by Mary Griggs
Martha exchanged a significant look with her partner and nodded sagely. She turned to Jay. "Of course, I completely respect your opinion on fishing. We'll let you show us the best place to go and then wish you well for your trip back."
"Good answer."
The meal finished with continued banter and joking. The household went their separate ways after the meal. The members found their own ways to relax the rest of the day away.
Chapter Eight - On Jordon's Stormy Banks
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.
Words: Samuel Stennett, 1787. Music: Miss M. Durham, 1835
"So, what kind of fish are in these waters?"
"At this time of year, mainly trout."
"What else?"
"Salmon and steelhead, that's it." Jay pushed back from the breakfast table. "All right. Martha, you work with Cody and Susan to see what of these rods and reels we can take with us." She opened the closet to reveal a mess of fishing supplies. "You may have to cannibalize a couple."
Muttering darkly to herself about people who don't take proper care of their equipment, Martha began to empty everything out of the closet. In quick order she was hip deep in tackle boxes, rods, reels and flies.
"Oh, and you might need to sharpen the hooks."
Ignoring the commentary that her comment engendered, Jay took Carol and Eva downstairs with her. "Okay, Eva, why don't you grab a first aid kit?" She directed Carol into the storage area and had her hold a small sack that she filled with corn meal. "You like fried fish?"
"How much of a choice do I have?"
"Well, you'll be down there a week. By the end of that time, I expect you'll be like Forrest Gump's friend and know plenty of ways to cook our fishy friends."
"You really think we'll catch that much?"
"I don't really know. I certainly hope so. We need some smoked for the winter but I think that five of you should be able to reel in plenty."
"What sort of side's should we take?"
"What have you got?"
Jay walked around to several large bags. "We've got a lot rice."
"That would go great with fish," agreed Eva.
Filling up another sack, Jay handed that one to Carol as well. She scratched her head for a moment. "You guys want to take some potatoes with you?"
"You've got potatoes, too?"
"Of course, you know those barrels in the laundry room?" When Eva and Carol nodded, she grinned. "I plant one in March and have potatoes now and I started the second at the beginning of this month." She saw the looks on their faces and grinned. "Come on, let me show you."
Jay led them over to the two tall barrels. One was filled with compost and had pretty shoots with pink flowers coming out the top. There were doors located all along the side. She knelt down and opened the bottom sliding door.
"What's that?"
"It's a specially designed container." She pointed to the spuds that were revealed. "The roots are strong enough to keep the dirt in. All you have to do is reach in pull out what you need."
She stood up and leaned over the other barrel. "See, you start at the bottom. I save the eyes from a couple of spuds and container start the shoots. Starting at the bottom, I plant the seedlings in front of each panel and one in the center. I cover it with soil and let it grow. Once the seedling has grown up about six inches, I cover it almost to the top with more soil. The process repeats until the barrel is full. When you see flowers, the potatoes are ready to eat although the longer they're left the bigger they are."
"Can I pull one out?"
"Why don't you both pull out ten each? We'll leave a couple here for your mom and Piper and take the rest with us."
The two girls reached through the sliding doors and felt around for the spuds. The treasure hunt through the rich dirt was fun and rewarding. Their smiles were infectious and all three of them were laughing wildly by the time they collected enough for the upcoming meals.
"Why don't you grow these outdoors?" asked Carol.
"A couple of reasons. They rot easily if frost hits them and they suck all the nutrients out of the soil they're in. If I planted them with the rest of the garden, I wouldn't be able to plant anything else in that area for a couple of years. By keeping them in here, I've got potatoes at hand almost all year round."
"What do you do with the dirt afterwards?"
"I mix it with the composting pile to let it recharge." Jay looked around. "I think this is a pretty good haul for your trip."
With their hands full of corn meal and rice, potatoes and the medical bag, the three went back upstairs to add it to the pile of supplies that were to be packed down to the river.
After a pleasant lunch, they donned the packs and headed out. Jay led the way around the mountain. She spoke over her shoulder. "Where I'm taking y'all is where the Trinity River divides into several tributaries. There's generally plenty of trout and salmon running." She looked back at Martha. "You can speak better on any differences in catching them."
Martha took a deep breath but before she could begin speaking, Susan interjected. "Remember that we are trying to encourage them to want to fish."
"Are you saying that my explanation lacks interest?"
"Not exactly. It's more that we need to be staying awake in order to hike safely."
Over the good-natured laughter, Jay spoke. "When we get down there we will need to do a couple of things. First, we need make a small dam where we can trap the fish we catch."
