"Ken? Ken, are you out there?" Came a cry from inside the tent.
"I'm right here, Kim,โ I responded.
"I yelled a few minutes ago and you didn't answer."
"I'm sorry. I went down to get some water. I figured you were still sleeping."
Kim's head emerged through the tent entrance with one eye open and a very messy head of hair. Boy, she looked good even after waking up, I thought to myself.
"How's your ankle feel this morning?" I asked.
"It feels fine right now but I won't really know 'til I stand on it."
"Well, we better get packed up. I want to get started as soon as possible. There's a plastic bag in there next to my camera. Just throw the towels and your t-shirt along with anything else that needs to be washed. My red shirt is in there too. You can wear it on the way out. Your shorts and socks are dry.
Kim packed up everything inside while I folded the tarp. Within half an hour we were ready to head down the trail.
"Letโs have a look at that ankle." I said. "Thereโs not a lot of swelling, but I'll put this ace bandage on it. That, hopefully, will give you more support."
I wrapped her foot and carefully slipped her sock over it. She laced her boot on her own, as not to turn her ankle the wrong way.
"Sorry about your towel." She cringed. "It got a little messy."
I looked her square in the eye, "Well, I'm not sorry at all."
She gave me a smile that would melt the bark off a tree. What was it about this girl? She had everything..........At least everything that interested me. Looks, personality, and seemed very mature for her age.... Ah, her age. The college- and I, for that matter, have strict rules about student/staff relationships. Though she wasn't a student, she was only 18. I had just turned 30.
I put it all out of my head. "C'mon, letโs get out of here." I said, and with that we started out and down the overgrown trail. We stopped for a few minutes while I got some pictures of the chestnut trees about 30 yards off the trail. On the way back, I saw Kim staring up at the treetops and took a few candid shots of her before helping her to her feet and continuing our trek.
She did quite well on her bad ankle, but I could see, after an hour or so, it was becoming more painful. We rested often. I would inquire about the pain, but she never complained. "It'll be alright," She would say. I would tell her stories, jokes, and try to engage in some conversation hoping to take her mind off her injury. We were about two hours on the trail; Kim was telling me about her family.
"I remember on my birthday my mom would.............."
"Shhhhh," I cut her off and stopped.
"What's the matter?" She said with a frightened tone in her voice.
"Did you hear that? .............There it is again."
"What is it?" She whispered.
I stood quiet. "Someone's coming up the trail."
We walked as softly as we could as the voice I was hearing got louder. I then smiled and nodded to Kim, "It's a rescue party. They're calling your name.โ
Within a minute, they were in sight. I waved both arms and they quickly came running up the trail.
"You Doc Palmer?" said the first one who met us.
"Yeah," I said, shaking his hand.
"Barry Wagoner. What do we have here?"
"A sprained ankle, though itโs not an emergency. It's pretty painful to walk on." I told him.
These guys were very professional. One guy popped open a collapsible stretcher while another got on the radio and reported the find to Jim at the parking lot. Barry and I shot the breeze while they got Kim on the stretcher.
"Oh God, this is so embarrassing," She said, covering her face.
Barry and I smiled. "You're gonna be okay." Barry reassured her and we started off to the parking lot.
"Jim told us you were in here and that you might have come across the girl. Where did you find her?" Barry asked.