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Cabe arrived at the tree a minute later. “Shit. What the hell happened?”
“I found him like this.”
“Dammit.” Cabe assessed the situation. “We can’t move that tree.”
Cooper nodded. “I was thinking we could dig him out, but the snow might be keeping him from being crushed.”
They looked at each other and said, “Chainsaw” at the same time.
Cooper nodded. “Go get his chainsaw. I’ll prop up the tree on either side of him.”
Cabe ran off and Cooper slid two smaller limbs under the tree on either side of Gage. He didn’t want their rescue efforts to be the thing that injured Gage, or worse.
When Cabe returned with the chainsaw, he looked at what Cooper had done. “Will those limps keep the section of tree from crushing him?”
Cooper nodded. “Yeah.” He wasn’t as confident as he sounded. But they really didn’t have much of a choice. He moved the coat up over Gage’s face to protect it from flying sawdust and bits of wood and bark.
“Okay. Here goes.” Cabe started on the side opposite the root system. It was narrower at about a foot and a half diameter. Before he cut through the final inch, he looked at Cooper. Cooper nodded, and Cabe finished the cut. The part he separated settled into the snow. But the section over Gage stayed where it was. The two men pushed the top of the tree over a foot, then Cabe moved to the root end and started cutting a foot away from Gage.
They wanted to make the section as small as possible so they could move it. But not cut so close as to hurt Gage. Once again, the part of the tree over Gage stayed in place.
Cabe set the chainsaw aside and together he and Cooper pushed the cutout section onto its end, and then over on its side, freeing Gage.
Cabe looked at Gage for a moment. “Should we wait for help to move him?”
“I don’t think he has time to wait. We need to get him out of the cold.”
“Right.”
They each took a side and lifted Gage as carefully as they could. Then they carried him around the house and onto the porch. When they got to the door, they laid him down, then Cooper pulled him inside. Cabe then helped carry him to the wood stove. They laid him on the floor in front of it.
Cooper started unbuttoning Gage’s coat. “We need to get him out of his wet clothes.”
Cabe took Gage’s boots and socks off, then they removed his shirt and pants. They checked him for injuries. There was no blood. But he had some light bruising on his chest, which would probably get worse once his blood started moving again.
Cooper took a blanket from the couch and put it over Gage, while Cabe went to the bedroom and took the quilt from the bed. It was passed down from their great-grandmother and somehow Gage ended up with it. It was heavy and warm. Just what Mary Calaway’s great-grandson needed right now.
Cabe put it over him, then checked the fire. “I’ll feel a lot better when he wakes up.”
“Yeah.” Cooper felt Gage’s pulse again. It was a little stronger. “Okay. I think we’re on the right track here. They’re not going to be able to drive the ambulance down the road, so that could prove to be a problem.”
“I told Aunt Maya the road wasn’t plowed.” Cabe felt Gage’s feet. “Man, icicles. I’ll go get some socks.” He returned a few moments later with one gray and one black sock. “How does this go again?”
“Black goes on the right.”
Cabe sighed. “Sometimes he drives me crazy with his weird things. But right now, I’d give anything for him to tell me to clean up after myself. Or that the books on my shelf are out of order.”
Cooper laughed. “Last time he was over for dinner, he alphabetize the boys’ DVDs and showed Logan how to arrange his stuffed animals on the bed from largest to smallest and divided by color groups.”
When they heard voices outside, they both went to the front door. Booker, Chase, and two firefighters were approaching with a medical bag and a portable stretcher.
Booker nodded toward Chase. “Deputy Kimbal is a paramedic.”
Cooper and Cabe stepped out of his way, and Chase went inside, followed by the firemen.
Booker put a hand on Cooper’s shoulder. “Are you guys okay?”
Cooper nodded. “Better now that you’re here. I’m surprised my sister isn’t with you, though.”
