It was a usual sight. Even if it was unusual. A heavy truck with a shortened wheelbase, lifted suspension, oversized wheels with giant aggressive-thread offroad tires, a collapsible hydraulic wheel lift under the rear bumper, a short but overly heavy A-frame boom with two cables, heavy-duty winches on all sides, and the cab of a 1946 Volvo LV148 Roundnose heavy-duty truck, minus the front fenders, painted in Mauvelous Pink. It was just one of the towing vehicles from Heavy Liftin'.
Followed by a 1948 Land Rover Series I in the same bright pink color, the truck was making its way through the foothills of the Fangle Mountain range. On board, a teenage puma girl behind the wheel driving the truck, and a mature puma woman in the passenger's seat talking into a camera. In the Land Rover following them, a teenage puma boy behind the wheel driving the car, a younger teenage puma girl in the passenger's seat operating a drone hovering above and ahead of both vehicles, and a quadruped Dalmatian dog in the back.
It was clear where they were heading. Over the crest of one of the lower hills, a large open area of bare dirt stretched out. The exuberant storms of the Minnaluna hurricane season had turned it into a mud bog. Numerous deep tire tracks crisscrossed through the mud. Offroad vehicles, cars on offroad tires and buggies were plowing their way through the mud in a playful fashion. Some of them were sitting around somewhere in the middle, around a 1984 Isuzu Trooper which probably was blue under all the mud covering it, and which despite its lifted suspension and large offroad tires was sitting up to its wheel hubs down in the mud. Several people were also milling about, some with mud only up to about their knees, some with mud up to their arms and shoulders. They all cheered and waved when the bright pink truck and Land Rover splashed and roared over to them.
The puma woman, Florence Beaumont, jumped out of the struck - splurch. Immediately up to over her ankles in the mud, she turned to the Land Rover.
"Leave Confetti inside!" She turned back to the group of people. "Alright, who's the one who called us?"
A very muddy dog man raised a paw.
"That would have been me. Jack Tranger, pleased to see you, you have no idea."
"Right then, Jack," Florence nodded with a smile, nodding at the very long, thin pole holding a small offroad flag that was bright pink in color with the Heavy Liftin' logo on it sticking up from a corner of the Trooper's front bumper. "I like your flag. So you got a bit stuck, did you?"
"Just a tad," the dog man nodded with a light grin. "Turns out, here in the middle, mud's a bit softer than we thought. Got bogged down, started digging in, so we shut it down and tried getting free by other means."
Studded plastic wheel board, loose planks, even parts of thick tree branches were sticking up out of the mud near the front of the stranded Isuzu. A short, muddy length of chain was just visible above the mud and disappearing towards the SUV's front bumper. Several shredded straps were also laying around, one or two still attached to the rear ends of some of the other vehicles, and three of them attached to a loose rear bumper laying in the mud.
"I see you tried many means," Florence commented, motioning at the loose rear bumper. "That fresh?"
"Unfortunately, yes," the dog man nodded. "Boards didn't work, no one had a rope, so we tried straps. First one; strap snapped pretty much immediately. Then we tried two at once; ker-snap. I did say we should probably leave it at that, but some of the helpful folks around here suggested we try three straps combined, and, well..." He also gestured at the rear bumper laying in the mud. "To be fair, the three straps combined did hold. The bumper, not so much."
"Yeah, straps are made for strapping things down, not yanking at things that are stuck," Florence nodded with a light laugh. She motioned at the stuck Trooper. "Is she in four wheel drive?"
"Yep, hubs are locked in and all," the dog man confirmed.
"She still start?"
"Yeah, I just shut'er down, was getting a tad hot from the effort."
"Right." Florence started slowly walking around the stranded vehicle, leaning over now and then to check the wheels. "Wheels still turn when you put'er in gear?"
"That would be a no."
The puma woman had to put in more effort to pull her feet from the mud as she stepped around the front of the vehicle.
"I can feel the suction." She leaned over and tugged on the short chain. "What's this attached to?"
"Heavy tow point under the front bumper. It's bolted directly to the frame, and I welded it all around too."
"Very good. Okay if I put my daughter in your car?"
"Fine by me, but she'll have to Dukes of Hazzard it in through the window, door won't open anymore from how deep down we sunk. After that attempt with the three straps, I had to climb out through the window too."
"Alright." Florence waved over her oldest daughter. "Sonja! Time to show how limber you are, angel, I want you behind the wheel of this thing."
