Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
The Investigators, Inc. The Lost Team Case. Chapter 7. Snowstorm.
After I shot the man at the door, the pilot of the helicopter decided to pull away. As he began to turn I had a perfect shot at him and fired twice. The chopper swirled around a bit, then went down with a loud crash up near the mine. We waited for the explosion, but there was none. “We better go see if that pilot survived,” said Kristina, “so he does not give us any trouble.”
“Good idea,” said Sky. We all went up there as fast as we could, but it is a fairly steep climb up to the mine. The chopper was a mangled mess and the pilot was dead. “I was hoping we might be able to use it to call for help,” said Sky sadly. “Not a chance with that,” I said. There was no way to even get the pilot free, so we decided to leave when the smell of fuel became very strong. It never did explode however. We did get some extra food in those boxes, plus more blankets which we really did not need, and a couple of raincoats.
Those might come in handy. Considering the size of the boxes, however, there was not a lot in them. There was some fresh fruit, vegetables and meat though which will be a nice change for a bit. Might help to build up our strength a little too. By the end of the day clouds had moved in and it began to rain overnight, just lightly. The next day there was more rain and it seemed like we were right inside the clouds.
We could not see very far. And it was getting cold. That night it began to snow. And snow. The next day it continued snowing, though not as much. There was a foot of snow on the ground already. We stayed inside all day except to go out for firewood. That night it began to snow heavily again and by morning we now had over 2 feet of snow on the ground.
While eating breakfast we heard the roof cracking. “That snow is wet and heavy,” I said, “we will need to clear it off. You did say there was a shovel, right?” “Um, yes,” said Sky, “but there is no handle.” “Well, it will have to do,” I said. Kristina said she would come to help, it was best for Sky and Sigurbjorn to stay inside. We put on layers of T-shirts and then the raincoats and up we went. That ladder was not too sturdy, but it worked.
Kristina brought the broom to try and push snow off the roof. It was slow going, but it was working. This side of the roof was quite flat, the other side was steep, so we did not worry about that side. Kristina was up near the peak of the roof and looked over the steep side, and slipped. She screamed as she slid off the steep side and down the hill a bit. Sky and Sigurbjorn went out quickly to get her.
Her shoulder was dislocated so Sigurbjorn had to push it back in place. “You need to help Kristina Steve,” said Sky. She showed me what to do. “That will help?” I asked. “We do not have painkillers,” said Sky, “and it helps when I do it for you.” “Okay,” I said. It did seem to help, though she still screamed. Her leg was very sore too, but did not seem to be broken.
Meanwhile, back to our team. They arrived at the nearest airfield, which had two planes and a sign saying they rented planes. Rock and Ralph went inside. “We would like to rent those planes,” said Rock. “Nope,” said the man, “not available, they need work.” “What is wrong with them?” asked Rock. “Do not know,” he said, “I just work in the office. Boss said not to rent them.”
“Where is he?” asked Rock. “On vacation,” he said, “cannot be reached.” He just kept reading his newspaper. Carver had come in now as well. He grabbed the newspaper and tossed it on the floor. “Now, talk to us normally,” he said. The kittens had also come in and started jumping up and down by the washroom door. Meowy, Meowi= Human people person inside.
Rock went over, but the door was locked. “Sorry, out of order,” he said smiling. “Then why is someone inside?” asked Rock, “give me the key, or I break the door, then I break you.” Carver was now behind the counter with the man. “He wants the key,” he said, putting a knife to the guys stomach. He pulled a key from a drawer. Inside the washroom Rock found an older man, dead.
“Some vacation,” said Rock, “now talk.” “Hey, I had nothing to do with it,” he said, “it was Carnival’s men, then they went out to the cabin in a helicopter, and they are overdue, something must have happened.” He was suddenly very talkative. “Where is the cabin?” asked Rock. Carver pushed a bit harder on the knife. “I, I really do not know,” he said, “I just do what I am told, but they never tell me important stuff.” Now the police need to be called, which will complicate things…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 
Oh my!!🫣 This could get complicated is right!! But! The police may know where that cabin is! Hey….🤨 I thought it was early summer up there!🤔 That weather changed really fast! Now Kristina is hurt and in pain!!😬😬 I suspect those planes have nothing wrong with them at all! They should take them and go and call the cops later!!
