Chapter 5

(Day 3- Friday, 8-20-04 the high trail)

Grif was at 2,500 feet, climbing higher to clear some of the taller foothill mountains in his path, (OK back east five thousand feet is a mountain) and about ten minutes from the cache tower at the river. He would begin there and make an ever-widening spiral out from that point until he found someone. North of the tower on the high trail, Grif saw a lone dome tent from the group, but no one came out to look or wave. He continued on further down the trail and saw two people.

Grif trimmed the flaps and slowed his airspeed to come lower, and slower. He could see they were female, and one was dragging the other on a litter. It wasn't Sheila, but one of her sister's girls, the younger one he thought. Grif had to find a place to set down, and mentally measured two tundra ponds about half a mile to the southeast of them. Landing wasn't so much the problem, but getting off again with two more passengers and gear might be. There was a narrow passage between them, and if the wings would clear the willows, the floats could go through.

Grif checked the wind direction, and set the Cessna down with one little "bump". Then Grif taxied to the shore, gathered the First Aid Kit and his rifle for protection from any marauding critters, no matter how many legs they walked on and went to help his client. Barney walked with him, and when Grif was close enough for them to hear, he said, "He won't hurt you."

Carol was exhausted by the time Grif reached she and her mother. He asked Tracy, "Let me have a look at that if I may? I have had extensive First Aid training."

Grif removed her gauze bandage while she sat on her pack, and winced. The leg was swollen badly. It was more than twice the size of the other leg and oozed yellow puss. He cleaned it with antiseptic swabs, and wrapped it very lightly with some sterile gauze.

"Mrs. Ray, " Grif told her, "This trip is over for you." Grif looked around, and then asked, "Where are the others?" Then he quickly said, "I know about your husbands ma'am. I am very sorry."

"It's Tracy," she told him. "The group has split up. Sheila and her kids took off during the night, and Ricky and Kathy are trying to catch up to them."

Grif told her that splitting up was not a good idea, that even though they were attacked when the whole group was together, they were still safer as a group. He turned to the daughter and said, "Your name is?"

"Carol," she replied.

"Well this is Barney," Grif continued, "I brought him along for company. He is well behaved."

Then Grif explained how he was going to piggyback Tracy to the plane, and Barney would drag her pack for her. He would unload the gun, and Carol would have to carry it to the plane for him.

"We can't leave the others," Carol said, "Where are you taking us?"

"Fairbanks or Anchorage Carol", Grif told her. "Depending what the little clinic in Bettles says. There are some doctors there this week that will take her to the best hospital for this type of wound on a faster plane than I have. Then I will come back for the rest of your party."

"But it is just a few scratches," Carol protested.

"Carol," Grif told her, "your Mom's leg is infected bad! If she doesn't get to a major hospital today, she may lose it or even die."

Grif unloaded his rifle, and put the clip in his jacket pocket. Then he handed it to Carol with the bolt open, and said, "See? Not loaded." Then Grif knelt so Tracy could ride on his back to the plane. "Let's get going," Grif said. He turned to Barney, and said, "Barney, bring Tracy's pack boy." The big Lab did as he was told to the amazement of the ladies.

Grif had to stop and rest once, and he smiled at Tracy. He told her, "You aren't that heavy, I'm just not 25 years old anymore. It's me not you."

Tracy, at 158 pounds, knew that he was trying to be polite. Finally they arrived at the Cessna, and Grif stowed the two packs first, then the First Aid Kit, and the rifle. Next he put Carol in the back and told her to buckle up. Barney got in beside the girl to keep her company. Then Grif strapped Tracy in the front passenger or co-pilot seat.

He told her, "Try not to kick those pedals down there with your feet. They work the rudder."

Grif checked the flap setting, primed the carburetor, yelled, "CLEAR!" and started the engine. He taxied downwind through the passage between the two ponds and the very tops of the willows brushed one wing. Grif didn't think it would do any damage. There really was no other choice to get Tracy to some help, and hope they could do something for her.

