The Major came into the office at the airfield and they filled him in. “Tony, take that man for a walk while I talk with the others,” said Major. “Right Major,” said Tony. The man did not understand and went with Tony willingly. “Clean off fingerprints, leave nothing around,” said Major, “we will head to the next airport and work from there.” “That will add an extra 2 hours flight time each way,” said Rock, “but it is the best idea. We do not want to get mixed up with this.”

Off they went back to the city which was 2 hours back. Due to the bad weather that moved in, they could do nothing but wait for it to clear again. But it gave Baldwin time to get his own planes and helicopters to that airport for the team to use. Those planes could stay in the air longer too, which will be better for searching. They thought it would be just a day or two of bad weather, but it just kept on, day after day, for a whole week.

Baldwin and Mandar also arrived on the second day so they could talk with the team. Everyone was excited about being so close to finding us. “I know you are excited,” said Baldwin, “but we have to be realistic here. Carnival’s men knew you had found out about that cabin. Then a helicopter was sent quickly out there. It is possible they went out to kill Steve and the girls. I hope that is not the case, but we have to be ready for any possibility. Did anyone make a call to the police about that airfield?”

“Yes, Mr. B., I did,” said Tracy. “Good, that is their responsibility anyway,” he said, “now we need to wait for clear weather.” Major, Mandar, Baldwin and Carver spent time playing chess. Tracy, Aasta and Astrid were in one room and had the kittens with them and they were all playing. Then Tiia ran past the door and stopped suddenly. She went back and listened, then she jumped onto the bed. Meowi=Human people person on other side door.

Tracy went to open the door while the other two girls had their guns out and ready to run into the hall. Tracy opened the door fast and one of the hotel employees was standing there. “Oh, uh, I was about to knock and ask if everything was okay,” she said nervously. “Sure took you long enough to decide to knock,” said Astrid, “why were you listening out there?” “Oh, uh, no, I was not listening,” she said, “uh, I have to get back to work now.” She then turned to leave but the girls brought her into the room for a talk.

Meanwhile, back to us in the cabin. “It has been 3 days now and there is no letup in this weather,” said Sky, “there is nearly 3 feet of snow out there now.” “We are at a fairly high elevation, I guess,” I said, “weather can be unpredictable in the mountains and bad weather can last a long time.” I held my head again. “Do you have another headache Steve?” asked Sky. “Yeah, nearly all the time now, but sometimes it is not as bad,” I admitted, “and my memory is getting worse, I can tell, I cannot remember even simple things now.”

“Try not to think about it Steve,” said Sigurbjorn, “just think about here and now.” “You made good crutches for me Steve,” said Kristina, “that shows you are still doing okay.” “Thanks,” I said, “but I know it is getting worse. I should go shovel snow off the roof, 3 feet is a lot for this old roof.” “Well, you did it once,” said Sky, “so it will not be so deep up there now. But it probably would be good to shovel it off anyway, just in case.”

“I did it once already?” I asked. “Yes, that is when I fell and hurt myself,” said Kristina. “Oh, I do not remember that at all,” I said slowly, “I think maybe I should lie down for a while.” “Good idea Steve,” said Sky, “Sigurbjorn can massage you.” She did so until I fell asleep. “He is getting worse,” said Sigurbjorn, “if they do not find us soon, I just do not know.”

“Yes, I am very concerned about him,” said Sky sighing, “but what can we do? And with this weather, even if they are getting close, they cannot fly around to look for us.” “Well, the weather will not stay bad for long,” said Kristina. But the 3 days changed to 5, then to 7. By then the girls had to tell me their names every day, I just could not remember.

But for me, each day was a new day, like being the first day, so it did not affect me much. The girls just went along with it, acting like it was the first day each time. It was easier that way than trying to explain things all over again, though some things had to be explained every day anyway. Then, one morning when we awoke…

To Be Continued.

©2023 Steve McLeod.