Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

We are Jemima and Easter Yeggs.  Lieutenant Yeggs wants his son to write these reports to keep in touch when we are out having our adventures, and Rev C.S.L., my Dad, doesn’t mind an update either.

This adventure was local, and Easy was underneath the Turtle, making adjustments, and B.B. wanted to go for a nature walk, since the snow had recently melted, not that it was warm yet.

We got the bright idea to take the Yeggs girls (children) since they were all at the Lily the Pink nursery.  I had Stormie in a twin stroller along with Pink Sparkle.  Sophie was pushing a stroller with Gigi.  All of them could walk, but we knew they would get tired, and probably when we were furthest from the vehicles.  But we also had Scarlet Ibis, Kanok, and Baffy Niblick, since she and Ibie were “twins.”  And although Blaise had yet to propose marriage, Margie Justice came along.  Blaise was in the lab doing something boring.

We went in two cars.  Mom Naomi is taking the pink bus to the South Campus these days along with Pauline Niblick.  Half the time, they have their staff meeting complete when they get to work.  But that frees up the SUV, seven passenger, which Sophia drove.  I borrowed a pink sedan.

We went to Twain Lane.  It used to be a railroad, but the rails to trails movement made it one of the best nature walks in town.

Sophie said, “You do know that Twain Lane and I have had a history.  Both involved abandoned wells.  I think they have found all the old wells and covered them or filled them, but four years ago, I fell in one.  While in the well, I could not get out, but I could see the neighboring houses.  I saw a guy break into two houses.  I tried to text Dad, but he was not reading the text.  So, I called him and whispered.  It was one of the biggest robbery rings in Tracy and Nick the Pick got the credit, but Dad came along to help me out of the hole.  It wasn’t deep, just slippery.  Then a year and a half ago, we were looking for signs of Golden Delicious Apple.  His kids said he had dementia and had wandered from the house.  But they had killed him, dropped his body in a well and tied it down below the water level in the well.  When I found the well and the smell of a dead body, we thought the knot had not been tied properly, but that was when Lt. Tagliolini was trying to start a gang war.  He had a diver go into the well to untie the body so it would float to the surface and start to decay.  We arrested the kids who had killed their Dad and then claimed dementia and missing so that they could eventually inherit.  But as for Tagliolini, Georges and Dad had the evidence to put him away and he committed suicide.  So, those are my last two times walking down this nature trail.”

I said, “Out of all of us, you will stay on the trail.  We do not need another police investigation.  There are too many little kids.”

We walked along and Kanok, Ibie, and Baffy explored.  They never went out of our sight.  We let the little ones out of the strollers and as predicted, it did not take long for them to want to be picked up.

But then, it happened.  Gigi said she heard something.  When we finally heard it, it sounded almost like a dog barking, but even then, that was a bit off.  She got Ibie and Baffy to go where she thought she heard the noise.  Even though I said Sophia had to stay on the trail, she went with them.  And there it was, another abandoned well that the cover had rotted through.  Luckily, Ibie and Baffy stopped at the edge.  They ran back to tell us that there was an animal at the bottom, and the animal was making noises.  Sophia got close enough to the edge to check it out.  It was a doe, a deer, a female deer.

I called Easy, “Sweetie, can you drive the Turtle down Twain Lane to where we are?  There is a deer trapped in an abandoned well.  A doe.  So, at this point, we might be rescuing two deer.  I don’t know when they get pregnant, but we are past rutting season, I think.”

Easy replied, “There are bollards that prevent traffic down the lane, but an enterprising guy like me can drive around it.  I will call it in to my Dad, and he can have a patrol car observe what we are doing.  They may even have a means to remove the bollards.  I have Fred with me, and I will get Arabella to come along.  We will need to put a temporary cover over the well until the owner can be notified.  I will see if Darrell Driver is available.  Great day for an adventure.  The school children are all off for an in-service day, teachers at work with no children.”

I replied, “Hurry, please.  When you get up close, the noise sounds horrible, like a dog barking.”

We had parked at the Miller Run Road entrance.  The first to arrive was Ruthie Toody.  She said, “Oo!  Oo!  What have you girls found?”

I said, “A poor deer fell in a well.”

Ruthie looked confused, “A dear what?”

