoulder as far ahead as she could with the flashlight. There were moments when the wind died down and visibility improved. She made a note to thank Scott for having really good flashlights.
Walking Harley slowly down the hill, they came upon a large icy patch in the middle of the road. Amy walked to the right attempting to go around it, stepping forward slowly as she scanned the area ahead with the flashlight. Checking her phone, she sees the signal is getting stronger. "We're getting close, Harley!" she says, feeling her excitement build in equal measure to her concern.
They get about half way around the ice patch when they come upon a snow drift in the middle of the road. Or at least that's what Amy thought at first. "That's odd. The rest of the road is mostly clear."
Wanting to plow through it, Amy kicked it with her right boot, expecting snow to go flying. Instead, her boot hit something solid. "Oh, my gosh!" she says aloud. Then reaches down and brushes the snow away with the flashlight handle. "It's a cow! Harley, it's a cow!" she announces as she turns to the horse. His reaction is a simple snort before looking off to the left side of the road.
Ignoring Harley's sudden interest elsewhere, Amy brushed off more of the snow, confirming that the animal was dead. "It probably escaped from one of the farms. When the snow built up high enough, the cow simply walked over the fence and wandered off. Looking for shelter." Thinking about it a moment longer, Amy scanned the immediate area with the flashlight. Not seeing any other drifts, she made a mental note of where the cow was and then continued forward.
Walking another twenty feet and clearing the ice patch, Amy was again flanking Harley. The wind was calmer now and the storm seemed to be softening a bit. Looking at her phone, she noticed the signal getting weaker. "We're going the wrong way!" she announced in surprise. Then stopped to think about what it meant. "We passed him, Harley!" she says as she turns them around and navigates the other side of the ice patch, away from the cow.
You'd think that a dark blue pickup truck would stand out like a sore thumb in a field of white. But make it a moonless night, with heavy snow and high winds and you'd be surprised at what can get hidden. Somehow knowing this, Amy checked the signal on her phone every dozen steps. When it was the strongest, she stopped and scanned all the way around. Several times. "There's nothing out here!" she said in a moment of frustration.
It wasn't until she stopped looking at her phone and scanning everywhere with the flashlight that she noticed where Harley was looking. Walking slowly in that direction, she saw them. Two dark shapes sitting atop a wall of white; way off on the right side of the road.
Not sure what she was seeing, she continued walking until she recognized the floating tires and realized that it was a truck, flipped up on its side. Fighting panic, she ran to the back and cleared the snow away from where she knew Ty's license plate would be.
"We found him Harley! We found Ty!" She said without thinking it through. In reality, she found Old Blue and was assuming that Ty was inside and okay. Hoping he was just waiting for road-side assistance.
Risking frostbit, she set the flashlight down, removed her right glove and sent two smiley emojis to Lou. It only took three attempts but she sent them. Then quickly put her glove back on.
…..
Back at Heartland, Lou was in the kitchen holding a cup of cider when her phone buzzed. Rushing to the table she put the cup down, grabbed her phone and saw Amy's text.
"She's okay! And…. I think she found Ty!" Lou announced as she rushed into the Family Room. Scott was sitting on the couch, Mallory on his right side, leaning into his shoulder half asleep.
"What do you mean you think she found him?" Scott asked. Then yawned. Then eased Mallory in the other direction, got up and walked over by Lou.
Showing him Amy's text, she interpreted "She sent a single smiley the first time, meaning she was okay. So, I'm assuming two smileys mean both she and Ty are okay."
Not wanting to dampen her good news, he quickly pushed the "Okay. But now what?" and "What happened?" questions from his mind and responded "Makes sense." Then pulled her into a hug.
"I was so worried." She whispered.
"I hadn't noticed." Came his response as they hugged just a bit tighter for just a bit longer.
Pulling away after a kiss. "I should tell Grandpa."
"I'm sure he's awake." Scott replies before returning to the couch. Those questions from moments ago, coming back front and center.
Lou walks to Jack's bedroom door and knocks gently. Not hearing a response, she opens the door enough to poke her head in. "Grandpa, Amy sent a text. She's okay and I think she found Ty."
"Thanks, Lou." Jack replies in a soft weary voice.
