Free A Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade 03 - In Hot Water by J.J. Cook

and small rocks. They both knew it could shift again at any time. Later, the forest service would come in, clear the slide, and shore up the ledge. Until then, anything could happen.
    “Are you sure you’re up to this?” John asked her. “I could go down by myself.”
    Stella had practiced rappelling down the sides of the mountains almost since she’d come to Sweet Pepper. She’d realized right away that this would be a requirement of her job. She felt confident in her abilities. She wasn’t afraid of heights, and she knew the team she left behind at the top would work well together.
    “I’m good.” She tightened the rope around her waist. It was already slick with ice.
    “Okay. See you down there.” John saluted her.
    They both went off the side. The ropes were fastened into metal spikes that had been driven into the solid rock. These would bear the brunt of their weights. It wouldn’t be the same for the injured hikers below them. It would take every inch of muscle the volunteers had to pull them back up.
    The descent was smooth and fast. Stella was on the ledge before John. She was already explaining her plan to the hikers who were waiting to be rescued.
    “How long have you been out here?” she asked one of the two young men. He looked like a college student—they all did.
    “Since this morning. We thought we could get everyone free and get out. It took longer than we thought, and the weather turned.”
    “Why didn’t you call for help right away?” John asked as he reached them.
    The young man shrugged. He was ill equipped for hiking the rugged terrain in the cold weather. He was wearing sandals and shorts with a light jacket.
    “We didn’t want to bother anyone.”
    John eyed him suspiciously. “Tell me this isn’t one of those stupid drug drops.”
    “Out
here
?” Stella asked.
    “A plane or helicopter drops the drugs and then emails the coordinates. That leaves big, dumb lawbreakers to go down and pick them up.”
    John used his flashlight to pick out a plastic-wrapped bundle with sturdy twine around it. “I guess this must be cheese, right?”
    The young man in shorts started crying. “We didn’t know this was going to happen. It wasn’t supposed to be such a long way down.”
    “Never mind,” John grunted. “Let’s get out of here and then we’ll have a nice talk.”
    Stella and John got their ropes around the two injured students, both young women. They had injuries to their legs and arms where the rocks had hit them. Stella felt sure one of them had a broken arm.
    “She won’t be able to hold the rope for them to pull her up,” she told John.
    “I think we have the same problem with the other one. Her leg is broken.”
    Stella radioed her team. “Send the basket down. We’ll have to pull these two up one at a time. Are the medics here yet?”
    Kent answered, “Yeah, Chief. They’re here now. Are we going to need another ambulance?”
    “I think so. Call Tagger and let him know.”
    Once the person-sized basket was lowered down to them, John and Stella put the woman with the broken leg into it. They secured her and let Kent know that she was ready to be pulled up.
    John went to check on the young man still trapped under the rockslide. He was unconscious. One of his legs was dangling off the side of the ledge while the other was caught under a large rock.
    Stella watched the basket go slowly up the side of the mountain.
    “I think this other one might be more complicated,” John told her. “I don’t know if we can get him out by ourselves.” He explained the situation.
    “What do you have in mind?”
    “I was thinking we might need to borrow a helicopter.”
    Stella wasn’t sure about that. “Will they come out with this heavy ice falling?”
    “I don’t know. It’s either that, or this kid is gonna have to spend the night up here. I don’t know if he’ll make it. His pulse is already thready and weak.”
    Stella trusted his judgment. “I’ll have Tagger