Eruption (13 page)

Chase was the first to reach his father.

“Hey, sport,” his father said.

“What time is it?” Chase asked.

His father laughed. “You know what? I have no idea. Apparently, that last bolt knocked the ability right out of me. I guess I'll have to buy a watch now.”

“You okay?”

“A couple cracked ribs and a badly sprained ankle.”

“Mark said he thought it was broken.”

“I bet you he's wrong.”

Nicole and Cindy came up next, followed by Tomás, Mark, and several men from the village with a stretcher.

His father's sat phone rang, startling everyone.

“Excuse me,” he said, and answered it. “That's a negative. The cavalry just arrived. They're taking me down the mountain as we speak. Go ahead and evac the circus people. I'll get an LZ cleared up here and see you at the village at first light. Roger that. Out.”

“Who was that?” Chase asked.

“That was SEAL Team One commander Raul Delgado.”

“The only easy day was yesterday,” Chase said.

His father smiled. “As it turns out, you might be right. I guess I have some explaining to do.”

“Yeah, you do,” Chase said.

“And I promise I will,” his father said. He turned to Nicole. “Most of your people are on army trucks headed back to Mexico City. Delgado is going to move the animals next. Road crews should have the slide cleared and the bridge back up in a few days, and they'll be able retrieve their vehicles then. Delgado is leaving a couple men behind to keep an eye on things until they can return.”

He handed Mark the video camera.

Mark turned it on and started filming.

Dawn filtered through the window as Tomás tightened the last bolt. He passed the ratchet to Chase, then wiped his clever hands with a rag.

“Fixed?” Chase asked.

“Maybe.”

They had been in the generator room since they'd dropped Chase's father at the church to have his ribs and ankle looked at. When Chase wasn't handing Tomás tools, he was at the metal door peering through the safety glass. It was too dark to see the bottling plant, but he could hear the tiger prowling, slapping plastic bottles across the cement floor.

Tomás hit some switches and the generator came to life. The tiger roared.

Chase hurried over to the door. The tiger had his front paws on the conveyor belt and was looking up at the fluorescent lights.

Contained
, Chase thought.
And bigger than he looked last night.

He walked back over to Tomás.

“Everything good?”

“I think.”

“I'm going over to the church to check on my dad.”

Tomás nodded. “I will watch the generator.”

“Don't open the door,” Chase said, smiling.

Tomás laughed.

Chase climbed through the window. The sun was rising over the top of Popocatepetl. The slopes were covered with ash. A wisp of white steam curled up from the crater. The mountain was peaceful once again, but the memory of its violence was everywhere as Chase made his way to the village square.

He arrived just as the first chopper touched down on the cobblestones in a swirl of ash. His father was on crutches, waiting for it. Mark had his camera rolling. Cindy stood by him, jotting something down in a notebook. Chase stood at the edge of the square, out of the worst of the ash, and watched.

A big man in a black uniform jumped out, walked up to Chase's father, and saluted. John returned the salute.

Commander Delgado
.

Chase shook his head.
I guess I had to see it to believe it
, he thought.
Dad really was a Navy SEAL.

Several other men jumped out of the chopper, carrying stretchers and supplies. The last two men to climb out were not dressed in uniforms. One was tall and thin. The other was squat and heavy. They carried a large crate between them.

Circus roustabouts.

Nicole came out of the church alongside the stretcher carrying her mother. Leah's stretcher was right behind them.
Chase waved, but Nicole didn't notice. She was talking to her mother. The men loaded the stretchers onto the chopper, and Nicole climbed in after them.

I should go up and say something. I can't just let her fly off.
Chase started forward, but stopped. More stretchers were arriving. He didn't want to get in their way. He looked at his father, who was laughing about something with Delgado and Cindy. Mark was still filming.
Nicole wouldn't leave without saying good-bye.
Another chopper appeared over the lake and hovered, awaiting its turn. Two more stretchers were brought out to the first chopper.
Now or never.
He started across the square. Nicole jumped off the chopper before he had taken ten steps. He stopped again. She waved to someone inside and hurried out from beneath the rotors.

“Nicole!”

She ran over and gave him a hug.

“You're not going with your mom and sister?”

She shook her head. “I didn't want to take the space from someone who's injured. I'm taking the last chopper out with the poodles and the tiger.” She raised an eyebrow. “You didn't think I'd leave without saying good-bye, did you?”

“Well …”

Nicole took his hand. “Let's go down to Lago de la Montaña. I haven't seen it yet.”

Nicole and Chase walked along the shore, holding hands.

“So your mom's okay,” Chase said.

