We were in the middle of a vast wilderness in a helicopter and trying to reach three people on the radio. We didn't expect to get an answer as they were to be picked up by another helicopter. They had been doing archaeological impact assessments, tough work when the snow is up to their knees and should have been done earlier in the season.  Then we heard, "This is Rob, Dawn. We are all
done and waiting to be picked up."

I drew a quick startled breath. The stranded people below us somewhere were in trouble. The second helicopter had not arrived and we did not have enough room in ours to take on all three. Temperatures were dropping and our window of time was narrowing minute by minute.

"Okay Rob, we have a slight problem here and we'll get right back to you," Dawn (pilot of our helicopter) answered.  There wasn't any sense in letting the people below know that the situation was much worse than a "slight problem".

It was fourteen below and getting colder. We had enough daylight hours to get our helicopter back to base but not enough time to fly out again to get the stranded threesome. We had not heard anything from the helicopter that had been scheduled to pick up this team and only later discovered that it hit
a storm and would not make it in time.

We were working in north east British Columbia, in an area where the beaver, caribou, moose, wolves, bears and other animals far outnumbered the human inhabitants. We could fly for hours and not see another human being so the chances of getting help from anyone on the frozen land below were less than slim. The team below was more than a hundred kilometers to the nearest post of any kind.

Our pilot, Dawn must have felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, as she realized that without the second helicopter we were now in an impossible and likely tragic situation. Our helicopter had little time left before we would have to pull out and head for base in order to beat the darkness, yet below us and
about three miles away were three young people who would not survive the night in the bush.

Since we had spent the day flying this area without spotting another human being, I knew only a miracle could solve the problem.

Suddenly we spotted a tanker truck below. Not a mirage! We knew it was imperative that we somehow get the truck driver's attention. Our pilot flashed lights and hovered in front of the truck. At first it was as if we didn??™t exist and he continued on his way but Dawn persisted.

When he stopped, my husband, Shawn, hopped out of the helicopter, and spent little time in explaining our predicament. He called back to us to go and get the stranded party while he remained with the truck..

Our pilot radioed we were on the way and their responding voices indicated relief. Later they were to discover just how distressful the situation had been. But now we could take two people and send the third home in the truck.

When we all landed back at the air field that night we had fifteen minutes left of daylight. Rob, the team member, who had been left off to get back by truck, was to arrive three hours later.

We rarely saw traffic of any kind out in the bush so I thought the appearance of that truck as more than unusual. The two men were building an ice road in the middle of nowhere. I guess some consider it a coincidence for the truck to suddenly be there on a closed road in the middle of a swamp when time was of the essence. Personally I just thanked God that his angels were working overtime!

Ellie Braun-Haley
shaley@telusplanet.net

Ellie and her husband Shawn have co authored a number of books. Casey
Caterpillar and Other Movement Rhymes, second edition, and Muttering Moths Movement Rhymes and More are activity books written especially for parents and teachers of young children. Of their book, A Little Door, A Little Light, Ellie says, "I think we should have put God's name in as the author, for all his contributions!" All three books are available through EagleCreek Publishers http://www.eaglecreek.org . "War On the Homefront: WifeAbuse in North America" is the title of their latest book.  (Berghahn Books, New York).