A different angel chapter 2: perceptions B

As he looked down he saw a scrap of cloth from the hem of a school uniform summer dres and he knew he had suceeded and radioed his position and then the scream got louder and desperate. ….............

Now the story continues:

The scream came from a little way below Richard and he laid prone to look over the edge, about 20 feet down there was a ledge in the rock face, from the edge of a bush he could see two feet poking out. The scream came from there and he scanned for a route down as the feet were not moving that much. Doing the right thing Richard radioed his location and what he had seen and he scanned for an easy route down as he could not see any where he could tie off too to climb down. Too many that would appear a stupid thing to do but Richard had been free climbing on his own and rope climbing for 3 years. Although he was still young he was very competent due to his nature.

“Ginny, Ginny it's Richard from just down the street.” He yelled back keeping his voice calm.

“Richard is it you really, real?” The reply was stressed and it was definitely a young child on that ledge.

“yes smudge it's me,” he used the nickname he had given her when she was 4 years old, “ try to stay still and is it hurting anywhere?”

“my head hurts and i'm scared”

“Don't worry they will get you out”

He managed to see what could have been called a sheep track that led down to by the ledge. He went over what he would need to do in his head as he swapped the boots to a set of soft soled climbing shoes. He was glad that his parents insisted they buy his gear and it was well maintained his mum at the start of the week had done her usual putting a clean set of thin leather gloves in the top pocket as it would help if he had to clear brush. He put the torch back into his daysack to leave both his hands free he took a step onto the path. Slowly testing each step and talking to Ginny as he mad his way down it took him about 20 minutes to reach the area next to the ledge and he looked down. About 50 feet below him he could see the torches and heard an adult voice shout up, he shouted down what he was doing and got a confirmation that the fire and rescue service were on their way too.

He smiled to himself on hearing that knowing that Ginny's ordeal was soon going to be over, he looked across and he was level and could see where Ginny was laid and he could make his way across. Still talking he made his way across and got himself into a safe position and as the light was starting to diminish he got out the torch and laid it on the ground next to them.

“Smudge I'm here sweetie,” He said in a gentle tone, “ don't move too much sweetie, the fire brigade should be here soon.”

“I'm scared Richard, mummy and daddy will be soo mad,” Ginny started to cry

“ I doubt that sweetie they'll just be glad to hug you tight”

He had only the first aid he had managed to pick up from the cards in his first aid kit so he knew the best thing he could do was just keep Ginny still. He split his attention between Ginny and the quarry floor and the torches had been replaced by a land rover with blue flashing lights and there were what looked like stage lights being set up. A few minutes went past and the area around the two of them was lit up brightly. His radio crackled and there came the voice of a young woman came over the channel.

“CQ,CQ , Golf 8 Charlie Romeo, calling radio on face, this is peak district cave rescue” The voice sent it twice clearly.

“Golf 8 Charlie Romeo this is Mike 3 Alpha Foxtrot, my name is Richard Simms receiving you 5 by 5,over” Richard replied clearly.

“ Mike 3 Alpha Foxtrot, Golf 8 Charlie Romeo, Richard are you and Ginny okay? I'm Rachael Thrower, over”

“M3AF,G8CB, hi miss thrower I'm experienced on the crags , Ginny is saying her head hurts and she is scared,over” Richard kept a smile in his voice, “ Ginny looks like the pro's are here sweetie it won't be long now”

Meanwhile whilst all this was going on his older brother David and his cronies had reached the gap in the fence, they weren't there because of the news it was just somewhere they could go down and do the stuff their parents would not approve of. They stopped as the area was lit up like it was daylight a long with blue flashing lights. Two of the four decided it was a bit too hot to be there and turned and left leaving David and Terry Morris there. David was curious and went to the edge and looked over, he wasn't as careful as his younger brother and he managed to dislodge a stone right over where Richard was crouching. He watched in horror as the stone bounced down to where he had worked out his younger brother was and it struck him on the back with force.

