by Stan Morris
“It’s okay,” Mike assured them. “You’re free to come and go as you like. And we’ll be up here pretty often, so we’ll see you. And you can come visit us whenever you want.”
“Why can’t I go, Daddy?” Comet complained.
“You will be the only boy left, so you have to stay, Comet,” Ralph replied.
Comet did not think much of Ralph’s reasoning, but his grumbling subsided for the moment. Standing beside his mother, his sister, and the girls, he waved goodbye. Slowly, the wagon rolled away from the farm.
The heavy load required them to travel much slower than they normally would have. At one point, the wagon got stuck in the soft mud of the dirt road, and the campers had to unload the wagon and push it out of the mud. They stopped for the night at the junction of the logging road and the gravel road. Early the next morning, they continued their journey, and by twilight they arrived at the camp. Ralph carefully drove the wagon over the bridge Hector had built and then brought it to a halt, close to the dining hall. It was a cold night, so they left the food in the wagon and unloaded it early the next day.
The next morning, Ralph was anxious to get back to the farm. When the supplies were unloaded and stowed, he said goodbye to his friends, and then he spoke to Kevin and Nathan.
“Guys,” he said. “I truly appreciate everything. I’m sorry I was such an asshole at first.”
“We should have helped you more, Ralph. We’re sorry, too,” Nathan responded. Ralph shook hands with Kevin and Nathan, and then he turned to Mike.
“I have an idea,” Ralph said. “I’m going to miss the help that those two gave me. I was thinking that you might be willing to send another pair. Actually, I was thinking that it would be a good idea for a lot of the guys to get some experience on a farm. Maybe, you could send a new pair each month. It might come in handy in the future.”
“Yeah, that is a good idea,” said Mike. “Alright, I’ll send Tyler and another guy to you in a couple of days. I should warn you, the girls will probably want to have a chance to work on the farm, too, Ralph.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be seeing you, Mike.”
“You’re staying with Mrs. Brown? For good?” Mike asked. Ralph nodded.
“Then I’ll see you around,” Mike said with a smile.
They shook hands, and Ralph climbed on the wagon. He left the parking lot, and drove up the hill. Mike watched until he disappeared. Mike had mixed feelings about Ralph’s intentions, but he realized that developing the farm could be an important step in assuring the survival of this tribe of campers. And he remembered that the farm was not the only potential source of food.
Mike asked Jacob to come in for a talk.
Jacob had stalked and killed a deer that week, but he was not happy about it.
“This is the worst time of the year to be killing deer. This is when they’re mating,” he explained. “The bucks I kill will not mate and sire fawns.”
“Bad karma,” Rasul agreed. He was helping Mike moved furniture back into Chief’s Headquarters.
“I’ve been thinking about those people at the Retreat that Jean came across,” Mike said. “I’ve been thinking about the sheep.”
“Be nice if we had some,” Jacob said. “We could breed them. We would have a steady source of meat.”
“But it didn’t sound like a very pleasant situation,” said Mike. “It might be a good idea to scout the area. Do you think you could find the place, if Jean gave you directions?”
“Maybe. She was in bad shape when they found her. I wonder if she remembers the way,” Jacob replied.
“She doesn’t,” Mike responded. “She only knows the general direction. We know it’s to the northeast and about two weeks away, and we know where she was found. Would you like to go take a look?”
“Can’t hurt to look,” Jacob answered, and he left that day.
Meanwhile, Mike called for Tyler and Gabby.
“You two are breaking up,” he announced.
“We are?” Tyler said.
“Yes, for April at least, and I’m sending you to Davis Brown Farm for a month. If you and Gabby want to get back together after that, it’s up to you,” Mike said.
Gabby sighed. “It was fun while it lasted,” she said to Tyler with a grin.
Some of the kids asked Mike if the solar panels could be moved back onto the dining hall roof, so that the showers could be made to work. Mike was enthusiastic about the idea, so he consulted Hector.
