by C. A. Henry
Helen stared, then shook her head. “Will I ever learn not to underestimate you?”
“Probably not,” Stevie laughed.
~~~~
A while later, the men gathered for a quick lunch, while still keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Stevie cleared her throat and told them about her idea, then asked for one of them to go with her to find possible sources of food.
“I guess I can get loose this afternoon,” Massey offered quickly. “I don’t have any other plans.”
Jeff turned to look north, hoping to hide his grin. Ross rolled his eyes, but only Helen noticed. She almost laughed out loud at his expression.
“You’ll be standing guard while she gathers plants, Massey. Don’t get distracted. I don’t want anything bad to happen to our Stevie,” Helen warned.
“No worries. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.”
“Could we leave right after we finish eating?” Stevie asked. “Helen needs to sort through the plants so I’ll know what to look for on the next trip out, which I hope will be tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds good,” Massey replied before someone else could volunteer to go on the second expedition.
Ross and Jeff resumed their guard duties, and Massey helped Helen to the tent to rest. Stevie was waiting when he returned, and they set off toward the creek.
“I haven’t seen this place where you guys have been fishing. Is it far?”
Massey shook his head. “Nah. Maybe a quarter of a mile. It’s a real pretty spot, and there’s a lot of fish in that pool. Lots of plants around, too.”
Both of them carried rifles and had other weapons stashed in pockets or hanging from belts. Massey knew that if they got in trouble, Stevie was a fighter and certainly wouldn’t act like a helpless little flower of Southern gentility. He took this duty very seriously, though. She’d be busy looking for plants when they got to the creek, and he intended to watch over her with care and diligence.
When they arrived at the fishing hole, Stevie looked around in wonder. It was more than a “pretty spot.” It was beautiful. Clear water rippled and splashed, swirling around rocks in the streambed. Green grasses grew along the banks, and here and there, a flower bloomed. A wide pool below a small waterfall revealed fish and frogs swimming in its depths.
“Be careful,” Massey warned. “That pool is a lot deeper than it looks. Clear water always looks kinda shallow, but I promise, that’s over our heads.”
“I can swim, but that’s not on the agenda today. Oh, but that water looks good. It would feel great to get clean again, and wash some clothes, but it would make us too vulnerable, wouldn’t it?”
“I’m afraid so, although we haven’t seen any signs of anyone else being around. No tracks or anything. Okay. I’m going to need to move around and keep an eye on the area. Pick whatever plants you want, and we’ll head back.”
Stevie had a small bag in her pocket, and she quickly found several different plants that looked like possibilities. In less than ten minutes, the bag was full.
“I think next time, I need two bags, or even three. There is a lot of variety here. Helen said I might want to check up the hill, too. I sure hope there’s something here we can eat.”
“Let’s head back, if you’re through for now. It looks like it’s clouding up toward the west.”
~~~~
“I’m glad you cut a stem of this and didn’t just bring back the berries. It makes identification easier for me. This is mulberry, and we can eat some of these. The dandelion plant is all edible, but it’s a bit late for eating the leaves and flowers. They’d be a little bitter, but the taproot can be eaten through fall.”
Helen held up a cluster of little red fruits. “This is sumac, and the fruits are edible. It’s not the same thing as poison sumac. Were there any cattails around that creek?”
“Yes, there are some around the pool where we fish,” Massey nodded.
“That’s good. The rhizome of cattails is the best part this time of year, and this plant,” she pointed and smiled, “is purslane. If I’d wished for plants for you to find, this would have been on my short list.”
“This one,” she held up a thorny twig with several leaves, “is off a blackberry bush. Unfortunately, it’s too early for the berries to be ripe. Maybe by the time we cross the rest of the state, we can find some that are ready to eat.”
“So, we found some good stuff, huh?” Stevie asked.
“You did. This will supplement our food supplies, so we can save what’s in our packs for the rest of our journey. Good job! I think you should keep bringing back new specimens, and maybe there will be other plants we can eat.”
Chapter Thirty-three
May 26-June 3, Arkansas
Ross and Massey folded the tent and shoved it into its bag, then glanced around the campsite to see if they’d forgotten anything. Helen hobbled over, able to get around with the help of a long walking stick that Ross made for her. He’d taken a straight trunk of an oak sapling and removed the bark, then wrapped a strip of cloth from a worn-out shirt around it where her hand would be when she used it. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked well enough that she believed she could keep up.
A couple of days before, Stevie had managed to talk Massey and Ross into taking her to the creek so she could wash some clothes, and everyone had something fresh to wear as they began what they hoped would be a safe and uneventful last leg of their trip.
“We got everything?” Jeff asked. “We’re not coming back to get it if you forgot something.”
“Oh, you sound like my grandpa,” Stevie teased. “I’m sure we’re not leaving anything behind. Let’s put Helen in the middle, and all of us need to remember to stay alert. After all this time of staying put, we have to shake off the laziness and get serious again.”
“True. And one of the first things we have to do is try to find something that will tell us where we are for sure,” Helen reminded them. “We need to find a road sign, a billboard that mentions a town and how far it is, or something. We’ve been in the woods so long I have no idea if we’re on track or not.”