"We're keeping them alive?"
"The smoking will take a bit of time but it helps if we have the whole thing full." The group stepped over a rusty chain. Jay pointed at an overgrown trail to their right and explained, "That way leads to the other homes on the mountain."
"Are they going to be upset that we've come?"
"Not as long as we pull our own weight and don't bring any unwanted attention to our presence here." Jay shrugged. "You'll meet them soon enough."
"What else will we need to do when we get to the river?"
"Check out the smoke house, collect wood and make camp." Jay led them across the road and down another incline. "I can do all that while you give them a fishing lesson, Martha."
"Sounds fine to me."
"All right, then."
As the group continued their descent to the river, Martha spoke to them about fly-fishing. She was truly enthusiastic about the upcoming task and shared stories from her past trips. Back then, she was a catch and release fisherwoman and the joy was in chase. Martha has a slight flutter in her belly when she thought about how important it was for them to catch enough fish so that they wouldn't go hungry during the upcoming winter.
"Don't sweat it."
Martha jerked at the apparent non sequitur. "Excuse me?"
"There'll be plenty of fish," Jay answered.
"How did you know that was what I was thinking about?"
"It didn't take a psychic. You were chattering away and then you went all deep and thoughtful." Jay glanced over her shoulder. "Trust me. You'll have time to fool around with your lady, too."
"I hope you're right. I don't want to let everyone down."
"Not gonna happen but, if it did, we'll find another way."
Taking a deep breath, Martha tried to relax her tight shoulders. She felt a small hand clasp hers and she glanced down at her lover.
"You okay?"
"I will be. Jay talked me down off the ledge."
"She's good at that."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. It's uncanny how she seems to pick up on what needs to be said and when to say it." Susan squeezed her lover's hand. "I'm glad we're doing this. It's still unreal to me that we've fallen into this perfect world."
"It's far from perfect," Jay interjected. "And things aren't always going to be going so smoothly or easily."
"Our lives are definitely not about to
be as brutish and short as they would have been had we stayed in Oakland."
"I can't speak of the horrors you've seen but I say that things are looking up. We're here," she said, raising her voice so everyone could hear her.
After climbing over a couple of fallen logs, the group stepped past the last stand of trees and arrived at a small beach. The cleared area was about the size of Jay's house. The six people walked across the sandy ground to look closer at the river.
Martha squatted down at the river's edge. She trailed her fingers in the fast moving water and picked up a couple of smooth stones. "It's cold."
"Yeah, there's a lot of mountain runoff in there."
"It's not a bad thing. Trout hang around the surface when the water's cold."
"You're right, the fish seem more active when the water is colder. However, y'all might find it a little too chilly for your taste. I think you should fish in shifts. Some of you stay and tend the fire and get warm and dry. The others wade in and pull in what they can before hypothermia sets in."
Looking around, Martha noticed that, besides the beach they were on, the banks of the river were obscured by underbrush. "Is there anyplace that doesn't have as many trees near the water's edge?"
Jay thought for a minute. "Down that a way about a three hundred yards. Why?"
"I'm thinking that teaching the rest of them to cast will be easier if they are allowed to stay on dry land for the learning."
"I would like to second that," Susan said, waving a hand at the two of them. Behind her, the three teenagers waved their hands in the air as well.
"Well, you've got a majority." Jay dropped her pack on the ground. "Why don't you all go down and start the lessons and I'll make camp. On the way back, y'all can start gathering the wood for smoking."
"What are we looking for?"
"You need to make sure that you choose green wood for smoking. However, never, ever use any evergreen branches. Pine smoke is oily and poisonous. If you can find a stand of birch trees, that would be the best. It will give a sweet taste to the fish."
The group dumped their packs on the ground and grabbed up the rods. Martha led them upriver to a larger clearing. She grinned at the looks of trepidation on the faces of the teenagers and her partner. "Hey, gang. Loosen up," she chided before stepping to the water's edge.
"Okay, you want to watch where the sun is, so that you can keep your shadow off the water."
Cody asked, "I thought you wanted an area without trees?"
"That was just so none of you snagged a tree when we practice casting. We're going to work on you all being able to put your hook where you want."
"Why?"
"Trout like to hide behind rocks and let the water swirl their food right to them. Look for eddies in the water and cast just up river from the eddy. Then, let your bait bump by and you might get a strike."
"Bait?" Eva asked with a moue of distaste. "I don't want to have to put worms on the line."
