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hikers stranded on Dead Bear Trail, out near Big Bear Springs,” Royce said. “Looks like we’re going out, bad weather or not.”
    The hikers from Pigeon Forge were stranded on a trail that was high up in the mountains. A rockslide had trapped them there. The ice had started falling before they were able to free one of their fellow hikers from the debris.
    “In other words, those hikers have been out there for hours before they bothered calling in,” Eric said after Stella had hung up the phone and was changing clothes. “I’ll never understand why people aren’t smart in dangerous situations.”
    “Me either.” Stella pulled on her heavy coat. “Keep the house warm. I’ll be back when I can.”
    “I wish I were going with you. Be careful out there. It’s going to be treacherous on that trail.”
    “You know me.” She opened the door, and Hero ran outside.
    “Yeah.” Eric said to the closed door after she was gone. “That’s why I’m worried.”

Chapter 8
    B ig Bear Springs got its name from accounts of the 1800s when fur trappers in the area remarked at the number of bears living there. Those accounts brought more trappers and almost wiped out the bear population.
    The bear title stuck. There was Big Bear Road and Bear Den Drive as well as the convenience store, campground, and rafting business, all named after bears.
    Dead Bear Trail was no doubt a spot where someone had seen a dead bear. Standing about fifty feet above the trail and looking down, Stella wasn’t surprised the hikers were in trouble.
    The trail ran around the mountain, with sharp inclines and thin ledges where hikers were forced to hug the rock and shuffle across the trail, which dropped at least a hundred feet to a rocky ravine below it.
    It was a difficult trail when the weather was good. With ice covering everything, it was a death trap.
    “How are we gonna get down there, Chief?” JC asked.
    “Two of us will rappel down. We’ll tie our ropes around the hikers and send them up two at a time.” Stella looked at him. “Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?”
    “A plan to get someone killed,” he retorted. “I think we should wait until the ice melts in the morning. You know it won’t take that long.”
    “The hikers said on the radio that two of them are injured from the rockslide. Another one has his foot trapped under some rock. We can’t leave them down there all night.”
    JC didn’t like heights, and everyone knew it. Normally, Stella could position him where it didn’t matter. There was no way around it this time.
    “You don’t have to go down there.” She was glad that John had been able to come out with them. He was an experienced climber. “John and I will go down. I need you, and everyone else, up here to pull out the hikers.”
    JC nodded. “Okay. I can do this. I’ll stand back against the rock. I don’t even need to see down there.”
    Stella patted his shoulder. “That’s right. Let someone else look over the edge.”
    She wasn’t sure who that was going to be. Allen was eyeing the edge with trepidation. Kimmie and David were doing the same. Kent didn’t seem that nervous. Royce and Bert were both strong and up to the task.
    “Okay.” She loudly addressed her team as freezing rain fell on them, turning them all into human icicles. “John and I are going down. We’ll send up the two injured hikers first. I hope we have an ambulance and medics by then. If not, keep them warm with the blankets we brought. “
    “You didn’t even say please.” John was already preparing one of the ropes for the descent when she walked to the side of the rock. “You might’ve considered my feelings on the matter. You didn’t make JC go down the the mountian.”
    “Quit teasing and let’s go,” she said. “I’m worried about this rockslide shifting again.”
    They both peered off the edge. From there down to the ledge where the hikers were trapped was an immense cascade of large and small rocks. They both