"Good night." She says before closing the door.
Over the course of the past hour, Jack had alternated between sitting on the edge of his bed staring out the window and sitting in the corner rocking chair. The chair was his place to go when he needed alone time to think. Rocking gently was an automatic thing and helped to ease his mind as he dealt with things that weighed heavily on him.
When Lyndy was in the hospital and couldn't have visitors, Jack spent evenings here after taking care of the horses and family. When Tim was injured and went down a dark path, it was here that Jack contemplated what to do. And when Marian died and Amy was still in the hospital, the chair got used again as Jack lamented the challenges and hardships that had befallen his family.
Jack was grateful for the good news from Lou. But like Scott, his head now filled with questions. The biggest being "Is Ty okay?" and "How do they get home safely?". And he continued to rock.
…..
Amy called out "Ty! Are you in there?" Then paused to see if she could hear him. Not getting any response, she called out again. "Ty! It's Amy. Are you okay?". Again, no response. "Maybe somebody came by and rescued him. Maybe he's not even here anymore." This and other worrying thoughts filled her head and she rushed around to the other side of the truck. "Stay focused. You cannot help Ty if you panic." She tells herself.
Using the flashlight, she tried to peer into the cab of the truck through the windshield. But frost has built up on the inside of the glass, making it impossible to see anything. Trying different spots along the glass prove just as futile.
Realizing the only way in is through the driver side door, which just happens to be above her, Amy trudged through the thigh high snow back to the other side of the truck. "I need your help, Harley." She said in a loud voice; talking over the wind. "I need you to stay right here so I can climb up on the truck and get inside." After doing her best to clear the snow away, Amy used her hands to guided Harley into position right near the bottom of the truck between the tires.
Climbing up and sitting on Harley, she's is now able to reach over and start clearing the snow off the side of the truck. Setting the flashlight down, she removes her backpack and gently sets it in front of her. She placed her phone, GPS app still running, in the side pocket and then sets the backpack on the quarter panel behind the door. Using her gloved hands and the flashlight, she uncovers the door and as much of the side panel as she can reach. Moving the backpack out of the way, as needed. Having cleared a spot big enough, she takes the two rope-tied bags and places them next to her backpack on the truck.
Setting the flashlight down next to her backpack, Amy looks all around her for a bit and takes in the current conditions. The wind has picked up again and more snow is falling. In her head and in her heart, she knows Ty is here. "We're not going back, Harley. We have to make it work here." She says as she leans forward and rubs his neck with both hands for a bit and then slowly stands up on his back.
Pushing her backpack and bags out of the way, she climbs up on the side of the truck and brushes the remaining snow off the door and side panel. Then she gets up on her knees and tries opening the door. This proves to be unanticipated challenge as lifting the door places it into the path of the wind, which suddenly seems Hell bent on keeping it closed.
After struggling with it twice, Amy stops for a bit, waiting for the wind to die down. Then she has an idea. She reaches over and unhooks the thermos with the hot cider from her backpack. She plans to stick it in the open door if she can lift it that high so she can peer in. "Wait, I'm freezing cold. I cannot feel my toes and I'm carrying hot cider?!" Taking moment to chastise herself for not drinking some earlier along the way, she places the thermos down near the door frame. "Later, with Ty!" she decides, giving her mistake an honorable intent.
Less than a minute later, the wind dies just for a moment. Placing her right hand on the top edge of the truck bed, Amy grabs the door handle with her left hand, she pushes the button and pulls as hard as she can. The door gives way and Amy grabs the thermos with her right hand and sticks it in the door frame. Mission accomplished, she grabs the flashlight and shines it inside.
"TY!" she screams. Seeing him hanging upside-down and motionless causes a panic infused adrenalin rush that she uses to full advantage. Grabbing the door handle again, she shoves the thermos out of the way and opens it enough to allow her to sit on the edge with her feet hanging inside. Holding the door open with one hand she uses the flashlight to see inside. Ty's right shoulder is up against the dashboard and his head on the forward part of the side window. There is room for her to lower herself and stand but she'll need to be careful easing herself down.
"Don't panic, Amy! You can't help Ty if you panic!" she says again, sitting there as the snow continues to swirl around her. Looking at her backpack and plastic bags, she comes up with a plan and gets to it.
