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

make the call.”
    The second woman was at the top. As soon as the ropes were returned and the team was ready, the other young man not trapped under the rocks would be on his way off the ledge.
    “What’s the plan?” Stella asked.
    “We have to be careful or the slide is going to move again,” John cautioned. “Too much effort, and all three of us will be in the ravine.”
    Stella thought about the problem. “I think we have enough room to use a jack to lift the rock and pull him out.”
    John nodded. “Sounds doable.”
    Tagger radioed back that the forest service was sending a helicopter. That part of the plan seemed to be working. The team above was already hauling out the uninjured hiker. Just one more hiker, and the ledge would be clear.
    “Heads-up, Chief,” Kent warned. “We’re sending down the jack.”
    Stella waited in the freezing rain, her bunker coat protecting her from most of the chill. Her boots were solid and dry. She was still cold, ready to go home and sit by the fire. Once they got the last young man off the ledge, all she had to do was climb out.
    “Ready?” John asked as the spotlight they’d set up on the ledge showed the jack coming toward them with another basket.
    She pushed her helmet down on her head and ignored the narrow ledge they stood on. “Oh yeah.”
    The helicopter came before they could free the young man’s leg from the rock. It hovered far enough away that the strong wind from the rapidly moving blades didn’t affect them.
    The pilot added an extra spotlight on the situation. The rockslide was even more devastating than they’d been able to tell earlier, reaching down hundreds of feet below where they were working.
    Stella was using the jack to lift the rock. John had his arms around the young man to pull him onto the ledge when he was free. They had the basket waiting to attach to the helicopter, which would transport him to the hospital.
    The problem was the edge and the loose rocks. As Stella jacked up the rock, smaller rocks rolled out from under it. One of the rocks, where John was crouching holding the victim, slid down about six inches and stopped.
    “Faster,” he yelled at Stella. “I don’t know how much more this slide will take.”
    “Believe me, I don’t want to be here any more than you do.” She kept pumping the jack as she spoke. She could almost see the injured man’s entire mangled leg and foot.
    “Chief?” Kent called down from above them. “The victims have been transported. Mackie Fossett came by with his truck in case we need to take anyone else out.”
    Mackie was a pepper farmer who lived nearby. Stella had visited his farm for a day to learn about peppers for the Sweet Pepper Festival.
    “Thanks,” she answered back.
    “Do you and John need some help down there?” Kent asked. “One of us can come down too.”
    “I think we’ve almost got it,” she said.
    The injured man regained consciousness at that moment. “What’s going on? I can’t
feel
my leg. Who are you people?”
    “We’re the local fire department,” John answered. “You’re gonna be all right. We’re gonna put you into a safety basket for transport. Just hang on.”
    John called the helicopter and told the pilot to come in closer. He and Stella lifted the injured man and secured him in the basket.
    As the helicopter came close enough to attach the safety harness, the wind from the blades made John and Stella’s footing on the ice-covered ledge harder to maintain. Stella lost her balance and dropped to her knees as she was helping John attach the harness to the basket.
    “Are you okay?” he shouted above the noise of the whirling blades.
    “I’m okay. We’re ready.”
    John radioed again to let the pilot know the basket was secure. The helicopter began pulling away, and the injured man started screaming.
    It could have been the shift in moving the injured man’s weight from the ledge. Or it could have been the wind generated by the helicopter. They