“I can do that this year,” Hector informed him. “But once Kathy and I get the roof fixed and the shingles installed, we’ll have to permanently set the solar panels in place.”
Jean was tired of teaching her students to find edible plants. She would have like to have gone with Jacob, but her knee was hurting her. She wanted a break, and she felt like getting away into the forest by herself. A few days after Jacob left, when her knee was feeling much better, she told Howard that she was leaving, and that she would be back in a day or so.
“You’re going by yourself?” he asked.
“Yeah, just for a day or so,” she repeated, as she picked up her gear. She gave him a wink. “You’ll survive.”
“No,” Howard said. She looked at him. He seemed tense.
“No, you won’t survive?” she asked.
“No, you can’t go. Not by yourself,” he said.
“What?” she asked. She did not understand what he was saying.
“I said, no, you can’t go overnight into the forest. Not by yourself,” he replied firmly.
Jean stared at him, and then she sat her gear down. She crossed her arms. She was not smiling now.
“Look, Howard, I care about you. I don’t know, maybe I even love you. But, I go wherever I want, whenever I want. You need to understand that,” she said.
“You said that you would obey me,” he replied.
“What?”
“You said that I could have one time when you would obey me. Whenever I wanted. Well, I want it now. I’m saying that you can’t go deep into the forest overnight by yourself. You said you would obey me one time. This is that time. Obey me.”
Jean frowned. Did I really say that? She tried to remember. She had a sinking feeling he was right.
“I wasn’t feeling well then,” she temporized.
“You said that your word is good. Is it?” he asked.
That made her mad. “You’re damn right, my word is good,” she snapped. “So I can’t go into the forest by myself, huh? So what, you are going with me?”
“I can’t leave right now,” he replied apologetically.
“I can’t believe this,” she said, grinding her teeth. “A fifteen year old boy can go alone into the wilderness, but a twenty four year old United States Forest Ranger can’t?”
Howard winced, but he only replied, “Sorry.”
Jean was furious. “Shit!” she yelled.
She kicked her gear and stormed out of the room. He listened as she slammed the door of the Lodge, and then Howard went to speak to Mike. Later, Mike asked Jean in for a talk. He was living in Chief’s Headquarters, again.
“I screwed up by sending Jacob out alone,” he said bluntly. “Howard is right. We can’t afford to lose either you or Jacob. When he gets back, I’m going to ask him to hunt and scout with you. I don’t mean that you always have to stay together in the forest. But, you do need to stay close enough to find one another and to help each other if something goes wrong.”
Jean gave him a curt nod. “Alright, if Jacob agrees, I can live with that.”
Howard had fled to the relative safety of the dining hall. As sunset approached, he gathered his courage and went back to the Lodge. He pulled the canvas curtain back and cautiously looked in. Jean was lying on the bed, and she looked over at him as he appeared. She did not smile.
“All right, you had a good idea. I’m still pissed at you,” she said.
“Can I come in?” he asked hopefully.
She debated with herself. “Come,”
she replied.
Cautiously he entered the room. “Mike said that we could have his room, if we want,” he told her.
Interested, Jean asked, “Really? That would be nice. I’d like us to have our own room. I bet Desi and John would like it, too.”
“I can move our beds now, if you like,” Howard offered.
Jean got up. “Why not?” she said. They moved their stuff into Mike’s old room. Afterwards, Jean was noticeably more cheerful.
Later that night, Jean purred and said, “Oh, Baby, that was nice. I like what you do to me.”
“So, you’re not mad at me anymore?” Howard asked, as he rolled over and lay on his back.
“No. Hell, I’m the one who gave you a one-time obedience card,” she mumbled, as sleep began to claim her. “Can’t blame you for playing it.” She yawned, closed her eyes and snuggled up to him.
After a moment of silence, she faintly heard him ask, “Can I have another obedience card?”
“Sure,” she mumbled as she drifted off.
Jean woke the next morning. She felt great, but something was nagging at her. In her mind, she replayed her last conversation with Howard. Her eyes widened. Abruptly she turned to him, but he had already risen and was gone.
