Good morning FFFs!
I protest! It can't be the last Friday in July! It just can't be! I know I already reached my 20k word goal for Camp NaNo, and I know that there is only a little over a week of campaigning before the August elections (we'll see if my brother wins!), and I know that I start teaching writing classes again two weeks, but still!
Let's see, we did have a busy week. Not a crazy as other times. This week we had an ice cream social to attend on Monday. (It was a political event and we got to hear many of the people running for office.) It was quite fun and informative. I reached my 20k goal on Wednesday. Yesterday my aunt came down for the day, and all 7 nieces and nephews came over for several hours so their parents could have a real date. That was fun.
Today is just usual stuff like cleaning the house and then trying to feel like I should be productive. For some reason, though I may feel like getting a whole lot done on Friday mornings, by the time the house is clean, I seem to have lost all desire to do anything, and only want to sit and read, or something like that.
Tomorrow I may be out knocking doors again, but there is a chance of rain, so we'll see. And tomorrow evening I'm supposed to join some others from church to play and sing at an assisted living home. That's always fun.
But I have other things I need to do. And I'm sure you came to read the story and not my ramblings. So enjoy this last and final part of:
Missing: One Junior Ranger
Ending
On and on the group moved, over uneven ground, through brush and briars. For a while the trail was lost in a carpet of pine needles, but it was found again and the rescue party continued on. At last Mike stopped and looked.
“She spent the night in that tree.” He pointed to a large one.
“She couldn’t have,” Timmy protested. “I couldn’t even get to those branches.”
Stepping close to the tree, Sam looked up. “How did she get up there, Mike?”
Mike pointed to a branch lying on the ground nearby. “I think she used that as a ladder. But she didn’t come down that way. She dropped here. I think she is heading in the direction of the river.”
A gasp came from the girls. The bank near the river in this part of the forest was steep, and the water was rapid, sweeping everything in it toward one of the falls which, though not high, was dangerous because of its many rocks at the bottom.
“Stay behind me, but let’s go,” Mike said, starting forward at a rapid pace.
Nearing the river, they began to call, but no answer came back. Were they too late? Had she fallen into the river? Or was she just too far away?
Moaning, Sharon clutched her ankle. Why, oh why, did she have to trip on that vine and fall? Her face and hands smarted from the scrapes they had received sliding down the river bank. The roar of the waterfall was the only sound she could hear. Rocking back and forth with her injured ankle clasped in her torn hands, she looked around. Her fall had sent her sliding down to a small level bank near the river. Both upstream and down the banks were mere drop-offs. Only this section had eroded, washed down by rains.
“I don’t know how I’m ever going to get up that slide again,” she thought. The earth and rocks were loose, offering no good foothold even if one of her legs wasn’t injured. “A fine mess I’ve made of things. I’m no good as a ranger. I tried to mark my trail with my knife this morning, but if I had done that yesterday I might not be stuck here right now.” She sighed. Her ankle throbbed, and her face and hands hurt. And she was hungry. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she blinked them back. She had to figure out a way to let someone know where she was.
Looking up to the grassy bank above her, she gave a gasp. “Mike!”
“Are you okay, Sharon?” he shouted down.
It was hard to hear over the roar of the waterfall, but Sharon caught his words. “My ankle,” she called back, her voice cracking.
Mike’s face disappeared, and then a moment later Sam’s face appeared with Mike’s. “Mike’s coming down for you, Sharon,” he said, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Sharon nodded. She was about to be rescued.
In moments Mike had half slid, half scrambled, down the steep slope to her. “Your ankle is only sprained, I think” he told her after running his hands over it carefully. “Now, if you can get on my back, I’ll carry you up to the top.” This was soon done, and Sharon clung tightly to Mike as he scrambled up the loose soil to the top.
There, to her great surprise, she found the rest of the Junior Rangers as well as Sam Oleson. Tessie and Angie washed her scratches while Mike and Sam splinted and bound up her ankle.
“Just in case it is broken instead of sprained,” Sam told her. “Though I’ve never known Mike to make an error like that.”
“What happened to make you leave the path?”
The Junior Rangers were sitting in the Ranger office with Mike Big Eagle and Sam. Sharon, her injured ankle bandaged and resting on a chair, was the center of attention. Quickly she recounted the story of the little fawn. “Everyone said you shouldn’t let an animal suffer, and the fawn couldn’t get the fishing line off his leg himself. I didn’t dream he would take me so far away. But I did get it off him at last.”
“What did you do with the line?” Mike asked.
“I put it all in my pocket.” Shifting in her chair, she shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the line, the cause of all the trouble. “I tried to follow my tracks back to the trail, but I’m afraid I’m not very good at that yet.”
Leaning forward in his chair, Sam asked, “Why didn’t you stay in the tree until you were found?”
“I was going to, until the sun came up. Then I could see a large clearing, and I thought that might be an easier place to find me since I would be out in the open. I just didn’t know the river was in between.”
“Weren’t you frightened out there at night without a fire or anything?” Tessie asked, her eyes wide.
Sharon nodded. “Yes, until I remembered the verses Uncle Ken read that morning about not being afraid for the Lord was with me. But I did scream when I heard something move beneath the tree I was in,” she confessed.
