Chapter 843 Chapter 843
Uri turned to check that the boys were keeping up with him. They didn't seem to be struggling at all. If there wasn’t still snow on the ground, hauling this back would have been a lot harder.
Tait’s idea for the long plastic toboggans was working perfectly. They'd sent four of them, but they only needed three to pull back what Konner dropped off.
The boys had wanted to check the bag, but Uri convinced them they needed to get it back to the others. He doubted anyone in the area was awake and seeing light beams in the sky, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
He had to give Konner credit; he was very skilled. Dropping things from his chopper, he’d said, was a new thing. One of his people had rigged it to they could drop supplies in a raft to the newly found Sea clans. How he managed to place it in the small clearing while hovering barely above the tree line was beyond him. Uri had wings and maneuverability that a helicopter didn’t have.
“That was so cool.” Wyatt was walking almost level with him now.
Uri had to be careful not to add more healing time to his injury, so he was taking it slow. “Konner is a good pilot.”
Wyatt nodded. “That's what I want to do.”
Uri was going to remind him that soon he would be able to fly without being inside a machine, but he didn't want to trample his excitement. “I imagine it takes a lot of training.”
“I guess.” Wyatt looked back at Ben. “Did you see how he kept it from hitting the trees?”
“I saw.”
Uri guessed Ben wasn’t as enthused by the helicopter. “We use remote-controlled mini drones for surveillance sometimes.”
“Really?” Wyatt’s eyes were wide.
Uri nodded.
“Do you have one with you?”
“Not up here, but there’s one in my SUV.”
“I'd like to see that.” Wyatt looked back at Ben. “Don’t you want to see that?”
“That would be neat.” Ben’s tone was flat.
Uri looked to see he was watching around them. These boys hadn’t been able to be kids for the last year, and it showed with the oldest.
“Do you think I can try it?”
Uri doubted there would be time for that when they got everyone down there. “I don’t know if there will be time, but I can tell Tait to make sure you get a chance once you’re in Manitoba.”
“Cool.” Wyatt stopped and waited for Uri to navigate through some close-together trees.
“Do you think they sent chocolate?” Wyatt followed with his toboggan. “I miss chocolate.”
“And cheeseburgers,” Ben added.
Uri grinned. “I don’t know what they sent, but I’ll make sure you get both on the trip.”
“Nice. Thanks.” Wyatt tugged the toboggan over some rocks.
Uri could see the building and Oryn outside it waiting. He was willing to be she’d been standing outside since they left. “We’ll unload them and even take the toboggans inside.”
“So, there’s nothing visible for anyone to be curious about,” Wyatt said.
“Right.” Oryn had done a good job with these kids.
Oryn met them halfway to the building. “Any problems?”
Uri shook his head.
“You should have seen how Uri’s friend kept the blades from hitting trees while he lowered the stuff.” Wyatt was all hyped up about it again.
Oryn smiled. “You can tell me about it after we get all of this inside.”
Wyatt’s expression immediately changed. “Do you want us out on watch?”
Oryn looked around. “No. I’m going to shift and go take a look around.” She glanced at Uri. “I’ll do it every few hours to make sure there’s no one in the area. You boys should rest before we have to go down the mountain.”
Uri picked up one of the bags. “We’ll go through this and set aside anything Shaelan sent.” He pointed to the black case. “That’s probably an ultrasound to check Charlotte’s stomach.”
Oryn nodded and went over and picked it up. “Ben, get one of the tables wiped down in the kitchen.”
Ben dropped the rope to his toboggan, picked up two tote bags, and then went up the steps. “We should go through it all and separate anything we don’t want the littles touching.”
Oryn opened the door. “That’s a good plan.” After he went in, she looked at Uri. “They sent a lot.”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Konner probably gave them a weight limit, or there would be a lot more.”
She looked at the toboggans again. “It's still a lot.”
He picked up as many as he could with one hand and went up the steps. “All the kids sleeping?”
She nodded. “Adam will be awake soon. It’s close to his watch shift.”
“I can try shifting, and we could take turns…”
She shook her head. “It hasn’t been long enough.” She went inside. “I should check it for you and make sure it's closing up.”
“All right.” It would be easier than doing it one-handed. “After we go through this.”
Wyatt went by them with what looked like most of the bags that were left. “Saved two for you.”
Oryn grinned and took the case into the kitchen. “Make sure the toboggans are brought in.”
Wyatt set the bags on the floor. “Uri already told us.”
She gave him a strange look, but made no comment.
Inside the bags, there were labeled backpacks with clothes for each child. Hats, mitts, coats and boots, too. Rayne had done an amazing job getting the message to whoever rounded all this up on such short notice. Uri wasn’t surprised to see dolls for the girls and little robot toys for the two younger males. Ben actually smiled and showed excitement when the three oldest found phones in their backpacks. At first, it made no sense to him, who were they supposed to call, but then Wyatt found his loaded with games. Fallan had to have had some input on the selection for the teens.
In the one duffle, he’d found a small camping stove unit and propane, which would have been good to know about before he’d hauled it over a lot of dips and bumps. Carefully packed was a full breakfast menu’s ingredients, including eggs individually wrapped. Not one was broken.
The phones took second place for a few moments when the boys realized they would be getting eggs, bacon, and pancakes for breakfast. Also, in that bag, there was an item that made Oryn show excitement. A heat-able drip brewer for coffee. Uri was also very okay with that item.
Oryn left before the little children were awake. Uri didn’t like her out there alone, but there was nothing he could do but stay with the kids and hope it was still dark enough that her flight would be quick and unseen.
His phone buzzed and he quickly grabbed it out of his pocket. It was a message from Tait. They were at the final stop for supplies and would be heading that way. He would have replied and asked for estimated time, but Tait rarely left his phone on, or at least so he could hear it, so Uri didn’t waste his time.