Kanok, Ibie and Baffy sang, “Doe, a deer, a female deer!”  And then they giggled.

Ruthie nodded and she went over to check it out.  She said over the radio, “Confirmed the deer is in a well.  It is on all four feet and moving.  It doesn’t look like the fall injured her at all.”  Dieter replied that he was at the Miller Run Road Entrance and the bollards had been removed.  Easy had just arrived and due to the tight width of the trail, they were going to back all the way down.

Next thing that we saw was Easy, walking and making a rolling motion with his hands, “Come on back.  Come on back. Turn a little right.  We’re getting close.  Stop!”

As Fred, Arabella, and Darrell got out of the Turtle, Easy asked where the well was and how deep.  Then, Wilma got out of the Turtle.

Wilma said, “Are we getting this on film?”

B.B. said, “I have had my small, hand-held camera running.  Since you are here, can you take over the filming.  I will run the external cameras from the control seat.”  B.B. entered the Turtle and if you watched closely, the cameras spun toward the well.

Easy said, “This is too deep for us to jump in.  Besides, jumping in would scare the deer even more.  This reminds me of the story of when Benaiah jumped into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion (2 Samuel 23:20).”

Arabella huffed, “Nobody says a word about killing that animal.  Nobody jokes about having venison for supper.  Mating season is over.  They do not give birth until Spring.  So, the doe is probably carrying a baby.  Deer don’t have a sign saying baby on board.  We must treat this deer as if we are helping two deer.”

As Arabella said this, Lester and Olive walked up.  They were from animal control.

Gigi said, “It’s Lesser and Olib!”

Lester said, “Oh, no.  The little girl with the huge talking dogs.”

Baffy laughed, “The dogs are at home.  You’re safe.”

Lester said, “Where is the animal?  We have a tranquilizer gun.”

Arabella shouted, “No guns.  We don’t know what might happen with the pregnancy.  I’ll go down to calm the deer with whoever goes down to rescue her.  An animal whisperer is better than a tranquilizer dart anyway.  But how do we get down there?”

Fred said, “I had classes in rappelling.  I can teach Fireball a little and she can follow me.  I will go down first to act as belay.”

Arabella said, “I should go first to calm the deer.  What is a belay anyway?”

Fred said, “I will rappel into the well.  I know what I am doing.  Then Easy will hook your D-ring to the rope in the proper fashion.  You will turn your back to the well, lean back, and then walk backward down the side.”

Arabella squeaked, “What if I fall?  Are you down there to catch me?”

Fred snickered, “No, Fireball, I pull on the rope, and you will stop.  We are not going to have anyone fall.”

As we hooked up the rope, and Fred showed Easy how the rope had to be placed into the D-ring twice to create friction, Arabella looked at what they were doing and then down into the well, muttering that she was not going to be able to do this.  But all her negativity did not stop her.  The children were excited.  We had them stand to the side so they could see without being in the way of a rope or winch cable that broke loose.

Fred went down into the well like there was nothing to it.  The doe became agitated, trying to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go.  He shouted, “On belay!”

Easy hooked Arabella onto the rope.  She put her left hand on the rope above her and Easy instructed her to put her right hand, holding the free end of the rope in the small of her back and lean back over the well opening.

Arabella was crying, “This is crazy!  This is crazy!”

Fred said, “Belle, I have your belay.  Slowly, very slowly, move your right hand toward your side.  When you feel the rope slipping a little, take a step backward.”

Belle did not quite follow instruction.  When the rope slipped, she let go of the rope and started to fall.  She screamed, but then she stopped in midair.

Arabella asked, “Why did I not fall?  What is holding me up?”

Fred laughed, “I am!”

Arabella screamed, “But you are under me!”

Fred said, “The belay tugs on the rope if you lose your hold or if you fall down.  Now grab the rope.  Get your feet straight against the wall of the well.  Slow steps backward.  Slow movement of the rope away from your back.  That’s it. …  That’s it.  Now, Fireball, pull up with your left hand and get vertical.”

She did as told, and she was on the ground.  Fred got her out of the rope and slapped the rope a couple of times to signal easy to remove the rope.

Arabella asked, “How do we get out?”

Fred said, “The elevator.”

Arabella screamed, “If there’s an elevator, why did I fall down this well with a rope?”

Fred laughed, “The elevator is how we get the deer out, by winch.”

