Scene 14

The Guyana Highlands

Wompet led me for several minutes until we entered an area where the trunks of the trees were further apart, although their branches still blocked the sun. Wompet ran to the middle of the gap, stopped, and then looked up. I looked up to see what was there.

Hanging from the branches by a parachute, was Frank McGrath. Unlike my own landing, however, Frank was high enough that falling would probably break some bones.

Frank appeared to be dozing as he hung from the branches.

“Frank!” I called up to him. When he didn’t respond, I called again. “Frank, wake up!”

He stirred after I called the second time and looked around.

“Frank, are you okay?” I asked.

“Dave? Oh, man, am I glad to see you,” he answered.

“Are you okay?” I asked again.

“As good as I can be, considering I’m dangling from the trees with no way to get down.”

“Just release the straps on your parachute; you’ll get down,” I said, chuckling a little.

“Right, and break both my legs in the process. Help me.”

I looked around for anything I could use to get Frank out of the branches. Nothing I saw looked favorable.

“I have an idea, Frank, but you could still get hurt,” I told him.

“What is it?”

“Well, I’m going to try to fashion something to break your fall. It will be rough and you will certainly get bruised and perhaps cut a bit, but you shouldn’t break anything.”

“Is that all you can think of?”

“Without someone to help me and more equipment, I think it’s the only option.”

He thought for a moment. “Okay, let’s do it.”

As I moved away to begin work, I heard him mutter, “I could really use a drink about now.”

For the next hour or so, I worked to fashion a crude cushion for Frank. I managed to move the hard objects from under him and then cut ferns and bushes from the clearing with my survival knife. I piled up the plants under Frank and then draped my parachute canopy over them, tucking the chute in around the edges to create the cushioning effect.

“Okay,” I called up to him. “This is probably the best you’ll get.”

Frank looked down skeptically. “You think this will work?”

“It’s the only shot you’ve got without either more help or equipment. Come on, unhook your harness and do it. It’s not going to get any better.”

I could tell Frank was working up his nerve. He reached for the buckles of the parachute pack with both hands and flipped them open. He dropped straight down onto the cushion.

By tucking the edges of the parachute in, I had trapped a bit of air within the canopy. As Frank hit, this air was forced out. The plants beneath the chute absorbed most of Frank’s momentum and he gave a slight grunt as he hit.

I quickly moved over to him. “Are you okay?”

Frank took stock of himself and answered me. “Yeah, I’m okay, but next time I get to rescue you, okay?”

“It’s a deal,” I said and extended my hand to help him up.