Emily thought about lighting a second one, but concluded it wouldn’t provide enough extra heat or light to make it worthwhile. After a while the poodle climbed on top of her, so she set the can on the ground, next to her head, and watched the flame. Was it her imagination or was it gradually getting a little warmer in the shelter? She had another empty can and a lot of candles, so there was nothing to lose. Emily lit a second candle and placed it next to the first one.
Gently pressing moss against her swollen eye, and breathing deeply, Emily tried to get some rest. She was starting to feel a little better when she heard a familiar high-pitched whine that never failed to make her skin crawl. Unbelievably, there was a mosquito trapped with her under the canoe. Every other flying insect in the forest had probably been killed or driven away by the flames and smoke, but one hardy survivor had managed to find her. The little bloodsucker undoubtedly lived in the swamp and Emily’s overturned canoe was providing it with exactly the shelter it needed. Shelter and a meal. Emily knew she was going to get bitten. It was inevitable. The bite would swell and itch horribly. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about already.
The buzz grew louder. Buttons snapped his jaws. The noise stopped instantly. Emily reached out and gave the dog’s head a grateful pat. Then she closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep.
Fifteen
Emily and Buttons awoke at the same moment, although both were too groggy to understand why. Something was wrong. Emily blinked in the gloom. One eye was swollen shut and the other came into focus slower than usual. One of the candles had gone out and the other was only a stub. The remaining flame hardly provided any illumination.
There was an ominous grunt close to her ear. Emily turned her head and her nose nearly touched the bear’s snout. The canoe was no longer flush to the ground. Perhaps she had shifted her weight while sleeping, and the bear had found a big enough space to wedge its muzzle inside. It’s rancid breath was so close to Emily’s face that it caused her to gag. When the bear snorted it sprayed hot snot across her face.
It was Buttons who recovered his senses first. Emily barely had time to scream before the furious poodle threw himself on the oversized nose and bit the sensitive tip. Taken completely by surprise the bear pulled its muzzle out from under the canoe and roared in fury. The thin aluminum hull shivered under several violent blows. Emily was terrified that the animal might figure out how easily it could flip the boat over with its paws. She began yelling at the top of her lungs and banging on the canoe’s sides in a desperate attempt to scare the bear off. Buttons added to the racket by barking wildly. The outburst lasted for just a few seconds before they both fell into an exhausted silence. The bear was no longer attacking the canoe. Emily couldn’t hear the animal. She knew it might be still lurking nearby, but figured the only way to find out for certain was to lift up the canoe and have a look. She wasn’t prepared to take the risk.
Emily picked up the little poodle and hugged it tightly. Once again Buttons had saved her from a horrible fate. The prospect of being eaten by a bear was even worse than being burned alive. It took a long time before she regained enough composure to light another two candles.
She didn’t get any more sleep that night. Teeth chattering from the cold and damp, she listened to the distant sound of thunder and constantly checked the time.
The previous morning she’d had to get up at sunrise to leave on the wilderness expedition, so she knew the sun would be up by about 5:00 AM. She wondered if she’d be able to make it that long.
Horrible stomach cramps were making it abundantly clear that drinking the swamp water had been a mistake. The only thing keeping her from doubling over in pain was the fact there wasn’t enough room for her to curl up under the canoe.
Buttons whimpered, sensing that something was wrong.
“I have to get outside before it gets really nasty in here,” moaned Emily.
Desperate, she lifted the side of the boat, saw no sign of the bear, and rolled outside. The morning sun was weak, but visibility was a little better than it had been the previous day. When she stood up she could see the bear was lying on the other side of the island, barely twenty metres away. It didn’t even raise its head to look at her. Emily wondered if the animal was dead. She hoped it was, because she was suffering from a horrendous bout of diarrhea. Her stomach was churning because of a mixture of swamp water and fear of a bear attack. She ducked behind a nearby clump of cattails and tried to keep an eye on the unwelcome visitor.
