18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

"How does this go again?"

C ooper walked the mile to Gage's house. The snow continued to fall during the night, and there were about six inches on the road filling in Gage's footprints. When Cooper arrived at the house, he went onto the porch and knocked.

"Gage?"

When he got no answer, he opened the door and went inside. There was a fire in the wood stove and a full pot of coffee on the burner of the coffee machine. A clean cup sat on the counter next to the coffee.

The bedroom door was open and Cooper looked into the room. The bed was made, and the bathroom light was off.

"Gage. Where the hell are you?" Cooper returned to the kitchen and filled the cup with coffee, then took a sip. There was no way he passed him on the road. Besides, Gage would've damped down the fire before he left and drank the coffee. There were no breakfast dishes on the counter or in the sink. Which in itself wasn't that telling. Gage never left dirty dishes in his sink.

There was a camera bag on the kitchen table and Cooper walked over to it and looked inside. The camera was gone. He took another sip of coffee, then set the cup down. His crazy brother must've gone outside to take pictures. A half-foot of snow wouldn't have stopped him if he saw the perfect shot.

Cooper went outside and circled the house. "Gage. Where are you?" He saw footprints in the snow leading away from the back porch. "Okay. Let's see what's so damn important." Cooper stepped followed Gage's prints through the snow.

The footprints stopped next to a freshly fallen tree. Cooper's heart stopped when he saw Gage lying under it, partially covered with snow.

"Gage." His brother was unresponsive. Cooper knelt, tugged off his gloves, and put his fingers on Gage's neck. Cooper released the breath he'd been holding when he felt the faint flicker of a pulse. Gage's face was pale and his skin was cold. It seemed he'd been there a while. Cooper took off his coat and laid it over Gage's chest, then pulled out his phone. He had no service. "Dammit."

He stashed his phone and put his hands under Gage's armpits, then tried to pull him out. He was afraid to pull too hard. But it was obvious, Gage wasn't budging.

Cooper looked at the tree. The diameter of the trunk was close to two feet. And when it was standing, it was probably twenty feet tall. There was no way he could lift it. But he had to try. Again, no luck. The tree didn't move.

He backed. "I'll be right back, brother."

He started running. He went around the house, then headed down the road. Every few feet, without stopping, he checked his phone for service. When he got two bars, he stopped and dialed the closest person who could help.

Cabe answered. "What's up, brother?"

Cooper tried to catch his breath. "Gage. Gage is hurt. I need you."

"Where are you?"

"Halfway between his house and mine on the road. I ran until I got service. Meet me at his house. He's in the back. Hurry. And call 911 before you leave."

"What do I tell them?"

"That a tree fell on our brother."

"I'm on my way."

Cooper stashed his phone and ran back to Gage. He started digging out the snow around Gage's body. He didn't see any blood, and he wasn't sure if Gage was hurt or had just been trapped for so long he was hypothermic. He assumed it was probably both.

Cabe seemed to arrive in record time, and when Cooper heard him calling, he stood and called out. "Over here."

Cabe arrived at the tree a minute later. "Shit. What the hell happened?"

"I found him like this."

"Dammit." Cabe assessed the situation. "We can't move that tree."

Cooper nodded. "I was thinking we could dig him out, but the snow might be keeping him from being crushed."

They looked at each other and said, "Chainsaw" at the same time.

Cooper nodded. "Go get his chainsaw. I'll prop up the tree on either side of him."

Cabe ran off and Cooper slid two smaller limbs under the tree on either side of Gage. He didn't want their rescue efforts to be the thing that injured Gage, or worse.

When Cabe returned with the chainsaw, he looked at what Cooper had done. "Will those limps keep the section of tree from crushing him?"

Cooper nodded. "Yeah." He wasn't as confident as he sounded. But they really didn't have much of a choice. He moved the coat up over Gage's face to protect it from flying sawdust and bits of wood and bark.

"Okay. Here goes." Cabe started on the side opposite the root system. It was narrower at about a foot and a half diameter. Before he cut through the final inch, he looked at Cooper. Cooper nodded, and Cabe finished the cut. The part he separated settled into the snow. But the section over Gage stayed where it was. The two men pushed the top of the tree over a foot, then Cabe moved to the root end and started cutting a foot away from Gage.