At the far downwind end of the pond, Grif turned the plane around and by working back and forth, lined up perfectly with the passage. He looked at his passengers, and said, "Watch for birds."

Carol got a kick out of Barney when he sat up and was really looking. "Here we go," Grif told them, and went full throttle towards the end of the pond. The Cessna got up on step pretty quickly, and before it got to the cut Grif thought he'd try to kick the pontoon on the left side with the tallest willows loose. He did, it did, and Grif pulled up with just a foot to spare!

Tracy had shut her eyes and now opened them. "We made it," Tracy observed as Grif trimmed the plane to cruise to Bettles.

"Wow! He's good Mom, " Carol added.

Grif told her, "No, I just have an angel who helps me out of tight places."

The young girl said, "There are no angels."

"Just because you have never seen one, doesn't mean they don't exist," He told her. "There is air, right? You can't see it."

"You can in New York and Philadelphia," Tracy piped in.

"That is because there is something wrong with it and it 'wants to be seen' so you will know to fix it," Grif argued. "Just like when something is very wrong, and the angels let you see them. Most of the time they are just there, and you never know it. Barney can see them, right boy?" He wagged his tail. "Show me an angel, Barney." Barney looked a minute, and then looked at Carol, then whined once.

"Aw," she said to Barney, "You are so sweet," then gave him a kiss on the nose.

"I hate to tell you boy," Tracy added, "but that one there is no angel."

"Mom!" Carol exclaimed.

Grif came to the rescue with, "Maybe he is looking at one sitting with you Carol."

Barney "woofed."

"See there?" Grif said.

Tracy said, "We don't believe in God and praying. My sister does. We just never had any use for religion."

"Does your sister tell you she prays for you?" Grif asked.

Carol chimed in, "She prayed for all of us that were left after the bears attacked us. That didn't keep my brother Ricky from coming back and taking over and hogging all the food, and hitting Mom!"

"Carol! You shut up this instant!" Tracy yelled. Grif made a mental note to follow up on this while Tracy was being examined in Bettles.

"I am here to tell you, I have seen angels. Twice, once in Viet Nam, and once a few years back when my wife left me for her boss," Grif confessed. "I have sensed them quite often though, and they seem to warn me of danger, and have caused me to do things that had I not, would have resulted in my certain death."

"That happens a lot these days," Tracy said, "I mean husbands and wives leaving each other. Most of our friends are on their second or third divorce."

Then Grif told her, "Well after Susan left me, I tried to drink myself to death one night. I drank till I nearly passed out. Then I tried to drive home from 20 miles away at 2:00 in the morning. I can remember getting into the car. Then I remember looking up at her, as she reached her hand to me to help me up. I had fallen over in the seat, and was laying on the ground."

Tracy said, "You were hallucinating, ha-ha."

"Well in the seventies," He said, "I don't recall, ankle length, blue gray gowns, and no make-up being in style, do you?"

"So what did your hallucination tell you," Carol asked?

"She told me that I nearly killed myself, and I had much more to do on this earth before I was done here," Grif replied. "Then I remember her telling me not to grieve over Susan's leaving me. The angel told me that the one who will truly make me happy exists, and I would find her by doing what I love best. I figured that was flying. That was also twenty years ago. I never drank since. I have non-alcoholic drinks now, and I enjoy it more."

Tracy then said, "So her telling you that made you stop drinking?"

"No," he admitted, "waking up the next morning in my bed, and the only memory I have of driving home was waking up once and seeing the freeway a hundred feet below, then blanking out again. Now THAT will do it!"

"Did you ever find this woman she said you would," Carol asked?

"Not yet," Grif said, "but she told me never to lose faith. She said I'd find my woman doing what I love most, and that is flying in the Alaskan Bush. I know that someday I will."

Grif called Fairbanks Control to advise that he had a bear attack victim with a 2-day-old infected leg and needed transport to Fairbanks or Anchorage, "Fairbanks Center, this is November 385 Whiskey Lima, I have a passenger in need of immediate medical assistance, resulting from a bear attack. Our primary destination is Bettles, over."