It wasn’t until she was finally able to stand up again that Emily had the presence of mind to take note of her surroundings.
The worst of the fire was over. Endless ranks of charcoal skeletons had replaced the green forest. Many trees were still burning, although the horizon was no longer a solid mass of flames. It was difficult to see exactly what was happening on the other side of the lake, although there seemed to be even fewer flames over there. The smoke was still thick enough to prevent a pilot flying overhead to spot her. Then it occurred to her that she was increasingly focused on making it out alive.
The bear stirred.
“We have to get out of here,” said Emily. She flipped the canoe onto its bottom and threw Buttons and all her possessions inside. Then she pushed it to the water’s edge. She looked around desperately for something to use as a paddle. There was nothing. Then she noticed a dead sapling lying on the ground. She picked it up. The wood felt spongy. Emily would have to depend on a rotten pole barely taller than she was. Her movements had attracted the attention of the bear, now sitting up awkwardly and watching her.
Terrified the bear was about to attack, Emily jumped into the canoe and clumsily pushed off. The pole was too short to be of much use and the jagged base drove deep into the muck at the swamp’s bottom. She was hardly able to make any headway at first. Every few seconds she turned her head to see what the bear was doing. It could barely get to its feet. It looked like the animal had a badly burned rear paw that would have steadily become more painful overnight. It might also explain why it hadn’t tried harder to flip over the canoe to get at her. The bear silently watched her leave.
Now that she’d had a better look she decided it was probably a black bear and not a grizzly. It certainly wasn’t as large as she’d imagined it to be. Perhaps it had never meant her any harm. Still, she couldn’t breathe normally or stop trembling until she was some distance from the bear and the island.
Sixteen
It took nearly ten minutes to pole out of the swamp, something that would have taken less than a minute with a proper paddle. As soon as they reached open water Emily dipped one of the milk tins into the lake and drank deeply. The water tasted like a mixture of smoke and candle wax, but it quenched her thirst.
“I think we’d be better off on the other side of the lake,” said Emily. “We know there are roads over there. That’s also where people are most likely to look for us.” Buttons barked in agreement. He was also glad to leave the stinking marsh and the bear.
Emily didn’t like the idea of trying to cross the lake without a paddle. She gingerly pushed the boat along the lakeshore, knowing the fragile pole wouldn’t take much stress, and hoping she’d spot the missing oar. It was now quite safe to hug the shoreline. There were plenty of burning logs and smoldering stumps, but there was no longer any imminent danger of being roasted.
Her biggest concern was the condition of the canoe. It was leaking badly. If the battered old boat had been taking on water the previous evening she hadn’t noticed in all the turmoil. She figured that being swatted by an enraged bear probably hadn’t done the bottom any good, especially if it was already leaky. Emily realized she needed a bailing can. The two milk tins were still in the boat, but they were too small to be of any use.
She decided that going to shore and abandoning the canoe would force her to walk through a hot wasteland where danger lurked at every step. Emily did not look forward to the prospect. It seemed better to occasionally take the boat into s
hallow water and empty it by turning it over.
Eventually she came to the ruins of the little shack that had provided her with temporary shelter and a handful of supplies. All that remained was the stove and the metal frames of the old couch and mattresses. The people who owned it obviously didn’t have much money. She wondered if they would be able to rebuild, or even if they would want to.
She continued to pole the canoe along the lakeshore, looking in vain for the oar. Emily had just about given up on finding it when she saw something truly amazing. The boathouse had survived the fire. Everything around it was gone. The log cabin was a smoking pile of rubble. For some inexplicable reason the boathouse had made it through the inferno with nothing more than a few scorch marks. It might have been saved by the fact it was beside the lake and there were no nearby trees.
When Emily originally broke into the building she’d been in a panic and didn’t have time to take a careful look around. She realized there might be something useful inside that she’d missed in the dark. There might be a paddle, food, another pair of flip-flops, or maybe even some dry clothing.