“Well. I’d hate to find out we’re ten miles north of where we need to be. I hate backtracking,” Jeff laughed.
“We don’t even know how deep into Arkansas we are. Having a map out of an atlas isn’t useful if you have no clue where you are to start with. Staying in the forest is safer, but it’s easy to go in a slightly wrong direction and wind up where you didn’t intend to go.” Helen checked off the date on her calendar. “I think it’s late May if we haven’t missed any days. It’s getting hotter. I hope we get there before the August heat makes it unbearable.”
“Let’s get going. I’m ready to meet your family and start finding out how we’ll fit in,” Ross urged. “I hope things work out. I hate the idea of moving on with no destination in mind.”
“Hush your mouth. I’ve told you boys repeatedly that you’ll be welcomed with open arms. My family will be so grateful when I tell them all you’ve done for me. Stop worrying about it, please. You’re part of my family now, too. They’ll be happy to have two strong young men like you to help out. You’ll be assets, I promise.”
“Did I hear ‘all you’ve done for me’ come out of your mouth?” Massey demanded. “You got that wrong, Helen. You and Stevie and Jeff have done more for me and Ross than we could ever hope to repay. We’ll always be thankful that God brought us together.”
“Then stop talking about moving on. You’re going to love it in Kanichi Springs, I promise.”
“Okay, people,” Jeff sighed. “Can we stop with the mutual admiration long enough to move out? Time is wasting, and I’d like to see my family again before we’re all old and gray.”
Stevie punched Jeff lightly on the shoulder. “You’re already old and gray, but yeah, we need to get going. This is hopefully the last leg of our journey, barring any more injuries. I’m too excited to stand around. Once we get where we’re going, I can start trying to figure out what to do wi
th my life, what kind of work I can do. To have a home again, to be safe, or at least safer than we have been…that sounds so wonderful.”
Each of them picked up a pack and got the straps comfortable, then gathered their weapons. Helen picked up her pack and immediately got an accusing look on her face.
“Hold on a minute. My pack seems pretty light,” she snapped. “Is somebody trying to baby me because my foot was injured?”
Massey tried to look innocent, and Jeff wouldn’t meet her eyes. Ross and Stevie glanced around as though they were checking one last time for any items they’d forgotten.
Finally, Stevie confessed. “We all had a hand in lightening your load. You can’t hobble along with a walking stick and a wooden plank for a shoe, with a heavy pack on your back. Some of your stuff found its way into each of our packs, and we’re happy to share the load.”
Helen tilted her head, giving them a grateful look. “I knew you did that. I heard you talking about it late last night, and you weren’t as sneaky about redistributing the weight as you thought you were. I’m just giving you a hard time. Thank you for being so thoughtful and caring.”
~~~~
The hike took them up hills and down hills, across clearings and streams, through fields, and across a few roads. Helen needed to stop and rest her foot occasionally, and she knew she was slowing them down.
If an average adult can walk about two miles an hour, and we were able to walk seven or eight hours a day, we would cover about fifteen miles. From what I could tell on the map, it’s around three hundred miles to Kanichi Springs. That’s around twenty days of walking, but I can’t walk that fast or that long. I guess until we have a better idea of where we are, I can’t even guess how long it will take. I just hope my foot doesn’t make me go this slow the whole way.
They walked, camped, walked, and camped. The days became a blur of trees, clearings, and more trees.
After several days of walking, Helen was getting more frustrated with the hard wooden sole that Ross had made. The bottom of her foot ached from clomping around, and the insole from her boot didn’t provide enough cushioning. Her hips hurt from having to walk so awkwardly, and she was fed up.
When they stopped for yet another night of sleeping on the ground, Helen sat down on a log and began to untie the laces holding the sole on her foot.
“Ross, you got my boot? Hand it to me, please. I need to try something.”
Ross got her boot and took it to her. “What are you up to, Helen? You think maybe you can wear the boot now?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out. I appreciate the work you did to make that sole to support my foot, but it’s just too hard. I needed it for a few days, but I think the swelling has gone down enough that I can get the boot on. I just want to try it. If it doesn’t work, if I can’t walk in it, okay, but I think I can walk better now without the sole.”
She tried on the boot, then stood and made a circuit of the campsite. The surprised and pleased look on her face said it all.
“Yeah! This is going to work, I think. I’ll wear the boot to start out tomorrow, but if I get to hurting worse than I do with the sole, I’ll switch back.”
~~~~
The next day, Helen walked without a limp and felt less pain; the boot was helping. They made good time and she felt better, knowing she wasn’t holding the others back. They were able to walk longer, too, and really covered some ground.
Late one morning, they came to Interstate 30, and found a sign indicating that they were near Exit 54. Helen checked the map and found that the exit was about twenty miles southeast of Arkadelphia, which meant that they were going in the right direction.
This continued for a few days, and as they traveled northwest, the terrain became hillier and more wooded. There were more small communities, and a few decent-sized towns. The map showed that if they veered a little more to the north, they could miss almost all of them.