“Howard!” She yelled her outrage.
Outside the Lodge, Howard heard her yell. Smiling, he continued down to the dining hall. He hoped that Jacob was going to be okay with his plan.
Jacob was moving across a ridge of land that lay between two mountains. He expected to walk for another week, before he found the mountain retreat. The light snow last night had turned into a light drizzle this morning. There were only a few trees here, but the brush was heavy on this ridge. At times, Jacob was forced to backtrack and take another path. Jacob thought that he recognized currents, gooseberry, and plum shrubs from what he had learned in Jean’s class. The shrubs were sending out new leaves. There were only a few stunted juniper trees among the shrubs.
Ahead, Jacob noticed another thicket. As he passed, his senses suddenly heightened, and he became fully alert. There was something in the thicket. What is it? Jacob stopped and made a point of drinking from his canteen. Turning slightly, he could see from the corner of his eye a hint of cloth in the bush. Not an animal then. It’s a person trying to hide.
Deciding, he turned suddenly and strode towards the thicket. His body language made it quite clear what he was about. As he drew near, a person sprang out of the brush holding a short thick club of wood. It was a young woman, not that much older than Jacob.
“Get back!” she cried. “Get back.” She shook her club at him.
Her eyes were wild, and there was almost a palpable smell of fear emanating from her. She was panting, panicked, barely able to contain herself. Jacob thought that, at any moment, she might turn and run blindly away from him. Her long brown hair was dirty, and her face was streaked with grime. She appeared to be wearing two pairs of pants under a skirt, and her upper body was layered in several garments. Her worn out tennis shoes had holes in the toes. She was carrying some blankets in a large purple bag slung over her shoulder.
“Get back!” she repeated.
Jacob stopped. They stood there facing each other. Then Jacob sat down on the ground and crossed his legs, as the woman regarded him warily. She stepped back, but Jacob remained motionless. She took another step back. Jacob did not move. She turned around, and she began walking away from him. She was going in the direction that he had come from.
When she was almost out of sight, Jacob stood up. He looked down the path to where she had disappeared. He turned, and he looked the other way, to where he had been headed. He wondered what Mike would do if Mike were here. He thought that he knew what the Chief would do. Giving the path to his task one last look of regret, he turned to follow the woman.
Lily was frightened. She thought that she had hidden well, but the man had noticed her. At least he had not attacked her immediately. Will he leave me alone? That was doubtful. She hurried along the path. If she could get far enough ahead, perhaps she could find another hiding place. She looked at the sky. It was still early in the day.
After an hour of walking, she came across a patch of thorn bushes. Carefully, trying to avoid the thorns, she crept into the bush. She waited, trying to control her loud breathing. Less than ten minutes later, she saw him coming along the trail, not hurrying. When he was a few paces from the thicket, he stopped. Lily held her breath, and she kept perfectly still. The man turned, and he walked ten paces back. Then he sat down. He took a drink from his canteen, and then he settled himself. He waited.
Lily drew a breath. He knows I’m here. She needed the rest, so she waited five minutes more, and then she crept out of the thicket. She stood, brandishing her club in front of her.
“Go away!” she said adamantly. “Go away.”
“Are you hungry?” the man asked.
“It doesn’t matter if I am,” she replied. “I’m not trading my body for food.”
She backed away, and then she turned and loped swiftly away from him. Jacob waited a few minutes, and then he followed her.
Lily tried to pace herself. Don’t exhaust yourself, Lily. Another part of her said that she was already tired. She was very tired. She found another hiding place. She waited. Once again, the man noticed her and sat down and waited.
Why? What is he waiting for? She left the shelter of the thicket. The man remained seated. She wondered if she could attack him suddenly with her club. She rejected the idea, because that would place her too close to the man. Except that he was not a man. Now that she had her fear under control, she could see that he was younger than she had thought, at first. He was a teenager about seventeen or eighteen years old. Still, he was dangerous. She had learned that truth during the last year.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked.