First thing to go are her boots. Reluctantly, she removes them and, not finding a place to set them on the side of the truck, tosses them over Harley and onto the ground. "I don't want to step on Ty with them on." she reasons.
Leaning forward so she can hold the door open with her head, Amy grabs the plastic bags with the blankets in them. After struggling to untie one bag while holding the flashlight between her now shaky knees, she rips the bag open and with the flashlight now in hand, drops it to the right of Ty's head. It ends up hitting him harmlessly in the face and bouncing to his right. She makes a mental note of it and then places her backpack so it will keep the door from closing. She also drapes the now untied end of the rope into the door. Satisfied that she will be able to reach everything, she carefully sets the flashlight on the edge of the door frame. Pointed forward, the light bounces off the tilted door and offers some visibility below. Then turns herself around and slowly lowers herself inside. "Here goes."
Not known for her upper body strength, Amy nonetheless is able to slowly lower herself into the cab of Old Blue. When she gets low enough, she feels the blanket with her right foot and does her best to push it closer to Ty. Remembering how it looked when she dropped it, she's now as sure that the area below her feet is clear. She drops the rest of the way.
Quickly grabbing the edge of the seat cushion and groping for the steering wheel, Amy finds her balance and reaches up for the flashlight. Then she slowly turns till she sees Ty's left boot. "Those are new." She shares with no one as she looks to see what its caught on. Setting the flashlight down so the beam is pointing up, it reflects off the frosted glass, giving the cab an eerie white glow.
"Alright, Ty. How about we get you horizontal." She announces before working her way into the space between the steering wheel and seat. Grabbing his boot with both hands, she lifts it high enough to get clear of the clutch pedal and lowers him as gently as she can. Bending his legs to put him into a fetal position.
Unplugging the wireless router, she wedges it between the brake and clutch pedals. "Thank heavens, you plugged it in, Ty. I don't think we would have found you, otherwise." Then she carefully kneels down and tends to Ty.
"Ty." She calls, reaching down to check his breathing. It's shallow but he is breathing. Due to the pale white light, she cannot tell anything about his color. Not letting this thought distract her, she unfolds the previously dropped blanket and spreads it out on the floor as much as she can. She works to push it as close to and around Ty as possible. At times, using one hand to lift his shoulders enough to get the blanket underneath him.
Standing up in the center of the blanket, she reaches up, pushes the door up enough to grab the thermos, the rope connected to the second bag, and her backpack. The thermos she sets down in the corner behind her. The plastic bag gets wedged between the steering wheel and dashboard. Rope hanging down. She uses the straps on her backpack to hang it from the steering wheel. She unzips the smaller front pocket and pulls out two chemical hand warmers. She tosses both in the corner by the thermos.
As she's working, a feeling of optimism starts to ease into her thoughts. She had worried about getting lost and freezing to death out on the road. But she'd managed to push those thoughts out of her head and focus. And now with the door almost shut and a thick blanket under her still cold toes, she's feeling a bit better about the situation. At least for herself. But what about Ty?
Carefully kneeling down on the blanket with her back against the roof of the truck, Amy grabs him by his coat collar and slowly pulls him up so his butt is on the blanket and leaning against the roof to her right. "Ty" she says in as calm a voice as she can muster. She feels his forehead and his hands and registers nothing but cold. She then pulls his knees up to his chest so she can reach his boots and remove them. This takes several minutes, due to the confined space and once done, confirms that they are worse off than his hands. "As crazy as it sounds, he was hanging upside-down." She reminds herself.
Racking her brain to remember what she's read or heard about dealing with hypothermia and frostbite, one thing she remembered was to warm the person, up and keep the extremities from freezing again. Recovery was possible so long as they didn't freeze, warm and then re-freeze. If that happened, the door opened the door to all sorts of bad. Most likely, Ty would no longer be able to be a vet. "Ty, I understand why you thought you had to do this but. Why didn't you just pull off somewhere safe and call me?" she asks, almost hoping for a response that made sense, but knowing that there wasn't one.
"And why did you have to go and hit a cow?!" she added for good measure.
Now talking to him like he was conscious Amy announced "I need to warm you up slowly and keep you warm. How do I do that?!" after a moment. "I know."
