help than he’d expected. She kept the balloon elevated. The wind spun them around again and she gave a short gasp, but didn’t desert her duty station.
She did look at him with those wide eyes, questioning silently.
“We’ll look for a place to set down,” he said at last. Watching in the direction they appeared to be going he searched for any open area. Snagging the balloon on tall trees on the way down could render it inoperable. Something he refused to do. There were several more days left on this flight and he planned to make the farthest distance when the week ended. He radioed his plans to the ground crew.
Amalia jumped. “Oh, lightning,” she said.
He looked behind him. The storm was still miles away, but another flash of lightning demonstrated the strength and danger coming.
“We’ll start dropping now,” he said into the radio. “Find us.” He tossed the radio down and turned to Amalia. “Don’t fire the burners unless I tell you to.”
Glancing behind him from time to time, he knew he was ahead of the rain. He wanted to be on the ground and erect some kind of shelter before the full force of the storm hit. They could not afford to get the envelope wet. It would take a day or more to dry out and that would definitely put them out of the running.
Amalia didn’t say a word. She watched his every move. He wished he could reassure her, but only being safely on the ground would do that.
The basket swayed more strongly than before. He heard Amalia’s gasp but was too intent on getting them down to do anything more than tell her to hold on and be ready to start the jets if he wanted more lift.
The balloon spun around, the basket swinging with the momentum. Even Rafael was having trouble holding his balance. The last sway had knocked Amalia off her feet. She scrambled up and held on to the frame, looking over the edge, her face white.
The gusts were stronger the lower he went.
“Are we going to crash?” Amalia asked.
“No.”
And, surprisingly enough, they didn’t. He reached a large plateau, pulled the emergency release cord and told Amalia to be ready to jump off the basket when he gave the word. “And take one of the ropes with you. I’ll follow and pull on the other.”
The basket hit hard, the balloon almost puddling over them as it continued its waffling in the wind as it collapsed with lack of hot air.
Amalia jumped off and looked for something to tie the rope to. Rafael was beside her in a second, pulling on another rope. It was windy. Amalia could feel stinging from the sand particles in the air as the wind swept across the rocky plateau. The basket tugged against the rope. There didn’t appear to be anything handy to anchor the rope.
Rafael strained against the pull even as Amalia ran a few steps to keep the rope from being pulled from her hands. She got a better grip and leaned back, throwing her entire weight against the pull of the wind.
The envelope settled into an uneven lump, ruffled by the wind, but no longer driven by it. The pull eased. Amalia was breathing hard, but held fast.
“Good going,” Rafael called. He studied the terrain, and then moved to the left a bit, trying his rope to an outcropping of rock. Not a very substantial one, from Amalia’s viewpoint, but she trusted Rafael knew what he was doing.
He crossed quickly to her side, taking the rope from her hands. He found another rock and made it fast.
“Let’s do what we can before the rain comes,” he said, already moving to the balloon. Before long he had it stretched out, flapping in the wind, but in the wind’s direction, with the basket as anchor. He began folding it, first lengthways, then when it was as wide as the basket, began rolling it toward it.
As soon as Amalia realized what he was doing she went to help, keeping a wary eye on the clouds massing behind them. Before they’d finished, the first drops of rain began to fall.
“We’ll turn the basket on the side, floor to the storm’s direction and huddle inside to keep dry,” Rafael said, using one of the lines to fasten the balloon, scrambling for the plastic tarp and stretching it over the balloon. He stood and looked around. There was no shelter in sight.
“Help me tip the basket on its side, it’ll afford some shelter.”
Once that was done, he sent Amalia to sit in it, while he double-checked the jets and then found a large rock and dug a shallow trench around the covered balloon.
In seconds he joined her in the makeshift shelter, the one side away from the wind open to the elements. The rest was cozy and so far dry.
“If the storm gets very bad, the wicker will leak,” he said.
“But we stay with the balloon,” she said.
“It’s the best way for the crew to find us,” he explained.
“How will they know where to look for us?”
“They’ll find us.”
They sat and waited.
“Is there a road to this plateau?” she asked.
“I saw a dirt one not too far away. Every half hour we’ll use the radio and see if we can raise them. They’ll get here, sooner or later.”
She was quiet for a moment. “I think you liked our ride down,” she mused.
He laughed, flinging an arm across her shoulders. “It’s exhilarating, man against nature—especially when man wins this round. I didn’t expect the storm to come so quickly or to be caught without adequate shelter, to be honest. But we’ll manage.”
“It wasn’t so bad. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to become afraid.”
“You did well, Amalia. I’m glad you were with me instead—”
He cut himself off, but Amalia knew he was thinking of Teresa. For a moment she felt pleased she’d done better than the other woman would have. But only for a moment. Then the obstacles to getting safely to some hotel for the night made themselves felt. She had a feeling it would be a long time before his chase team located them.
“I’ve never been a big fan of camping out, as you know,” she said. “So I really did get my fill last night.”
“We have snacks, blankets, shelter. What more do we need?”
“I can think of several things, not the least of which is to be dry. This shelter may start to leak before long.”
“We’ll manage.”
Amalia wished once again she wasn’t on this expedition. But not one to bemoan things beyond her control, she gave in to the inevitable.
She studied her companion. “Do you camp often?” she asked.
He studied the rain as it began to come down. “Not if I can help it. I like my amenities too much. But now and then. Today is not good weather. But when it’s clear, to be away from the city lights, to see the stars
