Smoke by Carolina Mac

Author:Carolina Mac [Mac, Carolina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-11T23:00:00+00:00

Aleutian Mountain Range.

After trekking uphill for four hours over rough and rocky terrain, they came to a trickling mountain stream and Dave stopped to let the dogs drink and to rest.

“We’ll rest a bit and eat while we’re stopped,” said Shiloh.

Annie could tell how tired Declan was. Tommy was the youngest and a runner and he had lots of stamina. She was also a runner, but from the stress and the pace they’d been keeping the past three days, Annie was exhausted.

Cage was in perfect condition and he wasn’t even breathing hard. He sat down on a log next to Annie and took her hand. “You doing okay? This is a tough hike.”

“I’m tired but okay. I’m grateful for a break and some water.”

They all had trail food and energy bars in their packs, but water was most important.

Dave encouraged his dogs to lie down next to him and stay still for a few minutes to restore their energy. He stroked their ears and then gave each of them a couple of large dog biscuits to keep them still.

The rest break was all too short and they had to carry on. The dogs lead the way and going forward, twice Shiloh stopped to point out where other cargo planes had crashed previously. A few pieces of rusty metal could still be seen in both those locations.

Seeing the previous wreckages made Annie shiver.

“Is this like a Bermuda Triangle spot?” asked Cage.

“Sort of,” said Shiloh. “A wicked downdraft if you’re not ready for it. I’m not a flyer so I don’t know what causes the small planes to go down. I keep my boots on the ground.”

“So, if the plane went down, it would be in this general area?” asked Annie.

“That’s my best guess,” said Shiloh. “That’s why I brought you here, but it’s still only my best guess.”

“More than we had,” said Farrell.

They tramped on for another hour and Dave gave a holler from up ahead. “Dogs have something.”

Farrell and Tommy broke into a run to catch up to Dave and the dogs.

Annie tried to hurry like the boys were doing and she couldn’t. She was out of juice. The energizer bunny inside her was dead.

She and Declan and Cage were poking along behind the others when Max and Sarge ran out of the trees yipping and yelping. They ran straight to Annie and jumped on her. Both dogs were thinner but still okay.

“My dogs.” Annie burst into tears and dropped to her knees to hug the two Malinois. “Are you starving?” She sat on the ground hugging the dogs and crying as the others went forward. “The dogs wouldn’t go far from Travis,” said Annie.

“Come on.” Cage helped her to her feet, held her in his arms for a minute and then helped her get walking again. Max and Sarge veered sharply to the left and ran into the trees.

“Max and Sarge are going that way,” hollered Farrell.

He and Tommy followed the dogs through the thick forest and were soon hollering that they had found the plane.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.