First, she opened the thermos and took a drink of the still warm cider. She let the warmth settle in, swallowed, and took another drink. "I could just pour it on you, Ty. But then we'd both end up cold and wet." After another small sip, directly from the thermos, Amy closed it and set it down within reach by her side.
She then adjusted the edge of the first blanket until it was between her and the roof of the truck. Insulating her from the cold metal. Her idea was to use the blankets to form a nest to conserve body heat. She pulled the remaining edges of the blanket over them as much as possible. Then the second plastic bag was pulled down, torn open and the blanket removed. Amy stuffed it into the corner where the roof meets the back wall of the truck near the rear window.
"Time to get down to business, Ty. I hope this works. For both our sakes." Still kneeling, she reached over and removed Ty's coat and tossed it down by his feet. Grabbing Ty by the left arm at first, she pulled him toward her and with both hands, was able to pull him up so he was leaning back against her. This took some doing but she got him there after shifting his legs and pulling up on his belt.
Reaching forward, she grabbed each knee and pulled it closer, lifting his foot up. Then, using a free hand, shoved the blanket under him as far as possible. "Layer one done." She announced. Now their butts and feet were insulated from the cold metal and glass. A small but important accomplishment!
Next, she grabbed the second blanket she'd stuffed behind her, unfolded it and wrapped it around them, covering them up to their necks. "Layer two done. A nest in the making." She said, happy with the progress thus far and trying to stay positive.
Not able to see under the blanket, Amy used her hands to locate and remove Ty's socks and his shirt. The latter proved a bit more challenging and she's pretty sure she popped at least one of his buttons. "Hope that wasn't one that you liked." She said as she carefully sat down behind him, legs on either side.
After smoothing the blanket under her, she poked a hand out, moved the flashlight closer and grabbed the thermos for another sip. "I think I'm going to need this." She said, before setting it down. Then she quickly removed everything she was wearing from the waist up. Hat, scarf, coat, sweatshirt, shirt and bra were tossed around them, adding a makeshift third layer of insulation to the nest she had created. The shock of the cold air hitting her previously warm skin was nothing compared to what she felt when she grabbed Ty under the arms and pulled him up higher so his back was against her chest. His head now resting above her left shoulder.
"Oh my gosh! If those freeze up and fall off, I'm going to be so mad at you!" She joked, while working through the feeling that she'd just taken her bra out of the freezer and strapped it on. Compared to that, she thought the feeling that a lung had just collapsed was really quite mild. But another feeling came over her soon after they faded. A feeling of familiarity and warmth as between two souls who'd known love's intimacy and longed for it. And Amy felt that longing. Had felt it for many weeks. Holding him to her as she did now, only strengthened those feelings and her heart ached.
Several minutes passed before she remembered the two hand-warmers. Amy grabbed one, activated it by clicking the small metal clip inside, wrapped it in her shirt and then held it against Ty's chest with both hands. "Time to warm up, Ty. You're gonna be okay. We're gonna be okay." She whispered as she pulled the blankets tight around them.
It took a while but Ty's temperature did rise and he began to stir.
"Ty" she called. "Can you hear me?"
"Amy." Came out as a whisper.
"I'm here, Ty. You're safe now."
"Where? …. Wha….."
"Shhhhhhhhh. It's okay. I found you. I found you, Ty." She said, feeling tears coming as she continued hugged him to her. "I found you."
"I shouldn't have …"
"It doesn't matter now. We're safe here. They'll find us in the morning and we'll be okay, Ty. You just have to get warm and stay that way."
"I'm so sorry for pu…" he tried to say but he couldn't complete the sentence. His brain still cold and foggy and the rest of him, from head to toe was just cold. Reaching for the thermos with one hand, Amy poured a small amount into the cup.
"Hey. It's okay. Here. Drink some cider. It'll help warm you up." She said, holding the cup for him as he takes a slow sip. And then another. And another.
"Just rest." She said, kissing his temple several times after putting the cup down.
Feeling him relax in her arms, she leans her head gently against his and closes her eyes.