"No, no. We're using artificial baits." Martha opened up the gearbox and showed them all the assorted flies.
"How come there are so many different types?"
"Depending on what you're catching, you change your bait. Trout like flies and salmon like worms."
"I thought you said no worms," Eva nearly wailed.
Martha reached into the bottom of the box and pulled out a handful of neon rubber worms. "I did. We're going to use these."
"Oh." Reaching out, Eva took one of the slightly sticky worms. "They feel weird."
"They're designed to move a lot with the current to mimic how a live worm would wiggle." Martha handed out a worm to everyone and showed them all how to attach it to the lines.
The lessons progressed smoothly and they were able to catch a couple of fish for dinner. They returned to the camp, grateful for the fire that Jay built. They dried their clothes while the potatoes cooked.
Jay showed them a way to cook the fish that involved two stakes driven into the ground near the fire's edge and inclined over the flames. The fish were held between the stakes with a couple of sticks. The slow cooking made the fish very tender and juicy.
Dinner was a congenial affair. Without Doris' sobering influence, the conversation among the group was free flowing and filled with laughter. Clean up was quick and easy and everything quieted down as the fire started to die out.
"We should hang the rest of the food." Jay voice carried on the night air.
"There a problem with scavengers?"
"There are occasionally bears out here. The smell of the smoker may draw them and there is no reason to give them any more food than necessary."
Working together, the three adults secured the rest of the potatoes, the corn meal, rice and other staples in a large bag and hoisted it up about twenty feet above the ground. With that accomplished, they all went back to their positions in front of the fire.
Martha sat with her back against the fallen log with Susan snuggled up with her. She looked across the glowing coals of the campfire at Jay who was leaning on one elbow. Carol and Eva were sitting cross-legged next to each other, giggling about the happenings of the day. Cody was almost asleep, nodding off after over exerting all day in an attempt to burn through all the testosterone running through his system.
"What are we going to do with them?" asked Martha, fondly.
"I think we should start a school." Susan's voice carried on the night air. She ignored the "Aw, mom!" from her kids and went on, "All of us have information that we should pass it on before it's too late."
Jay started to sing, "Don't know much about history, don't know much biology."
"I think you're wrong there. Beyond your extensive library, you've got great an incredible wealth of knowledge in that skull of yours."
"Harmony is the teacher. I mean, seriously, I've never taught before."
Martha pointed a finger at her. "What do you think you've been doing since we got here? You've been an extraordinary teacher."
"That's more sharing than teaching."
"Call it what you will." Susan rubbed her cheek against Martha's thigh. "I think we should all make a list of what we know and what we feel capable of passing on. And Jay, you should do a breakdown of your books."
"You're not going to make us attend classes?"
"I don't see why not. The world as we know it may have ended but that doesn't give us the rights to lower our expectations for our children. Besides, it will be a way to keep busy during those long winter days."
Despite grumbling, the teenagers were actually looking forward to getting back into the habit of schooling. They were all of above average intelligence and missed the daily mental challenge they used to get from the classroom.
"Let's call it a night, everyone. We can discuss our plans for the future later." Jay stood up and banked the fire before she headed to the area they had dug for waste. Speaking over her shoulder, she called, "Susan, your and Martha's tent is the one furthest from the rest."
The teenagers fell over themselves laughing at the blushing adults. They ignored the mock glares and went to their separate tents.
Cody was bunking with Jay and the two girls were sharing the tent next to them. He didn't mind since it meant he got the tent to himself for the rest of their stay at the river. Asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, Cody didn't even stir when Jay entered the tent and crawled into her sleeping bag. She quickly joined him in slumber.
The clearing was quiet except for the occasional giggle from the girl's tent and low moans from Susan and Martha's. Soon, even those noises stilled and the camp slept to the sound of river rolling past.
There was a chill to the air the next morning. When the teenagers were rousted from their tents, they saw Jay and Martha over by the smokehouse. It was a box about two feet square and five feet high. The top three quarters was solid, except for an inch gap near the top.
She pointed to the pit under it. "You build the fire and let it burn down to embers. Only then do you fill the box wi
th fish that have been filleted and gutted. We don't want to cook the fish, just smoke it. You close the top section and then, you feed the leaves and green wood to the fire. Don't forget, it will need to be tended regularly through the day and night."
"How long is it going to take?"
"Depending on the thickness of the meat, three days should be sufficient."
Martha divided her attention between the box and her fishing students. "So, you figure two days of heavy fishing, three days of smoking and fishing for our dinner and then home?"