Back To Our Beginning

by C. L. Scholey

  “You look lost in thought,” Ethan commented.

  “I was,” Tansy replied. “I suppose I should warn you, the cabin is somewhat inhabited.” Offering a grimace, she informed Ethan of the two deceased occupants. He sighed but made no comment.

  “Can I ask a personal question?” Ethan asked. Tansy nodded. “You were young when you had Emmy?”

  “Yes. She was a surprise, a wonderful surprise.”

  “You have three fantastic girls,” Ethan said. “Sarah and I thought we’d have a little girl too; Ricky was a blessing. A son first was what I wanted, but we weren’t blessed with a daughter.”

  “You’re lucky you have Ricky. I could say Shane and I always wanted a son, but what we wanted we got, three healthy children, who are alive and beautiful and my entire life. They are part of my husband; every day I’m grateful for them.” They stopped once they reached the cabin facing each other.

  “Did you mean it when you said you thought we were a family?” Ethan asked.

  “Yes. We need to look after each other; our survival depends on one another. We’ve both seen what’s out there. I’ll protect and take care of your son like he’s my own. But I expect the same kind of commitment from you for my girls.”

  He gave it to her.

  * * * *

  Michaela and Ricky sat playing with the doll and toy cars. There was enough space for a roadway inside the mine for the children to pretend they had driven to Alaska, if it was still on the map. When lunch came, Emmy fed them each a cake of pemmican and some nuts. Shanie warmed water for them to drink, knowing they shouldn’t drink anything too cold. The pemmican tasted ‘slimy’ according to Michaela, and Ricky wanted chocolate milk.

  “We don’t have milk or chocolate,” Emmy told him.

  “Why?” Michaela asked.

  “Because we don’t,” Shanie said.

  “Why?” Michaela asked again.

  “Because we don’t,” Shanie answered, slower.

  “Never mind, it’s a game now,” Emmy informed her sister.

  “Game, game, play a game,” Michaela chortled.

  “Yeah a game,” Ricky echoed excitedly, bouncing up and down.

  Smiling, Emmy looked down into the two clean sweet faces and chuckled at their enthusiasm. Even after all they had both been through and were bound to go through in the future, their excitement impressed her.

  “What game would you like to play?” Emmy asked, bending to their height, hands on her knees.

  “I wanna play with Winnie the Pooh,” Michaela yelled, clapping her hands.

  “Winnie the Pooh?” Emmy asked with curiosity. It had been a long time since Michaela had voiced an interest in any book characters; there were no books around for Emmy to read to them. They hadn’t brought any with them, their burdens too extreme; books were burned for necessary fuel. “Why Winnie?”

  “’Cause he wants to,” Michaela said.

  “How do you know?” Shanie asked, just as curious, as Michaela now seemed adamant and insistent.

  “’Cause he said so,” Michaela said with conviction, and pointed an eager finger at the mouth of the mine opening.

  Emmy and Shanie spun in unison and watched wide-eyed and fearfully as a massive grizzly bear lumbered into the mine, directly toward the four of them.

  Chapter 12

  Aidan saw the small elk in the distance, munching on tree bark, he took aim as he crouched and moved in closer. She was a young female, separated from her herd for some reason. The trees that were felled offered ample camouflage for the able hunter to move undercover. On feathered feet, he moved toward his prey, his breath quickened with anticipation of the kill. His unknowing victim browsed among the trees. Aidan took aim with his spear; he was in close enough proximity for a successful penetration. He cast his spear and felt satisfaction when he heard a thud as it pierced the elk’s skin. The quarry jumped, fell, and then lay still. As Aidan moved in, he saw another approach from the corner of his eye.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Aidan yelled, as Clint approached.

  An equally enraged Clint yelled, “Get away from my kill.”

  The two approached the elk and with consternation noted a spear and arrow protruding from their victim. Both men had been hunting the quarry at the same time. More surprising both had released their weapons at the same time. Finding out who felled it would be hard. Both men had been able to cast within a short distance; both men hit a vital spot. Either shot would have felled the beast. Both stood staring angrily at each other. Two points sticking from the animal, the blood pooled beneath it.