"I found you." She said again softly. Letting the words sink in for the first time. "I found you, Ty." More tears flowed. "Everything I went through was worth it because I found you." She told herself. The emotional dam that she'd built when she first set out on Harley, finally gave way. In a cold truck on a stormy winter night, with Ty resting in her arms, Amy found peace. Nothing else mattered.
It was now about 3:40am and Amy realized just how tired she was. The stress of worrying about Ty, the time spent searching, getting to him in the truck and taking care of him all took a toll on her and she suddenly felt exhausted both physically and mentally.
Sizing up the situation when she first got there, she thought the best option was to position herself against the roof of the truck by the back window. This allowed the most room to maneuver Ty and get them bundled up together. This had worked well for a while till she felt her back getting cold. Even through two layers of blanket. But then it warmed up. Or maybe it didn't feel as cold anymore. Amy attributed it to the wind dying down.
With nothing else to do, Amy simply fell asleep with Ty resting up against her. Her arms wrapped around him, now holding the second chemical warmer. Ty slowly transitioned from a cold stupor to a gentle warmth that allowed him also to fall asleep. The flashlight that had illuminated their cozy space, eventually went dark.
….
Back at Heartland, Lou just gets off the phone with the crew plowing snow along the main road. The two drivers were aware of the search for Ty and Old Blue and were reporting that they'd not seen anything yet. But after clearing three wrecks in Hudson, they were finally able to get out on the road.
Appreciating the call, Lou thanked them and then hung up. Looking over the room, Scott was once again laying on the floor in front of the fireplace. Lou had taken on the task of keeping it going. Mallory had returned to the couch but this time with only one blanket. Scott now had one and Lou was wrapped in one herself as she continued to distract herself by reading.
It was another half hour, around 4am, when a second call came in.
"We found them!" the caller announced. They're alive but they need to go to the hospital. The girl seems okay but the guy needs to be admitted for hypothermia and possible frostbite. We've requested an ambulance and a tow truck with a rotator. The latter is going to take a while to get here."
Feeling relieved at the good news and thinking the tow truck is to recover Ty's truck, Lou responds "We don't care about the truck. Just get them to the hospital quickly, please."
"That's our intent, mam. But we need the tow truck to extract them. There's a complication we didn't expect. Actually, never seen anything like it."
Confused and starting to worry, Lou asks "Is Ty stuck in the truck. Is he trapped?"
"No mam. The vehicle ended up on its passenger side and skidded off the side of the road. Normally, we'd just pull the windshield and get them out but there's a horse in the way."
Not sure she heard them right "Did you say a horse?"
"Yes mam. And it's not in good shape. Dispatch told us they'd reach out to Scott Cardinal to come and see about him."
"Scott's here with us. I'll send him to you. Where are you?"
"We're about 5 miles from your location. The roads have been plowed and treated for ice so just have him follow the main route and he'll find us. Have him bring a trailer if he's got one. I'm hoping we can save the horse but I'm not sure at this point.
"That must be Harley." Lou acknowledges.
"Did you say Harley?"
"Yes, he's Ty's horse. The guy in the truck."
"Thanks for that. That may help us get him to move. Anyway, send Scott as quick as you can."
"I'll send him out right away."
Lou hangs up the phone and walks over by Scott.
"Scott!" Lou calls, her concern front and center.
"Wha…" Came a slowly waking up response.
"You need to hook up the horse trailer and go get Harley."
"They've found Ty and Amy?" He asks, sitting up against the couch, rubbing his eyes.
"Yes, but Ty may have frostbite and they need to get him to the hospital. They're about 5 miles away on the main road. You'll need your vet bag and supplies. They said Harley's not doing very well."
"Curious." He says while getting up. "I didn't think it was that cold last night. Horses are pretty tolerant of the cold."
"I'm only relaying what the EMT told me."
A moment later, Jack appears fully dressed. I'll get the trailer ready Scott. Back your truck up and I'll meet you there.
"Be there in a bit, Jack." Scott says then stands up, gets his bearings and heads to the Mud Room.
…..
About twenty minutes later, Scott pulls up in his truck towing Heartland's red horse trailer. He lets Jack out the passenger side and then pulls off on the shoulder so that traffic and emergency vehicles can get through. There are three squad cars, an ambulance and a large triple axle tow truck on-site.
