In Strange Company

Day 5 - The Wild Thing

Matt moved to the mouth of the tent, undid the netted flap and stepped out. He zipped up his jacket and wrapped his scarf around his neck. Clare followed him out, then Brandon. The three turned around to see Jack lie back down in his bag again. They called his name, and he jumped up at once and came out, dragging his sack behind him like a baby dragging a blanket.

"I'll go see how much stuff we've got to carry," Brandon walked away.

"I'll go with him" Clare volunteered. She watched him stare down at the bags. "Got any ideas as to how we're going to take all this with us?" He just shook his head.

She turned to see Matt dragging Jack, who'd slipped back into his sack. "IDEA," she exclaimed clasping her hands to his chest.

"What?"

Clare pointed at Matt. "See how he's pulling Jack, we can do that can't we, with the extra bag and tent?" She turned back to Brandon, holding him by both hands and shook him a little. "Yeah, that's how we do it."

Excited, they quickly repacked everything in the five backpacks. Each donned one pack each and hung their sleeping bags by the bag's straps. The task of carrying the tent and the extra bag was going to be divided among the boys through their expedition. Brandon looked at his watch; it was nearly eight o'clock in the morning. The sky was still heavily draped in the storm clouds, however, the blizzard had passed and all was quiet that morning.

"So we're not going to make a pact or something?" Jack asked. "You know, like, to be patient and not lose our temper when the going gets tough, etcetera." He threw out his hand, palm down.

"The only pact I want to make is the one of getting home safe in one piece," Matt claimed. He took the responsibility of carrying the tent for the first hour.

"Amen to that, brother," Jack added, slapping Matt's shoulder.

Matt excitedly walked ahead of the rest. "Well, let's not waste any more time then, you good for nothing scallywags!"

"Aye, aye, Cap'n," they echoed in unison.

* * *

Boyd ran into Simon's office, panting. "Pick up your phone. You'd want to take this."

Simon looked up. "Put it through."

Boyd nodded and ran back out. A moment later, Simon heard a familiar voice through the receiver.

"Officer Stacey, its Larry from the Lodge." There was a pause. "We only just heard about all road closures and were wondering if we could still come down to town. The weather up here is getting worse and we don't think it'd be very safe for our staff to stay. Our supplies haven't reached us yet. Otherwise, we could've just stayed put. What do you say? Shall we plough our way down?"

Simon thought for a bit. "All right, evacuate all your staff. Do you have appropriate escape vehicles?"

"Yes, we've got two snow ploughs, can squeeze four each, and we have seven staff. I think we can manage it."

"All right. Listen up" Simon said. "I got a favour to ask."

"What is it?"

"The bus full of tourist that's been missing. We have confirmed through global positioning that it is still on the mountain, and we have a vague location. We've tried their radio and no answers. So we're thinking perhaps they've pulled over by the side of the road due to the heavy snowfall. We just want you to confirm whether such is the case. We're trying not to alarm anybody down here as yet."

"Okay, can do. We'll radio in if we happen to find anything."

"Oh, Larry, watch out for that nasty stretch of road, and good luck." With that Simon hung up.