"You got it, mom," the older teenage puma girl nodded with a chortle.
She slogged her way through the mud towards the driver door of the sunken Trooper. Grabbing a hold of the roof bar on the side, she pulled her right foot out of the mud with an almost audible slurp and swung up her right leg to stick it through the opened driver door window. Half sitting on the edge of the door gave her enough traction to also pull her left foot out of the mud and swing her left leg in through the opened window, after which she twisted her upper body a bit and let herself slide into the driver's seat of the Isuzu.
Once in the car, she let out another light chortle and squirmed a bit in the driver's seat while wiggling her tail lightly.
"Oh this is squishy under my bum, seat's full of mud."
"We'll hose you down good when we get home," Florence grinned. "Can you start the car for me, please?"
The older puma girl scanned the dashboard for a moment or two, then reached for the keys and turned them. It took a try or two, but soon enough the engine was running. Florence nodded, leaning sideways a bit to look at the rear of the vehicle and nodding again at the sight of exhaust smoke rising up from the mud, then turning back to the driver door window.
"Good. What's the vitals?"
Sonja leaned over a bit to look at the gauges and lights in the instrument cluster.
"Tank at three quarters. Alternator charging. Oil pressure at fifty. Temp's a tad high, between one-eighty and one-ninety."
"We'll try and be as quick as we can," Florence nodded, turning to her son. "Thomas, I want you in the truck." She stepped to the front of the stuck Trooper and a few steps aside, pointing down with both first right in front of her. "I want the rear wheels right here."
"Gotcha, mom," the puma boy nodded.
While he slogged over to the ancient cab of the truck, Florence turned to her younger daughter, who had set the drone to auto-circle about them and was trying to film the proceedings with a larger camera, constantly flicking and swishing her tail for balance as she had trouble making her way through the mud.
"Marion, honey, why don't you get up on the hood of the LaRo? Much easier with that heavy camera, and you can just film us from there, that's fine."
"Okay mom, thanks," the younger puma girl nodded, panting slightly.
She made her way over to the bright pink Land Rover and climbed onto the hood of it, while Florence turned to the bright pink Volvo truck which was slowly backing over to where she was standing. Slowly, very slowly, pushing deep tracks though the mud but without sinking down. Florence lifted an arm and motioned at her son to keep coming backwards, and eventually balled her fist to indicate him to stop when the truck was in the position she wanted it. Making her way over to the right side of the truck step by slurping step, the puma woman opened a storage box on the right side of the truck to take out a rope shackle and a remote box with eight two-way buttons, which she hung around her neck from its strap.
The boom was lowered, the right winch of the boom was set the free-spool. Florence pulled out the nylon cable and attached it to the short length of muddy chain sticking out of the mud with the rope shackle. A few short tugs, a nod of the puma woman's head. She set the winch back to normal and manipulated buttons on the remote box, bracing the boom and slowly pulling in the winch line until it was tight. Giving it short bursts to keep it tight, Florence started slowly lifting the boom upwards.
Creaking and groaning, the truck slowly dipped down a bit on its large rear tires. Just as slowly, the buried Isuzu Trooper shuddered, pushing clumps of mud and drawing up slow squelching sounds as ever so slowly, e-e-ever so slowly, the front bumper lifted, the front fenders showed a wider and wider gap over the front wheels, and eventually, the front wheels twitched as they began ever so slowly moving upwards millimeter by millimeter.
"Put'er in first, Sonja!" Florence instructed, looking back and forth between the back of the truck and the front of the Trooper. "Four-low and first. Now punch it! Short, quick bursts! Again... again... again..! Yes! Now hold it down, spin those wheels good!"
She ducked aside, and several of the bystanders got out of the way as quickly as the mud allowed them when the front wheels of the Isuzu Trooper started spinning faster and faster, slinging mud everywhere. Still Florence kept lifting the boom of the truck further, until the front wheels of the Trooper were fully visible.
"Keep spinning'em, Sonja!" She turned to the bright pink cab of the truck. "Tom, put'er in gear and let her idle forwards. No gas, just let'er creep in gear."
A thumbs-up was given through the open driver door window. The engine of the truck idled up, then returned to its steady rumbling rhythm. Florence kept a close eye on the rear tires of the truck while manipulating the button on the remote box to slowly, very slowly, let out the tight winch line and slightly lower the boom more and more as the truck slowly crept further and further forwards.
"Right there, Tom! Stop! Keep'er in first, both feet on the brake, pull the e-brake and put on the line lock!"