Richard felt the impact and a burning pain came from the middle of his back and he pitched forward. He hadn't put on his climbing harness or find somewhere to belay in he also dropped his radio. Below the cave rescue team watched as the boy seemed to fall forward and then didn't move, Rachael Thrower the team leader swore and called over the team medic just as an aerial platform arrived. It had taken a little time because of the terrain so the cave rescue team had been discussing how to get to the two of them on the ledge. She tried the call sign and got no response after two more tries she shouted up. The only voice that replied was the young girls, Rachael sighed in relief as the boy didn't pitch off the ledge.

David looked in horror when he saw Richard pitch forward and quickly stepped back from the edge. Terry had also watched what had happened and he looked petrified, the truth was although the group acted like thugs it was mainly because there wasn't much for them to do. Those two boys seemed to over compensate with their behaviour, in their hearts they actually cared about their siblings and each other. They both sighed in relief as Richard didn't fall and in silent agreement started walking back and around the fence to the gate of the quarry. They didn't talk to each other as they slowly made their way round it seeming to take an eternity. David was introspective and his heart was pounding, what had happened triggered deep feelings in him. His younger brother was willing to put other people first and all he seemed to be was selfish.

Meanwhile back at the centre of the quarry the rescue services had got the platform set up and were slowly manoeuvring it into place. Rachael was on standby with her team in case the fire service could not reach the pair on the ledge. Thankfully she watched as the fire fighters first got the young girl and then helped Richard into the basket and made their way down. The paramedics were waiting and Rachael and her crew started to pack up the land rover. There was a slight commotion as the paramedics called for a second stretcher it seemed as though Richard was now having trouble and had seemed to fold up onto the floor and was sweating. Rachael could hear a murmured comment about spinal injury, she was glad that they hadn't just brought the equipment land rover but had the cross country ambulance with them also. That meant the two casualties could be transferred without waiting.

After Richard had seen that Ginny had been taken care of the adrenalin had started to wear off and his legs felt a little weird. He had let go of the baskets hand rail and suddenly ho could not stand up it was as if his legs didn't belong to him. One of the firefighters grabbed him firmly under his armpits and was taking his weight as they started talking to one of the paramedics that was treating Ginny. Suddenly a tall muscular woman was next to them with a stretcher along with someone else and they started to take Richard from the firefighter and move him towards it still upright. As they were doing this another person came over carrying a big green rucksack type bag and a white neck collar and started working with the other two all the time explaining what they were doing. Richard was starting to lose himself to the pain so did not really make out what they were saying. The next thing he could make out was the feeling of a hard board against his back and a team of firefighters and other people each side of him.

Rachael and her team got the boy lined up against a spinal board and was working on getting straps applied, they were going to do a controlled drop so they could lay him on the stretcher on the spinal board. She could see that Richard was in a lot of pain now the buzz of the rescue had started to wear off and she wondered what had happened. That became a secondary thought as they wanted to get him to hospital and also warm. After they had packaged him into the land rover the convoy of two ambulances and a police patrol car left the quarry. The short drive under blue lights seemed to stretch for her as she and Fred Green the teams doctor carried on the examination off Richard. The concern was that Richard was complaining of something hitting his back. Every time the ambulance hit a change in the road surface Richard would scream out until Fred slipped him some pain relief.

David got to the gates just as he saw the two ambulances pull out and he worked out one of them would be carrying Richard. His heart sank as well as his shoulders slumped, he turned from Terry and started down the road back towards home. He was stopped by a police officer and only mumbled responses was escorted to a car and was driven home. When he arrived home both his parents were in the living room and the officer explained where he had been picked up from. Then his parents were asked who wanted to be taken to the hospital where Richard was being taken. Mum was the one oh said they would go as it was easier for her to take a day off, dad waited for David to explain what had happened. David expected dad to explode after he had explained accidentally dislodging the rock that seemed to hit his brother.

Nothing was said he just patted the seat next to him for David to sit down and to settle down to wait. After a short while dad turned the TV onto the local news and David couldn't help but smile as Richard was being called a hero in the segment reporting on the rescue of the young girl from the quarry. The house phone trilled for attention and dad went to pick it up after listening for a whort while in a strained voice asked.

“will he recover?” ….......

TBC