Quint rode the fence line in the brush. It had been a quiet morning aside from an occasional rabbit, covey of quail, or a stray calf. He had time to think about his time in Afghanistan with constant fear of death, the plight of the poverty stricken farmers, the treachery of the Taliban, and how it different it was from the relative peace and quiet of the Texas prairie. He took the job as a wrangler in an attempt to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
In the distance, he heard the distinct sound of a helicopter. It was used in conjunction with a few cow hands to move large herds of cattle from one pasture to another. He watched the chopper sweeping close to the ground to change the direction of the thousand or so of black Angus, and wondered if the pilot knew what he was missing: the sounds of bawling calves, of tramping feet, or the smell of sweating animals, or their waste product, or the feeling of legs hugging a horse, and the thrill of commanding an intelligent and efficient animal.
The chopper veered sharply in his direction. It was bucking up and down as though it was an unbroken pony and dropping lower and lower to the ground. The rotor slowed and the vehicle rapidly descended until it disappeared from view. He heard the sound of a crash. He wheeled Nell and at a full gallop headed toward the downed chopper. His dreaded cell phone leaped into his hand, he pushed the emergency button and said, "Chopper down in the northwest section of pasture eleven, send help ASAP."
Riding over a hillock, he saw the crumbled remains of the helicopter, smoke wafted to the northeast. He hit the ground running, not knowing if there might be an explosion or a fire. It reminded him of a similar situation during his tour, but his only thought was of the person or persons in the vehicle. The cab was intact but badly twisted and bent with no glass remaining. There were two passengers, both buckled in their seats.
He ran to the cab, reached through an opening searching for the pulse in the pilot's neck. There was no pulse. Hurrying to the far side he saw a red headed female. She was alive. He cut her safety harness away and carried her to where Nell was standing. Removing his bedroll he laid it and the girl on the ground. She was bleeding from two places on her head. From his first aid kit, he placed a large gauze pad on her head and wrapped it with a bandage. The flow of blood was stemmed but she remained unconscious. She probably had a concussion and was in shock. He checked to see if there were any broken bones and didn't find any.
He yelled into his cell phone again, "Helicopter down in pasture eleven, northeast section. The pilot is dead but the female passenger is alive but in need of medical care." There was no response. He took her pulse, and sat beside her rubbing her arms and repeating in his deep base voice, "You're going to be all right little lady, you're going to be all right."
About five minutes later three horses broke through the underbrush. One went to the chopper and two to where Quint and the girl lay. He recognized Zeb, the foreman and Putt, a wrangler like himself, but the oldest of the three he didn't recognize.
"Is she okay?" The older man asked.
"She's alive, has a steady pulse, has several cuts in her head, and probably has suffered a concussion and is in shock."
The man dropped to his knees took the still form into his arms kissing her and saying, "Julie, Julie, Julie," tears flooded his eyes and streamed down his dirty face.
Quint was congratulated by the Zeb and Putt. "We're glad you were here so fast, who knows you may have saved her life."
In the distance, the sound of another helicopter could be heard.
The man at the girl's side jumped up and said, "Pick her up so she'll be ready to be put in the chopper."
"Mr. Bauknight, that's not a good idea. She may need to be strapped to a stretcher, have a neck brace applied, or have a blood transfusion before she can be moved."
"Oh God, your right I'm not thinking straight. Thank you for keeping a scared father from causing even more harm. Thanks for being here and using you first aid skills. I'm sorry we haven't met. I'm Tony Bauknight and you're..."
"Jones, Quint Jones. I'm pleased to meet you Mr. Bauknight, although not under these circumstances."
"Did you see it crash?"
"I saw it dropping but it went down below my horizon. I got here a couple of minutes after it crashed."
The men moved out of the way as the dust from the landing copter swirled around them. Two medics raced to the victim as soon as the aircraft set down. They took her vital signs and checked for broken bones and bruises. Carefully, they removed the bandage Quint applied and replaced it with another.
"Who put this bandage on?" The taller of the two medics asked.
"I did." Quint stepped forward.
"You did a great job of stopping the bleeding. Mr. Bauknight, Julie's vital signs are almost normal, she has no broken bones we can determine, but she has a large number of bruises and contusions. She more than likely has a concussion. We won't know how bad it is until she wakes up."
"Damn! Thanks for your quick arrival. Let's get her to the hospital. I'm going to ride along," Mr. Bauknight said.
She was placed on a stretcher and Quint, two medics, and Putt carried her to the back of the chopper. As soon as she was safely strapped in the pilot took off with a roar and a swirl of dust. The plane disappeared in the distance.
* * *
Julie began mumbling after being admitted to the Brownsville hospital. A private nurse in a crisp white uniform and her father sat at her side. She kept repeating the same phrase over and over. Late that night her mumbling became more clear, "blah blah all right blah blah little lady"
"Do you think she's dreaming?" Tony asked the nurse.
"I don't know. It could be anything," she responded while surveying the instruments. "Oh my God, her blood pressure's dropping," she said pushing an emergency button. "Mr. Bauknight, I'll have to ask you to leave. A doctor will be here shortly."
Tony sat with his head between his hands in the crowded waiting room. All he could envision was his youngest daughter laying unconscious in a hospital bed. She was the last to leave the nest and while he didn't try to show favorites it was obvious to everyone she was. Her mother had been his third wife, who died in an automobile accident in a car with another man, but they produced a beautiful, redhead, who was intelligent, athletic, and stubborn. He loved her attitude even though she went up in the helicopter against his wishes. That may have been the worst mistake of my life, he thought.
"Mr. Bauknight, she's going to be okay. I medicated her and her vitals are back to normal. She's still unconscious but her mumbling is becoming clearer. You can go back in now and see if you can figure out what she's saying. By the way I'm doctor Quan."
"Thank you Dr. Quan, thank you very much," he said returning to his daughter's room.
"Going...to ...be ...all right... little lady ...you're ..."
Do you know what it means?" the nurse asked.
"It sounds as though she repeating something someone told her. It must have been a male because she keeps saying 'little lady.'"
The nurse left and he dozed. The next thing he heard was "Daddy, daddy what happened? Why are you here? Where am I? "
"Julie, darling you're awake. I thought I might lose you."
"What happened? All I remember was the chopper turning the cattle. It was beautiful watching how Chad had that large herd heading in the right direction. I don't remember anything after that except someone rubbing my arms and a deep confident and reassuring voice kept saying, 'You're going to be all right little lady, you're going to be all right.' Who was it that was with me?"
"Can you describe the voice?"
"I'll never forget that deep resonating voice and he had calloused hands that rubbed me softly."
"That was Quint Jones; he was the first one to reach the accident. He pulled you out of the cab of the copter and bandaged your head."
"Can I see him? I want to thank him for saving my life."
Of course, I'll bring him by tomorrow.
"What happened to the pilot, Chad?"
"Chad was killed. You were unconscious."
"I'm sorry about Chad? Did he suffer?"
"No, he probably died instantly. Why were you repeating that phrase?"
"I must have been dreaming. All I remember is those words, the deep voice, the comfort I felt from his statement, and his rubbing my arms. I won't ever forget that voice." Julie sat up for the first time. "I'm hungry."
* * *
Tony Bauknight drove Quint to the hospital. On the way he filled him in on her background. How he allowed her stubbornness to overcome his better judgment and he let her go with Chad in the helicopter. Quint told Tony about his love of being a wrangler, of his tour in Afghanistan, and of his need to make a decision about a career.