  “Fine,” Aidan finally snapped. “Be hunter of the month.”

  “Wait,” Clint called, as Aidan started to stalk away. Aidan turned and glared. “Maybe we can both be hunter a the month. I mean after all there’s ’nough here for both a us to carry.”

  Clint was right. The elk, though young, was large and weighed a great deal. They would both be regaled as victorious if they brought it home to the mine.

  “You know,” Aidan began, his anger dissipating, “I bet if we told everyone we combined our efforts to bring in this puppy they’d be impressed we worked together.”

  Nodding, Clint had to agree, he knew Tansy liked community effort. Maybe he would score points this way.

  “Well we did kinda get it together,” Clint reasoned. “We did sorta hunt together.”

  “Yes we did.”

  “So who gets the skin?” Clint asked, wondering about Tansy and her bed. Wanting to show her he could also help contribute to make the bed softer, warmer.

  “Do you know how to make the skin pliable?” Aidan asked.

  “No, I guess not. If’n you mean can I make a blanket from it,” Clint said dismayed.

  “Tell you what. I’ll show you how to work the skin.”

  “So next one’s mine?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’ll help me? You’ll hunt with me again? Together next time?” Clint asked.

  “Absolutely,” Aidan answered. Both men shook hands.

  They approached the mine awhile later carrying their bounty, but the yells and screams from within made them drop it and run for the opening. Where Emmy, holding a large piece of wood, was fending off a grizzly bear.

  “Back off, back off,” Emmy screamed.

  The grizzly howled in response. It stood on its hind legs, mouth open to reveal sharp teeth. It moved closer to the girls who were backed up between the fires. Easy prey overcame the bear’s fear of fire; he moved his huge bulk closer.

  “Wait,” Aidan hissed, as Clint made a mad dash to enter the mine. “We need to use the other entrance; we don’t want to trap it.”

  “Trap it, hell, I’m gonna kill it,” Clint snarled, he pulled out his hunting knife ready to do battle. He could hear Michaela howling in terror and could see the fear on Emmy and Shanie’s faces and he was enraged.

  “If you wound it the damn thing will attack, or worse, you might get killed then it will go after one of the kids,” Aidan whispered, dragging a furious Clint behind him to the other smaller opening.

  As the bear advanced, the girls pulled burning wood from the fire to jab at it to keep it at bay. Ricky and Michaela sat huddled together, near her bed, arms wound around each other in a tight ball sobbing.

  “I said, back off!” Emmy yelled, she grabbed up a pot of boiling water she was using to make tea, and with a mighty heave sent it flying up into the bear’s eyes.

  The grizzly howled in pain and rage, his large claws swinging. Emmy took advantage of its raised paws and thrust a long sharp spear of Aidan’s as hard as she could into the grizzly’s exposed belly. The bear came down onto all four paws intent on attacking. The spear thrust up with the force of the grizzly’s weight. Though the shaft of the spear broke in its plunge downwards the damage was done. The grizzly had aided in its own demise.

  “Whoa girlfriend. Remind me not to piss you off anymore,” Shanie said.

  “Is everyone all right?”
Aidan yelled, running up.

  Clint was close behind and grabbed up Michaela who hurled herself into his waiting arms, burying her face into the comfort of his shoulder. Ricky was a heartbeat behind and almost knocked Aidan over in his hurry to get to him as he launched himself at him.

  “Emmy killed Pooh,” Michaela pouted.

  “That weren’t Pooh, button, that was a mean bear,” Clint said, consoling her, running a hand over her head and cuddling her closer. A quick kiss was dropped onto her flushed forehead.

  “Emmy, are you okay?” Aidan asked, she looked pale as cold ash and was still shaking violently from the encounter.

  “Did you see her waste that bear? That was a big freaking bear,” Shanie shouted.

  Aidan set Ricky on his feet and moved over to Emmy, who hadn’t said anything. He lunged just in time to grab her as she fainted.

  Looking down into her sister’s unconscious face, Shanie chuckled. “Our hero.”

