‘It’s getting colder for sure.’
‘When will the chipper arrive?’ Bess asked.
Noah confirmed it was due in two days, in time for the trees the crews would round up and bring here.
‘What do we call this time between New Year and Christmas?’ Maya asked. She got nothing but confused looks. ‘I was thinking, if the time between Christmas and New Year is known as Twixmas then there might be a name for this time period too.’
Noah just laughed. ‘I’d call it time to appreciate the rest of the days in between.’
‘He has a point,’ Bess grinned.
‘Hey, talking of Twixmas.’ Noah spun around in his chair. ‘I could murder a Twix right now.’
Bess bent down to get something from the bottom drawer and threw it to him. ‘Catch!’
He began to laugh at the gold-wrapped bar that had just landed in his hand. ‘How did you conjure that up so quickly?’
‘Mum gave me a selection box for Christmas, an enormousselection box. Thought I’d share it around a bit; can’t eat it all myself.’ One look from Noah and she admitted, ‘All right, I easily could, I just don’t think I should. Maya, can I interest you in a packet of Rolos? Crunchie? Double decker?’
‘Not for me, thanks, still full from my sandwich.’
The phone let out its shrill sound to notify them of a job and the crew snapped into action. Unlike a daytime job, it wasn’t a case of getting the helicopter started and leaving within a few minutes. At nighttime, they were required to do a lot more preparations prior to leaving the base.
Armed with maps in the office, the team identified potential landing sights. There had been a road traffic collision involving a bus that had veered off the road and into a ditch. Most of the passengers were unharmed, but an elderly man was trapped at the front of the bus and the fire brigade were on the way to assist.
‘Landing on the road isn’t an option,’ Bess confirmed. ‘Too narrow and winding.’ Those sorts of roads were beautiful to look at, to drive along in the height of summer with the windows down, but hazardous in the winter, especially for a bus. Unfortunately, those types of roads were the only way to get to certain places. ‘There’s a farmer’s field on our left as we approach. It looks big enough.’
‘There’s a second field the other side of the road too,’ Noah added. ‘Plus, there’s a car park, which is a trek but it’s an option should the first two not be good enough.’
‘All right then,’ said Maya. ‘Let’s go. I’ll get Hilda ready.’
Maya left, Bess got the cool box of blood and plasma, and Noah collected the drugs, and with helmets and jackets on, it was time to go.
‘Is it rain or sleet?’ Maya wondered once she lifted the helicopter into the air and they set off for the job thirty miles north from the airbase.
‘I’ve no idea.’ Bess couldn’t tell which it was either.
Night-vision goggles guided them towards their destination along with a powerful white light underneath the helicopter which illuminated the ground.
Bess thought about Gio, how as horrid as the circumstances were, she wouldn’t have minded seeing him there tonight. He’d been pleasant enough when he’d come to the house and seemed to understand what she was going through but she hated thinking she’d plummeted in his estimations since the stunt she’d pulled at the pub. She wished more than anything that she hadn’t done it now, that she and Gio were just as they’d been before.
‘You think it’ll snow?’ Noah’s voice came over the microphone. The weather conditions were hazardous and right now, out on a job, they all hoped it wouldn’t get any worse.
‘Maybe,’ said Bess as what she’d deduced as sleet carried on.
‘Eva will love snow when she sees it.’ Maya, who seemed to enjoy being a part of the little family, beamed. She and Noah were getting serious.
‘She sure will,’ came Noah’s voice from the back of the helicopter. ‘I can’t wait to build a snowman with her.’
Maya laughed. ‘You’re a big kid; don’t pretend it’s all about Eva.’
‘Okay, I admit, I want snow. Doesn’t happen very often in Dorset but we can hope for some.’
They were almost at the scene and general chitchat, which was always interspersed with work talk, reverted to work-only. They couldn’t land in the first field; it had farm machinery on the perimeter which made it difficult to get access to the road. The other field was too sloped, the car park became their best bet and Hilda set down safely in no time at all.
Maya stayed with the helicopter and Noah and Bess made their way to the scene lugging the heavy bags.
A firefighter updated them on approach. The elderly gentleman was talking, but he had severe leg injuries.
