one, bent it into the shape of a `U' and let it snap free. The plastic rod immediately gave off a pale yellow glow.
They had been his own idea. He'd found them in a sporting goods store in the golf section. They had these special golf balls with a hole drilled through the center. The promo said they could be used in the dark. He tried them out and they worked a treat.
He wedged the glowing plastic rod on a tree near the brook, crossed to the other side, shut his flashlight off and looked back. Sure enough there it was plainly visible like a firefly in the dark.
Alvin moved up hill as fast as he could toward the downed tree. It was a big northern spruce and it hadn't been down long because the limbs were still green and thick.
"Great, this will be perfect. I can make a shelter big enough for all of us."
He snapped another one of the glowing markers and placed it in a tree near the fallen spruce.
Back at the stream he picked up the pot and made his way back to the others, stopping along the way to mark another tree. When he got there McChesney was still grumbling about having to stand in the rain.
Tony looked at him with disgust. He took the pot of water from Alvin and helped Sherry drink.
"Thanks, Mr. Genoa. I'm going to be all right, really."
"Tony, Miss Sherry, I've found a place where I can make us a shelter. Soon as I get it built, I'll get a fire going. I'm sorry it's taking so long, I'll go as fast as I can."
"You're doing fine, Alvin. Don't worry about us, we can wait until you finish," Sherry said.
"What are you going to do, kid, rub two trees together?"
"Hey, hulk, put a sock in it. If you're too lazy to contribute to the motion don't get in the way," Tony growled.
"Please...please, we have to work together." Sherry tried to calm things down.
"Sorry, Miss Willis," Alvin apologized. "Tony, if you could get that slide free from the aircraft I could cut it up into sheets. It's water proof, make a great covering for a shelter."
"Good idea. Have you got a tool kit in that pack? Hell there ought to be you've got everything else in there. As a matter of fact are you sure you don't have an RV in there?"
"Sorry, I forgot." Alvin rummaged around and came out with a canvas bag. There was a universal screw driver, a Swiss army knife, a pair of industrial scissors, and adjustable wrench.
Tony shook his head in disbelief. "You're a pistol, Alvin."
Alvin showed him how the markers worked. "Put one of these where you can see them every ten yards or so. They should last the rest of the night."
"Mr. McChesney, would you please see that Miss Willis stays dry and keep her as warm as you can." He snapped his fingers and paced back and forth. "A person with a head injury must be kept warm."
"Okay, kid."
Alvin frowned. "I'm not, kid, my name is Alvin Stanford Thomas."
"Okay, kid," McChesney laughed at his joke. No one else did.
Alvin moved off into the trees. He thought of his father, heard his voice clearly. Don't waste time on fools, son, you got better things to do with your time.
It didn't take long to reached the fallen tree. He hung the flashlight near by and went to work on the branches along the under side. He was sweating and weary but he kept working, cutting a room underneath the tree, piling the branches outside on both sides making a thicker roof.
The limbs he left uncut formed the walls, but to make sure it didn't squash flat he cut two stout branches with vee shaped notches on one end and wedged them under the trunk of the tree.
In an hour he had cut a room ten feet long and five feet wide and with the extra branches on top very little water was coming through. He cleaned the floor right down to the ground at the lower end, then went to the brook and brought back a half a dozen rocks for a fireplace.
He looked at his creation with satisfaction. "If I can put pieces from the slide over it, it should dry out fast with a fire."
He made his way tiredly back to the tree where he'd left the others. When he got there Tony was sitting down leaning against the tree.
Alvin knelt by him. "Are you okay, should you take another pill? What's the matter?"
"Take it easy, Mr. Dynamo. I'm okay, I'm just having a little trouble getting my breath."
Alvin looked at him for a moment then snapped both fingers. "Right, of course. Darn, I'm really stupid. I'm sorry, it's my fault. We're probably up over eight, nine thousand feet, the air's thinner up here."
"You're probably right. Anyhow, I got three large pieces of the slide, and there's lot's more if we need it."
"Great! Thanks, Tony. I've made us a shelter. I think we should go there now. I'll make a fire and some tea."
"That sounds great, Alvin," Sherry said.
"Can you walk, ma'am?"
"Sure, it's not far is it?"
"No, not far. Mr. McChesney, would you carry the pieces of canvas. Tony has a heart condition, I don't think he should be carrying stuff like that." Alvin was learning.
McChesney grumbled. "Why didn't you say so, I could have gotten the canvas in the first place."
No one reminded him that all he'd done since the crash was bitch.
Alvin led the way to the shelter. He'd cut a large door at the lower end. Inside, Sherry spread her blankets out on the ground and sat down wearily. Tony went inside and sat with her.
"Mr. McChesney, I'm going around to the other side, if you'll throw the canvas over the top we can spread it over the shelter."
When they were done Alvin put branches on top to hold the pieces of canvas in place. Inside he hung his flash light from a branch and set his pack to one side. He was so tired he could hardly stand. From the ground he gathered the driest pine needles and small sticks and made a small pile in the center of the rocks.
He had to go back out into the rain to find bigger branches which he broke up into the right size. Still grumbling, McChesney followed him and came back dragging an entire dead tree and set about breaking off branches.
Alvin dug into his pack again and came out with another of a seemingly endless supply of tin boxes. This one contained cotton balls, wooden survival matches, and two large cans of lighter fluid. He took a half dozen of the cotton balls and stuck them among the pine needles and sticks. Then he squirted lighter fluid on the cotton balls and lit the cotton balls with one of the matches. The whole pile caught fire instantly.
Alvin spent a half hour feeding it with larger and large branches until he had a fine fire going. The wood steamed and gave off a lot of smoke but it showed no signs of dying out. The inside of their shelter was already beginning to warm up.
"That was incredible, Alvin. You make it look easy," Sherry said.
"My Dad taught me. He's the best forest ranger in all of Idaho. I'm going down to the brook and get some water. I've got a box of tea bags in here somewhere."
Alvin forced himself to stay awake until he'd made tea for everyone. He gave his sleeping bag to Sherry, rolled up in his blanket and went to sleep immediately.
McChesney fed the fire for a while Tony had rolled onto the ground with a blanket, a small pillow from the plane and fallen asleep as quickly as Alvin.
McChesney was dead tired but he couldn't get his mind off the terrifying flight and the crash. And he still heard the boy's voice from the plane calling him a coward. No one had called him a coward since he'd been a little boy. He didn't think he was a coward, but he had acted like one, hadn't he? It didn't help that the little kid knew how to do everything, had taken charge when he should have been the one calling the shots.
No one had mentioned the pilot and copilot but somehow