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Well, actually it is late spring in the story, but we are high in the mountains, so late snow is not unusual. Not likely the police would know, and, can we even trust the police? Carnival has men around this area obviously, so can we trust anyone? Yes, Rock will check the planes, but I imagine Carnival’s men did something to them so they can’t be used. Now, with this snowstorm coming through, it will delay the search. I hope the bad weather does not last too long. It is already the 3rd day. Hopefully Kristina is not hurt worse than she is admitting. This is not good at all.🤔👩👩👩🕵️♂️❄️
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They may need to have Baldwin provide some choppers to use… I’m not sure I would trust those planes come to think about it🤔🤔
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Yep, if Carnival’s men have been there, they might not be safe to use. We don’t want to lose any team members crashing in the mountains. Baldwin is going to provide some planes to use and have a couple choppers ready to use for picking us up when they find us.🤔👩👩👩🕵️♂️
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That seems like the best way to go!
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They will try to get some larger planes that can stay airborne longer too, that way they can cover more distance since it is a big area they need to check. It may not be too far, but that is something they don’t know.🤔🕵️♂️✈️🚁
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If it was reachable by chopper it can’t be too far away from the airport! Figure out the distance a chopper can fly and cut it in half and find the radius and there’s your search grid!😉
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True, but they don’t know what kind of chopper they used, it might have large fuel tanks so it can travel further. But still, it will be helpful if they just estimate a larger area than they think the chopper can go. It will still be a large area, but they have 3 pilots, so if they can get 3 planes, that will cut the search time.🤔🕵️♂️✈️🚁
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That would be best for surely!!🤔🤔
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Yeah, time is ticking, especially now that Kristina is hurt too. And every day I am ‘nowhere’ might make it harder to bring me back.😬👩👩👩🕵️♂️
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Well… maybe relearning everything without the drugs would be better? Then you don’t need to worry about going nowhere again cuz you’re already there!🤔🤔🤯
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That is one thought, and it might have to be that way. But will I love Sky the way I did before? Or fall in love with one of the other girls? That would not be good. Hopefully something can be done to undo what is done!😬👩👩👩🕵️♂️
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All very possible outcomes! Let’s hope they get to you quickly!!🤔
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Yes, sooner the better and hopefully our nowhere remedy will still work. Although Sky doesn’t show it, I think she might be a bit worried about this.🤔👩👩👩🕵️♂️✈️🚁❄️
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That would be completely normal! Even you’re concerned with it and you’re nowhere right now!🤔
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Yep, for me I’m most worried about Sky and what will happen to us. Plus, is it really possible to start over again?🤔👩🕵️♂️
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It may not be the same but it could be?? It woukd be hardest on her though. Let’s hope the medication still works!🤞
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Yeah, at least I don’t know anything, but I feel bad for her having to deal with this. Yes, hopefully it will work. Or maybe something will happen that will trigger my memory.🤔👩🕵️♂️
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Now there’s a great thought!!😁 imagine not needing the medicine!!😲😁 That would make your l8fe a lot simpler!!😉
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This one just came in, after the other one.
Yeah, never know. Kind of like that gun. I didn’t know I could shoot it, but when I picked it up, it just came to me. So, who knows, something could happen.🤔🕵️♂️
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It’s a very good possibility 🤔 😉 😁
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Well, I sure hope something works for me. I don’t like being in this nowhere state. It’s kind of like I’m not even here.🙄🕵️♂️
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Right now you’ve got to stay positive!! And make sure the others do as well!!😉
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That is getting harder all the time, as we shall see.🙄🕵️♂️
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ate spring snow in the mountains, should melt faster. Kristina getting hurt is not good. Dislocated shoulders are no fun. Carnival does not play fair. The planes have obviously been messed with. Hopefully Baldwin will provide good planes and choppers. Need to get on with the search. Too bad you can’t set the downed helicopter on fire. You need a big fire to catch people’s attention.
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Yes, it should melt quite fast, but weather can be strange sometimes. I just hope that there is nothing else wrong with Kristina that she is not telling us. Yes, Baldwin will make sure the team has good planes that will have good range. If they can’t use that airfield, the next closest is 2 hours away, that is 4 hours extra flying time. With the owner of that airfield murdered, the police could keep it closed for quite a while. We might be able to set in on fire once the snow melts. But we need to be careful too so we don’t burn the whole area.🤔👩👩👩🕵️♂️✈️🚁❄️
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Yes, when there is snow on the ground it is a good time to make a fire to signal help.
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That is true, but we will need to wait until that snow melts off the chopper. There is lots of fuel to burn still so that should help get a good fire going. Although we might start the fire in a different section of the chopper.🤔🕵️♂️🚁
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Great! A fire signal would help to be seen better. The snow is not that deep and should melt soon. Aviation fuel burns easily.
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As long as it burns, and doesn’t go “BOOM!”😱
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😊
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It looks like there will be more trouble down the road 😲 Best to sit and ponder the situation ! 🕵️♂️👩👩🦰👩🦱🤔
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Yep, we can’t do anything else right now anyway. And, there does seem to be more problems coming along, as we shall soon see!😱👩👩👩🕵️♂️✈️🚁
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