The Survivor - Page 69

Kagan smiled. “Thank you.”

“Just tell us where we’re needed.”

Kagan lifted his radio and spoke. “Cade, we’re going to have help. Lots of it. Nadim isn’t giving up, but I think we might have a way of tripping him up. We weren’t able to get nearly all the deer down to the cave to protect them, but that might not be all bad…”

“Bailey!”

Bailey paid no attention to her mother’s shout. She was up to her right elbow inside Riva’s birth canal struggling to find what was causing the animal such distress and didn’t even hear Maya’s call. She’d seen the village veterinarian help births along, but she really had only a vague idea how he’d done it. All the books she’d read might help, but she felt helpless at the moment.

How she wished he was here now.

“Bailey!”

The baby’s legs were probably crossed and blocking its path out. She felt movement. The baby was alive! But she couldn’t feel the legs.

“Bailey!”

She turned to see her mother standing in the cave entrance, holding her knapsack.

“Mama!”

Maya ran toward her and the still-wailing Riva. “What are you doing?”

“She needs help. Her baby won’t come out.”

“All hell is about to break loose out there, honey. We need to get you to the back of the cave. And you’ll need to turn down the battery lantern.”

“Not until we get the baby out.”

“Bailey…”

The girl’s hands closed around something. “I think I have it!”

Maya glanced back at the cave opening, where it sounded as if thousands of bees were buzzing their way. “Do you hear that? Those are snowmobiles. Nadim’s squad. They want the deer. All of them. And if they find you, they’ll hurt you just to punish me. I won’t let them do it. Do you understand?”

“I’m not leaving her.”

Maya hesitated and even took a step forward, looking as if she was about to yank Bailey away, but her expression suddenly softened. She knelt beside her. “Okay, Bailey. I’ll give you a few more minutes. What can I do to help?”

“Go around to Riva’s head. Stroke her head and neck and try to calm her down. She’s moving around too much. She’s making it hard for me to get hold of her baby.”

“Kun, watch the cave entrance.” Maya moved around to face the deer’s head. She lightly rubbed the animal’s head just under both ears until she quieted.

“It’s working!” Bailey pulled on the baby’s twisted legs as blood and the fetal membrane drenched her arms and the cave floor.

The buzzing outside was replaced by a low roar. Then another. And another after that.

“What is it?” Bailey yelled.

Maya stared at the opening. “Helicopters. At least three. Maybe even four. Hurry, Bailey. We don’t have any more time.”

Cade pocketed his satellite phone and turned to Riley. “Kagan and the Ice Rangers have a plan. But it involves all of us being off this side of the mountain in the next sixteen minutes.”

“Sixteen minutes?” She wrinkled her brow. “That’s pretty specific.”

“But not usual for him. I’ve seen him plan their operations down to the second.”

“What’s the plan?”