unoccupied car
was parked in the lot, and it was at the end opposite the trail. It was growing late, and traffic was
light even though it was a Saturday afternoon. Lin heard cars approaching the area, but
they all turned to leave the Parkway at the nearby exit. She realized that they
would have left also had Sue not spotted the girl. Increasingly, she also realized that the
girl was indeed a victim—maybe she had an accident and fell from the
overlook area, or perhaps she’d been attacked.
Since no one
had returned to the parked car as yet, Lin decided that maybe it belonged to
the girl. It was evident that
someone had a picnic on the grassy area just beyond the overlook, adjacent to
the drop off—a beautiful spot with a great view. Lin observed that there was a plastic
bag apparently filled with trash—paper plates, soda cans, and the like—atop
the blanket. A basket stood to one
side. She was careful to look and
not touch anything, but, from the amount of trash and the remains of packaged
foods in the basket, it was clear that more than one person had been at this
picnic.
Just then, Lin
remembered the girl had said something before she lost consciousness; she had
said someone’s name. It was Pete,
the girl had asked for their help finding her companion. She’d said she couldn’t find Pete.
Well, Lin
couldn’t find Pete either. She’d
already looked around this area and over the side, to the extent that she could
see without climbing down, and there was no sign of another person. She went back to where Sue was still
sitting with the young victim.
“I hope help
arrives soon,” Sue shook her head in worry. “She’s still out and her face feels
cold. She breathing, but it sounds
shallow. I’m sure she’s in shock.”
Lin offered to
relieve Sue so she could stretch her legs. “I’ve looked around, but I see no sign of that person, Pete, she mentioned. It’s pretty clear that someone, most
likely her and a companion, had a picnic here earlier. I think that car may belong to her. There’s a trail at the other end; I
suppose someone could be hiking nearby. Maybe this Pete went on a hike and the girl was exploring and had an
accident, maybe she fell over that drop-off and somehow managed to climb back
up.”
Sue got up and
stretched. “You stay here with her, and I’ll go walk a bit down that trail and
see if I can find any sign of that Pete person she was looking for. I won’t go far. Yell, if the help gets here.”
The time seemed
to drag. A glance at her watch told
Lin that it had only been about fifteen minutes since the gentleman who’d
stopped had gone back to call. They’d told him it wasn’t necessary to come back if he succeeded in
contacting the authorities and medical help. During the time Lin and Sue had been
there only a few cars had passed. It was near the end of the day, and most folks were heading in for the
evening. Two other people had
stopped and offered to help, but none had medical qualifications; Sue had
thanked them but told them help was on the way.
Lin looked up
and saw that Sue was returning from her short walk down the trail. She waved at Lin and pointed ahead. A
small caravan of vehicles was arriving. A blue and white ambulance with lights but no siren was turning onto the
parkway from the exit just past where they were waiting. It was followed by a sheriff’s
department vehicle and what appeared to be a park service truck. By the time Sue returned to the overlook
parking area they were all pulling in.
Sue stopped to
meet the new arrivals and walked with them back to where Lin was waiting with
the victim. She got out of the way
so that the medics could examine the still unconscious girl. The girl was still
breathing but showed no signs of movement when an IV was started and the EMTs
conducted their examination.
“I’m Dave
Winkler,” the sheriff’s deputy extended his hand in