Chapter 12

Ron gathered the gear and loaded it on the sled. He decided to get rid of some of the gear that he felt they no longer needed and all of the gear fit on the sled. The sled needed a few repairs before they could start. He repaired the sled and rechecked the gear.

Ron and Brenda checked the horizon to see if they could find the smoke that Ron had seen yesterday. Brenda almost immediately found it.

"There it is, over there," she cried out excitedly.

Ron grabbed his compass and took a heading. The morning was cool and the air was still and the smoke rose lazily into the air about 100 feet before it started to dissipate.

Ron hugged Brenda, "Woman, I think we might get out of here soon. That smoke is only about 2 or 3 miles from here. As lazy as the smoke is rising it must be a wood stove."

Ron and Brenda started toward the smoke. About an hour after they started out they came to a gravel road and Ron realized that they had been traveling almost parallel to the road the past few days. The road seemed to be leading right to the smoke. The going was much easier than walking through the woods. They were making much better time now. Ron, because of the sled, was the one holding them back now. Brenda seemed to be in high spirits and would occasionally come up and hug Ron's arm.

The smell of the smoke started to get stronger and Ron cautioned Brenda to keep quiet. Ron saw a clearing up ahead and put the sled down. He motioned to Brenda to stay put and to crouch down low at the edge of the woods. Ron started toward the clearing. The gravel road led right past the clearing. Ron could not see a cabin yet.

As he reached the edge of the woods he saw that there was a cabin and a larger building with a cross on top of it. The smoke came from the chimney of the cabin. There was no smoke coming from the chimney of the larger building with the cross on top. Ron could see no signs of life around the cabin. As he got nearer to the cabin he saw another building hidden by the cabin and heard a horse whinny. A man came out of the cabin and headed for the small building which was apparently a barn. Ron dropped to the grass. The man had not seen him. After the man had gone into the barn Ron got up and continued toward the cabin. After he reached the cabin. Ron checked the cabin to see if anyone was inside. The cabin was neat as a pin and was sparsely furnished. Ron continued around the cabin and approached the barn. He had the pistol in his hand ready for use.

As Ron looked through the door of the barn he saw a man with his back to him and the man had a bucket in his hand. The man was starting the give the horse fresh water. The man was humming an old time spiritual to himself.

"Put your hands in the air and don't try anything or I'll shoot you," Ron hollered.

The man turned around and Ron saw that he had a clerical collar on.

"No need for that gun mister," the man said putting down the bucket, "You wouldn't be one of those people the Howell company is looking for, would you?"

The man walked over to Ron with his hand extended. Ron was amazed that the man seemed to just ignore the gun. Ron shook his hand.

""I'm the Reverend John Priest," the man said, "I know, a wilderness minister named Priest. I've heard all of the jokes. Now are you one of the people that Howell is looking for?"

Ron couldn't speak. He shook his head yes. The minister started rambling on how the Howell Company still had aerial searches going on and that Sam Howell was offering $100,000 to anyone who found them and got them out alive. He told Ron that the searches were concentrated north of here and no one was looking in this area. Ron finally got his voice.

"The woman is at the edge of the woods," he blurted out, "I have to go get her."

Ron ran back to where he had left Brenda. As he got to her he grabbed her and started hugging and kissing her. Brenda finally pushed him away.

"What did you find," she asked.

As they walked toward the clearing, Ron told her about the cabin and how they had stumbled onto a wilderness church. He told her about the minister and that Howell had search parties out for them and a big reward for their safe return. When they walked up to the cabin the minister shook Brenda's hand and she was like Ron, speechless.

When they regain the ability to speak, John Priest took them in the cabin and started to prepare them something to eat. He questioned them about how they had made it through the woods and asked where the plane had crashed. He set the food before them and they ate as if they hadn't eaten in days. After they had eaten Ron and the minister studied the map and located the lake where they had crashed. When John heard that two men were still in the plane he bowed his head and asked Ron and Brenda to join him in a prayer for their souls.

"Do you have a radio so that we can let Howell know where we are?" Ron asked.

"Well, a mouse decided to call his mother and crawled into the radio and fried himself and the printed circuit board," John said with a chuckle, "But there's a Ranger station about three miles down the road and I can make a call from there."

John went on to explain that the Ranger station was closed after Labor Day but that they always left him a key in case of emergency. He told them that his wife was in Valdez and that he usually stayed in the area until October 15^th and then went to Valdez with her. They had a parish in Valdez that they took care of in the winter.

"Washington wouldn't be too happy knowing that I have a key so we don't tell them," John went on. "I won't make it there until dark, so I'll stay there overnight and come back in the morning. You two use the cabin like it was your own. The bed is mighty comfortable and there's a hot tub out back if you need to relax.