  * * * *

  Ethan and Tansy arrived back at the mine; they were surprised to see an elk hanging on a frame structure off in a corner. It was cut at the carotid artery in its neck and hanging by its hocks, one tied on either side of the frame. Aidan was already working on skinning it. He had cut the elk from anus to neck and along the legs. He cut around the legs above the knee; he began at the rear legs and rolled the skin down using his knife as little as possible. Aidan didn’t want to damage the hide. The others he encouraged to watch so they would be able to do this themselves in the future.

  Working carefully as not to cut into the animal’s belly, Aidan was able to peel the hide away from the body. He took a quick moment to wipe his bloodied hands on his pants then continued, using his knife to cut through the remaining tissue around the animal’s neck. After he rolled the hide, he set it aside and began working on the gut. Aidan cut high into the animal, allowing the insides to spill out. He removed the liver and kidneys, placing them in a large pot along with the heart and spleen. He explained to them as he set the lungs in a separate pot that they were edible, but better to use as bait.

  His mind moving ahead, he planned on using the lungs to lure fish or other aquatic animals into his net. Into a pot filled with water the tongue went and Aidan set it on the roasting stones to boil.

  To Tansy’s disgust, Aidan handed her the intestines and told her to wash them inside-out as they could store fat in them, or mix meat, fat and blood, for sausages. They were a bonus for lining items prone to getting wet. He told everyone while he emptied the four chambered stomach before rinsing it, the contents could also be eaten.

  “But it was already eaten,” Shanie said in disgust.

  “That’s what makes it more digestible and it adds flavor to a stew,” Aidan told her.

  Trying not to vomit, Shanie stood staring at the contents of this pot that was handed to her like it contained gold. Holding it away from her body, she did what looked to Ethan as a death march and walked to the fire where she put the pot and what she called ‘forced puke’ down near her mother.

  “You’re serious?” Tansy asked Aidan, tossing him a look that spoke volumes.

  “Yes.” Then he elaborated, “Listen, we can use every part of these animals. We’re going to have to if we want to survive. You can boil the hooves for glue, and you all know by now the bones have marrow and vitamins. If we look at any of this squeamish or disgusted, so will Ricky and Mike and they won’t eat it. They’ll get sick and could die. They’re both in desperate need of nutritious food right now and lean elk meat is higher in protein than beef; it’s high in iron. In fact we’ll all benefit from today’s kill.”

  “Fine, I’ll eat your puke stew,” Shanie said angrily. She walked outside into the cool air taking a breath and took a swing at what remained of the dead grizzly.

  It had taken all of them to drag it outside. Once outside, they tied a rope to the bear’s back legs and threw the other end over a large tree branch. With combined effort they were able to pull the bear off the ground until it hung upside down. Aidan slit its throat to bleed it and he and Clint went to work butchering the bear. It was the most vulnerable, being left outside; already they heard the unmistakable sound of wolf calls in the distance, their slinking forms silhouettes moving from tree to tree.

  They worked hard, making cuts in pieces that would be easier to work with, returning them to the safety of the mine to store, keeping a watchful eye and ear for predators. After Aidan had hung the elk and slit its throat, with a pan beneath to collect its blood, he and Clint had gone back to the bear to skin it and remove the insides. They took the ribs to be roasted over the fire and helped Tansy set them up over a trench fire she had made with Aidan’s instructions.

  Shanie and Emmy had helped her dig the trench by loosening the dirt and stone with sticks then used a pan to scrape out its contents, they lined it with rocks and started a roaring fire on top, after it died down they placed the stove racks on top of the trench from an old stove Tansy and Ethan had found in the cabin. They used six larger stones under the racks to support them over the burning embers that sizzled as grease dripped down, the aroma of the meat enticing.

  It was well past dark when the men finally sat around the fire drinking a shared bottle of fireball with the women. Ricky and Michaela were sound asleep with full bellies, having gorged on the meat, she clutching her prized doll, he with his treasured toy cars. The day had been long and tiring but prosperous. They acquired enough food to keep them busy for a while. The next few days would have them drying meat, some for storing, some would be made into pemmican. The promise elicited from Aidan had Tansy dreaming of some kind of stove, although the trench fire had worked very well and the ribs had been tasty and welcome.

