Unless the plane was damaged. Unless Joe had crashed somewhere in the wilderness.
'There are lots of reasons he could have lost radio contact,' Hawk assured her. 'If he put down in a valley, the mountains might block the signal.'
'You know the route he was flying, don't you? So the search teams can find him more quickly?'
'He was flying up to Fort Yukon. He never-'
'Fort Yukon?' Perrie asked. 'He was going to Fort Yukon?'
'He was taking supplies up there. He has survival gear in the plane. Sleeping bags and dried food. So if he had to put her down, he would be able to wait for us to find him.'
A sudden thought came to Perrie's mind when Hawk mentioned sleeping bags. 'I think I might know where he is,' she said. 'What if he put the plane down for a reason, then couldn't take off again?'
'Why would he put the plane down?'
'Maybe he stopped to see Romeo and Juliet,' Perrie replied.
'The play?'
'No, the wolves,' she cried. 'You know, the family of wolves that he watches up at the Yukon Flats. He took me to see them.'
'Joe visits a family of wolves?' Hawk seemed completely taken aback by the revelation. 'Can you remember where you landed up there?'
'We were at the Gebhardts' cabin.'
'On Van Hatten Creek?'
Perrie nodded. 'And then we flew west, I think. I didn't notice at first, but then the landscape looked so different from Muleshoe. There was a huge mountain out the left window and I remember the sun was shining off the snow. There were no trees on it.'
'That was probably Snowy Peak.'
'Then I think we turned north again, out of the sun. There were lots of trees below and mountains. But then the landscape kind of cleared and there was a wide area that was just snow. It was really flat, like a river covered in white. And that's where Joe put the plane down. He said we were on the southern edge of the wildlife refuge.'
'Was there another peak? You should have seen it to the east. Bear Mountain.'
Perrie bit her lower lip and tried to remember, but once they'd landed, she had lost her sense of direction. Her attention had been focused on the wolves and on Joe, not on the surrounding mountains. 'I don't know,' she said in a shaky voice. 'Maybe there was. I'd know the landscape if I saw it. I remember that peak.'
The pilot from the bush plane walked over toward them, Perrie's bags in his arms. 'Here are your things, ma'am.'
Perrie grabbed his arm. 'How much fuel do you have left in your plane?'
'Enough to get me back to Fairbanks.'
'Enough to fly up to Fort Yukon?'
Hawk picked up on her idea. 'Never mind about the fuel. We can fill the plane up here. I need you to fly me up to Yukon Flats.'
'Me, too!' Perrie cried. 'I'm coming along.'
The pilot shook his head. 'But I've got to get back to-'
'This is a search and rescue,' Hawk explained.
The pilot's expression immediately turned from indifference to concern. 'Who are we looking for?'
'Joe Brennan.'
'Polar Bear Air? I know Brennan.'
'We think he might have put the plane down on purpose somewhere up on the flats yesterday.'
The pilot grabbed Perrie's bags and tossed them inside the Blazer. 'Then let's refuel and get up in the air. Maybe we can find him before he has to spend another night in the cold.'
Hawk nodded, then grabbed Perrie's hand and gave it a squeeze. 'We'll find him.'
The next fifteen minutes passed in a flurry of activity. Hawk helped the pilot refuel, then he called the lodge on the plane's radio just as they were taking off to let Tanner know their plans. They were up in the air before Perrie had a chance to grow impatient.
'He went to see Romeo,' she murmured. 'I know he did.'
She stared out the window from her place behind the pilot's seat, trying to remember the landscape that she'd watched so closely that day. When they reached the spot above the Gebhardts' cabin, she sat up straighter, hoping that Joe's plane might be sitting out front. But Perrie saw nothing there except snow and a thin curl of smoke from the chimney.
The pilot veered west and Snowy Peak appeared in her window. 'This is right,' she called. 'We took off in mis direction. We were just about even with the peak when Joe turned north again.'
The pilot waited until the plane drew closer to the mountain, then banked to the right Below them, the landscape looked unfamiliar and Perrie's heart twisted. 'This isn't right,' she said. 'I don't recognize this.'
'Just wait,' Hawk called from the copilot's seat. 'I think Joe might have followed the Little Black River north. Before too long it meets Paddle Creek and there's a wide flat area right near the edge of the refuge.'
She took a deep breath and pressed her palm to her heart, trying to calm the rapid pounding in her chest. She felt the crunch of paper beneath her jacket, then reached inside and withdrew the valentine Joe had made for her. Throughout her trip back to Muleshoe, it had rested near her heart, a reminder of what they had shared. She stared at it now, as if willing some mystical power from the paper and lace.
She wasn't sure how long she looked at it, rubbing her fingers over Joe's casual scrawl, remembering the day he'd given it to her.
'Well, I'll be damned.'
Perrie looked up to see Hawk staring out his window, a pair of binoculars pressed to his eyes. 'What? Do you see something?'
Hawk slowly lowered the binoculars then turned and smiled at Perrie. 'You were right. He's down there. And the plane looks like it's in one piece.'
Perrie scrambled to the window on the other side of the plane. In the distance she could see a splash of red against the white snow. 'Is he all right? Can you see him?'
Hawk looked down again and nodded. 'He sees us. He's waving.'
Perrie leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. A surge of relief, followed by apprehension rushed over her and suddenly she wasn't sure of what she'd planned. What if she'd been mistaken? What if Joe didn't love her the way she thought he did?
'I'm going to put her down,' the pilot called.
'Are-are you sure?' Perrie asked. 'I-I mean, someone else could rescue him. You've already done so much.'
Hawk turned and looked at her. 'He'll be happy to see you.'
His words were so direct and so confident that Perrie couldn't help but believe him. She smiled, then mouthed a silent 'thank you' to the man who had become such a good friend.
The pilot circled once, but Perrie was afraid to look down. Her entire life, her happiness were riding on this landing. On the hope that she was right about Joe and that he truly did love her. The hope that he wanted her to come back to him, that there was a place in his life for her.
Moments later the plane was on the ground, and they slid across the snow until the pilot pulled back on the throttle and they came to a stop. Through the window, Perrie watched as Joe ran toward the plane, but she was frozen in her seat, unable to move.
Hawk hopped out and ran toward him, then grabbed Joe around the neck and gave him a hug. They talked for a minute, their heads bent, and then Hawk looked back to the plane. Perrie said one more prayer, pushed the door open and stepped outside.
But as she left the shadow of the plane's wing, Joe turned and started back toward the Super Cub. She stepped into the sunshine and Hawk called to Joe. He turned back, a grin on his face. And then he saw her.
Perrie held her breath, her fingers clutching at the valentine in her hands. His grin gradually faded to an expression of confusion and then disbelief. He pushed his cap off and ran his hand through his hair, then shook his head.
