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CHAPTER 2

Trapped at Devil's Head!

Once inside the house I flew up the stairs. "Wake up, everyone!" I screamed. "There's a shipwreck!"

My mother opened the bedroom door. "What's going on?"

"Blizzard took me to the cliff. There are folks down there shipwrecked, and they're wet and freezing."

Dad was already pulling on his heavy pants over his long underwear. "Get your clothes on, Erik," he said to my brother, who stood sleepily in the hallway. "Quick! Those people can't last long in this weather!"

Mom piled blankets and sweaters into a nunny bag -- the waterproof sack Dad used when he traveled by boat. "Go storm the kettle and fill the teapot," Mom ordered me.

I ran to the kitchen, poked the fire, and then poured the steaming water from the kettle into the teapot that was already filled with tea bags for breakfast.

Dad and Erik, who had on their thick gansey sweaters, sat on the kitchen chairs and pulled on their boots. When they ran out the door, Dad had heavy coils of rope over his shoulders and the nunny bag under his arm. Blizzard was pacing back and forth and whining.

Mom stood nearby. "Don't head down into the chute, you hear, Walt? That path is icy, and you'll never make it in the dark. Then who'd come and rescue you?"

My grandmother peered down the stairs. "Did I hear you say Walt's going down the chute?" she hollered. "Has he lost the brains he was born with?"

"Oh, hush, women!" Dad said to them. "Stop your wailing! This is an April storm. The snow will probably be gone by noon. In the meantime we've got to get them up safely." He turned to my mother. "Bertie, you get a hot stew warming. They'll be starvin' when we get back." He patted Erik on the shoulder. "Now you and Jessie get Raven out of the barn. Harness her up to the sled and bring her to Devil's Head."

"No!" Mom said in a huff. "Jessie's not going."

Dad ignored her. "Those folks won't be fit to walk in this snow once we get them up out of the gully. Jessie, you come along and bring them back here on the sled."

He and Erik headed into the meadow, and the beams from their lights bounced in the darkness. Blizzard bounded ahead, barking and howling.

Mom put her hands on my shoulders. "Stay away from the edge of the cliff, Jessie Wheller. Promise me!"

"I promise, Mom."

She sighed, shook her head, and turned to tend the kettle.

I dashed out the door. The snow had let up, and I could see a dying moon peeking between the clouds. Dad and Blizzard were already out of sight.

By the time I reached the barn, Erik had my horse, Raven, bridled and harnessed. Raven threw her head and snorted, her breath making clouds of steam in the cold air. I grabbed one of the larger sleds and attached it to her harness. Erik threw his rope into the sled and hopped on while I hoisted myself onto Raven's back and clicked the reins.

Dad was flashing his light down the side of the cliff when we arrived at Devil's Head. "They're in the cave," he told us. "Let's get these blankets down first. Then we'll figure out how to rescue them."

Erik peered into the dark chasm. "The chute's covered with ice. No one can climb down or up the cliff."

Dad attached his rope to the nunny bag and then went to the edge of the cliff. "We're sending down blankets!" he yelled through cupped hands. He turned to me. "Jessie, you hold the light on the bag as it drops."

I did as I was told and watched as Dad lowered the rope bit by bit. In the bright beam of light I could see someone leaning out precariously from the cave opening and arms reaching up toward the bag as it slipped downward. I held my breath when the bag momentarily snagged on a jut-out of rock. But finally it made its way to the waiting hands at the cave's entrance.

"Thank God!" came a cry from the abyss.

Dad lay on his stomach and looked over the edge. "I'm going down the chute to lead them up," he said finally. "It's the only way to save them that I can see."

"No, Dad!" I yelled. "The chute is all ice. You'll break your neck!"

"At least wait until daybreak, Dad," Erik pleaded. "The spring sun will melt the ice."

"They may not last that long," Dad said.

"You told Mom you wouldn't go down the chute!" I could feel the tears welling up. I knew how dangerous the cliff was, even in the summer on hot, dry days. I looked down at the foaming tidal waves that swirled in circles around the rocks. "Don't go, Dad."

"There's no other way, Jessie. Tie one end of this coil of rope onto my belt. I'll go down, careful-like. Once I get there, I'll fasten the rope to them, one at a time, and they can try to climb up the trail. If they can't, then you hitch the rope to Raven and have her pull each of them slowly up the face of the cliff."

"Don't go, Dad, please."

"Hush, Jessie," Erik whispered. "He's made up his mind."

Blizzard came to me, whining and pawing. I sank onto my knees in the cold snow, knowing right well that nothing I said would change Dad's mind. I buried my face in Blizzard's fur and waited in silence.

Copyright © 2009 by Joan Hiatt Harlow