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Chapter 17 continues...

"I think we should continue on to Waskesiu," said XL. "There are hired people who do rescues for a living. It's not up to us to do their job for them. We can't take Saucer1 off course every time someone needs help. We would never be able to go on any vacation."

"I am not suggesting that we travel around at our own time and expense rescuing everyone," said Beeba. "But this time we are close. We can go to the clearing and rescue the little girl now. By the time the helicopter comes by, she may have wandered off. I don't feel good about just leaving her."

"Beeba, you're such a worrier," said XL. "The rescue people know what they are doing. You will see, in an hour there will be another message on this screen saying that Wendy is rescued."

"Well, O.K.," said Beeba, "but I'm going to sit here and watch this screen until that happens. And if they don't rescue her, you have to take us back."

"Alright," said XL, "but you know that won't be necessary."

They continued to Waskesiu, which is a little town located in the national park north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. There is a large campground near the town. XL's mom had already booked a campsite and paid for it online. However, they needed to check-in, so XL parked Saucer1 over the campground office, while his mom went down in the elevator to register. Soon she came back up. "We're registered," said Larissa.

"Great, now we can have some fun," said XL, "and tomorrow we can try to find Susan."

"Let's check out our camp site," said Anna.

XL agreed. Referring to the campground map that his mom had picked up, XL drove over the camping area and parked at their site, near the far edge. It was a nice treed area, with an opening more than large enough for the elevator. There was a picnic table and a fire pit on one side.

"It's fine," said XL. "So, what would you all like to do first - hiking, boating?"

"I'm not doing anything," said Beeba. "Little Wendy is still lost."

"How can that be?" asked XL. "It has been more than an hour."

"I don't know," answered Beeba, "but the rescue alert is still showing on the view screen."

"Let's find out," said Larissa. She contacted the rescue office to inquire, and they informed her that Wendy wasn't in the clearing when the helicopter arrived. The clearing wasn't quite wide enough for the helicopter to land, so they had lowered a rescuer from the helicopter by rope. He was searching for her now.

The official said that they would update the status online every half an hour until she was found. Larissa thanked them for the information and ended the call.

"You see, they are taking care of it," said XL.

"If you had done as I recommended," said Beeba, "Wendy would be rescued already."

"So, what shall we do?" asked XL.

"I don't know," said Beeba. "Let me just wait here a little longer to see what happens."

They waited half an hour, and then the alert status updated. Beeba saw it on the screen immediately. The girl had not yet been found, and the rescue office was bringing in more searchers. The helicopter was bringing in at least 4 additional people, two at a time, to be lowered by rope into the clearing.

"You see, Beeba," said XL, "they will do whatever it takes to find her."

"Yes," said Anna, "there is no point to sit here worrying and sulking. Don't make things worse than they need to be. We all came here to see the park."

"I don't feel like having fun," said Beeba. "XL, you said we would go back if she wasn't found."

"But what could we do that they aren't doing already?" asked XL.

"Well, you said that Saucer1 has new infrared cameras that will show any warm animal in the dark, including humans. I'll bet they don't have those."

"I'll bet they do," said XL. "But if they don't find her by sunset, we'll go back," XL promised.

"Let's go for a hike," said Anna. "There is a very nice walking path I know of, that goes by a stream."

Anna showed XL the location on a park map, and XL set the destination in Saucer1's computer. Soon they were floating above a small parking lot by a road, with a bridge and a stream flowing nearby. They descended in the elevator, and followed a path that went along the east side of the stream.

The stream was about 10 meters across, and there were huge evergreen trees on each side of it, as well as a few aspen or birch trees. The edge of the stream was marshy in places, but the park had built a wooden walkway along the stream, so they could walk over the marshy areas with no problem. It was all very beautiful.

"I really like being out in nature," said Larissa.

"Me too, mom," said Anna.

After about 20 minutes walking on the boardwalk, they reached a footbridge that would take them across the river and into the forest beyond.

"You see that there are no mosquitoes at this time of year," said XL to Beeba, "so you didn't need to worry about that. The last time I was here, this bridge and the forest beyond was covered with mosquitoes, so this is as far as I have gone. Now we can continue and explore further."

But Beeba wanted to go back. "There will be another rescue update on the view screen in Saucer1 by now," he said. "I want to see if the little girl has been found yet. Then we can do some more hiking."

So they hiked back the way they had come, and went back into Saucer1 to check the alert status. Wendy had not been found.

This set the pattern for the rest of the afternoon. For any activity they did, Beeba had to keep going back to Saucer1 to check, and always it was the same news: that Wendy had not yet been found.

XL was beginning to feel badly too. He was regretting that they hadn't gone earlier to help. They were at the park, but they weren't having as much fun as he had expected, even though the park was lovely.

At supper time, they ate in Saucer1 as it floated over the beach at Waskesiu, where there was a large lake. They ate the sandwiches that XL and Anna's mother had packed before they left. Beeba had discovered a manual that Max had written about the new search-and-rescue features of Saucer1, which was in a drawer near the main control panel at the front of the airship. He said reading it as he munched on sandwiches. "You know, your dad designed some pretty cool stuff," he said, as they finished their meal.

XL stood looking out over the lake. There was still two or three hours before the sun would set. If they left now, they could be back at the clearing where Wendy was last seen, well before sunset.

"Alright, we might as well go back," said XL. "We have nothing better to do anyway."

XL's mom agreed it would be O.K., and Anna agreed to. Beeba didn't say anything but XL knew what he wanted.

XL set the location in the ship's computer, and the airship headed back. In 20 minutes, they had left the national park, and they were going over the country south of it.

"Hey XL," said Beeba, "nobody at the park gate checked your windshield to see if you had a park entry sticker on Saucer1."

"Very funny!" commented XL.

"Don't worry," said Anna, "mom bought an annual pass that covers all the national parks."

"Your family is so conscientious," said Beeba.

"Yours too!" said XL.

Just then, an update appeared on the lost-child alert that had been on the screen. "Wendy has been found!" exclaimed Beeba.

There was a brief report of the rescue also on the screen. Evidently Wendy had seen the airplane and she waited in the clearing for a few minutes. But then she caught a glimpse of an animal in the forest, and she thought it might be a bear. She ran away, crossed a stream, and climbed a tree. After a while she calmed down and came down from the tree, but she couldn't remember the way back to the clearing. She wandered further and further away. Finally, as evening came, she sat crying, because she was cold and hungry.

But the rescuers were systematically covering the whole area and calling out her name. At last she heard one of them and yelled back, and then she was found. They were bringing her back to her parents now.

"Let's go back to our camp site," said Beeba, after everyone had read the report.

"Yes, there is still time for an evening camp fire," said Anna.

XL turned Saucer1 back toward Waskesiu. He was glad that the little girl had been found.

Copyright Arthur de Leyssac, 2017. All rights reserved.