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Instantly, she was there. “Oh, look at you, you poor baby.” Her hands went to the child, palpating and looking her over without moving her from the shelter of the tree. Mary leaned toward Halo’s ear. “Tell me this isn’t a wood fairy or nymph or something. This is like a four-year-old child, right? A child alone in a tree in the middle of the woods? Or is this a hallucination?”
“This is a child, Mary. Is she okay to move?”
“I think so.” Their heads were held close as they yelled into each other’s ears past the continuing roar of the torrent hitting the canopy of leaves. “But where did she come from? Surely, she’s not in the woods by herself. Maybe her adult is hurt?”
Max came between them and sniffed at the child. “Good job, Maxi. I’m really proud of you, mate.”
Halo reached for his pack and pulled out a picnic tarp, plastic on the outside and fleece-lined on the inside. He handed it to Mary while he pulled the bag back into place under his poncho.
“Do we have a plan?” Mary asked as she opened the covering under her own poncho, keeping the lining dry.
“I’m going to see if Max can’t track back to where she came from. With this wind and rain, I’m not sure that’s possible. If yes, we’ll decide next steps then. If no, we’ll get back to our car and get her to the authorities,” he said, reaching for the child that Mary had swaddled.
The little one shivered in his arms. Wet and obviously exhausted, her eyes stared glassily at him, wary but too tired to put up any resistance.
“Here we go.” Halo held the child under Max’s nose. “Maxi, where did this baby come from? Trackback, Max. Trackback.”
With the little one in one arm, clasped Mary in his other, Max’s paws wide as he got his nose right down to the ground, Halo tried to keep up as Max wended his way through the forest.
***
By Halo’s calculations, they moved about a half mile through the forest when they emerged on a roadway. Halo was slowed by Mary’s feet, which moved her clumsily forward. He could feel her concentrating hard, trying hard, pushing herself.
The street was empty except for the tree that had fallen across the roadway that Halo’s headlamp picked out of the darkness.
That was going to be problematic.
According to the pulses from his directional shirt, their car was up the road to the right. That meant the city was farther down the road to his left. He was in a rental car, and they had no comms.
It could be that Panther Force might send out a search heading to their last known location when he and Mary didn't return to the hotel after the storm. If they waited at the car, they’d be found. But obviously, with trees coming down, it wasn’t optimal.
Max came back to check on them.
“I’m following, buddy. Keep going.”
At the very least, this was in the direction of their car. With the engine on, he could get this baby’s wet clothes off and get her warmed up. Mary could rest.
As they approached the tree, Halo realized that it lay across the hood of a car.
“Oh, no,” he heard Mary exhale. She tried to coordinate her feet to run forward but stumbled, stretching her hand toward the ground as Halo jerked to keep her on her feet.
“Slow and steady, Mary.”
“Yes.”
They circled around the enormous root ball to find the back door of a car standing wide. A child’s car seat was wet, but it was the safest place to be while he checked the mum. He quickly strapped the child back into her place.
The airbag had deployed.
The woman unconscious, blood dripping from a cut on her head.
Halo snaked a hand forward to the front door, unlocking it. With his foot braced on the side, he was able to jerk the driver’s side door open. He softly shut it again. “Mary, I’m going to walk you and Max around to the other side of the car and have you both get in with the child and keep each other warm, okay?”
“I’m an emergency nurse,” she hollered over the wind.
“You are. Let’s get you into the car for now so I can see what needs to be done for the mum, hey?” Mary probably understood that Halo wasn’t trusting her abilities at that moment. After all, just a few minutes before, she wasn’t entirely sure whether she was looking at a child or a fairytale creature.
Hand on the car, Halo rounded back to the unconscious woman’s side, trying to block the wind and rain with his body while he moved through the steps of first aid.