Nicole nodded. “She woke up last night, wanting to get out of bed to check on the animals. It took three of us to hold her down. Leah wasn't much better. Rossis aren't very good at lying around. The doctor had been worried about spine or neck injuries, but he revised his prognosis after seeing her trying to get up. He suggested she stay in the hospital for several days. I predict it will be one day at the most. I talked to my dad. He's on the same flight we took to Mexico City. With any luck, he'll beat them to the hospital and try to keep them in their beds for a couple of days.”

“Who's taking care of the farm?”

“The Stones. I talked to Rashawn. Pet and the calf are fine. The only problem they're having is with her little brother. He's so excited to be around the animals that Momma Rossi's threatening to lock him up in one of the cages so he doesn't hurt himself.”

The second chopper took off and a third landed.

“Have they picked up the people on the road?” Chase asked.

“They're all at the fairgrounds with Arturo. As soon as I show up with the tiger, we'll head back to the States.”

“Then what?”

Nicole shook her head. “I don't know. It could be the end of the Rossi Brothers' Circus. But you never know. We've been through bad times and the show still went on. We have all winter to see where we're at.” She stopped and picked up a piece of pumice. “What about you?” she asked. “What are your plans?”

“I don't know. I haven't had a chance to talk to my father. It's up to him.”

“You're welcome to come back with me to the farm. We could use your help and I …” She flushed and looked away. “So tell me about that tiger.”

Chase smiled, but it wasn't about the tiger. He was pretty certain that Nicole felt the same way about him as he did about her.

“What's so funny?”

“Not a thing.”

Chase leaned forward and kissed her.

The last chopper had landed. They were standing outside the bottling plant.

“I guess it's tiger time,” Nicole said. She looked at Chase. “So you think I can tranquilize it from the generator room?”

Chase nodded. “There's a small safety window in the door. It will have to be broken out to get the rifle through, but Tomás is there. He can break it out for you.”

“All right,” Nicole said. “Let's get this over with.”

Commander Delgado looked at Nicole and scratched his stubbled chin. “I'll just come out with it,” he said. “You can say yes or no. It's totally up to you. You're the expert. You're the boss. But I have always wanted to dart a big cat. Can I dart the big fella?”

Nicole looked at him and squinted her eyes. “What kind of shot are you?”

Delgado gave her a big smile. Chase's father smiled too. “Well, I'm a pretty fair shot, truth be told. But I'll be honest — I've never shot a tranquilizer rifle like this one.”

Nicole looked at John. “What do you think?”

“He did fly out here and rescue your mom and sister and ferry all the circus people to the other side of the bridge.”

“Don't forget the animals,” Delgado said. “We took them too. Getting those camels on the chopper was no picnic, I can tell you. Although it was kind of fun.”

Nicole handed him the rifle. “Okay. You need to hit the large muscle mass in the hind leg. Seventy-five to a hundred feet max.”

“I'm not going in there without you,” Delgado said. “You need to guide me through it.”

They disappeared around the corner, with Mark and Cindy close behind. That left Chase and his father alone.

“You're sure your ankle isn't broken?” Chase asked.

“Just a bad sprain. The crutches make it look worse than it is.”

“And the ribs?”

“Those do hurt, but they'll heal.”

“You won't be much good around here stove-in like you are.”

“I'll supervise Tomás.”

Chase laughed. “Like he needs you telling him what to do.”

“Good point, but I'm still going to stick around. For a while anyway.”

“Did they get that guy on the road with the broken leg?”

“The guy who hit you in the head and hijacked the quad?”

“Yeah, that guy.”

“They got him, but it wasn't easy. No place to land. They had to rope him up.”

“Good.” Chase was in a forgiving mood.

“Are you heading out with Nicole and the tiger? I talked to Marco. He said he would be happy to have you stay on the farm a while. I'm sure Nicole would too.”

Chase grinned. “I think I'd better stay here with you.”

“What about school?”

“It'll be a couple of weeks before they get the schools going in Palm Breeze again.”

“Then what?”

“You tell me,” Chase said.

His father shook his head. “No, Chase, you tell
me
. When we're done here, we can go back to Palm Breeze. We can even go back home if you want.”

“Oregon?” Chase was shocked.

His father held his gaze for a moment. “I'm ready, Chase.”

Chase wasn't sure that
he
was ready. He'd put that possibility out of his mind a long time ago. And now there was Nicole to think about. “Are you sure you're okay? Did the lightning strike —”

“Knock some sense into me?”

“I guess. I mean you're acting like you did before —” He didn't finish the sentence. It was a subject they never talked about.

His father finished the sentence for him. “Before your mom and Little Monkey died?”

Chase hadn't heard his father use his sister Monica's nickname since the accident.

“I'm better, Chase. No more storm running. No more running from myself. It's my turn to follow you.”

“The only
hard
day was yesterday?” Chase said.

“Let's hope so.” His father smiled and put his hand out. “Do we have a deal?”

Chase shook his father's hand, happy to have him back, but wondering how long it would last.

“Deal,” he said.