Ibie asked, “Where’s the popcorn?  This is better than a movie!”

Margie asked, “You can’t just drag the deer out.  The rope would cause injury.”

Easy nodded, “Way ahead of you, Margie.  Darrell is bringing over the heavy-duty tripod that I modified.”

I huffed, “Not my camera tripod.  That is for special photographs in the worst of weather.”

Easy nodded, “Yes, dear, and I did the calculations for the design.  This thing can be used to anchor us and pull the Turtle out of snowdrifts.  So, I rigged a special pulley just for that.”

Easy and Darrell set up the tripod over the well hole.  Where the camera would have been mounted there was a pulley.  Darrell also had some blankets and a tarp with grommets at the corners.  Everything must have been laid out on the way over.  Arabella went right to work, first calming the deer and giving her some water.  Then the blankets were wrapped around the deer’s mid-section, and then the tarp was doubled over in case one grommet tore free.  The deer was quickly wrapped, with Arabella talking to the dear deer, as she called it.  The cable was lowered with a four-point spreader rig that Easy had used to pull the Turtle engine on occasion.  They slowly hoisted the deer up to safety.

Lester and Olive went over to hold onto the deer and remove the wrapping.  Olive said, “We have a cage and we can release the deer after a veterinarian checks her out.”

A voice came from behind us, “No need for that.  The vet is here.”

About that same time, Arabella emerged from the well, hoisted by the winch.  Arabella yelled, “Hi, Doc.  Fred and I rappelled down into the well and got the deer out.  Doesn’t seem like anything is broken.”

The vet asked, “You rappelled into a well?”

Arabella shrugged, “It was nothing!  I liked it so much, I might do it again.”

Everybody started laughing.  Gigi started rocking back and forth, mimicking Arabella, “This is crazy!  This is crazy!”

The vet looked the deer over and determined she was not worse for wear, just scared.  She was released and she took a few cautious steps and then started running away.

With the deer away from the well and Fred and Arabella out of the well, they collapsed the tripod and took it back to the roof storage of the Turtle.  Then Darrell had his saw out.  He nailed a frame onto a half-sheet of plywood and covered the hole.  He cut down a nearby small tree and trimmed off the limbs.  He made two logs that he stretched over the new cover.  Then he took wire cable to anchor the logs to the ground.

Darrell said, “If the property owner whines about me cutting the tree down, maybe the city will reimburse him by lowering his fine for not maintaining a cover.  Better yet he could fill the hole.

A fireman walked up and said, “I heard there was a deer at the bottom of a well.”

“There was,” Wilma said, “And you can see the whole thing on a future episode of the escapades of the Turtle Team.”

The fireman asked, “Where’s the deer?”  “Gone.”  “Where’s the uncovered well.”  Darrel sat on his freshly made cover and shrugged.  “Who found the deer in the first place?”

Gigi said, “I did!”

Ibie said, “You only heard it.  Baffy and I saw it first!”

Gigi asked, “What’s the diffence?”

I silently agreed with Gigi, although the word is difference. Besides, the “twins” saw an animal, but Sophia recognized that it was a deer.

And B.B. yelled from the Turtle, “And that is a rap, people.  The Turtle comes to the rescue again, but nope, let’s give all the credit to the Yeggs Girls.”

Then Arabella and Fred looked at each other. Both with mud on their faces. Both bruised from an agitated doe’s hooves. Fred asked, “Were we even here?”

Credits

The line about a doe, a deer, a female deer is part of the song, Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music.

Mating season is usually from October to early December for deer.  They give birth April through May.  So, the deer was early to mid-term.

And I felt the same way as Arabella when I first rappelled.  My first time I was shaky, trying to learn what I was doing, but once you “accomplish” the task, it’s fun.  And, no, I did not cry that first time.  After a few trips, I became the poster boy for Army ROTC, literally.  The cameraman asked me to look up when I got into position.  I looked up smiling.  The photo showed me hanging from a rope, with the belay 150 feet below.  I jumped a couple of times without moving down the rope.  I then jumped and held the rope all the way out.  I went down to the ground in one jump, 150 feet.  My gloves were hot, but I gently landed upright on the ground.  The next year, the ROTC advertising brochures had me on the cover with a tagline of something about “joining the adventure.”