They wanted to make the section as small as possible so they could move it. But not cut so close as to hurt Gage. Once again, the part of the tree over Gage stayed in place.

Cabe set the chainsaw aside and together he and Cooper pushed the cutout section onto its end, and then over on its side, freeing Gage.

Cabe looked at Gage for a moment. "Should we wait for help to move him?"

"I don't think he has time to wait. We need to get him out of the cold."

"Right."

They each took a side and lifted Gage as carefully as they could. Then they carried him around the house and onto the porch. When they got to the door, they laid him down, then Cooper pulled him inside. Cabe then helped carry him to the wood stove. They laid him on the floor in front of it.

Cooper started unbuttoning Gage's coat. "We need to get him out of his wet clothes."

Cabe took Gage's boots and socks off, then they removed his shirt and pants. They checked him for injuries. There was no blood. But he had some light bruising on his chest, which would probably get worse once his blood started moving again.

Cooper took a blanket from the couch and put it over Gage, while Cabe went to the bedroom and took the quilt from the bed. It was passed down from their great-grandmother and somehow Gage ended up with it. It was heavy and warm. Just what Mary Calaway's great-grandson needed right now.

Cabe put it over him, then checked the fire. "I'll feel a lot better when he wakes up."

"Yeah." Cooper felt Gage's pulse again. It was a little stronger. "Okay. I think we're on the right track here. They're not going to be able to drive the ambulance down the road, so that could prove to be a problem."

"I told Aunt Maya the road wasn't plowed." Cabe felt Gage's feet. "Man, icicles. I'll go get some socks." He returned a few moments later with one gray and one black sock. "How does this go again?"

"Black goes on the right."

Cabe sighed. "Sometimes he drives me crazy with his weird things. But right now, I'd give anything for him to tell me to clean up after myself. Or that the books on my shelf are out of order."

Cooper laughed. "Last time he was over for dinner, he alphabetize the boys' DVDs and showed Logan how to arrange his stuffed animals on the bed from largest to smallest and divided by color groups."

When they heard voices outside, they both went to the front door. Booker, Chase, and two firefighters were approaching with a medical bag and a portable stretcher.

Booker nodded toward Chase. "Deputy Kimbal is a paramedic."

Cooper and Cabe stepped out of his way, and Chase went inside, followed by the firemen.

Booker put a hand on Cooper's shoulder. "Are you guys okay?"

Cooper nodded. "Better now that you're here. I'm surprised my sister isn't with you, though."

"I damn near had to lock her in my office. She'll be waiting at the clinic with Corbyn and probably the rest of the family."

They went inside and watched as Chase assessed Gage's condition. "How long was he outside?"

Cooper shook his head. "I don't know. He was unconscious when I found him. And it took us about fifteen minutes to get the tree off of him and move him inside."

Cabe spoke up. "We know we shouldn't have moved him. But he was so cold."

Chase glanced at him. "You did the right thing. He wouldn't have lasted much longer. We need to get him to town."

With the help of the firemen, Chase moved Gage to the portable stretcher. "Once we get to the ambulance, I'll start an IV and get some warm fluid flowing through him."

Cooper insisted on being the fourth man on the stretcher, so Booker let him take his spot. Cabe looked around the house. "I'll make sure everything is off here. I'll catch up."

Once they were all headed down the road, Cabe closed the door and leaned against it. He suddenly couldn't breathe and his heart was racing. He took some deep breaths to try to calm himself. He almost lost his brother today. Maybe he still would. He couldn't let himself go there. Gage was going to be fine.

Cabe damped down the fire and turned off the coffee machine and the light in the kitchen. The house was ready to leave. He went outside, but before catching up to the others, he went back to where Cooper found Gage. The tree must've fallen over from the weight of the snow. It happened from time to time on the ranch. But the odds of being under one when it fell were pretty astronomical. He was about to leave when he spotted something in the snow. Upon closer look, he saw it was a camera.

He picked it up and wiped off the snow. Of course, Gage was out here taking pictures. And if the worst happened, at least he was doing what he loved. Cabe tucked the camera in his coat and headed down the road to catch up with the others.