She landed the canoe at the exact same spot where she’d crawled ashore after swimming across the lake. Emily untied Buttons, trusting him not to wander off on his own. Then she pulled the canoe onto the ramp and turned it onto its side to drain the water.
The Band-Aid on her injured foot was long gone, and all her joints were painfully stiff, so Emily limped badly as she walked on the paving stones that led to the broken door. There still wasn’t much light inside, so she turned on her flashlight. It revealed that the overhead door was much like the one at her grandfather’s garage. In hardly any time she’d unlocked and opened the big door. As it swung open the light poured in.
Unfortunately there wasn’t a paddle or an oar. There were still half a dozen life jackets hanging on a wall and Emily decided they could be useful. She threw them onto the ramp, next to the canoe. There were lots of tools lying on the workbench, but she didn’t think wrenches and hammers would be of any use. A single waterski leaned against a wall. She moved it to see if there was anything useful behind it. There wasn’t, so she put the ski back.
In one corner was a blue bin filled with recycling. She opened it and found a large tin that had once contained stewed tomatoes. It would make an excellent bailing bucket. She tossed it into the canoe and then put the two condensed milk tins into the recycling bin. It was disappointing not to find more useful stuff inside the boathouse. Emily was just about to give up when she spied a small plastic package on top of the seat of the Jet Ski. Inside was a blue tarp. The package had never been opened. She took it, just in case.
Emily went outside and sat on the ramp. “That was a huge disappointment,” she informed the dog. “I was hoping to find something to put on my feet.” She sighed. “And you’d think that someone who had the money for a vacation property like this would keep a spare paddle or two in their boathouse.”
Buttons got on his hind legs and begged.
“I’ll bet you’re starved. I’m hungry too, but we don’t have much.”
There was some beef jerky in the cooler. Emily ate one piece and gave another to the dog. Buttons ate his with gusto and asked for more. “We can each have one more piece. That will leave us with two pieces each. That has to last until we get you back to your parents.”
Emily decided that the best thing about beef jerky was that it was so chewy you felt as though you were eating more than you really were. She stretched out on the ramp, staring at the murky sky, and wondered if all the smoke was from BC fires or if some were still coming in from California.
The day was shaping up to be another scorcher and her body was warming up nicely. She took off the life jacket and the old jacket she’d found at the shack and noticed with interest that there were some large burn holes in both. She’d been showered with hot embers on several occasions. The extra layers had saved her from getting a few more nasty burns.
Emily was glad she didn’t have a mirror. In addition to her burns and bruises she knew she was filthy. She’d already pulled numerous twigs and bits of moss out of her hair and was positive there was lots she’d missed. All her clothes were caked with muck and stank of swamp and smoke. She decided to give herself and the clothes a quick rinse in the lake. Everything would dry quickly in the oppressive heat, and while she was waiting she could think about what to do next.
She stripped naked and walked gingerly into the lake. There was a pebble bottom that provided secure footing and was pleasant to walk on. Emily took a breath and submerged herself completely. Although the water stung her swollen eye she stayed under as long as she could in hopes of washing away any dirt or moss that might infect it. Then she took her clothes into the lake and rinsed them out as best as she could. After spreading them out to dry she once again stretched out on the boat ramp and felt warmth course through her limbs.
Buttons lay down beside her.
“For someone who wants to end it all I’ve put an awful lot of effort into staying alive,” said Emily. “Sometimes I catch myself daydreaming about being rescued.” She chuckled, causing Buttons to wag his tail. “It’s all your fault. I’ve been trying to keep you safe and sound and you’ve returned the favour. If it wasn’t for you I might have burned up inside the shack or been eaten by a bear.” She suddenly became thoughtful. “Those are both awful ways to go. And thanks for getting that mosquito. You must have better reflexes than I thought.”