The brake lights of the truck flashed on, the engine idled back up a bit again. Florence leaned over to look along the tight winch line and at the front of the inclined Isuzu, holding the fingers of one paw on the buttons of the remote and slowly motioning with her other paw.
"Keep'em spinning, Sonja, break that suction! Don't bother steering, just keep your foot down! But be ready to let go and hit the brakes when you pop free!"
Another thumbs-up came out of the driver door window of the Trooper. Florence took a step or two back and squatted down a bit, keeping her eyes alternately on the rear of the truck and the front of the Isuzu. With short, quick taps on the button, she started pulling in the winch line again. The truck's engine idled up further, the winch whined and groaned, creaks and slurps bubbled up from the mud around the Isuzu.
Slo-o-owly, oh so slowly, agonizingly slowly, the muddy SUV started creeping forwards in the hole it had dug. The rear wheels stationary, pushing thick clumps of mud, the front wheels sipping furiously, still slinging blobs of mud everywhere. Pulling, pulling... hard, slow, so slow... The engine of the Isuzu hiccupped, its tone changing in short bursts. A minute movement of the rear wheels, another shuddering one, yet another one. Suddenly, the rear wheels also started spinning, slinging more mud as the stuck SUV gradually became unstuck and moved forward a bit quicker and smoother. Florence waved at the truck.
"Tom! Brakes off! Creep forward! Little gas! Sonja! Off the gas! No longer full tilt, but keep them rotating!"
The truck moved further forward, plowing deep furrows through the mud. The Isuzu Trooper moved forward as well through just as deep furrows. Florence kept pulling in the winch line in short bursts. A last, long-drawn squelching slurp, and the truck suddenly moved forwards more smoothly with the Trooper following it in a similar manner. The small crowd of bystanders cheered and applauded, Florence waved a paw towards the side of the open area.
"Pull her all the way to the edge, Tom, get on the solid stuff! Sonja, keep the wheels rotating. Marion, wait for me to come back, angel."
She walked along with the truck, still every so often tapping buttons on the remote to either lift the boom a little but or tighten the winch line. The bystanders all walked in that direction as well - a tan-furred otter man carrying the loose rear bumper with the three straps still attached to it.
When they reached the edge of the open area, the puma woman let out the winch to lower the Trooper down onto all four of its wheels and let the winch line go slack. She put the remote on the back of the truck and turned to her daughter Sonja, who pushed open the Isuzu's driver door with some effort as it was stuck with mud.
"Shut her down and pop the hood to let her cool down, Sonja, and disconnect the line, please. I'll be right with you."
She walked back to where the Trooper had been stuck and helped her younger daughter off the hood of the bright pink Land Rover. They both got into the car, and with engine roaring and mud flying, Florence drove the car back towards the edge of the open area through the ruts and furrows in the mud.
Her son Thomas had already pulled in the winch line and lifted the boom of the truck, and Sonja was wiping her paws on an old towel after having put the rope shackle back in the storage box. The Isuzu Trooper was sitting there dripping mud with its hood open, and Florence checked the engine and the instrument cluster for a moment before turning to the dog man and shaking the paw he offered.
"Well, you're back on solid ground. I'd leave her sitting here like this for an hour or so, let her cool down, because she had to work quite hard," she recommended with a smile.
"You can be damn sure I will," the dog man nodded with a light chuckle. "Thank you so much for your help, we were already speculating on letting it sit here overnight and come back with a backhoe or something, haha."
"That would just have made our job that much bigger, also having to pull out a backhoe," Florence grinned cheerily. "And if I can give you one bit of advice; get a yank rope and keep it in the trunk. Straps are not suitable for this kind of shenanigans."
The dog man grimaced good-naturedly.
"Would you believe I have two Yankum ropes? Of course, they're both in my work truck."
"Ah, of course, that's how it always goes, isn't it?" Florence nodded with a chortle. "I suppose at least this might remind you to bring one with you when you go out to play."
"You betcha," the dog man nodded with a chuckle. "Again, thank you so much for your help."
"Any time," Florence smiled. "Have a great day!"
Everyone waved and cheered again as all four pumas got into both the truck and the Land Rover after wiping most of the mud off themselves. On their way back to their company, Florence took the camera she had left in the truck and pointed it at herself to record a cheerful outro to add to the footage they had shot that day, and ended it with a playful winked warning.
"So there we go, people, remember it and remember it well; ropes are for pulling, straps are for strapping things down!"