Eventually, they entered the Caddo Mountains and realized they were in the southernmost part of the Ouachita National Forest. All of them were exhausted and ready for a break from the daily strain of crossing private property and wondering when someone would start shooting at them. Helen, in particular, was too tired to go on, so they pushed deep into the forest until they found a secluded spot to camp.
They were just starting to set up the tent when Jeff skidded down from the top of a slope he’d climbed to take a look around.
“Hold up!” He hissed. “There’s a house or a lodge right over the top of that hill.” He gestured to the spot he’d just left. “I saw signs of occupation, but I’m not sure how recent.”
“Like what?” Stevie asked.
“Wood stacked neatly by the door, and some lying nearby to be split. Boot prints in the mud on top of the hill.”
“Well, darn. This little flat spot looked like a great place to camp, but we don’t need any surprises or close neighbors. Let’s skirt around that way and put some distance between us and whoever is living there,” Helen suggested.
“That’s really not necessary.”
All five travelers went into defensive stances, weapons ready. They stared at the man who stood just yards away, grinning in a friendly manner.
“I’ve been watching and listening for a while, and I don’t mind having you as neighbors, but if you’d like, you can be company, instead,” the tall, slim man said in a rich baritone voice.
“I’m Isaac Anderson. I worked here as a forester, but when things got crazy, I decided to come up here and stay. My company kept a small lodge so we’d have a place to stay if the weather got bad, and after the Collapse, I kinda appropriated it for my personal use.”
“A forester? What does a forester do?” Stevie asked.
“A wide variety of things. I evaluated timber for harvesting and marked which trees we’d take to the mill. I used to negotiate purchases and work on contracts, but I liked being out here better than being in an office.
“Y’all seem to be a nice bunch of folks; as I said, I’ve watched. You treat each other with respect and affection, and I’ve noticed that groups who do that usually treat others with respect, too. Troublemakers don’t treat anyone with respect. So, if you’re interested, you’re welcome to come sit in a comfy chair and we’ll have a nice visit. If not, you’re welcome to camp here.”
“You said, ‘so we’d have a place.’ Does that mean you have a group of people with you?” Massey’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“No. It means that the other employees of my company stayed there sometimes before the Collapse, but since things got crazy, I haven’t seen any of them. They all have families and homes to go to. I don’t. I lived in a rented house and have no family to speak of. I know this area of the forest, so I brought my supplies out here and have been successfully staying off the radar.”
Jeff stuck out his hand, and as Isaac shook it, said, “I’m Jeff. This is Helen, Massey and his brother Ross, and Stevie. We’re just passing through on our way west.”
Isaac nodded to each of them, shaking hands when one was offered. “Welcome to the Ouachita National Forest. Would you like to come to the lodge for a hot meal, at least, and take some time to think about whether to stay the night?”
“I think that’s truly kind of you. We’ve gotten used to being leery of everyone else. I don’t think any of us is as trusting as we used to be,” Helen explained. “No offense, but we don’t know you, and we’ve been through some things recently.”
“No offense taken. I understand your hesitation. It’s just been lonely here lately; it’s pretty isolated and there aren’t many people around. I’ve only seen a couple of small groups passing through, and they kept moving. There hasn’t been anyone I thought I’d want to talk to, but your group seems different,” Isaac explained.
“I could help you set up your camp or tell you where there’s a spring with fresh water. I mean, water that smells and tastes good, not like rotten eggs. We have some really strong mineral springs, but that w
ater’s not great for drinking or cooking. You know, there’s almost two million acres that make up this forest, and part of it is in Oklahoma. You could stay in the forest a long time, and it’s probably safer than hiking along any highways.”
“Roads are for people who want to die,” Ross commented. “We handrail if we have to, but mostly, we’ve cut across, avoided bridges and towns, and stayed out of sight of other people. Some of the encounters we couldn’t avoid were unpleasant.”
“I had a couple of those, too. How about this: you come have a cup of coffee or tea on my back patio, and we’ll get acquainted. You can use the facilities, too, if you want,” Isaac offered.
“You have coffee? Seriously?” Jeff asked, surprised.
“I do. I have a hard time functioning without the stuff, so I stocked up on beans and bought a grinder. I don’t have any cream or milk, but I have sugar, if you take it. I guess I’m better off than most. There was nothing to spend my money on for years, except myself, and what I bought was things I’d need in a collapse. My friends thought I was nuts, but most of them didn’t make it six months. I’m alone, and I would sure like to have other humans to talk to occasionally. C’mon. I’ll get that coffee brewing.”
“We’ll be along in just a few minutes, if that’s okay,” Jeff suggested.
Isaac turned back, glanced around, and nodded. “I understand. You need a few minutes to confer. I don’t blame you. I’m sure I seem like some kind of weirdo, inviting strangers to stay with me, but as I said, I watched. Actually, I’ve been watching since just after daylight. I went to check on some things and camped last night not far from where you camped. I’ve been off to the side, traveling parallel to you since you broke camp this morning. Just remember, if I wanted to harm you, I had plenty of chances, but I don’t. I just want some human company for a change.”
He smiled, then headed over the hill. The five watched until he was out of sight.
“That’s almost creepy,” Stevie muttered, shivering a little.