Blackberry Summer

He tried to pull the doors open but they wouldn’t budge because of the water pressing in. “Can you wind down the window?” he yelled.

“No, we tried. They won’t work.”

Power windows tended not to be real cooperative when the car’s battery was submerged in four feet of water. He pulled out the crowbar, grateful for whatever instinct had prompted him to grab it. “Look, I need you to move away from the window and cover your face with your hands. I’m going to break the window, okay?”

“Okay.” He heard the muffled response from inside.

“Are you all clear?”

“Yes.”

Urgency lent him added strength and he slammed the crowbar into the window. It shattered and he brushed at the glass with his wet sleeve.

“I didn’t think anybody saw us. I thought we would be here all night,” the girl whimpered. He knew that voice, but he couldn’t see her features very well. He aimed the flashlight to get a better look at possible injuries and everything inside him froze.

Macy Bradford.

One of the little figures she cuddled was her brother, Owen, and the other was the freckled, red-headed kid who had been with them at the pageant. Jordie something or other.

He jerked his attention to the motionless form in the front seat. “Claire? Claire, honey? Answer me.”

She didn’t respond, although he thought he heard a slight moan. He checked quickly for a pulse and found one there, a little thready but strong. He wanted to do a full assessment but his gut was telling him the first priority was to get the terrified kids out of the reservoir and back to shore, where he could now see other rescuers coming down the slope toward the water’s edge.

“Are you guys hurt?”

“I’m cold. I cut my face,” Jordie said through his scared sobs. “And my shoulder hurts.”

“My arm hurts,” Owen whimpered. “I think it’s broken.”

“I’m okay,” Macy said, but Riley was pretty sure she was lying. He couldn’t wait for stretchers to get here. Not in these conditions. It could be fifteen minutes or longer before the paramedics managed to make it up the canyon and he had no idea what was happening with the other accident.

He was going to have to trust his instincts and go against every stricture he’d ever learned about not moving accident victims who had been injured. Sometimes removing a victim from further injury was the only option and right now hypothermia and shock were both grave concern.

“Macy, I’m going to carry the boys to shore first and then I’ll come back for you, okay? There are people who will help you make your way up to the road and get you all warmed up. Got it?”

“Is my mom gonna be okay?” Her voice shook with fear and his chest ached from more than just the effort it was taking to breathe through the bitter cold.

“I promise you, I will do my best to make sure of that. Hang on while I take care of the boys first. You keep talking to your mom while I’m gone, okay? You ready, boys?”

“Uh-huh.” Owen sniffled as he slid across the seat. Riley scooped him up over one shoulder and then took the other boy over the other in a double fireman’s hold, careful as he could manage of possible injuries.

The trip back through the water was surreal in the moonlight with snow swirling around the inky water. He almost fell once and would have dunked them all but he somehow managed to keep his footing. When he was almost to the shore, several people waded the rest of the way to take the boys from him.

“My wife’s a nurse,” the man who took Jordie said. “She’s waiting on the shore.”

“I think they mostly need to be warmed up, although one is complaining of arm pain and the other says his shoulder hurts.”

Two of the rescuers carried the boys to shore, but the other one turned to Riley. “Is there anyone else out there?”

He was just a kid, Riley realized. “Two more, one with undetermined injuries.”

“I’ll help you get them.”

He didn’t want to endanger anyone else, but the kid was strong, muscled, like a bulldogger. Probably a rancher’s kid, who bulked up by hefting hay bales and wrestling steers. “That would be great. If you can carry the girl to shore, I can check on her mom.”

Riley hadn’t been able to feel his feet for some time now and the snow was falling more heavily, joined now by a vicious wind that churned the water and blasted through his wet clothes. He didn’t care. Not when Claire needed help.

“What’s your name, kid?” he asked as they made their way back to the SUV.

“Joe Redmond.”

There was a coincidence. Redmond was a common name around here, but he was quite sure the kid was somehow related to Lisa, his old girlfriend.

When they reached the SUV, Riley aimed the flashlight into the backseat and the kid made a sound of astonishment. “Mace? Is that you?”

“Yeah. Hey, Joey.”

“My mom’s gonna freak that you guys were the ones hurt.”

“How’s your mom?” Riley asked Macy.

“I think she might be waking up. I was trying to get her to talk to me and she moaned a few times.”

“You did great, honey. Let’s get you warmed up, okay, and I’ll take care of Claire from here. Joe, are you sure you can carry her?”

“You bet. Come on, squirt.”

He made sure Macy looked secure in the kid’s arms before he focused all his attention on Claire while they headed for shore. “Claire? Honey, can you hear me?”

She moaned again, an encouraging sound.

“I need to break another window. I’m going to cover your face, okay?” He had to hope she could understand and wouldn’t come back to full consciousness in a panic that she was being suffocated.

He grabbed her scarf and managed to protect her face as best he could before he hefted the crowbar and half waded, half dragged himself around to the passenger side across from her. This window was already cracked and it took only a hard smack to shatter it completely. He was guessing by the way the vehicle was tilted toward the driver’s side that the vehicle had landed on that side. Her body would have absorbed most of the impact and it made sense that her injuries would potentially be more severe than the children’s in the backseat, who probably hadn’t braced against the crash like Claire would have done.

The water inside the car was up to her waist and she was shaking violently despite her unconscious state. Guilt crashed over him, colder and more vicious than the waves. He should never have started the pursuit under these conditions. He should have just waited and set up a roadblock at the mouth of the canyon to take care of it.

When he pulled the scarf away, she blinked at him and her huge, dilated pupils and pale features ripped at his heart.

“Cold,” she moaned.

“I know, honey. I know. I’ll get you out of here as soon as I can figure out if it’s safe to move you. Where do you hurt?”

She squinted at him, then closed her eyes and he saw blood oozing from her temple.

“What…happened?”

“Accident. You went off the road to avoid a head-on. You probably saved your kids’ lives.” He batted away the deflated air bag and worked on her seat belt.