Buttons barked proudly and begged for more food.
“Sorry, you’ll have to wait a while. We’re on strict rations right now.”
The smoke still hung heavy over land and water. She was pretty sure that nobody was going to spot them from the air. There would certainly be search parties out looking for them as soon as it was safe to go into the woods. They’d probably focus on the other side of the lake, where Emily had last been seen.
“We could wait right here,” she said. Buttons appeared to listen carefully. “We’ve got a roof over our heads and we could sleep on top of the life jackets. The problem is that it could be days before they check this side of the lake. We don’t have any food. Besides, I’m not the most patient person in the world. I’m not good at sitting and waiting. I’d rather do something.”
She studied the small dog carefully. It had led a pampered existence and was obviously used to regular meals. She knew people could go a long time without food, but wasn’t sure about miniature poodles. Could they starve to death in just a few days? It didn’t seem likely, although Emily didn’t know. Buttons certainly didn’t seem to have much energy. His coat was filthy and he watched her with dull eyes.
“If I can find something to use as a paddle we’re going to get to the other side of the lake.”
Emily waded along the lakeshore for a while, just in case the oar had finally floated ashore. No luck. Maybe something had survived in the log cabin. The path of paving stones allowed her to walk safely up to the smoldering ruins. Everything had been destroyed. The twisted remnants of a fridge and stove clearly showed where the kitchen had been. The floor was littered with ruined dishes and pots and pans. Stacks of canned goods had fallen over, their labels burned off.
“I bet everything I needed was in there,” sighed Emily.
The smell seemed to bother Buttons. He stayed well back. “I should have broken in. Nobody would ever know and I’m sure we’d have lots of food. The place had solar panels so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a phone or two-way radio inside. We could be out of here by now.”
Not breaking down the front door had been a huge mistake. Emily had been intimidated by all the No Trespassing signs. As she looked around she noticed that the fire had destroyed all the signs. For some reason that made her feel a little better.
She walked back to the boathouse, determined to take one last look inside. She checked every corner and peered inside the toolbox. Nothing. As she leaned the waterski back against the wall it occurred to her that it might
make a decent paddle. She got into the canoe and tried it out. It wasn’t as easy to hold onto as a proper paddle, but it definitely worked.
The plastic bindings were a nuisance, so Emily decided to get rid of them. There were lots of screwdrivers on the workbench and she quickly found one that was the right size. She managed to get the bindings off with very little difficulty.
Emily had seen life jackets for pets. Finding the child-size life jacket had given her an idea. She cut off a short piece of her rope and started unraveling it. Soon she was left with several pieces that were no thicker than twine. She used the filleting knife to cut the flotation panels into smaller pieces. Then she used the point of the knife to poke holes in the miniature panels, which were then tied together with twine.
Buttons must have been used to being dressed up because he didn’t make the slightest fuss as Emily experimented with fitting the life jacket. The final design consisted of four tiny flotation panels that wrapped around the dog’s torso.
“Hopefully we’re not going into the drink again,” said Emily, “but if we do that should keep you afloat.”
Then she used another piece of rope to tie all the spare life jackets together. In an emergency they would make a useful raft. As she was working on one of the life jackets she felt a bulge. She took a closer look and discovered there was a pocket. Emily unzipped the pocket, looked inside, and was delighted to find an unopened energy bar.
She immediately opened it and began eating. Buttons watched enviously and whined. “Okay. I agree it isn’t fair that I’m the only one eating. I’m going to give you one more piece of beef jerky.”
The poodle happily chewed the meat, although it wasn’t enough to truly satisfy him. The energy bar had probably been in the pocket for some time. It tasted stale, but at least it helped fill the void in Emily’s stomach.
The clothes she’d spread out were finally dry. Emily was tired of wearing wet clothes and she knew there was a strong probability that at least part of her was going to get soaked again. Crossing a lake in a leaky canoe wasn’t the best way to stay dry.
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