Chapter 4
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The plane drifted lazily around the scattering of islands all morning. Kevin hadn't torn his eyes away from the window, searching in vain for any sign of the missing plane that his friend and brother had been travelling on. He'd seen the other planes and helicopters that were also involved in the search, and he knew from listening to the pilots end of radio conversations that they also had been unable to spy anything. He leaned his forehead against the cool glass of the window and sighed. "I know you're out there Nick. God, just give me some sort of sign so I can help him." he prayed silently. "Mr. Richardson?" the pilots voice crackled in his earphones. "Yes?" he replied. "This is the last island we'll be taking a look at before we return for refuelling. Just wanted to let you know." "Thank you." Kevin answered and returned his gaze to the window. "Looks like a rough one down there." the pilot said. "Rocky terrain and lots of trees, let's hope they didn't hit this one." Kevin winced at his choice of words but he had been thinking the same thing. There wouldn't be much left if this was were they crashed. "Go ahead." the pilot said into the radio, suddenly. "Okay, give me the co-ordinates" He jotted something on the pad beside him. "We're on the way. Over" He turned to Kevin. "They've found something down there. The copter is landing for a closer look." "Is it them?" Kevin asked hopefully. "They don't know for sure." the pilot replied. "Can we land too?" "I won't know until we get closer and see the area. Sorry." Kevin looked out the window again. The plane dipped closer to the land and Kevin could see the faint outlines of a wreckage. A bad one.
"Where is he?" Jane Carter bustled into the waiting room, followed by her husband and children. "God, did she have to bring the kids here?" AJ whispered to Brian. "They haven't found him yet, Mrs. Carter." Howie answered quietly. "What?" Jane screeched. "What do you mean they haven't found him yet?" Bob put his arm around her and tried to get her to sit, but she would have none of it. "They think the plane went down on a small island, possibly crashed landed." Howie explained patiently. "There are helicopters, planes and boats out searching now." Jane went white and sat down quickly. I thought you would have heard by now." "You don't know if he is okay?" Bob asked. Howie shook his head and looked at the ground. "We don't know anything as of right now." "Nick's gonna come back isn't he?" Aaron piped up, his voice on the verge of tears. AJ walked over to him and sat beside him. "Of course he is Air-bear. He's just late, you know how Nick is." AJ made a goofy face and Aaron giggled. "Yeah." "Okay, don't you worry about your big bro, you hear." Aaron nodded and then his face crumpled. "But I'm scared, AJ." AJ hugged the boy and rocked him. "So am I Air-bear, so am I." he thought. "We can land on the beach here." the pilot announced as he prepared the planes landing gear. "Have you heard from the helicopter team again?" Kevin asked. "No sir, but it's a fair hike from where they had to land to where the wreckage was sighted." The plane bumped along the sand and rolled to a stop near a stand of trees. "Okay." the pilot dug his map and compass out of his pocket and pointed just past the trees. "We need to head this way." He hooked his radio to his belt and alerted the helicopter crew that they had landed and were on their way. Kevin trudged along behind. "How far is it to the site?" he asked as he bent down to pick something up. "About 2 or 3 miles, why?" "Um, oh I just found something that could have come from the plane." He held out a small piece of metal to the pilot. "Could be." He said, examining it. "Heck of a crash for wreckage to be this far away." "Yeah." Kevin agreed, once again following the pilot on the trail. He pulled the other object he found out of his pocket and stared down at it in his hand. Nicks Gameboy. He knew in his heart it had to be Nicks, but the sticker, with one of Nicks familar doodles on it, just confirmed it. Kevin pocketed the toy again and rubbed his face. "I'll keep it for you Nick, until you can play it again, okay?" he whispered. After they had been hiking for some time the pilots radio buzzed. "Here." he said into it. Kevin leaned over, listening intently. "Okay, we should be there shortly. Over." He turned to Kevin. "It's them." "How is Nick?" Kevin asked urgently. The pilot was quiet for a moment. "Not good." Kevin stared at him. "What the hell does that mean?" "They've called an ambulance copter to airlift him to the nearest hospital. They think it's a miracle he's lived this long, considering the injuries they could detect." "The injuries they could detect? Oh God!" Kevin felt his knees give out and he sagged against a nearby tree. "Are you okay? If we keep going we should get there in time for you to see your friend before the copter takes him." Kevin nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."
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