“Yup. I’ve got my head in the right place. Let’s do this.”
Trask nodded. “I’ll grab the straps and ropes. You get your mask and tanks, just in case.”
There was no dissension as they both hustled to load themselves up and quickly made their way into the woods, following a trail that clearly had been recently trampled in the snow.
“Officer Forge?” Trask called out to the woman who strode over to meet them as soon as they entered the small clearing which was downright frigid now that the late afternoon sun was waning.
“Daniella, please,” the official responded.
Trask extended a hand. “Trask Sothard. And this is Jett DeLuca. You two spoke on the phone.”
The officer did a quick double-take, seeing Jett’s eyes, but didn’t comment on it as she got right down to business. “Nice to have your help. This way please. A couple of snowshoers stumbled across the scene and called us in, but we’re not equipped, so we’re very happy you were nearby.”
She led them over to a large, round hole in the ground where several officers and fire-fighters milled about, looking uncertain. They all exchanged chin lifts while Trask took stock of the situation.
He knelt down.
Clearly the old cistern had been covered with wood at some point to keep it safe. But the planks, which were now nothing more than splinters, had clearly rotted. The bull moose had broken right through them to plunge into the cistern, and waseasily five feet below them, his head barely visible above the water-line.
With the animal’s obvious fatigue—and who knew how long the poor thing had been in there—its muzzle and snout dipped down every few seconds, making it harder and harder for the animal to catch its breath.
Officer Daniella spoke up and drew his attention away from the beast.
“This is our town vet, Arthur Glarish.” She introduced them to a small, older man who was also kneeling beside the hole on the other side. It seemed he’d already duct-taped a syringe onto a long stick, and was poised to knock the moose out.
“I was just waiting until you got here,” the little man said. “Once he’s sedated, you’ll need to get in immediately to keep his head from going under.”
Trask nodded, looking over at Jett who was already zipping up her drysuit and pulling her hood over her blonde curls.
“You ready?” he asked.
“I am,” she replied with a thumbs up. “Let’s get this party started.”
CHAPTER 9
It tookthe vet three tries to pierce the thick hide of the moose with the needle, but once that was done, the countdown began.
The white-haired expert told them it could take up to twenty minutes for the sedative to take effect, but Jett readied herself for action immediately, just in case. She knew there’d be a fine line between the time the huge animal succumbed to the tranquilizer, and when his head would go under. She couldn’t waste a second. The moment the creature started to buckle, he’d be in danger of drowning.
She remained poised.
Trask had strapped her into a harness that he’d made secure around her, and…
Yes.She’d breathed in his luscious scent as he’d turned her expertly this way and that, tightening things. She was only human, after all, and even though the situation they were tasked with was dire, Trask was just too compelling to ignore.
She managed to get her head back on track when he finally backed up to bark more directions.
“When the time is right, the firefighters and I will rapidly lower you into the well,” he told her. “The first thing you’ll needto do is run this webbing under the moose’s chin, then you’ll hand the leads up to us.” He passed over a thick nylon cinching-strap.
“We’ll keep his nose above water while you get the rest of the slings around him from underneath, then we’ll winch him up.”
One of the firefighters was busy rigging a pully system on a large branch that overhung the well after testing it with his body weight.
Jett drew in a deep, calming breath, and gave Trask an okay signal while snapping her mask in place.
This certainly wasn’t the hairiest rescue she’d ever performed, but it sure as hell was the strangest. She almost laughed, thinking about how she’d describe this event on a resumé.
The vet drew her attention.