“I told you. I’m not trading my body. Not for food. Not for water. Go away. You’re wasting your time.”
When he stood, she turned and fled down the path. Her panic had returned. She wept as she ran. She stumbled, kept her feet, and hurried on. She was tired. She was so very tired.
Presently, she had to stop. She bent at the waist, trying to catch her breath. There was a pain in her side. Listening, she could hear him coming. She hid behind a tree. He arrived at where she was hiding, and he sat down. He opened his backpack, and he took something out of it. He put something in his mouth, and he began to chew. Lily’s mouth began to water. It had been a full day since she had eaten the last of the food that she had hidden from the men.
The teenager looked at the tree that she was hiding behind. She watched as he took something out of his pack. It was a plastic bag. Her eyes widened as he cocked his arm back and threw it at her. It missed the tree by a foot, so that it landed behind and a little to the side of her. Her heart was beating, but gradually she realized that it was not an attack.
She looked at the plastic bag. It looked as if it had been repeatedly used. There was something in the bag. Cautiously, she picked up the bag and looked inside. She found a roasted potato still in the skin, and a piece of brown bread.
Is he trying to drug me? She sniffed at the potato and the bread. She didn’t smell anything wrong, but that meant nothing. It could be drugged. Her mouth was watering, and a part of her body was demanding that she eat the food. She convinced herself that he was trying to bribe her, and she wolfed down the food. Let him try a bribe. He won’t succeed. She was not giving in as had some of the other women. When she was finished eating, she regretted not saving some of the food for later.
She felt better. She took her water bottle out of her inner jacket, and she allowed herself two full mouthfuls. She knew that she was becoming dehydrated. There was some snow around the bottom of the tree. Carefully, she wiped off the top layer. She took some of the clean snow underneath, and she worked it into the bottle. With a start, she realized that she had not looked at the man for a few minutes. Anxiously, she glanced around the tree. He had fin
ished eating and was just sitting there.
She left and found another hiding place. He found her. They played cat and mouse for the rest of the day. As the sun settled beyond the mountains, they moved into a more wooded area. Lily found three small fir trees growing tightly together, forming a shallow arc. She sat down in the middle with her back to the center tree and waited. Presently, he found her and sat down. He sat there for five minutes, and then he rose and left. Lily was startled. She wondered what he was doing. Is he trying to work his way around behind me? Perhaps he’s given up. She tightened her grip on her club. Where is he?
Her thoughts were giving way to panic again, when he returned. He was holding a skinned rabbit. Lily watched as he built a fire, and a spit, and roasted the rabbit. When it was thoroughly cooked, he doused the fire and left. She waited a long time. She looked at the rabbit on the spit over the remains of the fire.
Is it a trap? Finally she stood, and she moved away from her stronghold while gripping the club tightly. When she reached the rabbit, she grabbed the spit and hurried back to her place of safety. She held the club between her knees as she tore into the rabbit. It tasted wonderful. He had stuffed the rabbit with some kind of leaves that gave it a spicy aroma.
Lily didn’t actually mean to eat it all. As she finished eating the rabbit, he returned. She tensed. She had eaten his food. He’ll be angry and hungry, she thought. She wondered if she should apologize. No, I won’t apologize. If he’s angry because I ate his food; well, tough. Maybe he’ll realize I’m not a nice person. Maybe, he would leave her alone.
He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t seem angry or surprised that she had eaten his rabbit. It was another bribe. Night fell. She leaned against the tree and covered herself with the blankets. She only pretended to sleep, but her eyes were heavy with fatigue.
Jacob found a soft spot on the ground without tree roots. He spread out his backpack and mummy bag and lay down on the sleeping bag, using his backpack as a pillow. He waited. The woman was pretending to sleep, but her body was still tense. Jacob enjoyed the twilight. The wind was soft, and occasionally the leaves of the trees would rustle. He listened to the sounds of the nightlife around him. Crickets were chirping.