Puffy clouds dotted the skies and moderate winds wafted by.
A search party with specially trained dogs sifted through hard-hit areas of Antigua several hours after Hurricane Aidan had blown through.
Chuck and Edward, two search party members, carefully trod the premises and cautiously lifted fallen ceiling beams, chunks of the roof, and portions of a crumbled wall.
They found Rose where she had lain for the last several hours. Scraggly wisps of hair protruded from her nearly bald scalp. Her face, hands, and bathrobe were caked with dried mud and coagulated blood. Puddles of water and other wind-tossed debris blanketed the drawing room. Chuck walked over to Rose and carefully removed the ceiling beam from her back and threw it aside.
“Ma’am?” Chuck said as he hunkered down on one knee. “Ma’am? Can you hear me?”
He placed two fingers on the side of her neck and felt a faint pulse.
“Call for an ambulance,” Chuck said to Edward. “She’s alive, but her pulse is weak.”
Edward lifted a walkie-talkie from his waistband. When the ambulance arrived moments later, EMT personnel placed Rose on a stretcher and drove to the hospital.
When Chuck painstakingly sifted through the house for hours, he found Rose’s purse which had been on the floor by the rolltop desk. He rummaged through it and withdrew two wallets. He opened the first one. An ID card and some credit cards acknowledged this Jane Doe to be Julia S. Windom of La Jolla, California. He held on to the wallet and flipped through the second wallet.
“What the hell?” Chuck said.
The ID card and credit cards contained information that differed from the first set. He found the woman was also Rose Hutchins of Studio City, California.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Chuck said.