  Tansy noticed Clint seemed a bit melancholy. Tansy wondered if he was missing Cord and Randy after watching Aidan and Ethan’s rapport. She reached out to touch his shoulder and give him a squeeze to offer comfort.

  “You’re not alone, Clint.”

  He offered a sad smile and placed his hand over hers. “I miss ’em you know. I’ve known ’em my whole life and now they’s jist gone. In fact everythin’ is jist gone. My wife, my baby, my friends. Sometimes I think there ain’t no point livin’ like this, all alone.”

  “I miss my wife,” Ethan told him.

  “But you still got your boy,” Clint said with meaning.

  “You’re not all alone. You have all of us. Mike loves you so much, Shanie and Emmy respect and admire you a great deal, I care for you. Clint, you make us all feel safe. I don’t know what we would’ve done without your help, or what we’d do without you now.”

  “Yeah?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she answered. “You were right when you said we needed you, your protection, your presence, we did then and we still do. I’m grateful you’re here.”

  “Besides, you’re one damned fine hunter,” Aidan commented, reaching over to slap him on the back.

  “And your help has been greatly appreciated, especially today. We did a great deal of work and you really put your best foot forward,” Ethan confirmed.

  “Well hell, puttin’ it forward surely beats havin’ it in my mouth,” Clint exclaimed loudly and everyone laughed.

  “Well, I for one am tired and unless you want me to take first watch, I’m going to bed,” Tansy said yawning and stretching.

  “No, I’ll take it. Get some rest and keep the covers warm,” Clint told her.

  Tansy was soon snuggled under blankets and she let the exhaustion of the day overtake her.

  * * * *

  Morning brought a bustle of activity. They ate leftover ribs for breakfast then began certain tasks that would require selective thought. On mutual agreement they began drying meat after they’d constructed racks. The racks were placed in a small alcove, one of many in the mine. The alcove went back about eleven feet and was about seven feet in height; it was approximately nine feet wide, giving them ample space to work with. They were able to set up five of the racks inside the hole. The
y built a smoky fire inside and covered the entrance with a heavy blanket to keep the smoke from escaping.

  Some of the meat was placed into one of the small tunnels away from the top of the mine and their fires, acting as a refrigerator until they could work with it. They then divided into groups. Tansy and Emmy rendered fat to mix with the meat that would dry for pemmican. Ethan and Clint made doors for the mine’s cave-like entrances that would help keep out other meandering animals intent on a free meal, as well as smaller coverings to place over the smaller tunnels inside the mine to help contain the heat inside. Shanie kept a strict eye on Ricky and Michaela, who helped bring in their never ending need for wood, wet or dry.

  The wood could be dried over the trench fire to keep it from smoking when burned then used or stored in the longer tunnel of the mine. Aidan found a lockbox that had stored someone’s valuables in it. It was empty now, they burned a will, money and bonds that were useless except for fuel. The lockbox was a foot long and a foot deep. Aidan piled stones on the ground then set the box up sideways so the lid would rest on a stick when lowered. A fire could then be lit under the metal box and the opening to the fire covered with more rocks for even cooking.

  The ‘stove’ could hold small animals or fowl and other edible items that could taste better baked. Aidan had made his convenient new stove near the back of the cave-like mine to offer another source of warmth, and to keep it out of the way in case little fingers became curious.

  It was approaching dinner before their various projects were completed or set aside, yet there was still so much to accomplish. They used their trench fire grill to cook eight steaks. Tansy had applied liberal amounts of salt and pepper to them that Aidan had found in one of the old cottage’s cupboards still standing. Aidan had been excited at the discovery and other useful herbs. Marjoram would be a wonderful seasoning along with the onion salt and garlic salt. They wouldn’t last long but hopefully the spring and summer would bring about other plants and herbs they could dry and make use of. Tansy’s book on plants and roots could prove to be very useful, if not life-saving.