The tow trucks crane or rotator has been positioned so that the end of the boom is over the driver's side door. Both the door and steering wheel have been removed to make access easier. They're lowering a cable with a makeshift seat on it to get Amy out. Ty has already been extracted and is in the ambulance being attended to.
Scott didn't hear the conversation between Lou and the EMT, talking about Harley. All she did was wake him and tell him he was needed.
Scott and Jack walk over to where Ty's truck had ended up and are met by Jacob, the EMT that Lou spoke with.
"Are you Scott?" Jacob asks, extending his hand.
"Yes. This is Jack Bartlett, Amy's grandfather." Scott shares, shaking Jacob's hand.
Not waiting on pleasantries Jack asks "How's Ty?".
"He's suffering from hypothermia and the possibility of some frostbite to his hands and feet. We won't know the extent of his injuries until we've done a full assessment. He'll be in the hospital for a couple days to see how his body reacts. He's lucky his girlfriend found him in time. Pretty amazing what she did for him."
Feeling relieved that Ty was alive and being tended to, they move on to the reason they were sent.
"So, where's Harley?" Scott asks, looking around and not seeing him.
"Follow me. I've never seen anything like it."
They follow Jacob around to the back of the truck and there was Harley. Where he'd been ever since Amy stood on him to get into the truck.
"Oh, my." Jack responds as he walks over and kneels down by Harley's head. Stroking the animal's neck, he begins to talk to the horse as he gently brushes the snow off of him.
Scott looked at the horse a bit longer, taking in the whole of the scene and its significance. He then turned and asked Jacob "And you found Amy and Ty bundled up and leaning up against the roof of the truck?"
Surprised at Scott's assessment, Jacob replies "Yes. But how did you know?"
"Harley. He used his body to shield that part of the truck from the storm." Scott shared before walking over to the animal. Taking his stethoscope, he began to listen to the horse. Breathing was shallow but regular. A good sign. But his gut was suspiciously silent.
Over the course of the storm, Harley had managed to shake most of the snow off of his head and neck. Being reluctant to move, he simply let the snow build up on his body until you couldn't see the rest of him. And it was the rest of him that Scott was now worried about.
Horses typically stand, even when resting. Their physiology doesn't allow for them to lay down for too long as complications can set in. Harley hadn't laid down on his side. He had simply sat down on his legs, creating as big a shield from the storm as he could. He kept that spot warm to keep Amy warm and in turn, keep Ty warm.
"He wouldn't move. We tried to get him to but he just stayed there." Jacob explains. That's why we had to wait for the special tow truck.
"I doubt he will move until he sees Amy. He's still trying to protect them."
"You're kidding. Horses really do that?"
"This one does. Apparently." Scott said as he sat down near Harley's head and reached for him. "Or he was told to."
"Hey, boy. You did a very good thing."
It didn't take Scott long to assess the situation so he told Jacob "When you get Amy out of the truck, have her come here. We need her to get him to stand. Or at least try."
"We'll need to assess her condition first. But if she's up for it, we'll have her come back here."
"Trust me. When you tell Amy what's happened, you won't be able to keep her away. Especially now that Ty is being tended to."
"A horse lover, is she?"
"She's way more than that." Scott shares. "She's the Miracle Girl."
"Wait, that's thee Amy Fleming in the truck with Ty?"
"Correct. Also, I may need your rotator to help lift Harley if we cannot get him to stand. I have a harness in the back of my truck."
"I'll check with the tow truck operator. If he has questions, I'll send him your way."
"Good."
To be continued.
Author's Note:
Thank you for all the comments. It makes me happy knowing that I've written the story well enough that you're anxious to know what happens. I apologize for keeping the suspense going for so long. As is often the case, life gets busy and finding time when I'm mentally in a place to write has been challenging. I can not force it. When I try, usually the added material is not good and I end up scrapping it. If I'm going to write about known characters, I feel I have a duty to be true to them. And that takes time. Your patience is very much appreciated.
Plus, this is the longest and hardest chapter I've written. It wasn't enough for Amy to find Ty. She had to figure out how to get to him and then work out how to protect them both from the storm. I've rewritten parts of it several times. I hope that I've done right by the characters.
There is more to come.