Fix My Feet When They're Stumblin'

Chapter 14

    The Fontaine's conference room was filled to capacity now, with the entire band touring party crammed into every available space, and the tension in the hushed, crowded room was tangible. The police radio, silent for many minutes, crackled abruptly and Officer Rawlins' voice blared through the room.

    "Sheriff, it's Rawlins. I've found them and they're both alive - " the room exploded in jubilant cheers and sighs of relief, and the rest of the transmission was only heard by the sheriff: " - but can I have a moment with you and the fire chief in private, sir?"

    The sheriff nudged the fire chief sitting next to him and nodded to the door, picking up the radio and leading him through the noisy celebrations to the quiet, empty hallway. They proceeded down the carpeted corridor, then turned to face the closed door so they could see if anyone headed their direction.

    "Go ahead, Rawlins. I have the fire chief."

    "Sir, they're both alive, but Flowers is in real bad shape, sir. Vannucci says he broke his ankle yesterday and Flowers fell off of the cliff I passed, almost twenty feet, trying to get Vannucci's cell phone to call for help. I guess he somehow climbed back up the cliff and walked a mile or so up the mountain back to Vannucci, but he lost consciousness late last night and he won't wake up now."

    The officer paused to breathe, and the sheriff cut in. "On it, Rawlins, I'll send a chopper - "

    "That's just the thing, sir - I suggested that but Vannucci objected very strongly, says Flowers has got a real bad fear of flying and he's concerned he might wake up in the middle of the flight, sir."

    The fire chief raised his eyebrows. "Officer Rawlins, are you telling us that a man who travels around the world for a living is really deathly afraid of flying?"

    "Uh, well, sir, yeah, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

    The chief shook his head, bemused. "Okay, well then...how bad is his head trauma? He was walking last night you say? Talking? Good signs. "

    "Yes, sir. Vannucci said he seemed to be having a real hard time though, real off-balance and falling everywhere. And he was talking, but real slow and only a couple words at a time. It sure looked like it might be a skull fracture to me, sir; he had raccoon eyes."

    "Mmm. Yeah, he's gonna have to fly, we can't jostle him around on a stretcher with the mules and that's the only other way he'd be leaving that mountain.

    The sheriff nodded, and added to his officer, "Just tell him they can fly together, if that's any consolation."

    "Yes, sir."

    The sheriff called for the helicopter to be sent to Officer Rawlins' location, and, decisions made, the pair returned to the raucous conference room. The sheriff tried to calm the happy crowd. "Can I have your attention, please? Everyone, please, quiet!" Gradually the din subsided.

    "Thank you. There are some updates that you'll all be interested to know. As we understand it, Mr. Vannucci broke his ankle yesterday and Mr. Flowers, in trying to recover his cell phone to call for help, slipped and fell down the side of the mountain. He's sustained some head trauma as a result, but was able to make his way back to Mr. Vannucci on his own last night. We've called for a helicopter to transport them to the nearest hospital immediately and as we gather more information, we will share - "

    Suddenly the radio crackled once, was silent for a few moments, and then Ronnie Vannucci's slightly hoarse, very irritated voice echoed through the room, bringing the nervous room to dead silence within seconds.