Again Jed was answered, but no one, or thing, appeared. Not willing to risk a brief exposure of flashlight, he crawled through sodden moss towards a dark mound that all of a sudden was lit with a shimmering light. His heart stopped beating for a moment before Jed realized that the rapidly moving waves of purple, orange, pink, was the shimmering of the northern lights.

Because of this unexpected summertime display of the aurora borealis, he completely missed the opening. Jed fell. And before the terror of realization that he had accidently intruded into a bear's den occurred, a powerful arm grabbed the hair on the back of his head.

"Jed," the voice was weak,"it's me."

"Thank God. Someone is going to be mighty happy to hear you are still alive."

* * *

She was. It took a good half hour before Jed could talk Jenny into letting go of her father so they could begin to evaluate the situation. Surprisingly, the dog was also happy to see the Colonel.

"Wolfgang here," Hap explained, while rubbing the guard dog between the ears," actually saved my life. I had taken a liking to him before I realized the trouble I was in. When I dove off the bridge, the dog thought I was playing another little game. Before I hit the water, I heard Buzz cuss Wolf out for ruining his shot. As it was I took a .38 slug in the back, which was deflected by a rib, before exiting just above the hip. I stayed in the water for quite awhile before literally going to ground. I've also kept the drainage open by bandaging with moss and willow root. I think I'm going to be all right. Damn hungry, though."

"Think you could stand the shock of moving on?" Jed asked.

"Don't know if that would be wise in daylight. They have been searching for me with choppers now for five days. The minute we're spotted, that's the end. Finished. No traces. No survivors."

"Maybe they won't be flying this morning. You tell me. I sort of bent the tail rotors. What would that do?"

"Well," and, it was good to hear Hap laugh, "if the damage was noticed, they would be grounded until replacement arrives, say one, two days. If the pilot was in a hurry, and didn't do a thorough preflight, they could find themselves flopping about on the ground like a fish out of water. How did you happen to do that?"

"Make a deal with you. I will answer one of your questions, in return for two of ours. But first, let's get out of here."