A smile twitched the corners of Mike’s mouth. “It was a deer.”
Sharon’s hands flew to her mouth, and she gasped. “Oh!” She gave a faint laugh. “I probably frightened it more than it did me.” Then her face grew thoughtful. “You know,” she said slowly, “Uncle Ken read some other verses yesterday morning, and one of them said something about no lion or hungry beast walking there. I thought the noise I heard was a beast out to eat me, but it was only a deer. I think God kept those other animals away last night. And,” she added, smiling as she looked around, “I don’t think I’m ever going to think the Bible is dull again.”
“She spent the night in that tree.” He pointed to a large one.
“She couldn’t have,” Timmy protested. “I couldn’t even get to those branches.”
Stepping close to the tree, Sam looked up. “How did she get up there, Mike?”
Mike pointed to a branch lying on the ground nearby. “I think she used that as a ladder. But she didn’t come down that way. She dropped here. I think she is heading in the direction of the river.”
A gasp came from the girls. The bank near the river in this part of the forest was steep, and the water was rapid, sweeping everything in it toward one of the falls which, though not high, was dangerous because of its many rocks at the bottom.
“Stay behind me, but let’s go,” Mike said, starting forward at a rapid pace.
Nearing the river, they began to call, but no answer came back. Were they too late? Had she fallen into the river? Or was she just too far away?
*
Moaning, Sharon clutched her ankle. Why, oh why, did she have to trip on that vine and fall? Her face and hands smarted from the scrapes they had received sliding down the river bank. The roar of the waterfall was the only sound she could hear. Rocking back and forth with her injured ankle clasped in her torn hands, she looked around. Her fall had sent her sliding down to a small level bank near the river. Both upstream and down the banks were mere drop-offs. Only this section had eroded, washed down by rains.
“I don’t know how I’m ever going to get up that slide again,” she thought. The earth and rocks were loose, offering no good foothold even if one of her legs wasn’t injured. “A fine mess I’ve made of things. I’m no good as a ranger. I tried to mark my trail with my knife this morning, but if I had done that yesterday I might not be stuck here right now.” She sighed. Her ankle throbbed, and her face and hands hurt. And she was hungry. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she blinked them back. She had to figure out a way to let someone know where she was.
Looking up to the grassy bank above her, she gave a gasp. “Mike!”
“Are you okay, Sharon?” he shouted down.
It was hard to hear over the roar of the waterfall, but Sharon caught his words. “My ankle,” she called back, her voice cracking.
Mike’s face disappeared, and then a moment later Sam’s face appeared with Mike’s. “Mike’s coming down for you, Sharon,” he said, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Sharon nodded. She was about to be rescued.
In moments Mike had half slid, half scrambled, down the steep slope to her. “Your ankle is only sprained, I think” he told her after running his hands over it carefully. “Now, if you can get on my back, I’ll carry you up to the top.” This was soon done, and Sharon clung tightly to Mike as he scrambled up the loose soil to the top.
There, to her great surprise, she found the rest of the Junior Rangers as well as Sam Oleson. Tessie and Angie washed her scratches while Mike and Sam splinted and bound up her ankle.
“Just in case it is broken instead of sprained,” Sam told her. “Though I’ve never known Mike to make an error like that.”
*
“What happened to make you leave the path?”
The Junior Rangers were sitting in the Ranger office with Mike Big Eagle and Sam. Sharon, her injured ankle bandaged and resting on a chair, was the center of attention. Quickly she recounted the story of the little fawn. “Everyone said you shouldn’t let an animal suffer, and the fawn couldn’t get the fishing line off his leg himself. I didn’t dream he would take me so far away. But I did get it off him at last.”
“What did you do with the line?” Mike asked.
“I put it all in my pocket.” Shifting in her chair, she shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the line, the cause of all the trouble. “I tried to follow my tracks back to the trail, but I’m afraid I’m not very good at that yet.”
Leaning forward in his chair, Sam asked, “Why didn’t you stay in the tree until you were found?”
“I was going to, until the sun came up. Then I could see a large clearing, and I thought that might be an easier place to find me since I would be out in the open. I just didn’t know the river was in between.”
“Weren’t you frightened out there at night without a fire or anything?” Tessie asked, her eyes wide.
Sharon nodded. “Yes, until I remembered the verses Uncle Ken read that morning about not being afraid for the Lord was with me. But I did scream when I heard something move beneath the tree I was in,” she confessed.
A smile twitched the corners of Mike’s mouth. “It was a deer.”
Sharon’s hands flew to her mouth, and she gasped. “Oh!” She gave a faint laugh. “I probably frightened it more than it did me.” Then her face grew thoughtful. “You know,” she said slowly, “Uncle Ken read some other verses yesterday morning, and one of them said something about no lion or hungry beast walking there. I thought the noise I heard was a beast out to eat me, but it was only a deer. I think God kept those other animals away last night. And,” she added, smiling as she looked around, “I don’t think I’m ever going to think the Bible is dull again.”
What did you think?
Did you enjoy this story?
Are you ready for July to be over?
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